In my latest Loonie Politics column I say the Governor General was very wrong to prorogue Parliament on behalf of a First Minister who had clearly lost the confidence of the House of Commons, and that the House should reconvene itself and fire Justin Trudeau.
“We know that happiness comes to men when they are caught up, absorbed in a meaningful task or duty to be done, a task or duty which in turn sheds justification and sanction back down upon their humble labors.”
Mr. Max in Richard Wright Native Son
“We relax at the ranch [in California] which, if not heaven itself, probably has the same zip code.”
Ronald Reagan in a 40th wedding anniversary tribute to his wife Nancy in 1992, quoted in National Post June 7, 2004
He had many dinners alone with General George Marshall during the war, after “two stiff, bourbon old-fashioneds which the Chief liked to mix himself. There would be talk of course, but absolutely no war talk. That day he probably had had to make decisions that affected the fate of nations; tomorrow he would face problems equally crucial. But that evening he would be calm and unworried as he listened to my chatting. Once, I asked him how he stood up under the strain; he answered: ‘I’ve had to train myself never to worry about a decision once it’s made. You worry before you make it, but not after. You make the best judgement you can about a problem – then forget it. If you don’t, your mind is not fit to make the next decision.’”
Frank Capra The Name Above the Title
On Thursday on the Ezra Levant Show I discussed our dull-witted response to Trump’s ham-fisted joke about Canada as the 51st state, and Justin Trudeau’s broader incapacity to protect Canada’s national interests.
“But leadership is not just about getting the job done…. How many times have we read about a university athletic program that was excelling in athletics but was caught in a cheating scandal along the way? Or a financial institution that made its stockholders a lot of money but eventually collapsed because they violated the law? If as a leader you fail the institution you are leading, then you have failed – period. Once again, leadership is difficult, but not complicated. To do it right doesn’t require a sophisticated chart, a calculus formula, or a complex algorithm, but it does require some guidance.”
Author’s “Introduction” to William H. McRaven The Wisdom of the Bullfrog
In my latest Loonie Politics column I say the Canadian chattering classes’ lead-balloon response to Trump’s clumsy 51st-state joke was devoid of wit in any sense.
“If you have to swallow a frog, it’s best not to look at it too long.”
Tennessee governor Ned McWherter quoted in The Economist April 6, 1991 [specifically urging the legislature to adopt a state income tax, which I’m against, but I applaud the maxim as a general rule]