In the 1970s the FLQ, a terrorist organization in favour of "liberating" Quebec, began kidnapping important politicans as a means for political blackmail. 

Pierre Trudeau, a former Canadian Prime Minister, and possibly the most gifted politician (from any country) that has ever lived, responds here to a reporter trying to demonize him for providing protection to citizens at the expense of calling in the military. 

Three days after this impromptu 'interview', he initiates the War Measures Act, which grants the police the right to arrest and detain people on suspicion alone.

I think he brilliantly turns things around on the reporter (who was trying so desperately hard to outsmart Trudeau).  I'm impressed by how in the end the reporter is defending his own position!

The clip can be found here:
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-71-162-429-21/unforgettable_moments/conflict_war/trudeau_just_watch_me

Parallels?  Discuss.

"Go on & bleed" hahahahaha!

Pretty nifty, we just need an awesome PR dude like that to rationalize the NSA & everything that they've done to the American people.

The reporter is questioning a (as far as I can tell) very logical choice that is not radical, nor out of line. The PM simply answers him, trying to explain something that shouldn't have to be explained, where he should've just ignored it and moved on/not talked to them at all beyond the first few lines.

In the end, the reporter does manage to troll out a concievably deeper and more sinister mood in the PM.
It's a conversation that shouldn't have taken place at all, but by being a complete idiot, the reporter did manage to get a 'headlines' feeling out of the PM, which could have been avoided had the PM simply ended it halfway through.

Basically the interview managed to make something (again, as far as I can tell) very simple, in the end, appear to be worse than it was.
As for most gifted politician... I've never seen, or even heard of anyone more logical than Kåre Willoch.

Especially in the present, his logic is flat out refreshing.
He's like a damn Vulcan.

(note: I have not read up on the issue the interview is about, my commentary is purely from seeing that short clip of the interview, nothing else)

[quote author=Zef link=topic=15218.msg154917#msg154917 date=1151211333]
The reporter is questioning a (as far as I can tell) very logical choice that is not radical, nor out of line.
[/quote]
Yes, but at the time it was a big news item, and the press desperately wanted to use the opportunity to write sensational stories -- either about whether the FLQ had valid claims, or whether Quebec had turned into a police state at the hands of a manipulative government.  The impression you have that the government's actions  were very logical,  and weren't radical or out of line, isn't the feeling that the public generally held at the time -- it is something you interpolated from the interview.  :)

[quote author=Zef link=topic=15218.msg154917#msg154917 date=1151211333]
The PM simply answers him, trying to explain something that shouldn't have to be explained, where he should've just ignored it and moved on/not talked to them at all beyond the first few lines.
[/quote]
Ah, no, I completely disagree.  If he had ignored him he would have been like most weak politicans who are unable to field questions on the spot.  I don't think Trudeau was at all bothered by the press, I actually think he enjoyed himself in that clip: it was like a fun game.  Also the public was somewhat alarmed by the military presence, so it was worth addressing.


[quote author=Zef link=topic=15218.msg154917#msg154917 date=1151211333]
Basically the interview managed to make something (again, as far as I can tell) very simple, in the end, appear to be worse than it was.
[/quote]
Quite the opposite, the "on the spot" interview showcased the PMs ability to respond under pressure, and the headline ending greatly boosted his popularity:
unlike most politicians, he isn't dithering, or searching for the "right" answers: he's following his convictions in a logical unwaivering fashion.  Had he just walked away after a few comments, things may have been slightly smoothed over, but he'd have come across like any other sucky boring politican; a logical point was made, and there is no reason for him not to take his position as far as the situation warrants!

[quote author=Zef link=topic=15218.msg154917#msg154917 date=1151211333]
As for most gifted politician... I've never seen, or even heard of anyone more logical than Kåre Willoch.
Especially in the present, his logic is flat out refreshing.
He's like a damn Vulcan.
[/quote]
Yes, but I don't think a Vulcan would make a very effective leader :P.  What impresses me by Trudeau is not merely his academic intelligence, or ability to "reason" logically, but his capacity for both of those things as well as his strength as a leader: whenever any of the press tried to grill him, he always looked like he was having a great time, and if you were to watch most of his "interviews" mid-way through, you'd think he was the reporter, and the journalist was the nervous politician.  He also wasn't afraid to say what he actually thought.

As a result, the public's opinion of him was very polarized.  About 85% of the country loved him, and 15% loathed him. 

A famous author once wrote, "Trudeau is one of the only modern politicans that has been worthy of assassination."  e.g. one of the only ones with a real personality.


Anyways, here's some more info about the events surrounding that interview:
[quote]
• Three days later Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, giving police the right to arrest and detain people on suspicion alone.
• The act, created in 1914 for cases of war or national emergency, was repealed in 1985.
• Trudeau also outlawed the Front de libération du Québec and told police to arrest those with "extreme-left" literature, posters, stickers or pamphlets.
• Eighty-five per cent of Canadians agreed with invoking the act.
• Cabinet documents later revealed that Trudeau originally didn't want to invoke the War Measures Act. Then-Indian Affairs minister Jean Chrétien advised him to "act now, explain later."
• Trudeau changed his mind when he discovered the FLQ had two tons of dynamite to blow up Montreal buildings.
[/quote]