09.09.2016 07:33 AM

A brother speaks about a brother

I found this kind of noteworthy, not because it’s one Trudeau boy speaking about another Trudeau boy, but because it so closely aligns with how brothers relate.

You know when brothers are making mistakes, even big ones, but you say nothing and wait for the inevitable fall, to help them get up again.  Because you love them, even though you won’t often say it out loud.  And they pick you up when you fall, too.

Sacha on Justin, “the prince,” but it could be any brother speaking about a brother:

“To a certain extent, I was ashamed of being a prince, and he’s embraced it, used it,” Trudeau says…“I’m not sure I agree with this turn in politics, but it certainly is the mainstay one—the movie-star politician is a formidable force in this kind of world. Maybe a dangerous one, in the long run,” he says.

Asked if he freely opines to his brother about this, he laughs: “I tease him about it, maybe.”

18 Comments

  1. Darren H says:

    It occurred to me when JT was named “best dressed” yesterday that he is not so much the PM of Canada, as he is more like the Queen of Canada. Not implying anything about his sexual orientation, or masculinity, only that he garners the same attention from the media wherever he goes. I don’t think that’s a good thing in the long run, correct me if I’m wrong Warren.

    • Warren says:

      Don’t be ridiculous. The media called him that, he didn’t call himself that.

      What some of us are sick of is the fawning treatment in some media. I bet he could live without it, too – he knows it makes it easier for critics to depict him as a lightweight.

      • Michael Clifton says:

        I’d *like* to believe he could live without it; but I don’t. I believe he relishes it. He certainly does nothing to avoid it, and a great deal to bring it on. Maybe he wakes up in the morning and hates himself for it, like any addict, but I’m not sure he’s there yet.

      • The Doctor says:

        Warren, to be fair it’s quite obvious that JT’s handlers (e.g., Gerald “Svengali” Butts) are totally encouraging and enabling this kind of stuff. There are plenty of accounts of the very deliberate setting up and staging of theatrical photo ops etc.

        Just to take one of many examples — JT could have gone to that boxing gym in New York without press, photographers in tow. Instead, he and his handlers very much created a story and a photo op. What’s going on in terms of the cultivation of a personality cult is positively Putinesque, and JT is 100 percent responsible for that. The buck stops with him.

      • Kevin says:

        I’m sure you didn’t mean to imply that JT took a photo of himself while he was shirtless. I’m sure that was just a quick way of saying that when Alexander Godby took a selfie by Lusk Cave, he asked JT to stand with him.

    • Charlie says:

      You refer to him the as “Queen of Canada”, then quickly deny any inference of femininity.

      Do you not know how to read?

      For fuck sakes, have the balls to say what you mean or don’t say it at all. If you want to call Trudeau a “homo” or “little girl” then do it. Don’t dance around your sexist and degrading language like a coward.

      With your comment, you’ve decided to disqualify Justin Trudeau and not being worthy of being referred to as PM (despite having been elected and currently set up in the PMO), then you opt to use as feminine term where a male term is available and applicable — how exactly is one interpret your comment when you are attempting to speak directly to Trudeau’s perceived vanity?

      You need to come to terms with the fact that Justin Trudeau is a young and fit man who doesn’t dress like a goddamn mortician. If he’s going to get recognition for the fact that he doesn’t have a gut that spills over his belt, hair that isn’t grey and combed over and a suit that fits right that doesn’t make him any less of a PM.

      The fixation that critics seem to have on Justin Trudeau’s appearance is pathetically petty. There are several legitimate things to criticize Trudeau on, his looks aren’t one.

      • The Doctor says:

        I think you’ve totally misread Darren H’s post. I took it to mean the Queen in terms of JT behaving like an official head of state (which technically he is not), in the sense that the Queen as head of state is primarily concerned with, and revels in, the ceremonial. Thus the Royals are these days pretty much celebrities and nothing but. Thus the fact that so many celebrity- obsessed tabliods are full of stories about the Royals. And lo and behold, many of those same publications gush over the dreamy JT and his dreamy family.

        • Nicole says:

          He could have used the term King of Canada to make that point. Too often Justin Trudeau is criticized using feminine terms with an undertone of homophobia.
          Calling him the Dauphin would have been better and worked too.

          • The Doctor says:

            Oh FFS, we don’t have a King in Canada as head of state. We have a Queen, and that’s been the case for over 60 years now. The reference is perfectly appropriate. There’s plenty of real bigotry out there — why do people insist on looking for bigotry where it doesn’t exist? You’re just being petty and nitpicky.

      • Derek Pearce says:

        Excellent comment. Darren could have just as easily typed “King of Canada.” And the fact that the PM looks good is quite frankly a feature not a bug.

  2. Michael Clifton says:

    A little while after I was hired as an associate to one of Ontario’s leading lawyers in our field of practice, we learned of an opportunity at one of our client’s businesses. I let my sister know about it, and told my boss about her. His remark, after hearing my praise? “Oh, so we hired the wrong Clifton.” Funny. But possibly true.

    Based on this article, I’d say it’s also likely very true in regard to the Trudeau boys.

    • Jean A Paterson says:

      Michael Clifton, I used to hope that JT was consulting regularly with his brother on foreign affairs, because of Sasha’s knowledge of far flung places. Maybe Minister Dion would not like that. The essay suggests that the brothers don’t meet often?

  3. godot10 says:

    Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau are representatives of the same celebrity political culture…celebrity culture, in general, and even with essentially the same slogan…”Make America great again” and “Make Canada great again”.

    Narcissism over substance.

    • Cory says:

      Good point, “Make America Great Again” is similar to “Canada is Back”. I’ve been saying a while now that they’re flip sides of the same coin (just not policy wise)…came from rich families, semi-celebs, semi-famous wives…

  4. Ridiculosity says:

    He can join in all the selfies he wants (with clothes or without), in my opinion. And his team and news outlets can post all of them, for all I care.

    All I do care about is that every single Canadian I have spoken to says the same thing, “He’s doing a great job so far and has incredible energy.”

    I haven’t heard that about a Prime Minister for a long, long time. If ever.

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