Today’s Scripture Reading (January 2,
2014): Isaiah 59
I am not
sure that many would have predicted at the beginning of 2013 that Canada’s
Newsmaker of the Year would end up being Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. In spite of
some other worthy competitors for the title such as Chris Hadfield with his
inspirational time spent as commander of the International Space Station, Alice
Monro winning a Nobel Prize in Literature, or Christy Clark’s amazing victory
in the B.C. election, in spite of all of these honorable mentions the Canadian
Press still cast 63% of their votes behind Ford as the story of the year (For
others, he is simply the story that won’t go away.) Ford just simply seemed to
be a one man news cycle during the closing months of 2013, and has even
provided fodder for the various Late Night Comedians on American television.
His crack smoking, drunken stupor and use of graphic sexual language on live
television was simply too much for the Canadian Press to ignore. For some, Ford
is a fine example of the common man (which I have to admit I find a bit
depressing.) For others, Ford is a Canadian embarrassment that can’t go away
too soon.
But the Ford
case, and the divide in public opinion concerning him reveals a possible deeper
issue for the Canadian psyche. And really the problem is not in the news cycle,
but in the Rob Ford cycle that has kept the news cycle going. Consider the
seemingly endless repeating of events. A new misbehaviour concerning the
Toronto Mayor is revealed. These are met almost immediately by denials and
proclamations of innocence on the part of Ford. And then come the Mayor’s wild-counter
charges and threats of law suits against various staffers and concerned
citizens. Following the lawsuit phase we then have a series of gaffs, these are
the moments that the Late Night comedians have fallen deeply in love with, again
committed by the Mayor. This sets us up for the final stage - a light sprinkling of apologies by Ford and
this serves as a signal to the rest of us to start preparing for the next event
in the cycle.
The problem
lies in the idea that no one is really looking for justice. I am not even sure
whether many of us would know what justice looks like in this case. However, if
this was really the common man, as many would like to claim that Ford is, I
think justice for them would look very different than justice currently seems
to look like with Ford. And maybe that is just because the next Ford Cycle has
not yet begun – maybe justice is coming, but it is waiting for the final reel.
Isaiah would
seem to the Canadian situation with the Toronto Mayor in mind as he writes these
words. “No one seems to be looking for justice, no one seems to be arguing then
case with integrity.” Integrity is definitely not found in a Mayor who appears
to lie about the things that he has done with the regularity that Ford has
maintained over the past few months. So Isaiah’s next phrase hits a little too
close to home – “They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies
…” And with these words Isaiah seems to sum up Ford news cycle. And Isaiah says
that that kind of behavior will only give birth to evil.
I do understand that there is a likability about Rob Ford, but I am
seriously concerned about the example that is being set. I am pretty sure that
there are a lot of “Ford wannabees” out there that are delighting in Rob Ford’s
misbehaviour for no other reason than that they feel that it justifies their
own behavioral misdeeds. And maybe for that reason alone we need to admit that
it is time to stop the “Ford Cycle.”
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah
60
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