Says Doug Ford, out on the campaign trail last week, explaining why he’s not in favour of increasing ODSP payments: “Healthy young people that are sitting on the couch watching The Flintstones, they should be out there, they should be working…”

Confused?

Here,

let me help you.

Flintstones! Meet the Flintstones!
They’re the modern stone age family.
From the town of Bedrock,
They’re a page right out of history.

Seven ways Doug Ford is just like Fred Flintstone:

1) They both wear hard hats at work. Fred, at his job at Slate Quarry; Doug, when he’s out campaigning and pretending to be For the People.

2) They both love to cut out of work, ASAP. Fred, as soon as the baby pterodactyl lets fly with the Quitting Time Squawk; Doug, keeping Queen’s Park in session barely 6 months a year and taking only 6 questions per campaign stop.

3) Fred has a pet dinosaur; Doug has one daughter (at least) who believes people could’ve owned dinosaurs.

4) Fred has a little green friend named Gazoo; Doug has lots of friends with more than a little green.

5) Fred’s get-rich-quick schemes always backfire on him; Doug’s get-rich-quick schemes always backfire on everybody else in the province except for him and his wealthy donors.

6) Fred’s catchphrase, Yabba Dabba Doo!; Doug’s catchphrase, Getting’ ‘Er Done. Both are meant to denote excitement but, in the end, are similarly meaningless.

7) Fred Flintstone is a cartoon caveman; Doug Ford is a cartoon politician.

Despite a large overlap of similarities, there are a couple key differences between the two pretend men. For one, Fred Flintstone is a down-to-earth, working man of the people whose hare-brained attempts to better his lot in life and that of his family spring from economic necessity because he didn’t inherit a successful company from his father. When his plans blow up in his face (and they always blow up in his face), Fred shows a degree of remorse and humility toward those his actions had adversely affected, mainly his long-suffering wife, Wilma, and his neighbour Barney Rubble. Doug Ford, on the other hand, only shows remorse when his machinations—including, but not limited to, attempts to transfer public resources into a select few hands of private sector actors, party donors, wedding guests and the like—get caught on camera or microphone.

Similarly though, both Fred Flinstone and Doug Ford will be right back at their plans, plots, ploys and ruses as soon as they think they might be able to get away with them. Fred, because, as an animated character, he’s caught in a narrative sitcom loop that he cannot free himself from. Doug, well, because as a character of shrunken ethics and morals, he too cannot help himself, that’s just the kind of man and politician he is.