Rob Ford Just Stopped Being Funny

Everyone's (Or at least Jon Stewart and his writing team's) favorite Chris Farley tribute band, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has put on quite a show over the past few months.

I've not written about him, because I had nothing to add that The Daily Show has already covered.

Well, we now have credible reports that he was beating his wife:

New details from a months-old police report revealed on Friday indicated that Mayor Rob Ford's wife, Renata, displayed bruises indicative of domestic violence and was possibly inebriated, according to a Toronto Star story published by columnist Rosie DiManno.

"The mayor's wife was slurring her words and belligerent with the driver. She either refused to pay the fare or did not have the money," DiManno wrote. "Their argument became so heated that the cabbie called for police assistance." The columnist said the incident occurred "nearly a year ago" and began with a dispute between Renata Ford and a cab driver outside her parents' home.

When police arrived, DiManno wrote that they "observed that Mrs. Ford appeared to have bruising on her limbs."

"When asked about it, she refused to say how the injuries had been suffered. She was, in fact, too incoherent to say much of anything -- either inebriated or on drugs," explained DiManno.

According to DiManno, no one was charged after the argument between Renata Ford and the driver. However, DiManno said police "tried following up" with Renata Ford afterward because they were concerned "domestic abuse may be involved." DiManno described Renata Ford as having been "not cooperative" with the police.

This is not the first time there have been questions about domestic violence in the Ford household. In 2008, Ford, then a member of the City Council, was charged with assault and making a death threat against his wife. Those charges were dropped after prosecutors found inconsistencies in Renata Ford's allegations that they said raised "credibility issues."

The Toronto Star has pulled the story, saying that it wasn't ready for release, but is serves to reinforce something we should all be aware of when we are tempted to make jokes: There are people who are collateral damage to this sort of bullsh%$, and I am not referring to the embarrassment suffered by the citizens of Toronto.

I'm no particularly surprised by this.  Ford is a product of the sort of nihilistic self-destructive hostile populism that was detailed in Mark Ames' magnificent essay, Spite the Vote.

What he is, and what he does, is not motivated by a desire to fix things, but by a hatred by the other, which in his case are mass transit users and bicyclists. (?!?)

It is an illustration of the old Chinese adage, "If you are out for revenge, dig two graves.

Here is Jon Stewart is weighing in on the distinguished Mr. Ford: