The Justin Trudeau Defence

It's been said that the princeling is the gift that keeps on giving to Conservatives. His intemperate outburst last week gave us something to laugh at, but the arguments used to defend him are an extra Christmas present in their own right. In short, Trudeau was right to swear at Peter Kent, because what Peter Kent was doing was bad enough to necessitate swearing, and he's Justin Trudeau, so therefore it's OK. (And look at all the Liberals who retweeted Canadian Cynic's tweet! Indicating agreement! Very amusing.)

I've also been seeing an upsurge of people referring to Harper as a fascist on my Facebook news feed. And when people are called out as going too far when they do this, what do they say? Usually some variant of "Fascism is fascism." I decide Harper is a fascist, so he is! And because I decide it, I am right! Because I'm a progressive, and progressives care about people and want to move people forward, so progressives are always right! Derp!

What is the Kyoto Protocol, and why does Harper saying he wants no part of it make the Liberals so purple with fury? The Kyoto Protocol is, and always has been, a document the Liberals signed onto with the full knowledge that it would fail, which is why Michael Ignatieff was forced to concede in a moment of uncharacteristic self-reflection that "We didn't get it done."

Which, if you recall, led to this fun moment.

So why sign the thing in the first place? Because the Liberals wanted to stop their consciences from nagging at them. Yes we're going to fail, but now we won't feel guilty about not having "tried"!

Guilt is a critical part of the Liberal mindset. Do you think, for example, as Dalton lines his pals' pockets and tries to sneakily implement his agenda over the objections of basically everybody, that he does it without any guilt whatsoever? Do you think a character like George Smitherman, or a massively arrogant human being like Trudeau Sr., or a carpetbagging snob like Bob Rae, or Chretien, or whomever tops your Most Hated Liberal list, did all the things they did without their conscience nagging at them? Absolutely not. So how can they do it? By acting as if they are God's own gifts to humanity.

Dalton is a master at this. Everything he does is spun by his War Room as the actions of a saint who cares about nothing else except helping the province along. That's what gives him his beatific calm. Look at all the great stuff he's done! He implemented full day kindergarten (and then privatized it)! Test scores are going up (marginally)! Labour unrest is down (because he paid the unions off)! And the more we point out how much things *aren't* getting better or how new problems are being created despite their best efforts, the angrier they get! Because our complaints bring them closer to the harsh reality of what Ontario has actually become under Dalton McGuinty.

I've written before about how the Liberals do this to their own supporters. Whenever Liberals are mad about how their favourite new MPP didn't make cabinet, or when they have to carry out some stupid directive from the War Room, or when they're not sure whether they'll be able to hang on to their cushy jobs after the latest revelation of misspent $$$, all Dalton has to do is remind them, "You're helping Move Ontario Forward!" And all is forgiven. Yeccch.

But luckily for us, this cuts both ways. Because if the Liberals *know* they are pissing Ontarians off, but are suppressing it, this gives us a psychological advantage IF we know how to use it. They too can be shamed. They too can be made to feel guilty. Their calm, their moral authority, can be made to disappear. And without that smugness, what do they have? Nothing.

So don't let the Liberals rain on your parade. Don't swallow their "Ontarians are mad at you for what you did! Shame on you!" nonsense. Be as mean as you want to them, and when they complain, use the Justin Trudeau defence to justify it! They'll be screaming shiddle-diddle before you know it!