Whoever came up with the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" was a damn fool. For what can we actually glean from the photo of Toronto mayor Rob Ford and former mayoral candidate Sara Thomson at an event in Toronto last Thursday night? From my view, just two benign bits of information:
1. Ford's shirt is stained.
2. Thomson is smiling, widely.
Now, we can attempt to extrapolate from these bare details if we please -- Ford's shirt is dirty because in his drunken state, as alleged by Thomson, he spilled something on himself; Thomson's smiling countenance is hiding anger and shock and pain after being groped and propositioned, as the Toronto Star's Heather Mallick has suggested.
Then again, maybe Ford, who is:
not the most graceful of creatures
at the best of times, merely knocked over a harmless glass of water by accident. And perhaps Thomson's smile reflects a mischievous scheme she's been concocting in her head to accuse Ford of sexual and verbal assault just as soon as she could log on to Facebook and attach said photo.
It should go without saying that Thomson's allegations must be investigated -- even though she herself has bizarrely refused to press charges thus far. Sexual assault is always a contemptible offence, and should be punished harshly, but it is more so when the accused represents an entire city of people. If Ford did indeed grab Thomson's buttocks, he must be prosecuted and removed from his job. And if Thomson has made up the whole thing -- to add fuel to her next mayoral campaign or simply to frame her former opponent -- her political career will be ruined and she might very well be fired from her job. She has a lot to lose here, too.
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Yoni Goldstein: If Thomson Was Groped, Why Not Press Charges?
1. Ford's shirt is stained.
2. Thomson is smiling, widely.
Now, we can attempt to extrapolate from these bare details if we please -- Ford's shirt is dirty because in his drunken state, as alleged by Thomson, he spilled something on himself; Thomson's smiling countenance is hiding anger and shock and pain after being groped and propositioned, as the Toronto Star's Heather Mallick has suggested.
Then again, maybe Ford, who is:
not the most graceful of creatures
at the best of times, merely knocked over a harmless glass of water by accident. And perhaps Thomson's smile reflects a mischievous scheme she's been concocting in her head to accuse Ford of sexual and verbal assault just as soon as she could log on to Facebook and attach said photo.
It should go without saying that Thomson's allegations must be investigated -- even though she herself has bizarrely refused to press charges thus far. Sexual assault is always a contemptible offence, and should be punished harshly, but it is more so when the accused represents an entire city of people. If Ford did indeed grab Thomson's buttocks, he must be prosecuted and removed from his job. And if Thomson has made up the whole thing -- to add fuel to her next mayoral campaign or simply to frame her former opponent -- her political career will be ruined and she might very well be fired from her job. She has a lot to lose here, too.
more
Yoni Goldstein: If Thomson Was Groped, Why Not Press Charges?