Governor General Michaelle Jean is smart enough to know that gutting a freshly-killed seal and then eating a piece of its raw heart on the first day of her visit to Nunavut was likely to generate headlines. After all, how often are two such contentious Canadian bickering points"”the seal hunt and the GG"”served up in such a delectable package? So it was a surprise that the weirdest salvo came not from Canadian media but from south of the border. And brutish it was: "Meet Michëalle Jean, the Sarah Palin of Canada" read the headline on Gawker.com, a New York City-based media website known for its snark.
Its familiarity with the big landmass to its north is another matter. Clearly there was no clue that likening the cosmopolitan GG with the Annie Oakley of the GOP is like comparing former governor general Adrienne Clarkson to Roseanne Barr. Or George Clooney to Tom Green. In fairness to Gawker, which did take the time to scan Jean's Wikipedia entry before posting, similarities between the two women exist"”aside from the fact the word "governor" is in both their titles. Both share a taste for sexy librarian glasses. Both are former journalists. And had Gawker spent another two minutes in research mode, it might have discovered both women were dragged into semi-scandals as a result of their husbands' "separatist" proclivities (Todd Palin was once a member of the Alaskan Independence Party; Jean's husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, has been accused of supporting Quebec separatism). And (even more shockingly!) both have committed geography faux pas"”Palin boasted she could see Russia from her front porch, Jean told a group of schoolchildren last February that the Rockies could be viewed from Vancouver.
What is most amusing about Gawker's bogus compare and contrast, though, is its blithe ignorance about the comedian-spewing country to its north"”which is responsible for the stunning disparities between the two women. Jean, who fled Haiti with her family as a refugee at age 11, speaks fluent French, English, Spanish, Italian, and Haitian Creole. Palin, on the other hand, is most fluent in front of a teleprompter. And it defeats the imagination to imagine Palin ever having a conversation with Barack Obama, let alone hitting it off with him, as did the Governor General during his visit to Ottawa in February. Jean, who greeted him, used the opportunity to discuss the current plight of Haiti; Obama was so impressed he invited her to visit Washington, an offer he didn't extend to the prime minister.
The most obvious similarity between the two women that Gawker failed to note is, ironically, at root of their greatest difference. Both Palin and Jean arrived on their national political stages as tokens. When named John McCain's VP running mate, Palin was touted as a brash political change agent"”a promise decidedly unfulfilled. Yet Jean, literally a token figurehead with no political power, has stealthily become an agent for change"”in suspending parliament, in forging alliances with the President and now expressing unambiguous support for sealers at a time when they're under cultural and economic assault. Just this month, the European Union banned their sale. Chewing bloody seal muscle (which Jean reported tastes "like sushi"�) won't win her friends among the European"”or Canadian"”chattering classes. Not that she can admit to political motive. When asked if the gesture was in solidarity with the Inuit hunters she was appropriately oblique: “Take from that what you will,” she said. That would be Canadian for "You betcha!"�
A new coalition, a different politics
Our head of state rocks. No hypocrite she. I’m so proud to be Canadian today!
Wow. How tres juvenile. Stop being the Ugly Canadian.
Our Governor General is nothing like Sarah Palin.
Sarah Palin was a self-made business woman who fought the establishment and got elected governor of a state.
Contrast that with our esteemed G-G, whose chief accomplishment was to serve as an obscure but ethnically and ideologically correct reporter for our disgrace of a national broadcaster before being made head of state via a politically-calculated appointment.
I’ll trade Jean for Palin any day.
In fairness, our esteemed GG didn’t have the advantage of being a moron.
A self-made businesswoman, ftw? What business did she start?
Sarah Palin never said she could see Russia from her house; that line was from a Saturday Night Live skit with a comedienne imitating Palin. What Palin did say was you could see Russia from Alaska, which is true. Please take your job more seriously and stop spreading lies about Sarah Palin.
I know, it’s ridiculous that these journalists cannot do a simple fact check. This lie has been regurgitated long enough.
LOL. What she said was that she had plenty of foreign policy experience because you could see Russia from Alaska. That is even stupider than claiming to be able to see Alaska from her front porch.
I love it when guys like sf tie their rowboat to the Palin Titanic. The self-satire just doesn’t stop.
Yes, thank God that instead of that Palin idiot we’ve got a smart, capable VP like Joe Biden in there instead.
That’s the best you can do, eh? Compared to a woman who literally can’t put a coherent sentence together and sounds like a brash PTA dictator?
Well there’s plenty more where that came from, but yeah, I thought that accidently disclosing his own secret hideout in the event of a terrorist attack was pretty over the top.
But if you want more, how about telling a wheelchair bound Senator to stand up so the crowd can see him? Or how FDR went on television after the stock market crash of the 30’s? You know, the guy who wasn’t president yet, going on a television which hadn’t been invented yet? Or starting a panic by suggesting that he would avoid public transportation after the swine flu outbreak?
I’m not suggesting that Palin is the sharpest knife in the drawer, but come on…Biden is every bit the disaster that Palin was projected to be.
If Palin were VP today, she’d be under lock & key so that she never, ever talked to the media about anything whatsoever. Then McCain would drop dead and we’d be living in a world in which someone who is not merely gaffe-prone, like Biden is, but who is an actual living breathing gaffe herself, had her finger on the nuclear trigger. Biden may have his faults but he is not a blithering idiot who believes in the imminent Rapture.
Jack, I had precisely the same fears about Palin. Picking her was the worst mistake McCain ever made in his life. He should have gone with Lieberman, as he wanted to, but key advisors persuaded him that the only way to beat Obama would be with a gimmick, like an attractive (yet completely unqualified) female VP. In my view, this was such a serious error in judgment that it disqualified McCain as a credible POTUS.
With regards to Palin, I feel that the media unfairly attacked her family and her personal life. On the other hand, the media played an important role in exposing Palin’s unprecedented lack of knowledge and credentials.
With regards to Palin, I feel that the media unfairly attacked her family and her personal life.
This is definitely true. And any pretense that this media onslaught wasn’t politically motivated went out the window when they failed to hold Ashley Biden to the same standard as Bristol Palin.
But Palin’s whole schtick was identity-driven. It was she who used her family as window dressing, as the basis of her candidacy. If she hadn’t made them celebrities, the media wouldn’t have been so interested in them. Perils of lifestyle politics.
All candidates for high office in the United States use their families as window dressing. It’s one of the more striking differences between American and Canadian politics.
If she hadn't made them celebrities, the media wouldn't have been so interested in them.
I disagree. The media interest in Palin’s family would have been ferocious even if she had not “used” them in her campaign.
You’d think that someone making this claim: is its blithe ignorance about the comedian-spewing country to its north would not be so ignorant herself.
Yeah, I don’t see the need to fixate on that one line – Palin said much stupider things during her tenure as America’s most prominent failed political stunt.
The biggest difference is that Palin was elected, while Jean was appointed.
This is really poor journalism, there is no point and many “facts” are just plain wrong. Micheal Jean could not ever hold a candle to the accomplishments of Sarah Palin regardless of your bias. Incidentally it was not Palin that said I can see Russia from my porch, it the actress on Saturday night live, Palin said you can see Russia from Alaska and you can, twit.
…but she said that because one can see Russia from Alaska, it gave her foreign policy experience! I guess that means that my relatives in Windsor, ON, or my friends in Brockville, ON, have foreign policy experience because they can see the US from the places they live, right Durward? Are you pulling our legs here buddy?
As for “not holding a candle to” blah blah blah, let’s see if we can come up with terms of reference for a debate, and we’ll ask Palin and Jean to take opposing viewpoints. Who do you think would win? The woman can barely form a coherent sentence for god’s sake.
I have to say I’m really impressed. Speaking of Adrienne Clarkson, I’m certain she never would have done something like this. Could we interest you in some prairie oysters Madame Jean?
Where do these people come from. Canada’s CBC Governor General is to Sarah Palin what Rita McNail is to Beyonce. Comparing a politically correct life-long government worker with a self made woman is an insult to Alaskas governor. Obama was impressed was he==thinking with his little head again?
This is my first visit to this site. At first glance I would think Jack Mitchell should call home ,some village is missing their idiot.
(please delete this comment if above comment is removed for sake of continuity) Rob,I had a clever rejionder about which person needs to be returned to a village….but then I saw the ‘report abuse’ button- believe it or not, explicit ad hominem attacks (especailly ones that don’t make sense) fits under most people’s definitions of ‘abuse.’
Our GG rocks! You go girl!
That’ll put a chill into any reception she receives in Europe!
Now any visiting dignitary will be requesting an advance copy of the menu for any dinners the GG hosts! ;)
Slate had a great explainer on seeing Russia from Alaska “yes, but only the boring parts|. Of course, you can only see an uninhabitated island or some mountains on the very sparsely populated mainland…..which means that Palin’s version of foreign policy experience would be really good for staking U.S. claims to the arctic….but not much else. http://www.slate.com/id/2200155/
I mean, the mayor of say, San Francisco probably has more relevant experience with shipping and trade from Russia, never mind the rest of the world. Of course, perhaps in Sarah Palin’s world the only important bits are pumping oil and hunting, and there is definately trade and cultural bonds between Russia and Alaska on that front.
Anyway, I’m really impressed with the GG’s penchant for heart eating. I think it serves to not only stand in solidarity with hypocritical Europeans (lets ban French cows for inhumen slaughter!), but also remind Canadians that one of the true beauties of this land is the ehart of nature, whether observed on a nature walk or ceremoniusly eaten straight from the gut. I have to say that I kind of suspected the GG was a little chicken re: coalition…but those words certainly don’t ring true anymore.
I’m not fan of the GG, but I do see her in a much better light because of this. Good on her!
Incorrect.
Canada’s Sarah Palin is Ruby Dallah.
Michaelle Jean does all sorts of crazy things that sets her apart from Sarah Palin’s, such as read. And think.
Macleans is going down hill.
One, bashing Americans is alive and well I see.
Two, this article rehashes the same lie about Sarah Palin.
Three, Obama showed special interest in the GG because she is a person of colour.
The GG is highly overrated, not that such details matter in the world of so-called journalism.
I’m glad others have pointed this out. The quote was from ABC and no, had nothing to do with explaining her foreign policy experience – it was making light of how close Alaska was to Russia (true) and how although the comment was meant, unfairly, to call into question her experience (how many other landlocked governors have foreign policy experience?) she honestly does have to deal with Russians as her -gasp- second closest neighbours!
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