Today's News: Expectations, meet Reality! Carney v the economy, Poilievre v the RCMP, Trump v America, Reagan v Trump. And Go Jays!

When I scanned the news today, there seemed to be a common theme - that ambitious leaders don't necessarily understand the difficulties of actually putting their ideas into effect.

Yes, some are good ideas, like Carney about the economy, and some are stupid ideas, like Poilievre or Trump about just about everything. But good or bad, they may not be able to get what they want.  They are dealing with expectations that may or may not be achieved in reality. 

Now, good leaders can adjust their ideas to deal with a newly-perceived reality - it is one of the marks of a leader, in fact. 

But stupid leaders will try to twist reality around to match the results they want, regardless of the facts, and then they try to get everyone else on board with their nuttiness - as Catherine O'Hara said in Beetlejuice, "If you don't let me do what I want, I'm going to go crazy and I'll take you with me!" 

Here's what I'm talking about: 

About Carney's speech

Former Liberal party director Jamie Carroll analyzes Carney's immediate problem:
The Line

Jamie Carroll: Carney has a plan. He also has a major problem
Already frustrated young voters need more than promises that the sacrifices to come will eventually pay off.
...Carney still has a major problem that the speech didn’t address. So we have a 10-year plan. What about right now?
By choosing to speak to students, Carney really highlighted — perhaps more so than he intended — that wedge between building for tomorrow and addressing the issues that need addressing right frickin’ now.
Carney is apparently frustrated by the pace of … everything. While the public service is most often the long pole in the tent, a minority government has — and will increasingly be — a contributor to that frustration.
The Liberals lost their chance at a majority in April because Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative party won over voters in the 905 and 519 on issues of crime, affordability and access to housing.
For Carney and the Liberal party, if there’s any chance of getting those voters back, he needs to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time: to wit, he needs to be able to build for tomorrow while addressing those programs and priorities that meet today’s problems, especially for those specific voters.
That, in my opinion, is going to be the hard part of the Carney government: I believe the PM and his team are absolutely capable of delivering on the big-ticket, future-building stuff. It is the bread and butter of people like Carney and his clerk, Michael Sabia (who just finished delivering the first phase of the Montreal REM ahead of schedule and on budget).
But for right now, Carney’s major challenge is keeping people — like his audience last night — satisfied in the interim that any sacrifices they are being asked to make are reasonable and that the end result will be worth it. They need to see costs for housing, groceries, utilities and everything else come down. They need to have jobs when they graduate. And they need to feel safe when they walk the dog at night.
While even I admit that government spending can’t fix everything, cutting spending in that environment is an exercise fraught with risk. ...
Millennials and younger cohorts have been beaten over and over by global events and their faith in government and the global economy is basically non-existent. The idea of sacrifice for a future benefit is a big ask from these folks.
So, to answer the question asked off the top, does Carney regret being the dog that caught the car? Probably not yet, but the mandate is young.

About Poilievre's RCMP remarks

🔴 Pierre is being BLASTED from all quarters for his disgraceful remarks, disparaging the Mounties. 🤦🏻‍♂️ Much of that criticism is coming from his own Conservatives! They finally see him for the CHEAP, empty leader that he is... 😔 This astute analysis sums up Canada’s disgust with Poilievre’s recent behaviour. 👇🏼 BENZIE: ◾️ “Mr. Poilievre hasn’t evolved and he’s not ready for Prime Time.” ◾️ “If you want to know how that Party blew a 28% lead that they enjoyed on January 1st of THIS year and then lost the election – it’s comments like THAT – it goes back to the leader.” ◾️ “And then you see things like this and you say - you know what? Maybe it WAS the leader. It’s not the team. It’s HIM. He’s the problem.” ◾️ “It’s just a very TRUMPIAN thing to say.”

- Fun Tom

Read on Substack

And Thursday night's At Issue panel talks about both the Carney speech and the Poilievre gaffe:

October 23, 2025: PM Carney suggests that ‘sacrifices’ are coming in the upcoming federal budget, Pierre Poilievre tries to clarify his Trudeau jail time comments, Canada’s warming relations with India https://t.co/l9WmGkvDtl@RosieBarton @ACoyne @ChantalHbert @AlthiaRaj 🇨🇦

— At Issue Videos (@AtIssueCBC) October 24, 2025

About that fear of an American military take-over
Fuhgeddaboudit:
The Opinionated Ogre

Trump's Dreams Of A Military Coup Are Dead
That little Hegseth "pep talk" really did wonders for moral...
...Trump will need the military to seize control of the 2026 midterm elections.
BUT! Such a weak and broken man like Hegseth can never command the respect of the military, which has 250 years of tradition and service and sacrifice and honor, something Hegseth knows very little about....
Hegseth will grow increasingly erratic and hostile as he orders the military to respect him. Small men always lash out when their betters look down on them and there’s not a single general or admiral who considers Hegseth to be their superior officer, just a higher-ranking one...
Trump will continue to try to manufacture a “national crisis” to justify using the military to seize control of the elections, but that will prove impossible to sell to the public as legitimate with video of inflatable costumes flooding social media. The Supreme Court will still almost certainly allow the deployment of troops despite knowing for a fact the narrative being used to justify the deployment is a lie, but the court of public opinion will not be swayed so easily.
Remember, it is critical for stolen elections to appear legitimate; otherwise, the entire scam falls apart. As I keep mentioning, this is a very large country with 400 million guns. Even if the United States military were completely behind Trump, and they very much are not, they could not possibly seize power here and hold it. The only way to do this is to maintain the fiction of democracy and legitimacy, possibly deploying the military to crush a blue city or two to make a point.
None of that is going to happen now because Hegseth has ensured no one will follow him down the road to fascism, even if they were so inclined in the first place.
Thank god Trump is so weak and stupid that he has to surround himself with men who are even weaker and stupider. Our greatest ally in this fight continues to be the regime itself.

About the ex-East Wing
Trump's destruction of the graceful and historic White House East Wing is the ultimate Move Fast And Break Things, but I don't think America will revere his ugly faked-up gold-encrusted Mar-A-Lardo ballroom replacement.

ABC News pulled the satellite imagery of the White House comparing Sept. 26 to today. abcnews.go.com/Politics/new...

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— Matt Novak (@paleofuture.bsky.social) October 23, 2025 at 12:40 PM

Trump did what Bin Laden could not do https://t.co/AYK82jbGw9

— sean (@_sn_n) October 22, 2025

It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.

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— Hillary Rodham Clinton (@hillaryclinton.bsky.social) October 21, 2025 at 6:16 AM

You'd have a lot of volunteers, George!

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— George Conway 🇺🇸🚫👑🐸 (@gtconway.bsky.social) October 23, 2025 at 12:52 PM

This is a much serious matter than a ballroom. Just listen to this guy once and form your own opinion. pic.twitter.com/aVOBkL4p5p

— Vasim Khan (@IndianGamer_001) October 22, 2025

Reagan v Trump
And late Thursday night, this happened - because Trump absolutely refuses to see what his tariffs will do to the American economy:

UPDATE: Trump is freaking out about the (very effective) anti-tariffs ad Canada 🇨🇦 is running in 🇺🇸 (during baseball playoffs), saying trade negotiations are now “terminated” — so here it is again 👇🏽 Reagan’s audio is, of course, VERY REAL. He is lying: www.youtube.com/shorts/Mj6N-...

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— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) October 23, 2025 at 9:38 PM

Here’s the original clip of Ronald Reagan from April 25, 1987, where he delivered a complete and total rebuke against tariffs. Trump's calling Reagan’s words here “FAKE” and “fraudulent.” They’re 100% real. And the original clip is actually far worse for Trump, as much is left out of the ad:

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— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) October 23, 2025 at 9:51 PM

Doug Ford on 10/14/25: Let's take Ronald Reagan's words and let's blast it to the American people. And our first launch is going to be on every major network...we're going to launch a $75 million ad, and we're going to repeat that message to every Republican district right across the entire country.

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— MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) October 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM

The Reagan people are trying to help Trump but they can’t change what Reagan said

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— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) October 23, 2025 at 10:23 PM

And finally: Go Jays!

@minibubbly.bsky.social @maej43.bsky.social @ruthmkb.bsky.social @anniegirl.bsky.social @luciecatnip.bsky.social @cathiecanada.bsky.social Welp, at least they're getting along. Better than with Mango Mussolini.🙄

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— GhostWarrior ⚔️🏳️‍🌈 🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@ghostwarrior.bsky.social) October 23, 2025 at 8:30 PM

The Jays have the chance to do the funniest thing Canada has done since 1814

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— Kelsey Atherton (@atherton.bsky.social) October 20, 2025 at 9:50 PM