Sometimes, an event happens which can only be described as an achievement in stupidity. It's an occurrence that reaches a certain height of bad decision making, a teaching moment which can be used for generations to as how a succession of wrong decisions can lead to great embarrassment, at a bare minimum.
So it is that Rob Ford's brief dalliance with crack cocaine will go down in history. It's an event notable largely because it shows a man who somehow, at every juncture, made the wrong choice, and then expressed a steadfast refusal to actually deal with the consequences. It's a virtuoso performance in outright ineptitude, it's kind of amazing that the men behind it could become so prominent in the fine city of Toronto.
Problem one, by Ford's own admission, it happened during one of his drunken stupors. That he got drunk enough to be in a stupor was probably a bad choice for a man who is connected with the nation's largest city. That he admits to having multiple drunken stupors indicates there might actually be a serious problem. I'm not going to get on someone for being drunk, just that it might not be a great idea for a major public figure to get too drunk, too often, with people who have hard drugs on hand.
Problem two, he was drunk enough to think smoking crack cocaine was a good idea. I have been so drunk I could barely stand, but even then if someone offered me crack I would have turned it down. I don't know how drunk I would have to be to think crack cocaine was a good idea, but I haven't reached that point in my life, and now that I'm older and wiser than high school I likely never will. I am also not the mayor of a major city, which seems like it should reinforce that your actions are public, and one should avoid doing particularly stupid ones. Yet, he has now admitted to smoking crack, which is one of those things that one should probably avoid if they are in the public eye.
Ford has said what has happened was in the past, and he wants to apologize and move on. The problem is that the deed is in the very recent past, and the fact that he actually thought it was an idea worth pursuing puts all of his decisions and actions into doubt. You really cannot respect someone who, as mayor, decides smoking crack is a great idea that could not possibly go wrong.
That isn't problem three, however, because problem three involves his brother. Enter Doug Ford, who is on Toronto's city council, and who has decided to call for the police chief's resignation because he might be biased. Yes, he's calling for someone's resignation because that person is doing their job, investigating allegations that his brother did something so monumentally stupid that it is getting international attention. That's bold, and frankly, it only makes the mayor look like more of a laughing stock. The Ford brothers have conspired to make the entire city of Toronto the shame of Canada, because of a situation that could have been easily avoided by anyone with any sense.
What can we learn from this? We can learn that we need to consider our decision making. Ask yourself what Rob Ford would do, and do the opposite, he clearly doesn't know what he's doing.
