Whoever is behind Ford is no doubt a high end propagandist. Even though the Toronto mayor has no real power, it is amazing how so many rules of fakeology and propaganda apply to him and his office.
The main purpose of a Rob Ford is to distract the taxpayer and councilors from any real business, like the restructuring of unaffordable public services. The third-worlding of wages has not hit the public sector (yet, if ever), so old style budget increases are still the rule rather than the exception.
The Rob Ford side show is a perfect distraction — and it works. Regular people would be well advised to study media fakery and deception techniques to get a better explanation of what is happening.
Factor one is the entrenchment in western culture of politics as a spectator sport. It’s been an American thing for decades — since actor Ronald Reagan became governor of California in 1967, followed generations later by pro wrestler Jesse Ventura in Minnesota in 1999 and action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger in California in 2003, cartoon-character candidates with off-the-scale name recognition have been tough to beat in single-candidate elections like a mayoralty race.