Toronto’s Mayoral Mistake

Everybody on earth has heard about Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford who was taped smoking crack.  Now I am in no way condoning anyone, elected official, college educated or not, well employed or not, Canadian or not, doing drugs of any kind.  That being said Rob Ford, who is a rather large man according to his pictures on TV missed a major opportunity to get out of this whole debacle.

How you might ask?  He was allegedly was taped smoking the drugs, he admitted doing it and he added that he has also bought drugs in the recent past.  His best-missed defense was he should have said that he was doing the drugs as a diet aid.  Sure, illegal drugs are still against the law, but if only Robb Ford had gone on TV and said, “Yes I did the drugs as a way to help me lose weight.  I am powerless against food and I was at my wits end to find something to help me stay away from food.”

Yes, it would have been a lie, but many people would have given him a pass because his obvious need to lose weight would have been a believable story.  If only he had said that he might have gone on to actually lose some weight to help rehabilitate his reputation.

It’s too late now.  He has been stripped of all power and is still fat.  He certainly might get fatter as he seeks solace in beer and donuts, two things Canadians do well, just not together.

How a good PR person missed giving Rob Ford this simple advice is criminal.  People are fairly forgiving and so many can empathize with the need to lose weight and even are supportive of someone actually seeking a solution even if it is an idiotic one.  Too late.

Maybe not.  If Ford goes on to lose weight now he can regain some respect by saying, “Doing the drugs and getting caught drove me to reexamine my life and get healthy.  The crack might have saved my life by spurring me on to lose weight.”  As I see it dieting is his only salvation.