Tom Wants to Be Mayor

No, we're not talking about some new Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim spin-off on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim though we know such a show would be awesome!

In fact we're talking about a man deciding to run for mayor and who may very well be even more unelectable than Don Andrews is in Toronto when he runs for mayor:

White supremacist running for mayor

By PATRICK MALONEY, The London Free Press

Last Updated: September 8, 2010 9:43am

An avowed white supremacist who has called himself London's "biggest hater" is running for mayor.

Tomasz Winnicki joined the race Tuesday for the city's top political job, a move that likely holds little political significance for London but will no doubt shock many in the Forest City.

Winnicki's hate speech has been the frequent focus of Free Press reports in the past, and he's been at the forefront of the city's white supremacy movement.

He's appeared at rallies and loaded websites with profanity-laced diatribes about blacks, Jews, other non-whites and non-Christians.

Reached Tuesday night, Winnicki agreed he's a controversial figure.

"Controversial? Absolutely," he said. "(But) anything is controversial now.

Just about anything -- they say this guy's controversial, that guy's controversial.

"You can say that about anybody."

Winnicki, whose Wikipedia profile states he's 35, made dubious history in 2006 when he became the first white supremacist in Canada jailed for breaking a court order to stop posting hate messages online.

The controversy made Winnicki something of a hero to white supremacists across North America.

Winnicki served some time in jail before appealing the sentence.

Canada's human rights tribunal also ordered Winnicki to pay $11.500 in fines and compensation.

There are now 13 candidates for mayor, but observers have noted only two could be considered legitimate contenders: incumbent Anne Marie DeCicco-Best and ex-MP Joe Fontana.

Citizens have until this Friday to file nomination papers to run for mayor or in a ward.

E-mail patrick.maloney@sunmedia.ca, or follow patatLFPress on Twitter.

Sure, there are lots of people who are deemed controversial, but what Winnicki doesn't want to seem to accept is that there's sort of a sliding scale of controversy. For example, in a country that cherishes our particular brand of health care (warts and all), a politician coming out in favor of a, "for profit" system would be deemed controversial in Canada and might have difficulty attracting votes in some parts of the country (though that person might be supported in other parts of the nation). While we wouldn't support such a policy, to make such a policy statement isn't light years away from mainstream political discourse. However, if you believe in deporting non-White Canadians for no other reason than their ethnicity, believe, support and perpetuate anti-Semitic hatred, publicly claimed that men are inherently more intelligent than women, well... you're sort of what we would call a fringe candidate here.
But perhaps we're being too hard on Winnicki. Maybe he has some legitimate ideas worthy of consideration:

Uhm, we're not sure that creating a shadow currency is really in the mandate of municipal government.
Oh, and that's right. It's because they want to censor comments made by your supporters that none were showing up. Yes, that has to be the answer, though we note that you having posted the link on VNN has allowed for your buddies to post their views. Too bad they can't vote.
Oh, how we would LOVE to attend the all candidates' forum!