Hunting Rob Ford

So, it's not only the Canadian media who can't get enough of the allegations that a video exists showing Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine.  Yes, the story is funny and it would also explain why he hardly schedules any public events, and yes this is the guy who has lost control over his council over pie-eyed plans to build more subway lines Toronto clearly can't afford...and yes, this is the guy lampooned internationally for walking into a camera last month, and yes this is the guy who flips out at the media, launched a highly public weight loss effort only to be seen sneaking KFC.

I'm also well aware that this is the mayor who has been caught barreling down the highway reading a newspaper (to the point where his people no longer allow him to drive), and yes he hasn't done a very good job in all the other issues that people seem to expect a mayor to take the lead in (getting federal dollars from a sympathetic Prime Minister is just one of the more recent examples).

Okay, he makes the antics of former mayor Mel Lastman look like statespersonship, but, and this is a big but...almost as big as Ford's butt...but... I do feel awfully badly for him.

Look at it this way: Either he is innocent of this charge and is simply being hunted down by a bunch of drug dealers trying to make some money off him, or he has a problem.  Either way, does that not warrant some degree of compassion?

He may very well have a drug problem, or he might simply use drugs (minus the problem) or, the video could be a fake, or even not exist...until we know, should we not reserve judgement?  If we really want to have a just society, should we not try to internalize the value of innocent until proven guilty?

And, another issue I have with this is that it seems that so many of the people who are coming down so hard on him also tend to believe that drug usage is a private matter or even should be entirely legal.  If people believe that drug use is a private or a health issue, rather than a legal issue, than what business do we have to hold this against him?

Perhaps cocaine usage has negatively impacted his performance as mayor, or perhaps it's the only thing that causes him to get anything done at all.  We just don't know.  And until we know, should we not call off the attack?