Toronto's crack-smoking mayor, covered in the style of foreign affairs

WashPo's Max Fisher reports on Toronto's crack-smoking Mayor Rob "Laughable Bumblefuck" Ford, using the conventions of the western press when it reports on poor countries. Here's part of the lede: "In a country where dissent is limited by traditional mores, the transgression has sparked rare public outrage and raised concerns about the stability of the Canadian regime."

Canada's political system is a complex and often inscrutable web of legislative bodies, executive offices and deeply entrenched local officials like Ford. Though it is nominally democratic, analysts warn that elections here can be "volatile."

The country's government is officially overseen by an ancient monarchy located thousands of miles away. The system's contradictions are a reminder that, though colonialism ended long ago in most of the world, this colony has yet to fully throw off its European overlords.

Worsening fears of instability, Toronto is mere hours from the strife-torn province of Quebec, which has been marked by decades of political unrest and separatist movements.

Canadian regime roiled by provincial scandal, sparking fears of instability