Rob Ford Crack-o-Meter: Ford visited a shady bungalow and a former staffer does some naughty tweeting
Rob Ford has skated through some humiliating situations and emerged relatively unscathed. The crack-smoking scandal, though, has ratcheted the ridiculousity to new highs. Every day brings more bad news. So far, Ford has kept his cool (more or less), but we have to wonder if—or when—he’s going to crack. Here, our daily assessment of what’s going on with our infamous mayor.
• Rob Ford was photographed in front of a house notorious for drug activity (Pressure: ↑) The Toronto Star and Gawker have momentarily switched their focus from the video to the house in this photograph distributed by the video’s peddlars. The rundown bungalow, which has long concerned neighbours, is only 300 metres from the Dixon Road apartment building where the video was rumoured to be held.
• The RCMP may have a copy of the video (↑) Though the video’s owner says it’s “gone,” six media organizations want a peek inside sealed police documents to see if the RCMP might have a copy (presumably from the cellphone or computer of accused murderer Hanad Mohamed).
• Ford’s back to doing what he likes best: campaigning (↓) Since silence didn’t work, the mayor has a new strategy for dealing with the press: wear them out. Yesterday, he visited a Tim Hortons in Scarborough, a mural on Kingston Road, tenants in Thorncliffe Park and the Dufferin Street Bridge, all in the span of a few hours.
• One of Ford’s former staffers has been tweeting about the mayor’s troubles (↑) The Star has solid evidence that special assistant Michael Prempeh, whose resignation took effect Friday, is the “Municipal Man of Mystery” behind Twitter account @PeeTeePeee. Highlights from the last three weeks: “There is WAAAAY more going on behind closed doors” (May 30); “This one just won’t go away like the rest of them...” (May 30); and “This office has surpassed Young and the Restless” (May 24).
Crack Threat Level: MEDIUM
(Images: Rob Ford, Christopher Drost; meter, Scott Akermann)
