Farewell to the Big Bonus

 A lot of people may are whooping it up over the removal of Rob Ford from the mayor’s office, but not me.

I measure politicians in terms of their entertainment value. Hell, anybody can be a mayor, or even prime minister. Harper has never embarrassed us, but he is a drip.

 But nobody in all of North America – maybe even the world - can touch Ford as a side show. Name one elected official who is more breathtaking, day in and day out.

I sometimes refer to him in my blog as the Big Bonus, in recognition of his abilities, but I must credit NewsTalk 1010 radio host John Tory for blessing me with the term.

Ford was briefly in hospital a while back. On the day he got out, Tory interviewed his brother Doug about the mayor’s health. When Tory asked Doug about how Rob was doing, Doug said, he’s right here, you can talk to him yourself.

After the interview was over, Tory told his listeners that it was a “big bonus” to get the mayor himself on the phone, when the interview was supposed to be with his brother.

The phrase washed over me like warm water. I thought, you really said a mouthful, John.

Ford could stick around for quite a while, as the appeal process plays out, which is fine with me. I bet it’ll be fun.

If there’s a silver lining in all this, it is the abrupt resignation of George Mammoliti from Ford’s executive committee, saying his constituents demanded he step down.

Huh? Did the phones light up with callers to Mammoliti’s office, demanding he distance himself from Ford, or the committee?

Or is Mammoliti already positioning himself for another run at the mayor’s chair (he was briefly a candidate in 2010) and thinks he needs to step down from the executive to commence hid campaign?

George is a self-important clown and has great potential as a not-so-Big Bonus. I’m rooting for him.