As far as basehead mayor memorabilia goes, the tie Rob Ford wore when he admitted to smoking crack cocaine is hardly a museum piece. It is, however, something you can actually buy and own, one of several personal items Ford put on eBay Wednesday night. 
 
 Under the less-than-inspired handle "torontorobford," the former mayor also put some moose print jammie pants, a size 4XL football jersey and a poster that looks like it came from Spencer's Gifts up for auction. 
 
 Each item, it seems, has a special connection to the Ford administration. The listing for the pants, for instance, boasts, "These are the print patterned pants that Councillor Rob Ford was seen wearing on a shopping trip to Wal-Mart." 
 
 But caveat emptor, eager Rob Ford collectors: torontorobford currently has a feedback score of 0. 
 
 [Image via eBay//h/t Mediaite] ||||| Rob Ford, Toronto's conservative mayor, is a wild lunatic given to making bizarre racist pronouncements and randomly slapping refrigerator magnets on cars. One reason for this is that he smokes crack cocaine. I know this because I watched him do it, on a videotape. He was fucking hiiiiigh. It's for sale if you've got six figures. 
 
 It began like this: We've made fun of Ford before for his bizarre pronouncements and nude pictures. Last week, we got a tip from someone claiming to have a videotape of Ford smoking crack. Would we like to buy it? 
 
 Update: Go here to contribute to the Rob Ford Crackstarter. We are crowdsourcing $200,000 to buy and publish the video. 
 
 The tipster made the following claims: 
 
 • Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smokes crack cocaine. 
 
 • There is a video of Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine, taken within the last six months. 
 
 • Rob Ford purchases his crack cocaine from a crew of Toronto drug dealers that service a veritable who's who of A-list...Torontonians? Torontites? Anyway, a lot of prominent people in Toronto purchase and enjoy crack and powder cocaine, and they all buy it from the same folks. The same folks Ford buys it from. Ford's longtime friend, people on his staff, his brother, a prominent hockey analyst, and more. 
 
 As evidence of his claims, our tipster provided the photo above. It shows Ford hanging out with a number of people. The gentleman standing to his right, flipping the camera the bird, is Anthony Smith. Smith, a 21-year-old college student, was killed two months ago outside a Toronto nightclub in a gangland-style shooting. A photo, from a CBC story on his murder, is at left. Smith was, according to our tipster, a kid from the same neighborhood as the dealers who service Ford, and the photo was taken while Ford was going to the neighborhood to purchase and smoke crack cocaine. 
 
 If you're curious about the photo's veracity, at left is another photo, from the National Post, of Ford wearing the same sweatshirt. 
 
 Needless to say, the story intrigued me. I asked the tipster for a screengrab of the video to verify that he had what he claimed to have. He refused. If I wanted to see the video, I was going to have to go to Toronto. He sounded confident enough. Certain things that he told me checked out. So off I went. 
 
 Toronto is lovely. Our first effort to meet up, at a Toronto bus station at night, fizzled. The tipster was there, but the person who actually had possession of the video was a no-show. The tipster and I retired to a coffee shop to talk Toronto politics and Rob Ford's curious history—his rise as a sort of oddly drunken, brazenly honest conservative voice in a decidedly liberal and polite city. It was a nice night, but I was beginning to worry I'd been had. 
 
 The next morning, I connected again with the tipster. He was going to locate the owner of the video, he told me. Last night, there had been a mix-up. The video was being stored in a safe place, but the person who had access to the safe place had briefly disappeared, and so the owner couldn't get access to the safe place to get the device on which the video was stored. By the morning, however, the tipster and the owner had located the person who had access to the safe place. This was going to happen. 
 
 Checkout time was at noon. My flight was at 7:30 p.m. I loitered around downtown Toronto, checking out the mall, until I got the text: We were to meet up at a chain restaurant near the airport. The tipster picked me up from the restaurant and drove me to a housing development. The owner of the video would meet us there. 
 
 We sit idling in his car, making small talk. The tipster calls the owner and talks in language other than English. "He'll be right down," he says. Fifteen minutes pass. "Waiting for the elevator," he says. Ten minutes pass. A young gentleman opens the rear door of the car and gets in. The two men speak in a language other than English. The young gentleman immediately exits the vehicle. No video. 
 
 The tipster looks at me: "The battery is dead." The young gentleman—the owner of the video—needed to go back upstairs to charge the battery on the device that contained the video. We wait. More small talk. 
 
 The owner of the video returns. He thrusts a device, a phone with a touchscreen, in my face. "Can I hold it?" I ask. 
 
 "No." 
 
 I crane my neck. It plays. 
 
 Here is what the video shows: Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, is the only person visible in the frame. Prior to the trip, I spent a lot of time looking at photographs of Rob Ford. The man in the video is Rob Ford. It is well-lit, clear. Ford is seated, in a room in a house. In one hand is a a clear, glass pipe. The kind with a big globe and two glass cylinders sticking out of it. In the other hand is a lighter. A slurred voice off-camera is ranting about Canadian politics in what sounds like an attempt to goad Ford. "Pierre Trudeau was a faggot!" is the one phrase the lodges in my mind. Ford, pipe in one hand and lighter in the other, is laughing, and mildly protesting at the sacrilege. He seems to keep trying to light the pipe, but keeps stopping to laugh. He is red-faced and sweaty, heaving with each breath. Finally, he finds his moment and lights up. He inhales. 
 
 Update: The Toronto Star, whose reporters have also seen the video, say that it's Justin Trudeau—Pierre's son and the leader of the Liberal Party in Canada—and not Pierre getting called a "faggot." It's hard to keep all these Canadians apart. The Star also has Ford himself, and not the voice off-screen, making the "faggot" remark, though that's not how I remember it. 
 
 In one move, the owner stops the video and draws the device back into his pocket. 
 
 "You took this?" I ask. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "When?" 
 
 "Within the last six months." 
 
 "You're sure it's crack?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "You've seen him smoke crack before?" 
 
 "Yes. Gotta jet." 
 
 And he is gone. 
 
 So: That was a video of the mayor of Toronto smoking crack. The trouble is, the owner wants money. More money than I am willing to pay. The tipster has already reached out to one other news outlet, a Canadian organization that he refused to name, which offered $40,000. The owner rejected that. He thinks he can get six figures. It's unlikely he's going to get six figures. 
 
 But I am going to try. The tipster wants this video out. Rob Ford needs to be held to account. The owner just wants money—preferably enough to get out of town after this blows up, since he doesn't think it will be safe for him. The tipster and I both fear that the owner will try to sell the video back to Ford. That would be a shame. 
 
 So if Gawker can't come up with enough money to ring this owner's bell, perhaps we can find a partner. This isn't just the mayor of Toronto smoking crack cocaine, after all: This is Toronto Confidential. There are a host of important local officials wrapped up in this drug ring. 60 Minutes? No. Dateline NBC? No. Inside Edition? No. National Enquirer? No. CNN? Maybe! 
 
 Well, no. But when I emailed an acquaintance at CNN this afternoon, laying out much the same information I've offered above and asking for discretion and confidentiality lest we screw up a pretty fucking great story about the mayor of the fifth-largest city in North America smoking crack cocaine on camera, he forwarded the email to his producer. The producer, in turn, asked CNN's Canada reporter about it. The Canada reporter—and this was a pretty fucking big mistake—called a source who used to work in Ford's office. Within 40 minutes, word had gotten back to me that "CNN called Ford's office asking about a crack tape." 
 
 And so here we are. The owner still hasn't found a buyer with pockets deep enough to meet his demands. But word is out around Toronto now that the tape exist, and Ford's circle knows about it courtesy a CNN reporter. So, with permission, I am laying out everything I know about the Rob Ford Crack Tape in the hopes that a) everyone knows that Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, smokes crack, and b) this knowledge might hasten the arrival of the Rob Ford Crack Tape on the internet or broadcast television, because really, it is something to behold. 
 
 If you want to buy it, let me know. I can put you in touch with a guy. 
 
 Ford's office did not immediately respond to an email. 
 
 Update: We've received an email from Dennis Morris, a gentleman with a hotmail.com email address purporting to be Ford's attorney. Here is the message. We haven't corrected its formatting. 
 
 Greetings;I am a lawyer,and have been contacted by Mayor Ford's office in reference to your indicating you will post a photo of Mayor Ford smoking crack cocaine. Mayor Ford denies such took place,and if such posting occurs,it is false and defamatory,and you will be held legally accountable.In reference to the photo,you wish to publish, Mayor Ford has his photo taken daily,sometimes with others. If the person you mention is now deceased,it is sad,regardless of his alleged background. Please govern yourself accordingly. Dennis Morris. 
 
 To contact the author of this post, email john@gawker.com. 
 
 [Images via National Post and CBC] ||||| Cries of "shame" rose up as Toronto Mayor Rob Ford walked up to the podium to honor war veterans. One World War II veteran refused to shake his hand, calling him a "druggie." Unfazed, Ford declared moments later, "I'm not going anywhere," as calls to take a leave of absence swirl around the embattled mayor. The next day, he was signing bobblehead dolls of himself at City Hall to raise money for charity. 
 
 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford holds a Rob Ford bobblehead doll at Toronto city hall on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. Up to 300 people lined up at City Hall Tuesday to buy the "Robbie Bobbie" dolls for $20 each, with... (Associated Press) 
 
 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford speaks during a press conference to advocate relief for the people in the Philippines affected by Typhoon Haiyan, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013 in Toronto. A defiant Toronto Mayor Rob... (Associated Press) 
 
 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford autographs a bobblehead doll in his likeness Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, at city hall in Toronto. Hundreds of people lined up to be the first to own the bobblehead doll. The defiant... (Associated Press) 
 
 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford poses with a bobblehead doll in his likeness Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, at city hall in Toronto. Hundreds of people lined up to be the first to own the bobblehead doll. The defiant... (Associated Press) 
 
 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, right, autographs a bobblehead doll in his likeness Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, at city hall in Toronto. Hundreds of people lined up to be the first to own the bobblehead doll. The... (Associated Press) 
 
 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford speaks during a press conference to advocate relief for the people in the Philippines affected by Typhoon Haiyan, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013 in Toronto. A defiant Toronto Mayor Rob... (Associated Press) 
 
 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford speaks during a press conference to advocate relief for the people in the Philippines affected by Typhoon Haiyan, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013 in Toronto. A defiant Toronto Mayor Rob... (Associated Press) 
 
 Ford's refusal to resign over his admitted drug use has confounded Toronto's City Council. Allies and opponents alike agree that a stream of revelations of the mayor's erratic behavior _ from smoking crack cocaine in a "drunken stupor" to threatening to kill someone in a videotaped tirade _ has consumed Toronto's politics and has impacted the City Council's ability to tackle other challenges. 
 
 But with no clear legal path to force him out, the 44-member City Council is grasping for ways to shunt the larger-than-life leader aside and govern without him until next year's municipal elections. 
 
 It is an unprecedented effort but in some ways, it may not be a stretch. Toronto's mayor already has limited powers compared to the mayors of many large cities in the United States. He is just one voting member in the council and his power stems mostly from his ability, as the only councilor elected by citywide vote, to build consensus and set the agenda. That authority, many council members say, has evaporated in the crack scandal. 
 
 "We really just have to build a box around the mayor so we can get work done," said councilor John Filion, who has introduced one of two motions in the council designed to isolate Ford. 
 
 The first motion, which goes to a vote Wednesday, would call on Ford to take a leave of absence, apologize to Toronto residents for misleading them and cooperate with police. If he refuses, the council would ask the province of Ontario to pass legislation to remove the mayor from office. 
 
 The City Council has no authority itself to oust Ford because he has not been convicted of a crime. Toronto police said last month they had obtained a long-sought video of Ford apparently smoking from a crack pipe but that it does not constitute enough evidence to charge him. 
 
 The motion was introduced by City Councilor Denzil Minnan-Wong, who had been a supporter of the conservative Ford's policies since the mayor took office three years ago, riding a backlash from suburbanites who felt alienated by what they deemed Toronto's downtown-centric, liberal-dominated politics. 
 
 In an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail, Minnan-Wong said he had been encouraged by Ford's election "because we shared the same policy aims: frugal government, working to eliminate waste, contracting out work where it made sense, and respect for the tax dollars of Torontonians." 
 
 "No longer can he set an agenda for council or build a consensus among its members," wrote Minnan-Wong, who is on Ford's executive committee. "No longer is there confidence in his judgment. Rightly or wrongly, Mr. Ford has lost the moral authority to lead." 
 
 News reports of the crack video's existence first surfaced in May, but it has not been released publicly. 
 
 After police announced they had the video, Ford confessed that he smoked crack last year while drunk and apologized. But he insisted he is not addicted to drugs and does not need rehab. He says he is ready to make his case before the increasingly hostile City Council. 
 
 "It's going to be rumble in the jungle tomorrow," Ford said Tuesday, as he autographed a "Robbie Bobbie" bobblehead doll at City Hall. 
 
 Despite the growing cries for Ford to go, the motion is unlikely to pass. Many councilors are loath to ask Ontario's provincial government to intervene in Toronto's municipal affairs, fearing it would set a dangerous precedent. Provincial government officials have publicly expressed reluctance to do so. 
 
 Another proposed motion would curtail Ford's powers, suspending his authority to appoint and dismiss the deputy mayor and his executive committee, which runs the budget process. It likely won't be debated until December because of the council's procedural rules. 
 
 Filion, the councilor who introduced that motion, said the idea is to prevent Ford from firing executive committee members _ such as Minnan-Wong _ who speak out against him. Councilors are also considering stripping Ford's authority to set the City Council's agenda, said Councilor Adam Vaughan, who opposes getting the province involved. 
 
 "We will shun him, curtail his power as best we can," Vaughan said. "He clearly has gone off the deep end, shot himself in outer space." 
 
 While Ford, 44, has lost political leverage, his core supporters have not lost faith in the populist mayor who refers to them as "Ford Nation." 
 
 "It won't be the end of Ford Nation, they just put up a billboard in support of him last week," said Nelson Wiseman, a political professor at the University of Toronto. "The movement and the anti-government sentiment it embodied that got him elected will stay alive ... His base will remain strong whether or not he's removed from office." 
 
 After winning office in 2010, Ford took measures that pleased his suburban voter base, including abolishing an annual $60 vehicle registration tax, squeezing valuable concessions out of the union representing 6,000 city workers, and reducing costs by contracting out half of Toronto's garbage collection. Ford claims to have saved taxpayers $1 billion dollars in the process, though councilors dismiss that claim as highly inflated since he has increased the cost of transit, among other public services, along with hiking property taxes. 
 
 City councilors say the mayor's travails are creating chaos around efforts to confront Toronto's most difficult challenges, including developing public transit service and reduce grinding commutes. 
 
 Ford opposes a proposed, fully-funded, light-rail transit plan in favor of a more expensive subway extension into a suburb where his support runs strong. 
 
 The subway project _ already controversial because it will force the city to raise taxes and seek federal and provincial money _ has been engulfed in chaos since the mayor took office and was further impacted after the allegations surfaced in May that Ford had been filmed smoking a crack pipe. As the mayor's influence eroded, councilors debated back and forth on the issue, voting on and then reversing its decisions several times, until making a final decision weeks ago. 
 
 "After the news surfaced about his personal life, that further disintegrated things," Filion said, adding that it caused councilors to distance themselves from Ford. "People are just openly scornful of him whereas six months ago they may have thought he was a wonderful mayor, and so we now have this fairly large power vacuum that someone needs to step in and fill." 
 
 At least one city councilor has been steadfast in his support of the mayor: his brother, Doug Ford. 
 
 "They are going to get up, 44 of them, and give my brother a public beating, a public butchering," Doug Ford said ahead of Wednesday's proceedings. "I'm going to have to stand there and watch it happen so we'll see how it turns out."
– You can buy many things on the Internet, and one of them is now the garish tie Rob Ford wore to the press conference in which he confessed he might be more than abstractly familiar with a substance we like to call crack cocaine, albeit only in a "drunken stupor." The former Hizzoner, who is battling an aggressive cancer, has as of yesterday listed various such treasures on eBay, including aforementioned tie, which is currently going for nearly $2,600. Per the listing: "You are bidding on an original piece of memorabilia from former Toronto Mayor, and current Toronto Councillor Rob Ford." It comes with a "Certificate of Authenticity from Councillor Rob Ford himself." Also up for grabs: Some kind of weird moose-print jammies Ford apparently "was seen wearing on a shopping trip to Wal-Mart"; a "Keep Calm and Carry On" sign that Ford "added as a decoration to the Mayor's Office in January, 2014"; and a Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey that "he got while attending a game in July of 2013 (Size 4XL)." But as Gawker notes: "Caveat emptor, eager Rob Ford collectors: torontorobford currently has a feedback score of 0."