Rob Ford’s mouth has landed him in trouble again. This time, the mayor likened five political rivals on council to dictator Joseph Stalin.
Speaking on the John Oakley show, Ford told the AM640 host that certain councillors are “two-steps left of Joe Stalin.â€
…
When asked his thoughts on being compared to a man who killed twice as many people as Adolf Hitler, Matlow shook his head and said: “Nah. I’ll leave it.â€
Another day in the life of Toronto’s right-wing mayor Rob Ford, who’s gone on similar tirades against the homeless, homosexuals, cyclists and Asians.
What was also disappointing to read were the newspaper’s descriptions of the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin’s crimes that were rife with errors:
Stalin ruled Russia’s Soviet Union for a quarter of a century. His push for rapid industrialization, state-run agriculture, and political ruthlessness lead to the deaths of millions. Under Stalin, thousands of his political enemies were executed and millions were sent to forced labour camps.
The USSR is not Russia, but was rather made up of 15 Soviet Republics during its reign of terror:
Historians believe millions of Russians were executed or starved to death under the Russian dictator’s rule.
Millions of non-Russians in the Soviet Union were murdered under Stalin as well. A notable example of course being the 7-10 million Ukrainians during the Holodomor in 1932-33.
The right-leaning media outlets in Toronto like the Toronto Sun and Newstalk 1010 didn’t even bother to provide any background to who Joseph Stalin was, presumably because of their special relationship with the mayor. Sadly, comparing trivial politics to the dictatorship has been occurring more and more recently.
“The USSR is not Russia, but was rather made up of 15 Soviet Republics during its reign of terror”
– I have to keep reminding people that equating the Soviet Union with Russia is not only wrong but offensive.
I asked my students who won World War II, and they collectively answered, “The Russians!” So I had to tell them about my Ukrainian grandfather who fought in the war, was wounded twice, and wrote our last name on the walls of Reichstag in May of 1945.