~~~updated below~~~
Seven years ago, a loud and drunken Rob Ford, then a city councillor, was at a Maple Leafs game at the Air Canada Centre. He was shouting things like "My sister was a heroine addict and was shot in the head" by way of making conversation at people seated near him.
A couple seated two rows in front of him asked him to “tone it down a little” and Ford blew up at them, as quoted in various accounts :
"Who the fuck do you think you are? Are you some kind of right wing Commie bastard? Are you a fucking teacher? Do you want your little wife to go over to Iran and get raped and shot?"
He was escorted from the stadium by security guards.
Initially Ford denied it :
"This is unbelievable," he told the Star. "I wasn't even at the game, so someone's trying to do a real hatchet job on me, let me tell you."
But unfortunately Ford had handed out business cards to people seated near him at the game and the couple he yelled at, who were from out of town and had no idea who he was, used one to look him up and wrote a letter of complaint.
Later, Ford spent what he called "the toughest day of his career" issuing apologies :
"I reflected on it last night, and talked to my family. I came forward and admitted it. That's all I can do. I mean, I'm not perfect," said Ford.
“I made a mistake. I'm only human. I don't know what more to say. I sincerely apologize.”
"I feel terrible about it. My wife and I had a little bit too much to drink . . . I made a mistake that will never happen again.”
Doug Ford said he knew nothing about it.
In 1999, Rob Ford was pulled over and busted for DUI and possession of marijuana in Florida. He copped to one charge, paid a fine, and did 50 hours community service with his football team in Canada.
Asked about it during his 2010 run for mayor, Ford denied it :
"No to answer your question," Ford said.
"I'm dead serious. When I say no, I mean never. No question, now I'm getting offended. No means no."
When presented with the arrest details, Ford explained :
"The reason I forgot about the marijuana charge ... is because that same evening, I was charged with failing to give a breath sample," he told reporters.
... although court documents and an affidavit from the Miami-Dade police officer who made the arrest show Mr. Ford was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
"I'm not perfect," Rob said. "I owned up to my mistake."
Again, Doug Ford said he knew nothing about it.
On Tuesday, Doug Ford was aggressively calling for Toronto Police Chief Blair to step down for doing his job.
Hours later Rob Ford wandered out alone into a scrum of reporters and announced, after months of denial, that he had smoked crack cocaine due to being drunk.
Doug, who had been unable to reach Rob by phone all morning, characterized Rob's crack confession as the worst day of his own life. The two of them later held a presser in which Rob read out an apology for his crack-smoking to Toronto ... and to Doug, who he was at pains to state knew nothing about it.
It's been their standard MO for years but it isn't working for Rob.
Edward Keenan : Doug Ford. Worst. Brother. Ever.
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10am Update : And a new Rob Ford video surfaces. Lovely.
So who is so close to Ford he's actually present to record him saying :
"Cause I'm going to kill that f**king guy. I'm telling you it's first-degree murder ..... I will, f**k, when he's dead, you help make sure that motherf**ker's dead. I need 10 minutes to make sure he's dead."
but would then release sell it to the media? Ford must be able to tell from the dining room angle who shot it.
There's no date to it ... maybe it's a response to that WWE wrestler Iron Sheik challenging him to fight?
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Noon update : Sooey Says : Schadenfreude, eh? No, Mr. Minister of Whatever, we’re way past schadenfreude ...
Kathy and Rob's mom do a bizarre tv interview today, blowing off any suggestion of rehab for Rob and demonstrating for 20 minutes what privileged enabling really looks like.
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10pm Update : Remember this guy, Scott MacIntyre, Kathy's ex? He broke into Rob Ford's house 18 months ago demanding money owed to him and threatening to expose the Fords to the media if they didn't pay up. He was jailed for possession, turned up in court with a broken leg from a jailhouse beating and pled guilty, ensuring no further related evidence would be released.
Tonight in the Toronto Sun :
"A former common-law spouse of Kathy Ford who vowed to expose the Ford family to the media was savagely beaten in jail because he was a “bother” to the mayor, a judge told his sentencing hearing.
At the sentencing hearing, both Fords generously urged leniency and freedom for MacIntyre."
The news report doesn't mention whether Rob Ford's surprise night visit to the jail in March demanding to see a different prisoner is related to MacIntyre's beating.
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CBC The Fifth Estate : The Rob Ford Story
New - interviews with Rob Ford crack video broker Mohamed Farah
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