It was just last week that I discovered and appreciated the work of John Ralston Saul, and now you can imagine how frustrated I feel as I read the review of his book 'On Equilibrium' by journalist David Warren. Warren says that Saul is an intellectual fraud and that he took the trouble to review his latest book because he is accepted in this country as a major public intellectual. Warren's last words for this review are "He [Saul] is celebrated by our Prime Minister as an inspiration to the Canadian state. This is a dreadful state of affairs."

I have read some of the articles written by David Warren and I find his stories too much rhetorical and sometime difficult to understand as my classical education is certainly not au pair with Warren. But if I cannot understand Warren's stories too well I can understand his fractured mind and his inability to understand our humanness and creativity.

David Warren is the type of man who conscious of not being a hero himself yearns to follow the heroes who can inspire patriotism, a patriotism which arises in waging never ending wars against the evil doers. If we are sincere with ourselves, we understand our realities as they present themselves and as we reflect on them. We don't understand realities because we are told so. Therefore, if we really want to understand the mental reality of David Warren we must refer to some of his relevant work and reflect on such a work. I have chosen the following excerpt of Warren's article on leadership and I wish you good luck in understanding the mental reality of this man:

"...I tend to think now of George W. Bush as having something in him of Winston Churchill. (The younger Bush chose Churchill as a personal hero, years ago; who knows what heroes Mr. Chretien chose?)

From the first moments of the conflict, the president knew what he was about. He gathered in what had happened, the scale of what had happened. He knew who he was, and what he was called upon to do. He grasped, as a leader, that this was no ordinary challenge, that it had become the reason for his life. He did not even look at polls before he began acting and speaking.

In the United States, a person many feared would prove a weak president, soon showed the most impressive qualities of leadership, and continues to do so. He has made mistakes, he will make mistakes, as Churchill also made mistakes; but he will not lose his hold on the big picture. He has seemed to rise right out of himself, to become a giant of a man.

And the American people have been galvanized by this leadership, they have themselves risen to the occasion, summoned the will to fight. Even the polls confirm, they will not be distracted from their commitment: they know they too are put to the test. They know who they are -- Americans -- what being an American means.

Whereas we are at a loss, we really don't know who we [Canadians] are, and there is no one who speaks for us. We are mere spectators in our own fate. We get mixed signals from our craven rulers..."

References:
Pertinent articles published in Ensign

Personal note: I had a giggle as I reflected on the use of the word 'polls' by David Warren

The incredible lightness of Ralston Saul, David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, December 17, 2001 http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20011217/888663.html

On leadership, David Warren, December 9, 2001 http://www.davidwarrenonline.com/index45.html