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In Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy the job of the galactic president, Zaphod Beeblebrox, is described as being "not to wield power but to draw attention away f

by beloch 11y ago

In Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy the job of the galactic president, Zaphod Beeblebrox, is described as being "not to wield power but to draw attention away from it". Trudeau really reminds me of this quote quite a bit. In terms of traditional metrics of performance, Trudeau was heavily outclassed in leader debates during the last election. He demonstrated almost no ability to address questions directly and instead resorted to pre-rehearsed sound-bytes for nearly everything, often on topics not even tangentially related to what was being discussed. His inability to stay on topic actually let the encumbent PM off of particularly vicious hooks on more than one occasion. However, those sound-bytes sounded great when taken out of context and chopped up into bits for news broadcasts, even if they were somewhat baffling to the very few people who apparently tuned into the full debates and paid attention to how well answers addressed questions. That election probably lowered the bar for quality discourse in Canadian politics by quite a bit. Next election, everyone is going to be talking in sound-bytes. We might as well just have debates on twitter, you know, "because it's 2019" or whatever the year will be. Ever since the election, Trudeau hasn't stopped campaigning. Vogue photo spreads. Dining at the white-house. Touring the country. While the previous PM was almost a shut-in, Trudeau is tireless in his press appearances. It's almost as if somebody else is actually running the country and he's, well, distracting the public's eye. When pressed, Trudeau does have a tendency to promise the moon to just about anyone though. He's been racking up unfulfillable promises left, right, and center. No doubt he left Obama with some pretty wild promises too. This could eventually come crashing down on him but, for now, the honeymoon is still going pretty strong. Most Canadians love having a glamorous PM and the international attention that brings. Would HN be upvoting this story if it was Stephan Dion or Stephen Harper trying to teach QM?

benzor 11y ago
While I agree with your points about him debating more in sound bytes than in real answers... In fairness he's actually been doing reasonably well on his promises, as tracked by the TrudeauMetre[1]. Off the top of my head, unmuzzling scientists, restoring the long form census, and legalizing marijuana are all big contentious points that are either done or seriously underway. Given the abysmal promise-to-result ratio of typical politicians he's earned a passing grade in my books. []1 https://www.trudeaumetre.ca/ https://www.trudeaumetre.ca/
- saeranv 11y ago
  Same here. Another big one is the stimulus he's released with the new budget. I'm not sure how he's doing on the Syrian refugee count, but just his attitude to the problem is such a relief compared to Harper.
  - beloch 11y ago
    What was Harper's attitude on Syrian refugees? I seem to recall he said Trudeau's goal of 10000 before the end of 2015 was unrealistic, and that's exactly what it turned out to be. He was going to bring in about the same number Trudeau actually managed to bring in.
    - saeranv 11y ago
      Harper promised to bring in 10k over 4 years. Trudeau promised more than double that. And as I said, the Harper government's attitude to refugee claimants was just disgusting. This is what Harper's Minister of Immigration had to say when the Ontario govt defied the federal government's decision to reduce health care for refugee claimants: "I've expressed our government's disappointment with the Ontario government's recent decision to reinstate health-care benefits to all asylum seekers and even rejected refugee claimants," Alexander said. "Simply arriving on our shores and claiming hardships isn't good enough. This isn't a self-selection bonanza, or a social program buffet." It's embarrassing that our government would demean and deny refugees their human dignity while they are asking for help. [1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chris-alexander-scolds-ontario-over-health-care-to-refugees-1.2507008 http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chris-alexander-scolds-ontar...
- beloch 11y ago
  219 promises tracked: 29 achieved 15 broken 63 in progress 112 not started So he's already broken 6.8% of his total promises just 1/8th of the way through his term. That's not good. He's also broken just over half as many promises as he's kept, which I'd say is pretty darned typical of politicians. Legalizing marijuana is in progress, but I've heard nothing concrete. Unmuzzling scientists and restoring the long form census were both good. Reversing the transparency act was bad. I was most interested in his promises to increase government transparency, but some are reporting it's actually worse [1]. He also promised in an interview with Peter Mansbridge to reduce the concentration of power in the PMO, but he's done nothing about that so far. We're just an eigth of the way through his term, so the jury is still out in my opinion. He's done some good, some bad, but at this point he's still mostly just a bundle of promises. [1]http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/preston-manning-s-prescription-to-recharge-the-right-1.3463742/liberal-fiscal-plans-less-transparent-than-under-harper-kevin-page-says-1.3464078 http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/preston-manning-s-prescript...
sergers 11y ago
this sounds like the conservative attack ads against Trudeau that lead up to the election... that definately lowered the bar for Canadian politics by attacking his background and taking comments out of context to "shame" him and his party. it didnt work. i would expect a Canadian leader to be visiting the white house for dinner, as do many political/country leaders. i would expect him to be going cross country trips as thats what every PM has done. "Would HN be upvoting this story if it was Stephan Dion or Stephen Harper trying to teach QM?" no, as i expect the press to never ask them that type of question and never being in a situatiton to be asked that type of question. i personally dont care for trudeau and what mostly the press brings up about him, i do however support some of his policies more so than any other candidate. most people voted liberal in their riding as Justin Trudeau was not Stephen Harper and the Conservative party, and was more of a free thinker compared to the other options. everyone was tired of Stephen Harper and his policies that i would say set canada back on the world stage... canada was just a lacky in the shadow behind the USA, following along most actions. every political leader makes promises and dont fulfill, that IS politics... but as some has pointed out Trudeau has a decent track record so far.
- beloch 11y ago
  The "We're back" schtick is pure BS. Canada never left, and it remains to be seen if we do more or less internationally under the Liberals. I'd be pretty insulted by Trudeau if I was in the diplomatic service though. Trudeau does seem to be striking a much more conciliatory tone with the U.N., which could be good or bad in the long run, depending on whether the current problems within the U.N. improve or worsen. Trudeau is certainly drawing more international press, but that's not the same as increasing foreign aid, involvement in peace-keeping missions, etc.. As for the conservative attack ads, they're no different than the attack ads any of the other parties typically run. Do you remember the "We can't trust Harper, he's from neocon Calgary and has a hidden agenda!" smear campaign from the election before last? It was so effective they didn't even need to run it during the last election. People wonder why Alberta typically doesn't support the Liberal party, but demonizing the province as a means of vilifying a leader is one big reason why that's the case. Trudeau did rely relatively less on attack ads than his opponents in the last election, which I approve of. However, the rise of PAC's with funding from god knows where does make it suspiciously easy for parties to run attack ads on the sly without fear of blowback. Whether the Liberals funded them or not, there were plenty of attack ads against harper during the last election. I'd like to see PAC's regulated much more strenuously in the future. In particular, their donors need to be a matter of public record.
nikcub 11y ago
> Would HN be upvoting this story if it was Stephan Dion or Stephen Harper trying to teach QM? We upvoted Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong's sudoku solver[0], and he can hardly be described as being from the left. Similarly, Rand Paul gets a lot of love on HN for his anti-surveillance and drug law reform stances, while Democrats like Clinton and Feinstein are criticized on crypto, and Obama on drones, prosecuting whistleblowers & crypto again. I'd like to think that a large part of the HN community place issues and evidence above politics. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9419035 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9419035

by beloch 11y ago

benzor 11y ago

While I agree with your points about him debating more in sound bytes than in real answers... In fairness he's actually been doing reasonably well on his promises, as tracked by the TrudeauMetre[1]. Off the top of my head, unmuzzling scientists, restoring the long form census, and legalizing marijuana are all big contentious points that are either done or seriously underway. Given the abysmal promise-to-result ratio of typical politicians he's earned a passing grade in my books. []1 https://www.trudeaumetre.ca/ https://www.trudeaumetre.ca/

saeranv 11y ago
Same here. Another big one is the stimulus he's released with the new budget. I'm not sure how he's doing on the Syrian refugee count, but just his attitude to the problem is such a relief compared to Harper.
- beloch 11y ago
  What was Harper's attitude on Syrian refugees? I seem to recall he said Trudeau's goal of 10000 before the end of 2015 was unrealistic, and that's exactly what it turned out to be. He was going to bring in about the same number Trudeau actually managed to bring in.
  - saeranv 11y ago
    Harper promised to bring in 10k over 4 years. Trudeau promised more than double that. And as I said, the Harper government's attitude to refugee claimants was just disgusting. This is what Harper's Minister of Immigration had to say when the Ontario govt defied the federal government's decision to reduce health care for refugee claimants: "I've expressed our government's disappointment with the Ontario government's recent decision to reinstate health-care benefits to all asylum seekers and even rejected refugee claimants," Alexander said. "Simply arriving on our shores and claiming hardships isn't good enough. This isn't a self-selection bonanza, or a social program buffet." It's embarrassing that our government would demean and deny refugees their human dignity while they are asking for help. [1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chris-alexander-scolds-ontario-over-health-care-to-refugees-1.2507008 http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chris-alexander-scolds-ontar...
beloch 11y ago
219 promises tracked: 29 achieved 15 broken 63 in progress 112 not started So he's already broken 6.8% of his total promises just 1/8th of the way through his term. That's not good. He's also broken just over half as many promises as he's kept, which I'd say is pretty darned typical of politicians. Legalizing marijuana is in progress, but I've heard nothing concrete. Unmuzzling scientists and restoring the long form census were both good. Reversing the transparency act was bad. I was most interested in his promises to increase government transparency, but some are reporting it's actually worse [1]. He also promised in an interview with Peter Mansbridge to reduce the concentration of power in the PMO, but he's done nothing about that so far. We're just an eigth of the way through his term, so the jury is still out in my opinion. He's done some good, some bad, but at this point he's still mostly just a bundle of promises. [1]http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/preston-manning-s-prescription-to-recharge-the-right-1.3463742/liberal-fiscal-plans-less-transparent-than-under-harper-kevin-page-says-1.3464078 http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/preston-manning-s-prescript...

sergers 11y ago

this sounds like the conservative attack ads against Trudeau that lead up to the election... that definately lowered the bar for Canadian politics by attacking his background and taking comments out of context to "shame" him and his party. it didnt work. i would expect a Canadian leader to be visiting the white house for dinner, as do many political/country leaders. i would expect him to be going cross country trips as thats what every PM has done. "Would HN be upvoting this story if it was Stephan Dion or Stephen Harper trying to teach QM?" no, as i expect the press to never ask them that type of question and never being in a situatiton to be asked that type of question. i personally dont care for trudeau and what mostly the press brings up about him, i do however support some of his policies more so than any other candidate. most people voted liberal in their riding as Justin Trudeau was not Stephen Harper and the Conservative party, and was more of a free thinker compared to the other options. everyone was tired of Stephen Harper and his policies that i would say set canada back on the world stage... canada was just a lacky in the shadow behind the USA, following along most actions. every political leader makes promises and dont fulfill, that IS politics... but as some has pointed out Trudeau has a decent track record so far.

beloch 11y ago
The "We're back" schtick is pure BS. Canada never left, and it remains to be seen if we do more or less internationally under the Liberals. I'd be pretty insulted by Trudeau if I was in the diplomatic service though. Trudeau does seem to be striking a much more conciliatory tone with the U.N., which could be good or bad in the long run, depending on whether the current problems within the U.N. improve or worsen. Trudeau is certainly drawing more international press, but that's not the same as increasing foreign aid, involvement in peace-keeping missions, etc.. As for the conservative attack ads, they're no different than the attack ads any of the other parties typically run. Do you remember the "We can't trust Harper, he's from neocon Calgary and has a hidden agenda!" smear campaign from the election before last? It was so effective they didn't even need to run it during the last election. People wonder why Alberta typically doesn't support the Liberal party, but demonizing the province as a means of vilifying a leader is one big reason why that's the case. Trudeau did rely relatively less on attack ads than his opponents in the last election, which I approve of. However, the rise of PAC's with funding from god knows where does make it suspiciously easy for parties to run attack ads on the sly without fear of blowback. Whether the Liberals funded them or not, there were plenty of attack ads against harper during the last election. I'd like to see PAC's regulated much more strenuously in the future. In particular, their donors need to be a matter of public record.

nikcub 11y ago

> Would HN be upvoting this story if it was Stephan Dion or Stephen Harper trying to teach QM? We upvoted Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong's sudoku solver[0], and he can hardly be described as being from the left. Similarly, Rand Paul gets a lot of love on HN for his anti-surveillance and drug law reform stances, while Democrats like Clinton and Feinstein are criticized on crypto, and Obama on drones, prosecuting whistleblowers & crypto again. I'd like to think that a large part of the HN community place issues and evidence above politics. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9419035 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9419035