Deaf, Dumb, and Blind
September 22, 2005 · By kaqchikel
The Globe and Mail’s Lawrence Martin, prompted by Peter Newman’s new book on Mulroney, bemoans the decline of finesse and intellectual virtue among Canadian politicians. Martin exalts Pierre Trudeau as a paragon of culture in the field of Canadian politicians.
One achievement that few deny Pierre Trudeau was his enormous cultural impact. With his savoir-vivre and aura of erudition, he embodied a new intellectualism. He dragged the country out of its cultural backwater. He was our renaissance man.
Count me, please Mr. Martin, among the few. Publicly disrespecting the Monarch with his much-rehearsed childish pirouette, lifting his middle-finger to western Canadians, and f***ing swearing on the floor of the House were national cultural heights and real marks of Trudeau’s intellectual prowess and savoir-vivre, were they not? What a load of rubbish.
Cross posted from Civitatensis
“Aura of erudition?” That’s certainly our version of Renaissance. Myself, I prefer Jacques Barzun. In that respect, his use of the word “intellectualism” is perfectly in keeping with what Barzun said about “intellectualism” in The House of Intellect.
Intellectuals and Intellectualism rather than Intellect. Lawrence Martin just hoisted himself upon his own petard.
Nota bene.