I think his first name was actually Wilfred. But nobody called him that.
At first I didn't get along with him. He was brash and bossy and seemed to want to run things with an iron fist. The ultimate dictator.
But then as I got to know him--and he realized that I was the only real talent at the company--we became friends and colleagues. He respected me and I respected him.
One of the reasons he was brought in was due to the issues we had with some of the people the owner had brought in as "management." Most of them would have trouble holding down a job pumping gas, let alone running a huge transportation enterprise.
In particular, there was one guy who clashed with everyone. Clearly he was in over his head. The Chairman came in and pretty much took all his responsibilities away. Chairman took most of them, and gave the rest to me. Needless to say, that didn't sit well with the displaced pretender.
So, we clashed. A lot. A hell of a lot.
It got to the point that I told the Chairman he had to remove this guy or I would leave. That would have been horribly awful for them. But Chairman told me that wasn't the best way to handle it. He would get rid of him. But, he had to do it a certain way. What was that way?
Instead of doing anything to him, he would just let him hang himself. I have never forgotten that piece of advice.
People who don't belong will always hang themselves. Because they are in over their heads. And when left to their own devices, they will screw up.
And no, this blog isn't about Rob Ford, our crack smoking and gang banger friendly Mayor. Although it easily could be. Same kind of thing. No, it goes higher up the food chain.
http://markdeutsch39.blogspot.ca/2013/04/canadians-and-two-justins.html
A few months ago I wrote a blog about Justin Trudeau and how he is basically in the position he is in because of who his father is. And was. Also, that he would have to prove that he is worthy on his own.
http://markdeutsch39.blogspot.ca/2013/05/where-does-it-end.html
I also wrote a blog about Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party tactic to tear at others while not showing that they are worthy themselves.
Which brings me to what happened this past week.
Justin Trudeau, who is the golden boy and main threat to our current leader and Prime Minister in the next election spoke at a fundraiser last week. But he didn't just speak. He said something really stupid. Something so stupid that it is the type of thing that may cost him the next election. For all the trying the Conservatives did to make him look like a bad candidate, the best thing they could do was wait for him to do that to himself. Which he now has done.
At that fundraiser, Trudeau was asked what nation he most admired, and why? This was his response.
"There is a level of admiration I actually have for China. Because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to turn their economy around on a dime....there is a flexibility that I know Stephen Harper must dream about...of having a dictatorship to do everything he wanted. That I find quite interesting."
It would be bad enough if Trudeau had said that at any time. But to say that the week before Remembrance Day? That is something Canadians (and Americans) hold very dearly. Just about everyone has a family member that fought in a war and didn't come home. They basically gave up their life for the sake of maintaining freedom and democracy. In case Justin Trudeau fell on his head last month, here is a newsflash: Dictatorship is a bad word to us. We don't like it. We don't want it. We will get rid of anyone who thinks it is a good idea.
The only thing that Stephen Harper was dreaming of was that Justin Trudeau would say what he did. As dictatorial as Stephen Harper is, even he would never say such a stupid thing in public so that it can be blasted on the National News.
The Conservatives were more than ready to jump on that statement, and rightly so. If I were Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party, I would jump on that too. And the NDP as well. He just handed you votes and if you are smart, you get the word out so you can get more of them. If they wont vote for Justin, then they will either vote for you or not vote at all. That is how you get elected these days.
These days you don't have to prove you are competent or good to get elected. You just have to prove that the other guy isn't. And if you can do that, and you are the lesser of two evils then you are likely winning.
We saw this with Obama and Romney, when Romney appeared to have a pretty good chance of winning the last election. That is....until...he thought no one was listening and he said something incredibly stupid. Like in the video below.
"My job is not to worry about those people."
-Mitt Romney
When he says "those people" he is referring to the 47% who don't pay taxes. The way it sounds is that he doesn't care about you at all. So if he gets in, you can expect him to do nothing for you. Because you aren't important to him and what he and his supporters stand for. When Romney said that, he lost the election. Nothing Obama could say or do would be as effective as Romney saying that in his own voice in his own words. Which he did.
I guess Harper and Obama know what we are thinking. We expect so little from those we elect these days, that if you give us any reason to toss someone out, we will. And we wont think about how you are not that great either so you don't have to prove you are worthy and will do great things. Only that the other guy isn't worthy and will do bad things. Bad things for you. That is all they have to convince you of.
In Justin Trudeau's case, he does it for them. He admits smoking pot. He takes money for showing up at fundraisers while he is on the government dime.
And worst of all, on his own, he admires a dictatorship. Above all, politics 101 is that you never say anything bad about democracy. People remember when you do that. It is very akin to saying you like preteen girls as sex objects. You just don't do it. Or say it. Even if you are thinking it. You might as well toss your aspirations down the sewer. That is what Trudeau just did.
Some have said that Trudeau was setup at that fundraiser and ran into a sucker punch.
Justin Trudeau didn't run into a sucker punch. He punched himself in the face. Mostly, because he obviously wasn't prepared. Now, it is good that he isn't a robot and completely scripted, like Stephen Harper is. However, we see how idiotic he can be when he shoots his mouth off. Is that the kind of PM we want dealing with the worlds leaders? So far, the answer has been a big fat No.
So, as we move forward, we can see that the Conservatives are going to win by attrition. If the Liberals were smart, they would dump Justin and get somebody better. We all know that wont happen, so, we are stuck with 4 more years of Stephen Harper after 2015. I hope I am sipping Margaritas on the Grand Cayman when that happens. I don't think I want to live another 4 years under Heir Harper.
But if we have learned one thing, it is this: If you are going to be a dictatorial dictator like Stephen Harper is, then you would be very wise not to praise dictatorship. Let your opponents do that while they stab themselves in the back.
All that it takes these days to get elected and maintain power is to not do bad things. You don't have to do good things. As long as your opponent says he will do bad things, that is all that matters.
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