Mindless fawning over Justin Trudeau

...Whatever his talents as clickbait, a strong case can be made that Trudeau is not very good at the governing side of his job. And I’m not talking about the mildly contrarian he’s-not-progressive-enough critiques you sometimes read from left-wing Canadians in the foreign press; I’m talking basic competence. The aftermath of Khadr-gate should hopefully serve as a wake-up call for international media to balance Trudeau’s antics as a charming figurehead with his unglamorous reality as a politician.

Trudeau was never terribly qualified to be prime minister. Before his quick political rise, he was known simply as the wealthy, dilettantish son of a popular ex-prime minister who had trouble choosing a career. First elected to Parliament in 2008, he was abruptly made Liberal boss in 2013 in what was dubbed a “personality cult” gimmick by a party whose popularity had slumped to record lows.

Trudeau’s initial steps on the national stage were defined by George W. Bush-style gaffes, such as expressing envy for the efficiency of China’s “basic dictatorship.” During his inauguration, it was revealed he didn’t know how to pronounce the word “heir.” To this day, he still stumbles when forced to express opinions outside his talking-point comfort zone (watch, for example, his painful attempt to articulate thoughts on North Korea). Carefully staged photo ops, such as Trudeau’s supposed “off-the-cuff” description of quantum computing, can be seen as a deliberate effort to reassure voters that their leader actually has something under that carefully coiffed hair...