CP
The conventional wisdom is that Canada's media is in love with Justin Trudeau, but not every journalist is fawning over the man many think is set to win the leadership of the Liberal Party.
Back in mid-August, when speculation over whether Trudeau would make a run was at a fever pitch, we took a look at the 11 most ridiculously flattering things the media had said about Canada's heir apparent. It seemed appropriate given the unrestrained flattery taking place during those long summer months.
But now that news has broken that Trudeau's leadership campaign is becoming a reality, the press seems to have lost its previous love for the Grits' favourite son.
Common themes in recent columns: Comparisons to Justin Bieber, jokes about his "Johnny Depp" facial hair and assertions that an unqualified, untested and generally flaky Trudeau will ruin the Liberal leadership race and do more damage to the party than Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff combined.
So in honour of the media's sudden rejection of "Trudeaumania: The Sequel," we bring you the 14 most ridiculously unflattering things the media has said about Trudeau so far this month.
14 Media Insults For Trudeau
14. Canada's Paris Hilton(01 of14)
"His resume is paper thin. He's truly the Paris Hilton. He was born into money, and a name, and that's about all he's done." - Ezra Levant (2:50 in video) (credit:CP)
13. Maygan Sensenberger?(02 of14)
"Maybe Justin Trudeau won’t be Maygan Sensenberger to the Liberals’ Rod Zimmer. Maybe there’s a hidden depth beneath that glib exterior. Maybe he’s more mature than the MP with the Johnny Depp moustache who called the environment minister a 'piece of shit' during a heated moment in the House of Commons, and suggested that if Canada’s going to go the way of Stephen Harper 'maybe I would think about making Quebec a country.'" - Kelly McParland (credit:Facebook)
12. Curious Attire(03 of14)
"Nothing riles Liberals more than the accusation that Justin’s nothing more than an empty suit – or whatever you call his often curious attire." - Gerald Caplan (credit:Althia Raj/The Huffington Post Canada)
11. Adolescent Machismo(04 of14)
"I found last March’s boxing match between Justin and a Conservative Senator to have been an embarrassing descent into adolescent machismo." - Gerald Caplan (credit:CP)
10. Delicate Princeling(05 of14)
On a protest in Toronto against the anti-Islam film the "Innocence of Muslims.""You’d have thought that if a vigorous objection would be coming from anywhere, it would be coming from the Liberal Party of Canada. It didn’t, and it is even less likely that it soon will, now that the delicate princeling Justin Trudeau has unofficially declared his odds-on-favourite candidacy for the party leadership." - Terry Glavin (credit:CP)
9. Dabbler(06 of14)
"Justin Trudeau is a dabbler – he dabbled in teaching, dabbled in the arts, dabbled in acting, dabbled in activism. Now he’s dabbling in politics." - Kelly McParland (credit:CP)
8. Handsome Young Thing A Bad Thing?(07 of14)
"After running the country for most of the 20th century it’s morphing into the Lindsay Lohan of Canadian politics, constantly vowing to clean up its act, only to wake up with a headache and another charge on its rap sheet. The Liberals aren’t into drugs that I know of, but after three failed marriages, a stint in rehab and with its overall health in decline, it pledged to undertake a serious effort to re-establish itself as a mature, dependable party. Instead it’s plunging shamelessly into an affair with the handsome young thing with the dynamite hair." - Kelly McParland (credit:Media Ball)
7. Thin Résumé, Low Bar(08 of14)
"Mr. Trudeau brings a thin résumé. He has youth, a storied name, decent smarts and a certain something that makes people like him. That this may be enough speaks volumes about how low the bar is set for the job of Liberal leader." - John Ibbitson (credit:CP)
6. That Johnny Depp Beard Again(09 of14)
"A high school teacher when he wore a cropped version of a Johnny Depp beard, Justin reached out to the country only once before, at his father’s funeral: voicing the most poignant of the elegies, ending his prayer with the heart-rending, 'Je t’aime, papa.' Prayers will come in handy should he be charged with rescuing the Liberals, who haven’t been the country’s Natural Governing Party since Noah launched his ark." - Peter C. Newman (credit:Althia Raj/The Huffington Post Canada)
5. Going The Way Of Mulroney(10 of14)
"Unless Justin as leader applies some harsh medicine to the remnants of the Liberal party, he will end up like Ben Mulroney, hosting entertainment shows. (Already the politician, Justin invited Ben to his wedding to glamorous CTV talk show correspondent Sophie Grégoire.)" - Peter C. Newman (credit:CP)
4. Cowboy Campaign Slogan?(11 of14)
"What do you want me to be? A cowboy? I can do that! No? Something else? Name it? I was a drama teacher, so I can totally be what you need." - Steve Murray (credit:CP)
3. Cut From The Same Cloth(12 of14)
"Justin Trudeau and Justin Bieber have more in common than just a first name. Both guys are also adored by legions of love struck fans. Except in the case of Bieber the fans are teenage girls, whereas for Trudeau they are the Canadian media." - Gerry Nicholls (credit:CP)
2. The Shiny Pony Enters Horserace(13 of14)
"Outside the Commons Wednesday, the son of Canada's most over-rated and historically-revised PM, the Shiny Pony, as Sun News Network refers to him mockingly, had his media fan club giggling like groupies at a Justin Bieber concert." - Sun News (credit:CP)
1. Eulogy Maudlin, Sappy, Contrived(14 of14)
"Eulogies aren’t easy, especially when they’re deeply personal. But I was among many who found his to be maudlin and sappy, contrived, almost embarrassing, the opposite of those who felt it soared to the heavens." - Gerald Caplan (credit:CP)
11 Ridiculous Media Compliments For Trudeau
They Like Him, They Really, Really Like Him(01 of12)
Justin Trudeau has captured the imagination of Canada's political media. Here are the 11 most ridiculously flattering things they've said about him so far this year. (credit:CP)
10. "The man is genuinely, immensely likable"(03 of12)
"Justin Trudeau does not shake your hand; he inhabits it. The wrist cocks out and up, the fingertips down; the elbow shoots off to his right; the shoulder rises slightly. Then a friendly grin dawns as he delivers a firm but not crushing grip, looking you in the eye, with a twinkle in his own. The effect is of someone who is warm, slightly embarrassed by the fuss, almost goofy, and genuinely happy to meet you. It is likely that some of this is practised; he would have spent his early social years deflecting other peoples' preconceived ideas about class and snobbery. Either way, it is effective. The man is genuinely, immensely likable." - Michael Den Tandt (credit:CP)
9. Sisyphus & Icarus?(04 of12)
"Trudeau is part Sisyphus, driven by his nature and upbringing to push his political rock up the hill. And he is part Icarus, driven to prove himself in spectacular ways, whether by crossing rapids, speaking off the cuff about separatism or exposing himself to defeat and humiliation in the ring." - Michael Den Tandt (credit:CP)
8. Or Hamlet?(05 of12)
"A leadership race without Justin Trudeau would be both Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark, and one more yawn before sleep." - Rex Murphy (credit:Media Ball)
7. "Tantalizing"(06 of12)
"Mr. Trudeau is tantalizing, but whether he is galvanizing is another question." - Lawrence Martin (credit:CP)
6. "He isn't an old fart"(07 of12)
"He isn't an old fart. The Liberal party -- like the Conservatives -- has been run by, and for, old farts for too long. The party is in desperate need of a new generation of leadership. Trudeau, like Barack Obama in 2008, has the greatest ability to mobilize young people to work for him, and vote for him." - Warren Kinsella (credit:CP)
5. "Expressive mane of hair"(08 of12)
"You, with the expressive mane of hair and the explosive pronouncements that sometimes rival the idiocy of our other Justin, the Beeb." - Judith Timson (credit:CP)
4. "His mane of black hair was tousled"(09 of12)
"Under his suit jacket, the sleeve buttons on his dress shirt were undone. His necktie was knotted, but left loose over an open top button. His mane of black hair was tousled. Even in genteel disarray, even dressed more or less like a couple hundred of his parliamentary colleagues, the 40-year-old Liberal MP for the Montreal riding of Papineau looked like a million bucks." - Paul Wells (credit:CP)
3. "He's got more charisma than the royal family and Lady Gaga combined"(10 of12)
"He's got more charisma than the royal family and Lady Gaga combined. In Ottawa, which is Hollywood for ugly people, that matters. To win, political parties need some sizzle with their steak; Trudeau has sizzle in abundance. On the election hustings, when measured against Trudeau, Stephen Harper and Thomas Mulcair will look like Angry Old Guys, because, er, they are." - Warren Kinsella (credit:CP)
2. "Impossibly handsome"(11 of12)
"The 41-year-old Liberal MP from the Montreal riding of Papineau, impossibly handsome, charming and much more comfortable in his skin than the bearer of such an iconic yet troublesome political name has any right to be..." - Judith Timson (credit:CP)
1. "Lion-maned clothes horse with dimples like moon craters"(12 of12)
"So the rail-thin, lion-maned clothes horse with dimples like moon craters, a giant-killing right hook and a weapons-grade surname will position himself as the loyal helpmate of a post-leadership-fixation Liberal Party? It's so crazy it just might work." - Paul Wells (credit:Handout)