Latest pool report from Toronto and a whiff of marijuana in the air …
The TPM delegation heard our first Rob Ford joke within thirty minutes of arriving in Toronto.
As Yumi and I rode a shuttle bus into the city, the driver was talking with another man about the recent ice storm and quipped about how “comforting it was to know Rob Ford was in charge.”
That bus ride was part of our arduous, journey that involved travel on foot, by plane, boat, bus, and car. When it was all over, we reached our hotel, which is literally across the street from Toronto City Hall. In fact, the hotel and City Hall use the same underground parking garage. When we pulled in to park, there was an intense and unmistakeable odor of marijuana smoke. However, Mayor Ford was nowhere in sight.
An update on our delegation’s second day in Toronto tomorrow and the official bestowal of the Golden Duke on Mayor Rob Ford.
Prior to bestowing the award, the TPM delegation will be holding a press conference tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM by the elevator on the ground floor of City Hall to discuss the Golden Dukes. The delegation will also make a brief French-language presentation for the Quebecois audience.
TPM Media has also made a $500 contribution to Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank for family’s affected by last month’s ice storm.
This evening, the TPM Toronto delegation toured crucial locations from
Rob Ford’s life and works.
We began by driving to his house in the suburban neighborhood of Etobicoke in the hopes we might see the mayor and be able to present him with his Golden Duke award. We did not have a close encounter of the Mayor Ford kind, but we did notice there was a branch of Canada’s beloved coffee, pastry, and breakfast chain Tim Horton’s in a gas station a block or so from his house. This seemed like a place Mayor Ford might frequent so we stopped in.
After a day spent in search of embattled Mayor Rob Ford, TPM’s Toronto delegation may have found his soul — in a steakhouse.
This tale begins with the traditional Canadian staple of poutine, a combination of french fries, cheese curds, and gravy that based on police documents, is a favorite of Ford’s. Knowing Ford’s fondness for poutine, when I spotted a food truck serving the dish in front of City Hall Thursday evening, I knew I had to investigate.
So if the closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge wasn’t retaliation for Fort Lee’s mayor not endorsing Chris Christie’s reelection, then what was it retaliation for? Maddow et al. have a theory.
I’m dubious that anything we’ve seen so far in the Christie bridge scandal will lead to criminal prosecutions, but it’s still early and the fact is we really don’t know what exactly happened yet or why. Christie’s epic press conference yesterday left so many unanswered questions.
My own skepticism aside, we’ve talked to some legal experts, including a former New Jersey attorney general and federal prosecutor, who see at least some arguable grounds for charging criminal conduct. Here’s how they see it.
The long-brewing dispute between Senate Republicans and the White House over the scope of the president’s recess appointment powers comes before the Supreme Court Monday. Here’s your rundown on the case, which remains significant even though, as Sahil Kapur reports, a lot has changed on the ground since the case began.
It’s worth your time this morning to read Feministe editor Jill Filipovic’s amazing confessional about her own personal battle with online harassment that became all too real: “We want to believe that the Internet is different from ‘real life,’ that ‘virtual reality’ is a separate sphere from reality-reality. But increasingly, virtual space is just as ‘real’ as life off of the computer.”
It’s a must-read.
Roll out the red carpet: Hunter Walker is at Toronto City Hall this morning to present the Golden Duke statuette to Rob Ford in person. You can follow the proceedings via Hunter’s Twitter account.