What Trump did to the world on Tuesday used to be called "brinksmanship" during the Cold War.
Now its just called TACO Tuesday.
It was a stupid and dangerous tactic then, and its even more stupid and dangerous now - Trump is nuts himself and he is surrounded by sycophants whose actions he cannot anticipate or control. Iran is just as desperate.
It was a terrible, frightening day.
This post has plot twists, cliffhangers, and no adult supervision.
Two months ago, people predicted that Poilievre would win his leadership vote but actually be weakened by his experience. Now, that is proving to be the case. Stunts like flying to Europe and chatting with Joe Rogan aren't impressing his colleagues, and neither is his leadership style.
Althia Raj
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is shuffling his deck, sending Elon Musk-style letters to his shadow ministers asking them to prove their worth.
Monday’s email was referred to by one Conservative as “DOGE-like” — a reference to Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” which sent emails to U.S. federal government workers last year demanding that they list their past week’s accomplishments or resign.
This email from Poilievre’s office was met with a shrug by some, but others saw it as insulting — and further proof their leader is out of touch with his caucus.
“It’s ridiculous!” said one MP, among several granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal party affairs. “There’s a lot of malcontents.”
“Pierre has two good weeks in a year and he’s back to default mode of, ‘Prove yourself every five minutes,’” said another MP. “If you are going to do a shuffle, just do one. Don’t play this stupid game.”
The email to Conservative shadow ministers asked them to give examples of their best social media posts, media interviews, and examples of how they have public reach in their portfolios. It also asked if they were still interested in remaining in their roles.
For those who aren’t among Poilievre’s favourite few, the need to showcase media interviews they weren’t given permission to give was seen as particularly bewildering. Even those who don’t believe they’ll be shuffled were annoyed by the exercise and the message it sent.
It’s the latest expression of frustration from Poilievre’s caucus. Since January’s convention in Calgary, which was intended to settle the leadership question — Poilievre received 87.4 per cent of delegate support — the mood internally is bleak, described by several as “dispirited.”
Many Tory MPs have concluded their leader will never win, that he cannot offer an alternative proposal to the one Canadians already rejected.
“How much time and effort do you put into a leader who can’t win?” asked a third MP.
“They’ve got no strategy,” concluded another caucus member.
Conservative MPs are tired of sitting in opposition benches....
Sent this free piece out yesterday morning, but Trump's speech confirmed it. Trump is stuck in Iran. He would like to leave, but as of now he cannot because Iran will not do what he wants. So, all he can do is babble and possibly escalate.
Plus it helps Putin, so for Trump that's good.
Anyone else notice this? Mainstream journalists have forgotten their duty to speak truth to power. It is why it is one of the rights written into the Constitution. Political cartoonists are the real and true heroes of the moment.
Avi Lewis won the federal NDP leadership this weekend:
You know, I grew up in a CCF family. So part of me still wants the NDP to succeed.
But a much larger part wants Canada to survive as the United States falls into fascism. To do that, Canada needs Carney to be our Prime Minister, likely until at least 2035.
So if the NDP must fail for that to happen, then so be it.
Avi Lewis is a nice guy with a particularly solid back-story. But I think his leadership is not going to be strong enough to help Canada. He doesn't even have a seat, FFS.
He has never even won an election - municipal, provincial, or federal. And he says he won't be running for a federal seat any time soon - traditionally, when a seatless leader is selected, one of the party's elected members falls on their sword so the new leader can run in a safe seat.
It doesn't surprise me that Lewis can't ask any of his six remaining MPs to do that for him. I wonder if there are any safe NDP seats left in Canada now?
His policies are progressive, yes, and some are worthy of support I think. But many also strike me as insular, trite, parochial. I shake my head at his stubborn negativity toward Alberta and Saskatchewan, along with his apparent inability to appreciate how Canada's priorities have changed now because of our risky situation with Trump, with NATO, and with the Iran War.
Tom Mulcair responds to Avi Lewis’ criticism: "Mr. Lewis seems to be more intent on convincing other people that he's right and getting them to see his point of view than in dealing with the real differences that exist across Canada and he doesn't even want to run in a byelection."
James Moore: "I think Mark Carney is one of the luckiest political leaders that we've seen in this country in a long time in the fact the New Democrats keep tripping over themselves and electing people who are not electable to the broader Canadian public."
So many times we put our focus on the people and politicians we are criticizing -- and there's a lot to criticize so much of the time, yes indeed. But today I saw a number of stories about good stuff being done, so I thought it might be worthwhile to give everyone some credit.
I am a little amused at how startled Americans are now, to learn that Greenland and Europe, plus Canada, was ready to fight back in January, to defend Greenland against Trump.
What did they think the North would do? Just roll over?
This is truly insane, and it should be front page news across America.
Denmark secretly deployed soldiers to Greenland prepared to blow up airport runways to stop a U.S. invasion.
Rachel Maddow reported on this in her Monday MSNOW show:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Pk...
U.S. ally prepares to defend itself against ...the United States
Rachel Maddow looks at the news stories we would have trouble believing including Denmark, a U.S. ally, making preparations to defend itself and Greenland against the U.S
About the LaGuardia crash
The two pilots who died are being remembered as heroes, because their handling of the immanent collision ensured that the plane didn't pinwheel or crash off the runway. They died so everyone else could live.
When I first heard about the controversy over Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau's condolence video being in English, I thought it was overblown, just a distraction. But I can understand it now -- this guy has had years to improve his French but apparently hasn't done the work, and he didn't even seem to realize that the grieving Montreal Air Canada staff and families were disrespected. They needed to hear from Rousseau in their own language, the language they speak every day.
What about Canada joining the European union? Politico Europe reported last week Canada could join EU, French foreign minister saysHalf-joking comments about Canada joining the bloc have become common as Ottawa adapts to its fraying relationship with the United States.
France’s foreign minister Jean-NoΓ«l Barrot has floated the idea that Canada could one day join the European Union, using the transatlantic ally as a striking example of the bloc’s global appeal.
Speaking at the Europe 2026 conference in Berlin alongside his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, Barrot argued that the EU is increasingly attracting partners far beyond its borders as geopolitical tensions soar.
“Nine countries are formally candidates to EU accession today. Others might join them,” Barrot said. “Iceland in a few weeks or months. And maybe Canada at some point.”
Barrot’s Canada remark was not presented as a concrete policy proposal, but rather as part of a broader argument that the EU is emerging as a “third superpower” capable of balancing the rivalry between the United States and China.
Earlier on Tuesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb suggested to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney while the pair were out running that he should “think about” joining the EU as well.
The comments come as European leaders push to strengthen the bloc’s geopolitical role amid Russia’s war in Ukraine and the U.S. war in the Middle East....
Canada has already pushed back on any suggestion of EU membership, with Carney stating there are no plans to join the bloc. “The short answer is no,” the Canadian PM said when asked about the idea at the NATO summit earlier this year. “That’s not the intent. That’s not the pathway we’re on.”
Instead, Ottawa has been pursuing closer ties short of membership, including a new strategic defense and security partnership with the EU aimed at deepening cooperation across trade, supply chains and security.
While full EU membership for Canada is unlikely in the short term, and no concrete plans to realize it are yet known to be in motion, given the increasing geopolitical turbulence it is not impossible.
Some "What the Hell?" moments When I saw this, I wondered what the hell had gotten into Tom Mulcair?
Tom Mulcair on Pierre Poilievre's Joe Rogan appearance: "I thought it was an outstanding piece of political communication, and it was bookended by ... frankly one of the best political speeches I've heard any Canadian political leader give on Canada-US relations in a long time."
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair's lavish public praise for Poilievre's appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast seems unlikely until you remember Mulcair joined Stephen Harper's lobby firm Wellington Advocacy in January.
First, some Canadian Actual News from Brittlestar:
Next, did you know that the Canadian citizenship rules have now changed, so that people whose grandparent was Canadian can apply for Canadian citizenship now?
We're getting lots of interest too:
Plus I'm reading about hundreds of health care workers now moving to Canada.
I think that's great -- welcome to all, and hey, I found some good tips on becoming more Canadian:
