U.S. politics right now feel like a clown show of ventriloquized garbage bags yelling dangerous nonsense
about Muslims and the Second Amendment. But just north of the border,
in Canada, new (and still very boyish) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is
showing just how far leadership traits like compassion and
open-mindedness can go toward endearing yourself to your countrymen. Who would have thought?
On
Thursday, Trudeau was on-hand to welcome 163 Syrian refugees to the
country as part of Canada's accelerated entry program, the New York Times reports, which promises to accept 10,000 refugees by the end of the year.
“This
is a wonderful night where we get to show not just a planeload of new
Canadians what Canada's all about, but we get to show the world how to
open our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing extraordinarily
difficult situations,” Trudeau said in a speech. “Tonight, they step off
the plane as refugees. But they walk out of this terminal as permanent
residents of Canada, with social insurance numbers, health cards, and an
opportunity to become full Canadians.”
I mean, read the comments in this Facebook thread:
What's
crazy to me is that the above sounds... almost weird? A world leader
actually said something that didn't teeter on the edge of EVIL?
Trudeau—who also made half his cabinet women,
because he's a sparklepile of progressive sunshine—has become something
of a protege of Obama, and has been speaking with the president
regularly. ”It was nice to confirm in person how like-minded we are on
so many issues,’’ Trudeau said on their relationship in a recent Times
profile. ‘‘He said that seeing my family on TV on election night
reminded him of his election in 2008 with his family. I’m looking
forward to having a beer with him.’’ What a guy.