Oh, what a difference a month makes! Ford up, Wynne down

Wasn't it only about a month ago that the Editorial Board of the Toronto Star were walking the halls of One Yonge Street with semen stains on their trousers, a result of their turgid excitement at the anticipated demise of Toronto's fiscally conservative mayor, Rob Ford?

The Kool-Aid they were drinking must have tasted as if it were spiked with ambrosia as they basked in certainty that unproven allegations by a tabloid website and two Toronto Star reporters of the existence of a video, purporting to show the mayor smoking crack cocaine, would spell a sudden end to Ford's term of office.

The Star was trying to invoke a politician they idolized, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, to accelerate Ford's removal and even got her to imply that she might take extraordinary measures to help remove him.

Repeated shots at Ford by the liberal media and the left beholden to entrenched special interests had failed to hit their mark. A law suit had Ford ordered removed from office for an insignificant matter related to funds he raised for charity on city letterhead, only to see that reversed on appeal. They failed in other attempts at proving a conflict of interest in which Ford acted not for himself, but in the interests of the city. But this time, there was no way they could lose!

How could the prissy conservative base of Ford Nation not finally turn their collective back in revulsion at the thought of Ford smoking drugs!?

Then some funny things happened. The first thing to deflate the angry leftist nabobs was the outrageous revelation that at least half the city thought the Toronto Star reporters were lying.

Then add to that the inconceivable shock that even in the event that Ford had been smoking crack, his support base didn't seem to care very much.

Then, leaving egg on the faces of the mob of Ford haters, the video never materialized, even after $100,000 was amassed to pay the drug dealers who supposedly possessed the mythical beast.

Amid all that, Ford's approval rating actually went up.

Accused child pornographer Ben Levin with Kathleen Wynne and Justin Trudeau
less than two weeks ago

Now, to the dismay of Ontario's Liberal establishment, there's a new sort of licentious stain that needs to be scrubbed off them. This week, one of Kathleen Wynne's closest advisors and colleagues has been arrested on an array of charges related to child pornography.  Ben Levin was Deputy Minister of Education during almost the entire time Wynne held that portfolio as Minister. He was instrumental in their attempt to introduce a controversial Sex Education curriculum that met widespread condemnation for exposing young, pre-pubescent children at an inappropriate age to graphically sexual material.

The charges against Levin are before the courts and unproven. Even so, it does not look good for someone who was once the current Premier's top man, who along with her was pushing for kids to be exposed to sex at an early age, to potentially have an insidious motive for sexualizing children.

Add to that new revelations about the Ontario Liberal government's lying about information related to their politically-motivated cancellation of two gas plants which effectively stole half a billion dollars from the province's taxpayers.

Suddenly, Rob Ford, who had 15,000 people turn out to support him at his Ford Fest in Scarborough last weekend, is in the driver's seat. He is pushing forward with a proposal to extend subways to Scarborough, and with the Liberals facing a handful of impending by-elections, Wynne is sheepishly following his lead, fearful of antagonizing voters in ridings she hopes to maintain for her party.

The beauty of democracy is that governments need the consent of the governed. Deceptive media outlets  like to pretend that they are the arbiters of that consent, but even unscrupulous politicians, like so many in government at Queen's Park, know which way the wind is blowing. Lacking Ford's conviction and his interest in serving his constituents more than party interests, it's no surprise that it is Ontario's Premier and not Toronto's mayor who has been forced to bend.

UPDATE (11/7/13 3:56 pm) : A Rob Ford crack video has finally materialized!