PHOTOS: Presidents Donald J. Trump of the United States and Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at the 2017 G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany (Photo: Kremlin.ru, Wikimedia Commons). Below, the great former Canadian, Lord Black of Crossharbour.

It is hard not to concur with the words of the prominent formerly Canadian political commentator, historian and prison-reform advocate Lord Black of Crossharbour that it is distressing to read and listen to the nonsense in the Canadian media about the president.

Regardless of the stream of biased bloviations, misleading commentary and outright fake reportage we have all read and seen in Canadian media, the president has done a great job during a difficult time for his country, and indeed for the entire world, making the former great again and sweeping terrorists from much of the latter.

As Lord Black wrote, “the reservations widely held about him, in the United States and elsewhere, are understandable and not unfounded,” yet he is the most effective president on the world stage today.

He wields force with prudence in the face of a wide range of military provocations from irresponsible foreign leaders, reacts cautiously to a stream of diplomatic assaults and insults, seems unfazed by constant media hostility and hysteria, and can be counted on to keep his cool in a tense situation. For this reason – again, despite what you may have read or heard – he is overwhelmingly popular at home.

And I bet you didn’t know that, like the late Canadian Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau, he holds a senior belt rank in judo, and, like former Canadian Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, he can play the piano well enough to perform in public. He speaks several foreign languages well, and Pope Francis has called him one of the few world leaders prepared to defend the Christian faith and its adherents.

He will certainly be re-elected by his grateful supporters, including many who have not always been supporters of his political party.

I speak, of course, of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Who the hell did you think I was talking about?

President Putin announced yesterday he is seeking a fourth six-year term in the 2018 presidential election in his country. He made the announcement to workers in an automobile factory in Nizhny Novgorod, the BBC reported.

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9 Comments

  1. I thought you were talking about Donald Trump. I swallowed it, hook line and sinker. My radar went off when you started talking about judo and piano playing, but the Christian defender thing reeled me back in. Then you delivered the punchline and I had to reread it. Very clever. This piece is a beautiful example of why I read Albertapolitics. Thank you Dave!

  2. I just read Lord Black’s latest observations, and as usual find his reasoning on shaky grounds, particularly with regard to the US Civil War. But who am I? A genuine prole. Black is the self-admitted world’s foremost expert on Everything and especially, as he so readily admits, military history, issuing his prognostications from on high to the sinfully undereducated mass of serfs spreadeagled under his feet. The man is the ultimate example of what happens when entitled aristocratic capitalist elites convinced of their innate genius lecture what they perceive as the dolts of society who for some reason are a trifle upset at not getting their fair pay for work performed. Be glad that the lords even provide any work at all is the message this intellectual colossus proclaims.

    Well, thank you so much dear Conrad, for deigning to let us know what to think. Next time I feel the need for a lecture from a convicted criminal who has spent time in prison selflessly educating the other inmates as a way to pass the time of his incarceration, as we have been informed in great detail by the man hisself, I’ll be sure to ring your bell.

    Exactly how is this man, who renounced Canadian citizenship upon being appointed a British Lord, allowed to stay here? We never get an answer to that question, now do we. Was he awarded refugee status by an overawed harper? Trudeau seems incapable of doing anything about anything and certainly not about this. I’d vote for putting boy Conrad on a small island along with a used Ramada Inn conference room dais; then he can lecture the rocks and sand as to the error of their ways. We sure don’t need him here.

    As for Putin, he has presided over over the things you mention, plus organized state doping of Olympic athletes to show the Russian SuperRace to the world, plus the hanging out of LGBTQ folks to dry in some whacked-out Christian vision of sin much like the nutters down South and rural Alberta. Another fine man is Putin, perhaps not as fine as Lord Black, but definitely finer than Trump. I see little to praise in these three men and much to decry.

  3. I have masters degree in phrenology. Lord Crossharbars sloping and small forehead indicates a limited intelligence.

    1. Limited intelligence or not, Lord Almost has a head for good deeds. When he was serving time in a medium security lockup in Florida, he taught fellow prisoners to read and write. He said it gave him much satisfaction. Nevertheless his enjoyment at helping others did not prevent him from paying his lawyers to try to spring him early.

  4. Hmmm … I am not sure it is a good sign if one is agreeing with the formerly honorable Lord Black. I hope it is at least not a sign of the apocalypse. In any event, I am not surprised he has some positive things to say about Putin. Black tends to prefer leaders with a strong hand and a fundamentally conservative nature, the wet and squishy types are not for him! He was quite the fan of Lady Thatcher as I recall.

    Although I do not always agree with him, I enjoy reading his writing. I must read his book on FDR when I have a few days to spare. I wonder what Black plans to do with his free time now. Perhaps a book on Putin?

    1. To be clear, David, I was being sarcastic. Mr. Trump’s kind words are for … Donald J. Trump. I shall (reluctantly and against my general principles) provide a link. DJC

  5. Thank you. I somehow don’t think Trump is really quite conservative enough for Black’s taste. However, perhaps Black hopes he will get a pardon from DJ Trump. After all, we all make mistakes.

  6. I really really want to laugh as I appreciate this blog and the humour, but I just finished reading Browder’s “Red Notice” and am left reeling with the accounts of Putin’s sociopathic behaviors. Not sure why I didn’t pay heed to the Pussy Riot girls’ revolutionary music and subsequent jail back in the day.
    Black, Putin, Trump are so damned similar *that it’s not even funny!

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