Archive for October 2010

His name is Pantalone (not Pants) & I’ll vote for him.

I’m not sure if this is a problem of social myopia (birds of a feather flocking together) but it seems I both keep hearing & reading that people want to vote for Joe Pantalone but feel that’s it’s a wasted vote. (I myself expressed as much in my last blog posting a week ago). Thus, everyone who’d like to vote for him is now of the mind to vote strategically. I write this because I’m now under the impression that maybe there’s a silent majority of people out there who favor him but who are being frightened into voting for his rivals.

It doesn’t help that the Globe and Mail “guardedly” endorses Smitherman while only mentioning Pantalone once in it’s 800word endorsement. The context is notable:

Mr. Fords […] is an instinctual person, lacking in analysis, and his plans have gaps and inconsistencies. His propensity to impetuous words and deeds could be embarrassing and possibly harmful to Toronto. Nonetheless, the surge in support for a man with these characteristics, in a sophisticated, cosmopolitan city, amounts to an extraordinary indictment of the status quo. It is a phenomenon that all Toronto’s politicians must take seriously; Mr. Smitherman has already repositioned himself, shifting on the ideological spectrum from where he probably would like to be. Where Mr. Ford is unrealistic, Mr. Smitherman is vague. The risk in supporting Mr. Ford is what he might do as mayor, the risk in supporting Mr. Smitherman is what he might not do. The latter of the two has failed to articulate a vision or a strategy of his own, and he could easily end up as a second David Miller – what Joe Pantalone, the third candidate, openly promises to be.

I resent the idea that I need to fear either rival, and that I should vote for Smitherman for any reason not of my choosing. I resent the media casting this (and thus skewing the pole results) as a two-person race. I resent the blackmail that a vote for Pantalone is an indirect vote for someone who is “potentially embarrassing and harmful”.

I’m going to vote for Pantalone. If Ford wins, at least we’ll have a shake-up of the status quo. If Smitherman wins, well, at least he’s not Ford. If Pantalone wins, well, at least we might finally get bike lanes and continued marginal improvements in TTC outpaced by increased fares.

Why my vote for Rob Ford would be an anti-Ford vote

For those not in Toronto: In the latest Toronto mayoralty-election news, Rocco Rossi dropped out last night, October 13th, leaving it (as the papers would have it) a contest between Rob Ford and George Smitherman. Rob Ford is considered to be an oaf, and George Smitherman was once deputy-premier of the province. Neglected from this assessment is the presence of Joe Pantalone, who quipped in a recent debate, to Smitherman, “the mayoralty is not a consolation prize for failing to become premier”

Officially, there are 40 people running for Mayor with two officially withdrawn. With the exception of the above named, the remaining 35 are considered unserious novelty candidates. Joe Pantalone has been deputy mayor under departing David Miller, and is running on his legacy.

My Facebook feed is representatives of his fan base: numerous calls stating Toronto needs pants and the like. Pants pants pants. Along with William Gibson’s latest novel, ‘tis the season for pants.

Pantalone has become the traditional NDP third party candidate who won’t and can’t win. He’s polling (Oct 13 Globe & Mail) at 11%, which is traditional NDP territory. He’ll drain votes away from the anti-Ford Smitherman and Ford will be Mayor.

However, according to the same poll, Smitherman is up 1% against Ford at 31% to 30%. Pantalone supporters – this is a given – would never vote for Ford, thus if their vote went to Smitherman, he’d win by a hefty margin: 42% against 30%.

Needless to say, our democracy is a sham, sense these numbers don’t even cross over 50%.

It’s interesting how this vote is being framed by the media as a contest between Smitherman and Ford, continually neglecting Pantalone. By keeping that narrative alive, the illusion of a contest between S&F can be maintained. The media is itself a type of conservative, conserving the narratives it has on hand; their familiarity with Smitherman as an Ontario cabinet minister means he is given favorable attention despite his admitted past-addiction to “party drugs” (coke?) and his inept handling of the eHealth portfolio, in which $1,000,000,000 dollars went missing.

I’ve only voted Conservative once in my life, during my first Federal election in 1993. At that time, I was naive enough to vote C merely because I liked the fact that we had a female Prime Minister in Kim Campbell. She famously lost to Jean Chretien, and Chretien went on to govern for ten years. In those interim elections, I began to vote for the NDP, a trend which continued right up to the last election.

Given that I have never voted for the party or candidate who ends up winning, I’m considering using this juju against Rob Ford by voting for him. My vote for Ford would thus be an anti-Ford vote.

If I voted my conscience and for the candidate who mostly represents my views, I’d join my Facebook peers and vote for Joe Pantalone, thus guaranteeing he won’t win.

An 18th Century Staple

Three weeks ago I bought a packet of receipts dated to April 1799 at a flew market. They were held together by what we’d call a finishing nail.

Henry VIII’s armour

I don’t usually do the tourist pose, but in this case I indulged. Partially because before seeing this at the Met at the end of June, I’d been watching David Starkey’s Henry: Mind of a Tyrant on TVO (which is available on iTunes). Seeing the armour made the history and the man (especially his kingly size) tangible.>