Better a Drunk Rob Ford than a Sober ...

Something you heard a lot of if you paid attention to Toronto politics was "I'd rather have Rob Ford drunk than candidate name sober."

As I said last week, having read The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer explained a lot to me about how Rob Ford got elected and continued to enjoy support. Well, maybe not explained a lot, but it certainly filled in some gaps. I also wrote a while back about how ultimately I think Rob Ford might be the best mayor the city can have so long as council continues to completely sideline him and ignore him.

It should come as no surprise that people who like Rob Ford would prefer him drunk over a sober candidate that they think of as being from an out-group. Rob Ford could commit essentially any sin and it would be forgiven. And for those who know me it probably shouldn't be surprising that I was untroubled by the idea of another Rob Ford win.

But the way things are going now makes me a little nervous. It turns out, I'm one of those people who would repeat the refrain from the beginning of this post: I'd rather have Rob Ford drunk than Rob Ford sober.

A sober Rob Ford as mayor is a mildly nauseating proposition. Imagine a Rob Ford that actually went to work, a Rob Ford that people felt they had to take seriously, a Rob Ford who was somewhat effective in implementing his agenda.

He still wouldn't be able to tell the difference between one and one-hundred. He would still be racist and homophobic and corrupt. Everything wrong with him would still be there, it's just that he would be there.

If Rob Ford does manage to win I hope he gets so high every morning that he doesn't even remember where city hall is. I hope that when he is found half-way across the globe in the third year of his term and asked why he shirked his mayoral duties he answers, "What? Am I still Mayor?"

I don't mind if the city has to pay a mayors salary for someone who doesn't show up. Rob Ford is rich and the public can't get out of paying him for nothing one way or another.

If only some of our other leaders, Canadian and abroad, could get hooked on crack or heroin. What a wonderful world it would be.