More than one thing can be true: Toronto is not an ungovernable mess because of Rob Ford; Rob Ford is an idiot, a criminal and a danger to society; Rob Ford deserves our empathy (not sympathy, by the way).
But reducing it to just one of these – any one of these – is to miss the complexity of the situation. If it was simple, it would be fixed quickly.
Final note: the oppositional attitude to Ford is what is keeping him going. Making him a pathetic figure robs him of his power, but every step of the way in his career Ford has relied on the angry downtowners as the reason the suburbs should support him. Which the do. This attitude entirely plays into his camp. If you do run him out of town with anger and outrage, you’ll see him or his next avatar return with the same program of outraging the downtown “elites”.
