I love Justin Trudeau. I wish he was my President. I’m envious of Canadians because he is theirs. Why can’t we have an intelligent, reasonable, knowledgeable, worldly, likeable, competent person as our President again too? I liked being proud of our President, as I was for the eight years before Trump was elected.
I was eleven years old when John F. Kennedy was elected President and I was fourteen years old when he was killed. I vividly remember those idyllic years. It was then that I formed my idea of what a president is supposed to be. I remember most of the country being proud of our President.
He helped cement our position as leader of the free world. He gave inspiring speeches and I remember trusting him and believing what he said. He motivated us and made us feel that culturally and morally, as well as politically and economically, we were the envy of the rest of the world.
I’m not making a judgment about Kennedy’s policies or legislative accomplishments during his short-term in office. I’m just talking about how America saw itself and how the rest of the world saw us. I’m talking about how one young girl felt about her country and her President. The Kennedy family as a whole projected the image of wealth and prominence, political activism, philanthropy, and patronage of the arts. Something else we could collectively be proud of.
The Kennedy Clan
JFK epitomized the belief that America was morally righteous, strong and determined and that we could accomplish anything we put our minds to. Even going to the moon. He made us want to be the best we could be. We had ideals and by God we could live up to them all! I thought that that was what Presidents were supposed to do. Jackie added to the mystique. She was beautiful, fashionable, polished, and refined. She promoted the arts inside and outside of the White House.
Americans were proud of their the Kennedys were cultured and educated. We all embraced the ‘elitism’ of the gifted, the knowledgeable and the accomplished. As a country, we celebrated all forms of artistic expression.
I don’t know much about Justin Trudeau. I do know he is caring, articulate, shares my ‘liberal’ values, handles himself well in social and political situations and speaks clearly and truthfully. He supports programs that will improve the lives of his people, not just the wealthy, the corporations or one of his country’s political parties.
Canadians love their President. They are so lucky! In less than 100 days, I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to admire or even trust the person in the White House. In less than 100 days I’ve forgotten what it feels like not to be terrified or embarrassed by everything our President says or does. I don’t think I can survive another 100 days in this admiration and trust vacuum!
Maybe I should start reading everything I can about Justin Trudeau. That way I can sustain the belief that good and smart leaders can happen to good people. Maybe if I spend the rest of Trump’s term immersed in Canadian politics, I’ll keep my sanity and emerge in time for the next election, refreshed and invigorated. Convinced that people like Justin Trudeau might even get elected President again here. Someday.
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Categories: #American-history, Election, Government, Politics
TERM LIMITS ARE A REALLY BAD IDEA – Marilyn Armstrong 
TERM LIMITS: A REALLY TERRIBLE IDEA – Marilyn Armstrong 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Hi Ellen,
I can easily see why you feel the way you do, I’d probably feel similar if i lived in the US ( I’m very glad i never have!). I should point out though that both JFK and JT are human and political ‘beasts’ ( in a non-negative sense) and as such had both positive and negative aspects. The positives were greatly reported and highlighted while the negatives are largely under-reported or less inclined to be believed or spoken of in polite circles. Just like the knights in the fiction of Camelot their bright shining image was more of an image than reality – the reality was that there were always human failings lurking underneath all that Shiny Silver Armour, and not all their deeds were Noble ones.
Having said that – your President is a very worrying fella. for me and much of the rest of this world we all have to share – equally.
love.
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No President is perfect, personally or politically. Some of Obama’s policies are a total puzzlement for me. But for me, Trudeau’s stated goals and philosophies, of what I’ve read, make me at least trust his instincts. I feel we are at least somewhere near the same page in terms of what government should be doing for its people. I don’t feel that for Trump. I also feel that projecting an image of control, knowledge and capability is important for a world leader. Trump says stupid and mean things like an eight year old and stumbles from one policy position randomly to another. No one in the world trusts this guy or thinks he has a clue what he is doing. That is worse than a competent, respectable guy whoses views you disagree with. I’d take George Bush back in a minute over Trump and I hated everything tht man said or did.
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I knew we were in trouble when I was nostalgic for the good old days of Tricky Dick Nixon.
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No disagreement here, Sadly 😦
Over many years i have become just cynical enough however to know that you can’t totally trust even the ones that seem to play nice and say what you hope to hear. In my opinion none of them ever totally have your back.
love
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Justin Trudeau is a Socialist fool.
It always astounds me that Socialists cannot see that their philosophy is bankrupt. Literally.
Massive taxation. Massive government. Massive debt.
Intellectual Idealists. They blunder forward. -unable tot figure why their shit doesn’t work. they take everybody else down with them.
The real definition of insanity.
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It’s good that we all don’t have to agree.
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Sorry i got carried away.
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It’s Ok! – even Presidents do it nowadays! 😉
(Actually it’s not really OK, Particularly not if you happen to be a President!) 🙂
Most of what is currently wrong with our world comes down to a growing rush of mostly selfish opinion (thanks Social Media!) and losing respect for those who don’t act/feel the same as us.
If we are ever going to solve our problems we have to unite with the other, not divide and name call. We have to walk a mile in the other’s shoes to understand why they think the way they do. Very few of us ever choose to to do that – for some reason?
love.
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It’s interesting that both our countries have people in power that MANY of their countrymen feel shouldn’t have got within a country mile of the helm – much less won it. These are indeed strange times. And perilous times due to volatility of things these days. Not really the people we would want running things I can assure you.
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In America, the problem in government is that the Republicans refuse to talk to the Democrats on anything. Congress used to always be about negotiating and compromising with the other side. It’s the only way to get things done intelligently. You also have contingents in COngress who refuse to compromise at all – with anyone, even their own party. So it’s hard to get a dialogue going where it’s so badly needed.
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I’m nearly 12,000 miles from you and even i’ve seen that pretty clearly. It amazes me that the ones who refuse to negotiate can’t see the damage they are doing to your country and, by extension, to the rest of the world?
love.
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LoL ! Some people outside of Canada think this guy is the model for politicians. So just to make this clear, many Canadians hate, despise, and disrespect this guy even more than some Americans do Trump.
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Many many AMericans absolutley loathed Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reaagan, two of the most beloved modern day Presidents. So you always have people who don’t like the man in office at any given time. It is unusual to have 60% of the population hate and distrust the President after only three months in office – before he’s really had time to screw things up too badly! And the rest of the world agrees!
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Now wait a minute, Justine Trudeau is still an unproven entity. Sure, he’s a lot better looking than his father and the dolt he replaced. But what a can of worms this marijuana issue, not to mention he’s a globalist and has no idea what’s going on with the middle class he seems to be championing. There’s no utopia here either. He tries to appease the oil sector while entertaining the image of the green party. (p.s. I didn’t vote for him nor the dolt)
Leslie
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I didn’t necessarily agree with JFK or Clinton or Obama on every issue. But I trusted their instincts and values. And from where I’m sitting, Trudeau looks like a more compassionate, reasonable, knowledgeable and sophisticated leader than what we have in the white House now. Trudeau may not be perfect, but he’s a lot closer to acceptable than anything we’re going to see for at least four years!
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I guess there’s always the element of can we trust this guy.
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I think we are all a little jealous of Canada right now.
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I’m not only jealous of the Canadian government, but of the Canadian people. They seem like what I thought Americans used to be. Generous, caring for one another, reasonable and responsible. And genuinely nice. We’ve unearthed a strain of hate in this country that is so ugly and scary.
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They are. I’ve never met a Canadian I didn’t like.
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Canadian politics are just making me jealous. I never thought I could be jealous of someone else’s government.
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Good point Marilyn. Who’d have thought that government envy was a thing?
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A beautiful tribute to JFK. I agree about the last 100 days…awful and unbearable. The other day a stranger and I spoke about the situation. We both laughed sadly when we decided that Nixon did not look so bad after all. It is sad that so many Americans trust Trump. I don’t know much about Justin Trudeau. I will have to follow him more closely. I need a decent leader to inspire me! Heartfelt & honest post!
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It is depressing when we can even look back on Nixon and Bush nostalgically. And I can’t understand either how so many people like and trust Trump. This could only be possible if they are hearing different news reports than I am. Which is exactly what’s happening if they follow any of the right wing press.
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The “alternative facts”, biased reporting, hatred and greed…They remind me of Nazi Germany. Just as people collaborated with the Nazis , there are Americans who will use Trump for their ends with no regard for the welfare of our nation.
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Very scary! The fact that close to half the country lives by ‘alternative facts’ means that these people are unreachable by real facts and real logic and reason. Same was true in Nazi Germany. Hopefully the ‘sane’ and ‘reality based’ 60% of the country will become more active now and take the country back.
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Ellin, I enjoyed this piece. I was just getting my professional toes wet as JFK took office. I actually had a brief meet and greet with other young reporters.
Over the years, I had a professional and semi-personal relationship with many of the Kennedys. One of the perks of time, luck and location in my career. I say luck because the Kennedys were very aware of the few minority reporters working in “Camelot”. First name exchanges boosted my stock. It was a good time to be young and in the public arena. JFK radiated that “A new day is dawning” feeling that was shared by so many of us.
Later, we would discover much of the “Print The Legend” stuff, facts behind the myths. But that’s another story for another day.
As for Justin Trudeau, no question in comparison with Agent Orange 45.
Thanks, Ellin!
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