Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Today's News: The Trudeau government is "playing a bad hand as well as they can"


I was looking at X tonight, and saw that Maple MAGA is just delighted with the "Governor Trudeau" insult.
Jerks!
Here's what I think happened: 
Trump saw all the praise in Canada for Trudeau's dinner initiative, and saw how Trudeau charmed the other Mar-A-LardAss dinner guests, and only then did he realize that inviting Trudeau to dinner had given Canada an advantage that Trump didn't actually intend us to have. 
So he found a way to slap us down again, with his Flag post and his Governor Trudeau post. 
Now, Maple MAGA doesn't understand it, but many Canadians know the insult was intended to ridicule all of us, not just Trudeau. 
I haven't seen a reaction from Trudeau yet to Trump's insulting trolling. 
But now I don't expect to see one -- I think Scrimshaw is correct in saying Trudeau should focus on results rather than performative outrage: 

Scrimshaw Unscripted
In Defence Of Trudeau's Trump Strategy
Stop Asking For Them To Overreact
...There’s really no way to talk about this honestly without just being blunt - those people who want us to scream that ”#Actually We Are Independent And Won’t Be Trampled With” at every provocation of the Trump Transition have some of the most truly pathetic small dick energy we’ve ever seen. It’s a hot dog hollering.....
What the government is doing is what people who actually have the asset or attributes that are under discussion do - they don’t focus on winning the public debate, they focus on achieving outcomes....
Let’s say Trudeau comes out today flanked by whoever you like - all the Premiers, all the party leaders, a group of esteemed Canadians, or even all of the above. He stares down the camera, puts on his best serious voice, and says that Canada has won a war of southern aggression once before and that if need be they will fight one again. He says that Canadians may respect America, but the fundamental glory of Canada is in its learnings both from American success but also American failure. He says that we will not subjugate Canadians to any nonsense from a wannabe authoritarian. What happens the minute he’s done giving that speech?
I’m sure a bunch of idiots would feel better about themselves,... But it would get a reaction from Washington, including from the famously volatile President-elect who is known for having enemies. It would do no good except in making some of us feel better.
I don’t know this, but it does seem likely to me that Trump’s continuing with this line of provocation in large part because it’s not getting a response from us. Annexing Canada isn’t happening, and a serious or credible attempt at it isn’t either. There is no universe in which an admin with the active crises it faces in Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, and Syria, plus the cold but important conflict-in-all-but-name with China, would ever muster the theoretical capacity to plan such a strike, let alone the actual capacity to attack. You have Elon and Vivek agreeing with Bernie Sanders that military spending cuts are on the table in their fake Not-A-Department, but they’re gonna invade and annex Canada. Sure.
...What the Trudeau government is doing is playing a very bad hand about as well as they can. They have certain assets, but we are a smaller, economically reliant country that relies on American goodwill as a replacement for genuinely innovative economic policy. We can fight about what extent the fault lies with Pierre Trudeau or Brian Mulroney or Doug Ford or Mike Harris or Chretien or whoever the fuck another time. Right now we have to play the cards we have well. And what so many seem to want is counterproductive claptrap. If someone can articulate an actual path from Trudeau forcefully condemning these comments to a good outcome for Canadians I’ll listen to the case. But it doesn’t exist....
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Tuesday, December 10, 2024

CWAA today: Trump tries to troll Trudeau

Today's edition of "Christ, What An Asshole" (CWAA):

Donald Trump is once again “joking” about annexing Canada into the United States, this time calling Justin Trudeau the “Governor” of the “Great State of Canada.” Totally normal and not crazy at all

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— Republicans Against Trumpism (@rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social) December 9, 2024 at 11:53 PM
Maple MAGA seems to be just delighted that their boy Trump is so ballsey and tough: Well, this is what I think about that: Waiting for Trudeau to go "dark brandon" on Trump...
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Things I didn't know: English reading; troops in Syria; Canadian oligarchy; and we have our very own wankpuffin!

In the category of "things I didn't know":

First, isn't this interesting:

Next, I found out today that the United States still has hundreds, maybe thousands, of soldiers at bases sprinkled around the Middle East including military now active in Syria:
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Monday, December 09, 2024

Today's News: What is wrong with our media, part umpteenth


You know how it feels when someone puts into words something you felt but couldn't describe? 
Well, here's an article from George Washington University professor Dave Karpf that describes exactly why the media have such problems covering political leadership. 
(And yes, Karpf is that guy who broke the internet back in 2019 when he made the joke 
Anyway, here is his latest insight:

Dave Karpf / The Future, Now and Then
Uncouth.
On Hunter Biden, and the unspoken value system that our media and political elites seek to defend
...Our political and media elites have made it clear through their actions that they value the appearance of order and propriety over anything else.
Donald Trump was elected President. Ergo he is legitimate, and must be afforded the same polite treatment offered to any other President-elect. Wipe the slate clean, so as to not sully the office he is set to occupy. We must all hope against hope that he behaves himself better his time around. And, if he does not, then it is our duty to cluck our tongues and register respectful, muted disapproval.
.... Now that he is, once again, the President-elect, our media and political elites are reverting to their core social behaviors. Joe Biden is taking polite photo-ops with the President-elect, and promising to attend his inauguration. Democratic governors are promising to seek common ground and find bipartisan consensus with the administration.
It isn’t that they did not mean it when they called Donald Trump a fascist and a threat to Democracy. They meant it. But they lost anyway. And now the social order is imperiled, and they are reverting to form, doing all they know how to do to shore up trust and faith in the system, in the hopes that it will all turn out alright.
All these behaviors, like the tut-tutting over the Hunter Biden pardon, are contrivances.
Donald Trump attempted to overthrow the government when he lost the 2020 election. He was never held accountable for it, because holding him accountable would have been uncouth. And now he has legitimately won re-election. So it would be uncouth to dwell on those past actions.
This farce will continue, indefinitely, until the system utterly collapses.
Hunter Biden’s pardon is front page news — not because anyone cares about Hunter Biden at all, but because it is the type of Presidential misbehavior that our elite media knows how to object to.
Kash Patel’s intent to turn the FBI against his “enemies list” is a lesser news story, right up until the moment he throws those enemies in prison. Because we wouldn’t want to undermine public trust in the FBI, would we? That, too, would be uncouth.
There is, ultimately, a simple reason why most of our journalistic and political elites will fail to offer meaningful opposition to the incoming Trump regime.
Doing so would be improper. And their unspoken-but-genuine value system, all along, has been to defend propriety and the social order.
So they’ll bicker over Hunter Biden, and then they’ll bicker over the next thing, and it will all be contrivances and pleasantries, while the regime installs itself.
I wish it were not so. I wish for a great many things.
But if we are going to maintain democracy, it will require a type of counter-pressure that does not place social stability and propriety above all other values.
We shouldn’t look to our media or political elites to offer that resistance. They have self-selected to never provide it.
Yes indeed. 
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Saturday, December 07, 2024

Big news from Syria tonight


The Syrian rebels are winning.

The Washington Post provides this timeline article:
The shocking speed of Syria’s rebel advance against Assad: A visual timeline
Videos, photos and maps show how Syrian fighters mounted a stunning offensive against the Assad regime, overtaking Aleppo and Hama, and closing in on Homs and Damascus.
Celebratory gunfire. Statues torn down. Families reunited after prisoners were unexpectedly set free.
In just a few days, a broad coalition of Syrian rebel forces have dislodged President Bashar al-Assad’s control over the cities of Aleppo and Hama after a four-year stalemate. The lightning offensive, led by the armed Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Shams, or HTS, has continued to build momentum, moving south along the M5 highway, Syria’s most important artery. By Saturday morning the group appeared poised to overtake Homs — an industrial center and the “capital of the Syrian revolution.”
On Dec. 6, a separate anti-Assad faction captured Syria’s southernmost city of Daraa. It’s not yet clear how this faction, the Southern Operations Room, is connected to HTS, although it’s clear the faction has been motivated by HTS’s success....
From the north and the south, rebel commanders are vowing to continue on to Damascus, posing the biggest threat to the Assad regime in its nearly 54 years of autocratic family rule. Rebel groups are closing in on Damascus, as they overtake suburb after suburb.
Residents reported shops closing and a shortage of cash in the capital on Saturday. Video verified by The Post showed men toppling a sculpture of Assad in Jaramana, less than 10 miles from the presidential palace.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said that rebel forces were on the verge of toppling “the criminal regime.”...
The New York Times adds: 
In the Syrian Regime’s Hour of Need, Its Patron Iran Makes an Exit 
The collapse of a partnership built over four decades would reshape the balance of power in the Middle East. 
For decades, Iran has expended much blood and money in support of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, helping him survive a civil war that threatened his dynastic rule. Iran operated military bases, weapons warehouses and missile factories in Syria, which it used as a pipeline for arming its militant allies across the region. Now, just as Mr. al-Assad needs help to repel a rapid advance by rebel forces, Iran is heading for the exits. On Friday, the country started evacuating its military commanders and personnel, as well as some diplomatic staff, according to Iranian and regional officials. It is a remarkable turnabout: Iran not only appears to be abandoning Mr. al-Assad, its closest Arab ally, but also relinquishing everything it had built and fought to preserve for 40 years in Syria, its main foothold in the Arab world.
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Friday, December 06, 2024

Today's News: Trump is shooting himself in the foot

Once again, Trump is shooting himself in the foot. 
I think that he and his minions thought it would be terribly ballsey to make a whole bunch of controversial nominations right away for Cabinet positions and directorships, so he could swagger around Mar-A-Lardo and boast about Trump Two: The Revenge Tour, as well as eliminating any questions about his Biggest! Win! Ever! Mandate. 
Of course, it isn't working out very well. 
Because #ETTD Everything Trump Touches Dies.
The early nominations only gifted reporters and bloggers with opportunities for combing through the job histories and social media profiles of every nominee, to find all their embarrassing relationships, past legal follies, and other grotesquely disqualifying antics. Now Trump has lost AG nominee Matt Gaetz and DEA nominee Sheriff Chad Chronister, he is on the way to losing Fox News commentator Pete Hegseth as Sec of Defense and possibly also Tulsi Gabbard as NSI, not to mention Kash Patel at the FBI. And there are still at least two months to go before any of Trump's people will be confirmed in these jobs and able to run roughshod over what used to be a government. Everyone is already ignoring that crazy DOGE lunacy.

Every Trump nomination

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— StrictlyChristo 🦋🇺🇦🌻 (@strictlychristo.bsky.social) December 4, 2024 at 5:15 PM
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Thursday, December 05, 2024

Today's News: Poilievre is just "hysterically harsh" now


Following Poilievre's apparent rejection of Trudeau's request for a united front against Trump, I'm reading some commentary about Poilievre and it ain't pretty:

Andrew Coyne / The Globe and Mail
Poilievre fumbles the Trump crisis: a missed opportunity to show himself as a prime minister-in-waiting
... it is hard to fault the Prime Minister for trying. It is easy to say that the effort was doomed...
But to many people the Prime Minister will nevertheless have looked practical, reasonable, adult, in all, prime ministerial. It is not a given that Mr. Trump’s bullying will be to Mr. Trudeau’s disadvantage, politically. Mr. Trump’s unreasonableness is well known. If Mr. Trudeau is seen to have gone the extra mile, or 1,300, to deal with him; if he then is forced to take retaliatory measures, painful as they may be, the public may conclude that he has made the best of a bad hand....
If Mr. Trudeau’s appearance with Mr. Trump struck you as cringeworthy, try to imagine how Mr. Poilievre would look next to him. Would he look like – behave like – a prime minister? Would he conduct himself with the dignity and the self-confidence that the job requires, knowing when to speak up and when to stay silent, when to show his hand and when to keep his cards in reserve?
Or would he look boyish, callow, too eager to impress; talk too much, give away too much, signal insecurity throughout? It’s difficult to say, of course. All one can do – all the public can do – is draw inferences from what we already know of Mr. Poilievre’s character and judgment, extrapolating from his comportment to date to predict how he will behave in future.
And what we have seen of him to date has been, not a future prime minister, but a perpetual opposition critic, someone who is seemingly incapable of taking the high road, who never misses the opportunity for a partisan cheap shot, who is always, always in attack mode, no matter the issue, the setting or the situation.
...Mr. Poilievre has, from the day the tariff threat was issued, sounded almost hysterically harsh. At times he has seemed to take Mr. Trump’s side in the controversy, even appearing behind a podium with the slogan “Fix The Broken Border.”
His rhetoric, too, has sounded vaguely … Trumpian. “The Prime Minister,” he said, “has vacated the border and turned it open to anyone who wants to come in.” He is “weak,” “weakened,” “unbearably weak.” He has “lost control of everything.” And this flourish: “With our border in chaos, our economy collapsing and everything broken, we need real, responsible leadership from a strong, smart prime minister who has the brains and backbone to put Canada first.”
Canada First, you say. Yup. The phrase, which I have not heard him utter before the last week or so, has cropped up repeatedly. “We need a plan … to put Canada first on the economy and on security.” “I only care about Canada. I want to put our country first.” And so on.
I’m not sure what he thinks he is accomplishing with this. Perhaps he worries that the Prime Minister will get a lift out of the crisis, a rally-round-the-flag effect often seen in public polling. Perhaps he is afraid that sections of his base, many of them vocal on social media, are inclined to side with Mr. Trump, especially on border issues, and might stray into the People’s Party fold. Maybe he is betting the public believes Canada will be treated better with someone more in sync with Mr. Trump in charge.
Or maybe it’s just that that’s the only gear he’s got. Mr. Poilievre is already unusual in a political leader for being his own attack dog, a task generally assigned to talented thugs and burner MPs. Until now I had been inclined to assume this was strategy of some kind, a matter of zigging while others are zagging.
But it may be that Mr. Poilievre is genuinely unable to strike any other note – that his experience and personality permits no other. ..
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Wednesday, December 04, 2024

Waving the flag and putting country before party


On Tuesday, Trudeau told the opposition leaders to man up and fly in formation. I think the message was received loud and clear: 
 ...Trudeau met with opposition leaders in his office on Parliament Hill on Tuesday to brief them on the situation as it stands now. 
An official in Trudeau’s office said during the meeting Trudeau stressed the importance of not negotiating against Canada in public, and asked party leaders to state repeatedly and publicly that tariffs will raise the cost of living on both sides of the border. 
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who attended the meeting, said at an afternoon news conference that unity is key among premiers and federal party leaders, because successfully beating back the tariffs is “not going to happen by accident.” 
 “All of us should be putting country before party,” she said. 
... “If that tone that was used in that type of meeting could show up in Parliament, people would have more confidence in us and take us more seriously,” Blanchet told reporters... 
 ...Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre emerged from the meeting appearing to heed Trudeau’s call to stress the impact the tariffs could have on the U.S. economy. 
 “It should be obvious and easy to make these arguments to the Americans, because they would be doing enormous damage to their own economy,” Poilievre told reporters. 
 But he was also highly critical of Trudeau for enacting policies that Poilievre said put Canada into the position it is in now. He said his demands are for Trudeau to fix the “disorder” at the border and the immigration system, as well as reverse economic damages he says were caused by the carbon price and an emissions cap on oil and gas production. 
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said Trudeau told the party leaders that it would be helpful if they “didn’t amplify the kind of messaging and language that the Trump administration is using to attack Canada.” 
 “When you sit around a table, there’s the sense that we’re all here with a shared view and goals that we share as Canadians,” May told reporters. “That said, there were differences in responses as we went around afterwards how much we were willing to say ‘yes, we will do whatever we can as opposition party leaders to avoid giving the Trump administration any sound bites that sound like Canadians agree with Trump.’” ... 
At least Poilievre tried to keep with the program, though he couldn't resist doing some sloganeering either:
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Tuesday, December 03, 2024

"Nice little country you've got here. Be a shame if something were to happen to it."

Hey, sounds like that dinner was sorta creepy, doesn't it?

Some countries might go as far as mobilizing their troops over a statement like this Canada’s political, business and media discourse will no doubt revolve around how we need to do more to appease Trump

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— Luke LeBrun (@lukelebrun.ca) December 2, 2024 at 8:57 PM

Trump musing about making Canada the 51st state is very Putinesque. The problem for Trump is that Canada is no Ukraine.

— HawaiiDelilah™ 🥥🌴🌊 (@hawaiidelilah.bsky.social) December 2, 2024 at 11:59 PM

Does this surprise anyone from the guy that wanted to sell Puerto Rico and buy Greenland?? Dumbest sack of 💩 on earth and 70 million voted for him.

— bvessels.bsky.social (@bvessels.bsky.social) December 2, 2024 at 9:02 PM
Just in case anybody needed a reminder of where Canadians are at:


I guess American media know an important story when they hear one:

“Trump appointed the Grand Wizard of the KKK to be Secretary of State and threatened nuclear war against Canada but in a major new development Hunter Biden had his laptop serviced again…”

— Mikel Jollett (@mikeljollett.bsky.social) December 2, 2024 at 10:28 PM
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Sunday, December 01, 2024

Today's News: Wistful thinking

I suspect this is just wistful thinking, but isn't it delightful that it maybe might be true?
Yeah, probably not: But Ford likely couldn't do a worse job than Poilievre is doing now:

Maple leaf milhouse lacks critical thought, patience, and well, ideas. He’s gonna be an abject disaster as prime minister.

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— Seafra (@woodward.ca) December 1, 2024 at 4:01 PM

Pretty pathetic when even Doug Ford has a more intelligent response to the PM's visit. Poilievre stumbles when asked a question, resorting to insults and distraction, followed by changing the subject so he can repeat his mindless slogans. He then usually makes a hasty exit. He's an embarrassment.

— Foolishly optimistic 🇨🇦 #CanadaSky (@ladyjaynes.bsky.social) December 1, 2024 at 7:44 PM
"I'm not the Prime Minister" - ya got that right, buddy!
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Saturday, November 30, 2024

Follow-up on The Meat Loaf Summit


The Toronto Star had the skinny on the Meat Loaf Summit: 
Tonda MacCharles / The Toronto Star 
Inside Justin Trudeau’s surprise dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida 
Trudeau and LeBlanc discussed trade and the border over dinner with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago resort. 
... At the end of the surprise summit, there was no indication that Trump would drop his threat to impose a massive 25-per cent surcharge on Canadian products, announced by Trump on social media Monday — a threat that, if executed, would have a devastating impact on Canadian energy, auto and manufacturing exports. 
Still, the meeting between Trump, Trudeau and several of the future president’s advisers and their wives lasted more than three hours, and was described by a senior Canadian official as a positive, wide-ranging discussion. 
 ....The face-to-face meeting came at Trudeau’s suggestion, said the Canadian source with knowledge of their communications. 
They discussed trade, border security, fentanyl, defence matters including NATO, Ukraine, and icebreakers (Canada, the U.S. and Finland recently agreed to a trilateral pact to rebuild their icebreaking fleets). The leaders and their teams also discussed China, energy issues and pipelines, including those that feed Canadian oil and gas into the U.S. like Keystone XL, Line 5, as well as the Trans-Mountain project and Canada’s liquid natural gas export capacity, the official said, speaking on a background-only basis to disclose some details of the private meeting. 
The two leaders also discussed next year’s G7 meeting that Trudeau will host in Kananaskis, Alta. It will be held seven years after Trump left the 2018 G7 at Charlevoix, Que., only to erupt in anger later after Trudeau said Canada would stand up and fight American steel and aluminum tariffs. 
That outburst led many to believe Trump retained a dislike of Trudeau, however the two leaders managed a working relationship after that and have had friendly conversations since Trump’s re-election, according to two Canadian sources. 
Friday night’s summit, undisclosed to media in advance, was seen as a chance to kick-start the relationship anew, and to connect with some of Trump’s advisers who will be players in his second term. 
 The menu included a dish called “Mary Trump’s Meat Loaf,” as well as a fava bean falafel appetizer, pan seared trout with braised baby artichokes or a kimchi fried rice Asian bowl as a vegan option, said officials. 
 The presence of LeBlanc, the minister responsible for border security, was aimed at countering Trump’s claim in his online statement that “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before.” He said if Canada and Mexico didn’t act, he would exact a “very big price” on their economies. 
 LeBlanc has said that the Trudeau government is prepared to beef up border security, with more money for technology, drones and more Mounties and border guards on the 49th parallel. 
 LeBlanc, who ordered the Mary Trump meat loaf dish Friday, is also a hail-fellow-well-met political actor who is trusted by Trudeau, and gets along well with his ideological opposites, like Ontario Premier Doug Ford. 
 ...Canada’s ambassador to Washington Kirsten Hillman and Trudeau’s deputy chief of staff Brian Clow were also at the Mar-a-Lago dinner, having travelled ahead to Florida to accompany the Canadian delegation. 
 Earlier Friday, without tipping his hand, Trudeau said in Prince Edward Island that what is “important to understand is that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no question about it. 
 “Our responsibility is to point out that in this way, he would actually not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, he would actually be raising prices for American citizens as well, and hurting American industry and businesses.” Trudeau added, “ultimately, it is through lots of constructive, real conversations with President Trump that I’m going to have that will keep us moving forward on the right track for all Canadians.” 
 ...“I’m surprised and impressed,” said Flavio Volpe, head of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, that the Canadian leader was meeting with the president-elect, adding that kind of personal facetime with the former and future president is invaluable for Trudeau, and for Canada in the months ahead. 
 “The PM is demonstrating the humility that’s required (by) going to the source. Also the prime minister is demonstrating to the contrary of all the predictions (the idea) that Donald Trump wouldn’t want to work with him is untrue.” Volpe said “nothing final” may come of the meeting, however he said the federal government may get a sense of what the next steps could be. 
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Friday, November 29, 2024

Today's news: Talking turkey about tariffs


Tonight, Trudeau flew to Mar-a-Lago to have dinner with Trump and talk turkey about tariffs. 
Now, Trump is a vain, stupid man and Trudeau is a progressive, a scholar and a gentleman, but both have great charm and both can use it ruthlessly whenever they need to. 
New York magazine's Yashar Ali posts the photo above and writes:
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau dines with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago. 
I also see Senator-elect Dave McCormick and his wife, Dina Powell, who served in senior roles in the Trump and Bush administrations and was a managing partner at Goldman Sachs. 
North Dakota Governor and Interior Secretary-designate Doug Burgum and North Dakota’s First Lady, Kathryn Burgum. 
Commerce Secretary-designate Howard Lutnick and his wife, Allison. 
Incoming National Security Advisor and current Congressman Mike Waltz and his wife, Julia Nesheiwat, who served as Homeland Security Advisor to President Trump in the first administration and, prior to that, served in the Trump and Obama administrations as U.S. Deputy Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. 
And that looks like Canadian Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc and Prime Minister Trudeau’s Chief of Staff, Katie Telford. 
Obviously, seeing who was attending, this dinner was not just a spur-of-the-moment spasm, but a well-organized event reflecting thoughtful consultation on both sides.
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Thursday, November 28, 2024

Today in The Stupid: Canada v. Trump

Canada got to see its premiers in action yesterday, facing the first of the many existential crises that will define the Trump Administration, and it wasn't a pretty sight. 

Dale Smith / Routine Proceedings
Roundup: The virtual meeting with the premiers over Trump
...Jagmeet Singh is panicking and demanding performative forcefulness, while Pierre Poilievre is trying to leverage the moment for his own political ends, claiming that the solution is to do everything he says (conveniently!). Premiers have been all over the map, going from caution to outright boot-licking (looking at you, Danielle Smith), and this was one of the messages that emerged from that meeting. I also find it particularly crass the number of premiers who set up American flags for their backdrops before their media availabilities before and after the meeting. Seriously, guys?
Chrystia Freeland met with reporters and spoke about the need for a united front and not to be seen to be squabbling with one another, but premiers with their own agendas haven’t really seemed to warm to that necessity, because they’d rather score points against the current government with boneheaded accusations that they were “blindsided” by the threats, and that they don’t have a plan. (They’ve had a plan for over a year, guys. You might want to actually pay attention). And after the meeting, most of the premiers made their own individual points about how they want so many more resources poured into their province (such as more RCMP members that don’t exist because they can’t recruit and train them fast enough, or retain them in the toxic culture of the Force), but Smith remains particularly stubborn in trying to leverage this into foregoing the emissions cap and trying to say that Trudeau shouldn’t be leading the effort to defend Canada (again, to her benefit).
... Trudeau has talked about strengthening border measures, which has been an ongoing process, particularly since the amendment of the Safe Third Country Agreement, so maybe that too [as with Mexico] will be enough to get Trump to declare victory? I guess we shall see, but in the meantime, we’ll see how many premiers can keep their cool.
Well, here they are, bowing and scraping:

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God…” 🇺🇸🫡

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— Luke LeBrun (@lukelebrun.ca) November 27, 2024 at 9:55 PM
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Greatest line in television history

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly"
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Tuesday, November 26, 2024

America's attention-junkie shoots himself in the foot


President-elect Donald Trump on Monday promised massive hikes in tariffs on goods coming from Mexico, Canada and China starting on the first day of his administration, a policy that could sharply increase costs for American businesses and consumers. 
The move, Trump said, will be in retaliation for illegal immigration and “crime and drugs” coming across the border.... 
"Measures proposed this evening could hit a number of strategic US industrial sectors hard, add approximately $272 billion a year to tax burdens, raise goods prices, lift interest rates, and sap strength in an already-vulnerable household sector,” said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay Cross-Border Solutions. 
 After the announcement, the Canadian dollar fell 1.2% against the US dollar, and the Mexican peso fell 2% against the dollar. China’s yuan, though controlled by the government, traded higher – above 7.6% – in offshore markets. 
 Although investors believed the tariffs could ultimately strengthen the dollar, America’s financial markets took a hit, too. 
The extraordinary tariffs would raise costs dramatically for Americans for everyday goods that had previously come over the border without any import taxes. 
That stunning shift could stymie economic growth, especially if inflation-weary consumers spend less in the face of higher costs. 
US stock futures, which were higher before Trump’s announcement, fell somewhat – Dow futures were down 160 points, or 0.3%. Nasdaq futures were 0.4% lower, and the broader S&P 500 was also down 0.4%. US Treasury bond prices fell. 

I really never realized the solution to all our problems was a trade war with Canada.

— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) November 25, 2024 at 9:44 PM
Personally, I think Trump just wanted to draw attention to himself yesterday because Biden is about to succeed in brokering a peace deal between Israel and Lebanon, and Attention Must Be Paid Only To The Orange One!

It’s a mistake to ask this question because it assumes Trump’s rationality. He wants to do this because it makes him feel powerful. He doesn’t care if the effects are good or bad. Indeed, the more destruction he causes, or the more people fear destruction he may cause, the more powerful he feels.

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— George Conway (@gtconway.bsky.social) November 26, 2024 at 7:04 AM
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