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....

More comments:

Immigration Minister Marc Miller, asked about Mr. Trump referring to Trudeau as "Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada", told reporters it "sounds like we’re living in an episode of South Park."

— Steven Chase (@stevenchase) December 10, 2024

Doug Ford gets the right tone:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to Donald Trump's midnight post calling Justin Trudeau governor of the "Great State of Canada."

“If he's thinking of Justin at midnight, it's probably a good relationship."🤣 pic.twitter.com/L9fARWP5Un

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) December 10, 2024