Why Can't We Have a Better Media: LEAFS SUCK Edition

Interesting Times in LEAFS SUCK. There's a lot of backstory - but basically what has happened is that our Mayor was found to have broken the Municipal Conflict of Interest Law which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of being booted from office. That ruling goes into effect on Monday unless Rob gets a stay of the ruling pending his appeal. The decision on whether the stay will be granted (and it most likely will since the motion is unopposed) comes out todaytomorrow.

But the general consensus is that Rob is going to lose the appeal. The judge who found him guilty was staggeringly sympathetic to Rob Ford, bending over backwards and actually amending his ruling in order to minimize the penalty he was going to administer. Note that while the actual amount of cash in question is small, Rob Ford violated the act blatantly and repeatedly despite multiple warnings. He was given several opportunities to avoid the trial, all of which he turned down. He has admitted no guilt and still believes he did nothing wrong. In short, he has done exactly nothing to earn leniency.

I'll probably get back to that when the appeal goes before the courts - but the main point is that just about everyone is expecting Rob to get his stay until the appeal, lose the appeal, and then Council will call a by-election. What's contentious is whether Rob can win. We're at least half a year out from the earliest possible election date, probably more, so there's definitely all sorts of possible outcomes at this point - but a realistic view of things would recognize that some of them are very unlikely. Okay, now that we got all of that out of the way, let's finally get to our featured Incredibly Stupid Shitbags.

A poll on the Globe’s website shows little middle ground. Of the more than 2,600 respondents, most were divided into two camps: those who agreed with Mr. Ford’s ejection from office and said his effect as mayor had been negative, and those who thought the penalty too harsh and approved of his time in office.

An Angus Reid poll released Friday, meanwhile, suggested three out of five people who voted for the mayor in 2010 would back him again in a by-election.

“A lot of people are surprised that he’s held the support that he has. It surprises me at times how resilient it is,” said Nick Kouvalis, the strategist who engineered Mr. Ford’s 2010 victory.

He contends the mayor’s supporters simply don’t care as much about the gaffes and miscues as they do about his policies.

We'll get back to the first poll later - the second poll shows that 40% of the people who voted for him two years ago have Buyer's Remorse. The mendacious assholes that pooped out this piece of garbage are trying to imply that Ford has 60% support, when in actuality he only has 60% support FROM ROB FORD VOTERS. That's not quite the same thing. Anyways, I've snipped out the bit where the "authors" of this fantastic piece of journalism go on to interview a bunch of Ford supporters and make no attempt to get any other opinions or views. Here's their closer:

Welcome to Ford Nation, where Toronto could be living for the foreseeable future.

Okay, back to that wonderful first poll - conducted by the same newspaper that these idiots work for. Here it is. It certainly does show some serious polarization, with opinions mostly clustered in the two corners. Remember this is the poll the "authors" are using to justify their belief in a lasting Ford run LEAFS SUCK. So what does the poll actually say?

Ford's Penalty (kicked out of office) too harsh - 21%
Ford's Penalty appropriate - 71%

Ford had a positive impact - 19%
Ford had a negative impact - 70%

Yup, those totally look like numbers guaranteeing a Ford Nation dynasty for sure.