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Forget Rob Ford

I’ve been fighting myself like hell not to weigh in on the ‘truth about AIDS’ controversy swirling around mayoral wannabe Rob Ford.

That’s because I think he’s getting more publicity – good or bad, it’s all good in politics – than he deserves. And I certainly don’t want to contribute to the Ford-as-legtimate contender hysteria that seems to have gripped some.

But some temptations are too powerful to fight for too long.

Ford is that rare bird for the media – too nutty to resist cuz he gives good headline, and just out-there enough in his views on gays and immigrants, for example, to make discerning editors want to think twice about spilling any ink on him at all.

How did council’s clown wince shoot to acceptability? One questionable online poll and all of a sudden he’s the talk of the town.

When covering Ford, one is left with the nagging feeling (unless one happens to be employed by the Sun) that giving his backwater sensibilities any press does more harm than good to the cause of democracy.

Ford makes for great political slapstick, perhaps, but is he best covered, or ignored?

Much has been said and written about Ford representing an anger that’s out there among voters.

To my mind, there has been undue coverage given to this supposed public outrage fuelled by a predominantly conservative media and a small but vocal minority that have taken to the internet in a concerted way. A vast right-wing conspiracy? Maybe.

Take a look around. All four dailies in this town, and the majority of TV and radio stations, represent to varying degrees, a conservative point of view.

Yes, even the Star, I’m sorry to say, whose current editor in cheif and publisher have both at different times throughout their careers been at the helm of some of the most stridently right wing papers in North America, including the Chicago Sun-Times.

We live in a free country (relatively), where we should be free to speak our mind, right? Yes. But there are certain universal truths, too, that we’ve come to accept as a civil society.

And those don’t include bashing gays, promoting stereotypical views of immigrants or wishing cyclists dead, all points of view that Ford has expressed.

Take the dust up at Wednesday’s mayoral debate over the anti-gay remarks made by Ford in 2006.

Ford could have put the matter to rest by simply stating it was a mistake to say only gays get AIDS, apologized and moved on when George Smitherman put him on the spot.

Instead, Ford went into avoidance mode and burbled something about his efforts to help kids, blah, blah blah.

He knows full well that his base couldn’t give a damn about his views on homosexuality. Fact is, they’re inclined to agree with him and Ford doesn’t want to – doesn’t have to – say anything that will lose him votes among his baser than base, base.

Which is why Ford showed himself content not to retract his offending remarks and let the gay stir die a fast death in the ever shrinking online news cycle.

He was ultimately forced to deal with them, but only after a member of his social media team retweeted a tweet by a supporter that Ford was “telling the truth about AIDS.

The Star quoted Ford as saying the anonymous retweeter “is no longer on my social media team. I do not condone that.” Although, it’s not entirely clear what it is that Ford doesn’t condone.

Is it the retweeter’s actions that caused him further embarrassment, or Ford’s own remarks about AIDS and gays for which he failed (or refused) to apologize barely 24 hours earlier?

He’s since apologized in full. But my guess is that Ford hasn’t had a change of heart on the gay thing. Maybe if he produced the ousted member of his social media team for all to see just to prove it, but that’s not likely.[rssbreak]

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