Saturday, December 19, 2015

A "Sparklepile of Sunshine"? Bah, Humbug!

I can't help it--the Toronto Star's Susan Delacourt brings out the Scrooge/Grinch in me:
A Sparklepile of Sunshine seems an excellent title for a holiday movie.  
The exact phrase, “sparklepile of progressive sunshine,” comes from GQ magazine’s recent description of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his welcome to Syrian refugees.   
But the words also capture the festive red glow around Canadian politics these days, featuring scenes that wouldn’t be out of place in a cheesy Christmas classic.   
It was hard not to think of the opening scenes of the 2003 holiday film Love Actually, for instance, when Trudeau went to the airport to greet the first planeload of Syrian refugees. As Hugh Grant (also a new prime minister in the film) narrates over the scenes from Heathrow Airport’s arrivals area: “If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.”  
After a highly political year in Canada, featuring one of the longest election campaigns in the nation’s history, perhaps it isn’t surprising that the holiday season has acquired political overtones. A new red Liberal government against the backdrop of a green Christmas (so far) in Ottawa, and lots of talk about peace on earth and goodwill toward everyone.   
As the Star’s Tim Harper observed in a recent column, “The capital is Bedford Falls, Old Man Potter has been banished and we’re all living in the final scene of It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Aren't progressive delusions grand? Don't they fool you into believing that you're living in the final scene of It's a Wonderful Life when in fact their policies are about to make you life a whole lot more difficult verging on the just plain awful?

In that way, Justin Trudeau is much more like the film's idiotic Uncle Billy, who loses all of George Bailey's money, than he is like James Stewart/George Bailey. 

BTW, did you know that every time Prime Minister Sparklepile makes another silly promise (one he knows he can't keep) an angel gets its wings?

Or is it a devil gets its horns?

As Delacourt demonstrates, I guess it depends on your perspective.

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