The Measure of a Man

"Whether it's positioning around Israel or working closely with the United States, [Stephen Harper is] very, very much focused on what is going to play well at the ballot box. That's not my vision for what Canada can be."
"All my life I've been an international traveller; I've spent years travelling around the world seeing all sorts of different countries. Stephen Harper didn't do much travelling, if any, before he became prime minister, and the lens through he looks at foreign affairs is always, 'Is this going to help my electoral prospects back home'."
"I think there are very, very real concerns about the government in Iran that need to be addressed, but one has to make sure that you think about the citizens of Iran and the Iranian government differently. I worry that this is a nuance that this government doesn't actually appreciate or understand; a good example was the closing of the embassy last year."
Justin Trudeau, leader, Liberal Party of Canada

CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz   It's not the F-bomb that we should worry about, but the cry for help from a man burdened by a too-easy life.

Justin Trudeau travelled the world with his illustrious father, Pierre Trudeau. Travelling the world, Justin and his brothers were introduced to the marvels of Cuban freedom and democracy, a lesson he has indeed never forgotten, his loyalty to Fidel Castro discerned very clearly in affectionate respect. Canada, under its Conservative prime minister, has held a principled position with respect to how official Canada conducts itself on the world stage.

Justin Trudeau clearly finds it far more amenable to deeply admire the repressive government in Cuba, than the democratic, regional-embattled State of Israel. He sneers at Prime Minister Harper's trip to Ukraine to express his support for a country that has been pirated of an integral portion of its geography, as a "three hour photo op"; this, from a man aspiring to lead Canada as a future prime minister for whom photo ops are irresistible fodder for  his vanity.

This is a man who ostensibly commits himself to speak for the Canadian middle class, burdened by high taxes and rising prices, yet it is the Conservative government that seeks to lower taxes, while conventionally successive Liberal governments tend to raise them. This fellow speaks in adoration of self when he states in the public arena (literally, at a boxing match) "When you get in the ring ... All that -- your name, your fortune, your intelligence, your beauty -- none of that f--king matters."

In this statement he married his sublimely magnificent ego with the kind of speaking pattern he believes emulates that of the middle-class Canadian. It's truly tough, no doubt about it, to have a famous name, an inherited fortune, physical beauty, and to believe that in that melange of genetic inheritance there is also a talent for creative thinking, an intelligence he does not really possess. And it's the absence of the latter attribute that f--king matters.

Justin Trudeau, unfortunately, belongs in the celebrity-class of individuals, people admired for characteristics that have nothing to do with being a leader, unless it's being a leader of fashion, wealth, and, oh yes, beauty. His extraction from the elite class of those born with the superior talent of casually presenting as cool and hip, wealthy and admirably attractive, does not fit him for the administration of a country.

His is not a thoughtful intelligence, nor has he the scruples and the decisive integrity to present as a leader of a nation. His studied thespian showcasing of self, basking in the admiration of his followers marks him as a very small man, impetuous and ill-considered. Whose irresolute equivocation in recognizing wrong from right, ethical values from elusive ones of compromise where none should be present, presents him as third-grade.

Scatological expletives become him.