Read on Twitter
"The truth is you're not quite real to me. And yes, I would kill you." https://twitter.com/wearenorth99/status/1134198687872225290
From this excerpt from "The Only Average Guy," which I've been ruminating about today.
When you read criminal sentencing cases it becomes pretty clear what Clayton Ruby means here.
(Ruby, not coincidentally, is one of Canada's foremost authorities on criminal sentencing.)
(Ruby, not coincidentally, is one of Canada's foremost authorities on criminal sentencing.)
I'm not diagnosing Doug Ford with a personality disorder, but if you think of him as a person who has a lot of trouble with the basic concept of empathy then a lot of things about him start to make sense.
The movies show us extremely intelligent psychopaths -- people who are master manipulators, brilliant at detecting and playing off other people's emotions and pretending to have emotions they lack.
Actual violent criminals with empathy deficits aren't necessarily like that.
Actual violent criminals with empathy deficits aren't necessarily like that.
Often they can't explain why they did what they did, or they genuinely don't understand why other people make such a big deal of it. Often they can't successfully mimic remorse, even when they're admitting their guilt.
Their mind-blindness is such that they actually can't figure out what people in the courtroom who have power over them will want them to do or say.
"After you hurt someone, people want you to say you're sorry" is beyond them on some profound level.
"After you hurt someone, people want you to say you're sorry" is beyond them on some profound level.
People have often attributed the Fords' distasteful behaviour to stupidity, lack of education or lack of "class". I don't think it's explained by any of those things.
Look at this example: casket selfies with strangers. https://twitter.com/DavidNickle/status/714520013395378180
Look at this example: casket selfies with strangers. https://twitter.com/DavidNickle/status/714520013395378180
Look at the grin on Doug Ford's face. People loved taking selfies with Rob. Now Rob is dead and people want to take selfies with Doug.
He's elated. https://twitter.com/DavidNickle/status/714520013395378180
He's elated. https://twitter.com/DavidNickle/status/714520013395378180
I genuinely don't think it occurred to him in that moment that people would expect him to be grieving his baby brother. That most people would automatically feel sad at a time like that. I think on some level it just does not compute.
And I don't think he understood that even people who don't love their siblings and wouldn't be broken up if they died (which is pretty common) would probably feel a certain revulsion at the idea of campaigning in the same room as a corpse.
"No one really cares, everyone is a selfish crook, people who think otherwise are naive or lying" is central to Trumpism/Putinism/post-truth politics, which is why the Fords are so good at that form of politics https://twitter.com/jgeady/status/1134236076200071168
If you don't recall (I didn't recall all the details), the Fords lied that Daniel Dale had been secretly taking pictures of Rob Ford's children and insinuated that he was a pedophile. Dale had to file a lawsuit to get them to stop. https://twitter.com/jgeady/status/1134236671044653058
It served their interests at the time to suggest that a reporter who wrote unflattering stories about them was a pedophile. It didn't matter that it wasn't true, or that he could lose his career or even be physically attacked if people believed it. Why would they care?
And why would anyone who wasn't Daniel Dale care if Daniel Dale got hurt for absolutely no reason? They aren't him. Downtown elites and their weird hangups.
Doug is capable of adhering to some social norms, but he's really not great at keeping the mask on. That's why the interview that's been passed around is so revealing. He straight up admits he only cares about people if he thinks he can get something from them (their votes).
And he says that very matter-of-factly. Isn't it obvious? That's how the world works. Why pretend otherwise?
He genuinely doesn't understand that other people don't think this way. Mind blindness.
He genuinely doesn't understand that other people don't think this way. Mind blindness.
"Hand in the public trough." He has total contempt for anyone who needs help and he certainly isn't going to help them. Why would he? Why would anyone?
Note how he twice claims that he hasn't really been booed at events; there was "one guy" doing a "little boo."
It's like Trump's inauguration crowd. We can all watch the footage and hear that more than one person booed. He doesn't feel the need to make his lies plausible...
It's like Trump's inauguration crowd. We can all watch the footage and hear that more than one person booed. He doesn't feel the need to make his lies plausible...
Partly as a demonstration of power, but partly, again, because other people aren't quite real to him. He can't really guess what might be going through our minds.
If "nothing is real but me", why shouldn't I create my own reality? Why shouldn't I take advantage of any opportunity I get?
(I can't remember but I think Rob was either AWOL on a bender or in rehab when this photo was taken; either way you can see how terribly worried Doug was)
(I can't remember but I think Rob was either AWOL on a bender or in rehab when this photo was taken; either way you can see how terribly worried Doug was)
In sort-of-kind-of-not-really conclusion, let me direct you to some of @AlexandraErin's threads on Trump, most of which could be applied to Doug Ford with minimal changes. https://twitter.com/AlexandraErin/status/829444949838028802
If I'm getting anything right here, I owe a lot to reading @AlexandraErin over the years.
This is why I think Doug is telling the truth when he says he doesn't drink/use drugs. He became the heir apparent because all his siblings were users: https://twitter.com/AlexandraErin/status/1044666614287945729
This is why I think Doug is telling the truth when he says he doesn't drink/use drugs. He became the heir apparent because all his siblings were users: https://twitter.com/AlexandraErin/status/1044666614287945729
Trump is more extreme in every way than Doug Ford (richer, more famous, more connected, more unwell mentally -- although Doug is almost 20 years younger than Trump, so give him time)
But they're still strikingly similar people https://twitter.com/AlexandraErin/status/918231427312996352
But they're still strikingly similar people https://twitter.com/AlexandraErin/status/918231427312996352
