Barack Obama is gone and the liberals at Rolling Stone need another dreamy leftist to fawn over. Apparently, the magazine has found one in Justin Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister. The August 10 issue is beyond effusive, describing the politician as “seductive” and “goddamned beautiful.” The various headlines give a small indication to the Trudeau love in the article. The print edition enthused, “Justin Trudeau: Why Can’t He Be Our President?”
The Rolling Stone home page wondered, “Justin Trudeau: Is the Canadian Prime Minister the Free World's Best Hope?” The online article cheered, “Justin Trudeau: The North Star.”
How bad was the cover? Even liberal MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes tweeted, “This is unseemly.”
But the actual article itself is even worse. Journalist Stephen Rodrick wrote as though he was a starstruck teen talking to a celebrity:
Trudeau reminds me of, well, Obama as he smiles and listens patiently to me droning on about my Canadian wife as if it is actually interesting. For Trudeau, listening is seducing.
Rodrick couldn't get past Trudeau’s alure, describing, “As we chat, he smiles and locks in with his blue eyes.”
This is reminiscent of the New York Times’ David Brooks writing about Barack Obama in 2005: “We were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at his pant leg and his perfectly creased pant.” In 2006, Terry Moran gushed over Obama: “You can see it in the crowds. The thrill, the hope. How they surge toward him.”
Of course, the journalist contrasted the Canadian politician to Donald Trump:
It's strange to witness: He speaks in a modulated, indoor voice. His dark hair is a color found in nature. At home, there is a glamorous wife and three photogenic children, still not old enough to warm his seat at next week's G-20 summit or be involved in an espionage scandal.
Showing that he’s completely fallen for Trudeau, Rodrick concluded:
Trudeau heads back toward his three-car motorcade that stops at all red lights. In the hall, a couple hundred kids hold signs that say "Hope" and "Respect." They grab his sleeve and then skitter away wearing giant smiles. It would have been corny if it had not been so goddamned beautiful.
Talk about a press release. Apparently the journalistic credo of speaking truth to power only applies when the person in question is a conservative politician.
