Monday, August 06, 2018

Sticking to script

If you're on Twitter at all, you know that particularly since the Danforth shooting, people have been calling out Justin Trudeau for not responding to the tragedy urgently enough. He tweeted, but waited a week and a day before visiting the city, attending the funeral of one of the girls but missing out on the vigil and the sense of devastation in the days after.

He's been AWOL on NAFTA too. Too busy surfing.

Now this weekend, the Saudis have frozen trade, expelled our ambassador and withdrawn scholarships for 16,000 Saudi students attending university here. Not a peep. Managed to get to the Pride Parade in B.C. though, and today he went to a picnic.

What I've realized about Trudeau through this summer is that, he can't deviate from plan. He cannot respond to a crisis, because there is no script. You can plan to go to Pride, or attend a picnic, but how does someone who can't think on their feet respond to tragedy or someone else going off script?

Poorly.

That's why after the G-7 summit, after Trump had indicated that he was willing to make concessions, Trudeau stuck to his pre-summit plan. He hadn't anticipated a conciliatory attitude from Trump, so the minute Trump got on the plane, Trudeau kept to plan and threw shade.

Here are the links to the videos, thanks to @JohnToryWatch

CBC News re: Trump agreeing to waive the sunset clause

Trump at a presser indicating he expected a deal

Justin Trudeau's press conference where he says we won't be pushed around

Trudeau responding to a second question re: sunset clause

Trump after hearing what Trudeau had said

Trudeau answering questions on sunset in the Commons

All of this indicates that when something deviates from plan, Justin can't keep up. He follows the script, regardless of deviations and then, instead of being able to react on the fly, change plans or mend fences, he doubles down.

The ability to respond to the situation at hand, as it unfolds, is crucial for an adult human being. Justin Trudeau does not have that ability. When Trump went against type and responded positively on sunset, Justin was unable to switch gears and welcome the gesture graciously. He stuck to script... he was amped to swagger which, had Trump been true to form, might have been genuinely brave, but as things stood, his attitude is what has soured Canada/US trade relations ... he's counting on the fact that people will hate Trump enough not to notice.

It isn't his fault really. He lacks the maturity to have the forethought to anticipate and react to fast-changing situations -- which is why, when he planned to surf, he surfed -- it wasn't disrespect for Toronto or the dead and wounded here -- it was the single-mindedness of child who has been told that now he gets to play. Nothing -- nothing is going to stand in his way.

canadianna

4 comments:

Frances said...

I really think Canada should have a strong response to the Saudis and refuse to buy any more of their oil. Of course this will cause problems in the Maritimes and Quebec, but they should also be expected to make sacrifices for our PM's virtue signalling. Why should the prairies be the only region to suffer?

canadianna said...

There is just no way that Canada should not be energy self-sufficient. We keep caving to foreign anti-pipeline activists, relinquishing our economic sovereignty for some sort of progressive gesturing to the world. It's insane.

Neo Conservative said...

*
justin can't even show up at
a funeral without making it
all about himself.

*

Canadianna said...

Indeed, Neo. It was inappropriate to say the least. That's the problem with some people, they can only relate to situations on a level they can *identify* with. Not all young people dying or sudden deaths are the same. He doesn't see this because as you say, he has no concept of a worldview outside his own experience.