Sock it to me!

A lot of people don't know as well that the young man makes a pair with Trudeau on them. With Justin's permission. Liberals need to start talking about these things. If Justin won't brag, we should.

— Lonney Butler (@ButlerLonney) July 16, 2023

Trudeau gets hammered day after day, across Canada, for everything from Port of Vancouver trucker policies (which were actually introduced by Harper) to Lac-Mégantic land expropriation. 

But he keeps on just being Trudeau, wearing his funny socks. 

Maybe that's what drives some people nuts -- that their hatred doesn't faze him.

Here is the latest -- a video of Trudeau sitting with some guy in Calgary, patiently explaining the complexity of federal-provincial education jurisdiction, right-wing conspiracy theories, and the importance of supporting LBGT rights while respecting Muslim parents: 

 "Its not a buffet...we will stand up for everybody's rights." 

This is a clip of what Trudeau said -- just ignore the right wing media commentary:

Watch Trudeau’s mind at work here. It’s not just his message. It’s his courage of his convictions. Of OUR convictions. Canadian convictions… in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The best in the free world. #Cdnpoli #HumanRights #CharterOfRights #Ableg https://t.co/lwCt4Zk5zJ

— Paul Stewart II (@PaulStewartII) July 14, 2023

The journalist in question needs to look up the word alleged and use it, and also look up evasive when what the PM really was was respectful.

— Diane Marie (@DianeMariePosts) July 15, 2023

It's @PierrePoilievre's duty to educate his Muslim MPs that they were conned: "Leave our KIDS alone" is based on a U.S. conspiracy theory! Education is also Prov jurisdiction & it must be stressed!

There is zero excuse for not correcting the record like PM Trudeau did!
#cdnpoli https://t.co/kRuQC7JzS4 pic.twitter.com/0826xuXFrM

— Elke Babiuk (@ElkeBabiuk) July 16, 2023

Now Fox News is "on it!" so we'll be hearing more about this I think:

Justin Trudeau blames 'American right-wing' for Muslims opposing LGBTQ curriculum: 'Leave our kids alone!' https://t.co/gAOF5rDH4V

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 17, 2023

Looking at the broader picture, a perceptive comment from Dale Smith sparked an interesting online discussion:

A combination of complacency, a bottleneck in decision-making because Trudeau doesn’t trust enough people to do their jobs, the corrosive rot of messaging politics, and provinces increasingly abandoning their responsibilities and daring the federal government to not step in.

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) July 16, 2023

Some comments:

I'd put that last one first. It's the Con premiers' refusal to do their jobs properly. Followed by their refusal to take responsibility and their out-and-out destructive lies backed by sympathetic media. It's doing a real number and I'm beyond sick of it.

— colleenm (@gomindshine1) July 16, 2023

"because Trudeau doesn’t trust enough people to do their jobs," Do you blame him? Doug Ford & all Conservatives blame PMJT for everything that falls under their responsibilities. It's time for the media to call this out. Stop blaming the Feds for PROVINCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES.

— Sister Denby (@DenbySister@toad.social)🇨🇦💜🇺🇦 (@DenbySister) July 16, 2023

The PM can't get out of bed without being accused of being a traitor by people who can't spell. I have never been elected to gov, but none of us know what is happening in the cabinet room or the context. I am not defending inaction, but I would be exhausted by the vitriol.

— Tim Lade 🇨🇦 (@Tim_Lade) July 16, 2023

To follow the NATO meetings in Lithuania, the Wall Street Journal decided to run an uncredited op ed calling Canada a "free rider" because our defense spending is 1.3 per cent of our GNP instead of 2 per cent -- I guess they think living in a nation which spends billions on defense entitles them to criticize the priorities of other nations. 

It was noted by commentators that Canada's defense spending under Trudeau is higher now than it was under Harper, but the metric itself is a stupid one.

Spending up 50% under PMJT pic.twitter.com/uQDvK2zmCt

— Peter Hickman 💉🏳️‍🌈🇨🇦 🟧 🟦 (@Pjhvan) July 17, 2023

Dale Smith calls the WSJ story a Misguided "Free-Rider" Complaint:

...where the paper seems to fall into that same basic trap of not understanding how NATO works, which is that it requires participation from countries, and we participate. We may not spend to the same percentage, but several high-spending countries don’t actually participate, and because the two percent target is a really stupid metric, it ignores that the denominator is far higher in Canada than in a lot of these higher-percentage countries. Could our spending be better? Yes. Is our procurement system completely screwed? Yes. Have we been something of a free-rider in continental defence because we know the Americans will be there regardless? That’s fair. But trying to assert that it’s because we’re too “woke” is just puerile.

Oh, and about their seeming to prefer Poland, who is sliding into illiberalism and who has a major problem with homophobia, there was this gem on the wire yesterday about how that government broke EU law by suspending a judge who for criticising the government. Yeah, that’s totally who should be replacing Canada at the G7 and in a leadership position in NATO. Well done, WSJ. Slow clap.

Meanwhile, back in Canada, the CPC rage-farming continues :

If Poilievre and the CPC would like to articulate a path to lowering inflation without high interest rates I look forward to their detailed list of spending cuts they want Trudeau to implement

Oh, wait ...

— Evan Scrimshaw (@EScrimshaw) July 14, 2023

Don't make the mistake of attributing any good faith or sincerity to what the CPC is doing here. 

There is a pattern emerging now with issues as disparate as Straight Pride bird-whistles, Chinese election interference, Muslim education LBGT panic, etc -- its a CPC divide and conquer strategy. 

The CPC knows that Liberal support for equality and equal rights is one of the major attractions for the dispora vote, the Asian vote, the Muslim vote, the LGBT vote, the women's vote, and the Indigenous vote. Now Poilievre and the CPC are determined to reduce that voter support, not by changing any of their own party policies or practices, but by creating and exploiting divisions in Canadian society.