Rob Ford plans to host online show
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and his brother say they will host an online show so they can take their message straight to “Ford Nation,” the term they use for the embattled mayor’s conservative suburban supporters.
Doug Ford, a city councilor, told the Associated Press on Friday that the show is meant to “get their message out and not have that message be twisted by the media.” After the mayor admitted to smoking crack in a “drunken stupor” and refused to resign, Toronto’s City Council has stripped him of most of his powers. Rob Ford said he has “declared war” on the council.
The new online show follows last week’s airing of a single episode of a TV talk show hosted by the Fords that premiered on Sun News Network before it was canceled. Network executives said “Ford Nation” was the highest-rated program ever on the 2-year-old cable channel, but said it was too costly to make.
The Fords co-hosted the hourlong TV program. The mayor used much of the prerecorded program to defend himself and talk about his re-election bid next year. Doug Ford said the new self-funded online series, also to be called “Ford Nation,” will be uploaded to YouTube before Christmas.
Kids may influence move, Obama says
Sasha Obama could be the deciding factor in whether her father stays in Washington after he leaves office. President Barack Obama told ABC News in a taped interview that his now 12-year-old daughter “will have a big vote in where we are.”
When Obama leaves office in January 2017 after two terms, eldest daughter Malia could be off in college and Sasha will be a sophomore in high school. Both girls attend the exclusive Sidwell Friends School in northwest Washington.
Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, have to make sure Sasha is doing well until she goes off to college.
He suggested that no decisions have been made. But he did hint that tearing Sasha away from her friends might be asking too much, saying his wife and daughters already have made “a lot of sacrifices on behalf of my cockamamie ideas, the running for office and things.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. is 95. Actor Robert Guillaume is 86. Radio talk show host G. Gordon Liddy is 83. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 61. Singer Billy Idol is 58. Actor-director Ben Stiller is 48. Actress Sandra Oh is 43. Singer Clay Aiken is 35. Actress Elisha Cuthbert is 31. Actress Kaley Cuoco is 28.