The Politics of Coincidence

(as seen on Facebook)

      Consider the following bio:

• His mother was a member of the ethnic majority; his father was of the largest ethnic minority.
• He attended school abroad, including the U.S. mainland, earning a degree from Harvard University.
• He excelled in law school and joined the more liberal of the nation's two major parties.
• He was married only once, currently with two children, both of the same gender, from that union.
• His campaign began with controversy over radical past associates and his second name (questioning his loyalties). Rather than duck these issues he confronted them head on and put them to rest.
• A consummate campaigner, speaker and intellect, he was elected his country's leader, largely due to unprecedented levels of participation by excited young voters.
• In his third year of office he battled terrorists, acting decisively and without regard to niceties.

     Who are we talking about here?

     Well, you're probably thinking about this guy:

Barack Obama

If you guessed Barack Obama you have passed the test with a 50% score so far. However, there is another correct answer, a leader who preceded Obama by a generation. Can you divine his name as well for a perfect 100% score?

This elegy to him may serve as a hint: "Once again he has made us accept something better denied: one more rose on his breast before infinite moments alone, one more snowfall to face. It is just as old Rex eulogized: he has gone to his grace, leaving us so much less of our own."

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Once you've made your guess please scroll past this unrelated photo to see the video and annotative notes.

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Un Drapeau pour Trudeau

    Once again he has made us
    accept something better
    denied: one more rose
    on his breast before infinite moments
    alone, one more snowfall to face.
    It is just
    as old Rex
    eulogized:
    he has gone
    to his grace,
    leaving us
    so much less
    of our own.

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Form: Concrete curginic elegy
Meter: Anapestic pentameter
Rhyme: ABAB
Footnotes: 

L1: In patriating the Constitution, Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau made Canada a nation.
L2: Trudeau's 16 year reign featured many social advancements.
L3-L4: Trudeau's trademark was a red rose in his lapel.
L5: In 1984, Trudeau took a walk in the snow and decided to leave politics. While skiing in November of 1988, his son, Michel, died in an avalanche. It snowed on October 3rd, 2000, the day Pierre Elliott Trudeau was buried.  Winter came early that year.
L6: Before becoming Prime Minister, Trudeau served as Justice Minister. It was he who coined the expression "a just society".
 L7-L13: CBC Commentator Rex Murphy's actual quote was: "He has gone to his grace, and that leaves so much less of ours."

Decurginated:

Once again he has made us accept something better denied:
one more rose on his breast before infinite moments alone,
one last snowfall to face. It is just as old Rex eulogized:
he has gone to his grace, leaving us so much less of our own.

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