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It would perhaps be an understatement to say that the Justin Trudeau groping incident has highlighted the dangers of building a political brand based on excessive moralizing.

For that is the real lesson behind this mini-scandal. What should anger everyone – regardless of political affiliation – is the cynical and domineering weaponization of morality by the Trudeau government. It is a type of political warfare which, until now, the federal Liberals seemed to have perfected like no other party.

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Contrary to those who focus on the individual victims of the groping incident (whether they think it is the groper or the groped), the real victims of this political strategy are average Canadians who care about the state of political discourse in this country and don’t wish it to become the sort of polarized brawling over values we see south of the border. The weaponization of morality – be it of the Liberal/liberal or Conservative/conservative variety – is a weapon like any other: It should be used sparingly, and only by someone who understands the awesome damage it can inflict. The fact that there is so much public debate over an 18-year-old-recently rediscovered incident between Trudeau and a female reporter suggests he didn’t understand that the weapon he aimed at others was actually loaded.