He has issued sanctions against a Canadian jurist working to investigate the war crimes. He has aligned the United States with the crimes of both Putin and Netanyahu. And he has deliberately targeted the Western alliances with threats of invasion in Greenland or arbitrarily moving the Canadian border.
With the attack on Venezuela, he has upped the ante through invasion and kidnapping. Venezuela puts the world on notice, and Canada must be ready.
We played a key role in establishing the International Criminal Court. We helped establish the Statute of Rome, which laid out key protections against state violence.
Canada has a long history of defending the international rule of law. We are now dealing with a regime that will kill people in the water, seize ships on the high seas, invade other countries, and kidnap their leaders. All bets are off.
This is the age of gangsters. And Canada must be ready to rise to the threat.
Heads-up Canada! Pay attention! We may not be next on the list – BUT WE’RE ON THE LIST!
I start though my pile of email this morning and near the top is Michael Cohen’s daily newsletter. I know about his history as trump’s fixer. He’s carrying a lot of bitter baggage. But boy can he write. Lovely shaped pieces of prose, with flow, and punch, and always a sharp, clear ending statement.
I don’t always agree with him. I just enjoy reading him.
This was the second paragraph – I could see the political cartoon by someone like Steve Brodner or Ann Telaes so clearly, I burst out laughing!
Let me put it plainly: this is what happens when you replace competence with cronies and let self-interested acolytes cosplay as statesmen. You don’t get diplomacy. You don’t get strategy. You don’t even get common sense. No;what you get is a surrender plan so lopsided, so humiliating, so cosmically stupid that even Zelenskyy, a man fighting for the literal survival of his country, had to politely pretend not to bang his head against the nearest wall.
I could copy the rest of the diatribe – that’s what it is – but just check the link above and read it. It’s stark. It’s angry. It’s funny. And he’s hit the nail on the head!
I’ve just provided headings and a link to much more information. We’ve all been hearing about this BBB – but we should know what’s in it. It’s not going to affect us here in Canada directly – but god help us if we should turn into the 51st state! All of this crap would affect us big time!
The Senate is still debating a key part of President Trump’s domestic agenda this morning — what he has called his big, beautiful bill. Senators are racing to pass it before the July 4 deadline.
By now, you have probably heard two things about the proposal. First, it would cut taxes in a way that would largely benefit the wealthiest Americans. Second, to recoup some of that lost revenue, it would cut health care programs, particularly Medicaid, and would leave nearly 12 million more Americans uninsured over 10 years.
Those parts are important, but they are far from the only elements in the sprawling 940-page bill. The legislation also touches on food stamps, clean energy, mass deportations, student loans, military spending and more. Today, I’ll explain some of those less discussed provisions.
The other pieces
Because this bill is foremost about the federal budget, it goes through a special procedure — called reconciliation — that lets the Senate pass it with a simple majority, no filibuster allowed. Republican lawmakers have therefore treated this as a rare opportunity to accomplish a bunch of different priorities.
Food stamp cuts
Clean energy disinvestment
Funding for deportations
Less student loan relief
More military spending
And much more: The proposal would create tax-advantaged savings accounts for newborns, called “Trump accounts,” that would start with $1,000 in government contributions. It would increase money for air traffic control and the Secret Service. And it would help pay for America’s 250th anniversary celebrations next year.
It’s still not clear whether the bill, as it currently stands, will become law. Senators need to vote on their version, and then it will go back to the House for final passage. Republicans control the House by a thinner margin than they do the Senate, and a few defectors could complicate things. Still, Trump has demanded they pass it — and Republicans have not bucked the president much since his return to office.
Here in Canada, we know trump’s threat isn’t a joke. We’re fully aware of what’s at stake. I’ve got my fingers crossed Canadians have the stamina to keep our “Elbows Up” and sustain the boycott on US food and goods for as long as necessary, taking on the hardship the tariffs bring and supporting one another so everybody can stand against trump!
People in Canada are beginning to realize Canada = Ukraine now – a bully pushing to take us over for spurious reasons to enlarge their territory and steal our resources and water! To eradicate our culture and social values (which by the way are a threat to theirs, as is the case with Ukraine and Russia).
I’m raging about this, have been for the better part of a year. I’m 82 – born at the end of WWII – while my personal memories are more than vague, I do remember the immediate post-war period and I carry the stories of my parents and grandparents about what happened in the years immediately before my birth. I need to be passing on those stories so younger people who shrug at the political situation, want to turn away and let things slide, understand how they will pay for this for the rest of their lives and their children’s lives and their grandchildren’s lives until the 7th generation!
In Canada some of us do understand what’s at stake! Now we need to help the rest of us understand the costs.
Just so we’re clear, this is not a Trump-only phenomenon. Yesterday, when asked if the U.S. still considers Canada a “close ally,” White House press secretary Katherine Leavitt said that Canada would “benefit greatly” from joining the United States and pointed to its high cost of living as a reason for surrendering sovereignty.
“Benefit greatly!” – at what cost? We completely lose our values, our identity, our freedom! Canadians don’t see any benefit to being cast into this trump chaos where the privileged few get the goodies and the rest of us are left to fight over the dregs! That’s “benefit greatly”?
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sounded a similar theme, noting that “Canada is gonna have to work with us to really integrate their economy, and as the president said, they should consider the amazing advantages of being the 51st state.”
“Amazing advantages of being the 51st state!” Really! Here’s where I take out my piece of paper, draw a line down the middle and put the headings “Advantages” and “Disadvantages” at the top on each side. I haven’t done that exercise yet. I’ll share it when I do. I welcome any suggestions for what should be on each list!
I can’t begin to tell you how angry I am. I’m tired of being the “mouse” in this “cat-and-mouse” game. I hate this feeling of powerlessness. I have power – I’ve begun using it by boycotting US goods when I’m shopping. But NOW is the time to take on the education of my fellow Canadians. I need to take back my power by shouting from the rooftops about what’s we’d be “buying” were we to succumb to trump’s inducements to become part of the US.
We need to face the fact that WE ARE AT WAR right now. This is what it looks like – the threats, the escalating tariffs, the attacks on our economy…
We need to look to Ukraine for moral support, for the example of resistance and independence we’re going to need going forward.
I’m a RAGING GRANNY!
Please join me by helping your friends and neighbours understand what’s at stake.
donald trump has been talking a lot about re-taking the Panama Canal, buying Greenland (while not ruling out an invasion), and making Canada the 51st State. He looks as though he will make good on his promise to take military action in Mexico after he signed an executive order designating certain cartels as terrorist organisations. Many outlets and pundits have declared that these talking points are either bluster, impossible, or mere diversions. My assessment is that they are not.
trump doesn’t really joke; he says outlandish things to see what sort of reaction he gets. In this case, with all of these proposals, Republicans responded with support and the American public barely noticed because “that’s just trump being trump.” In truth, trump rarely drops an idea, even a bad one. He was intent on buying Greenland during his first term and never let the idea go. Thus, when he talks about acquiring new territory for the US, or using military force in Mexico, he is serious.
…he is clearly laying the groundwork for, and removing barriers to an aggressive expansionistic policy over the next two years. What comes next is likely to be a mix of four strategies: Lebensraum, Anschluss, the hybrid Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, and “Wag the Dog” (but with a distinctly internet age twist). The following is a brief discussion of what each of these four operations would look like.
The rest of the analysis lays out four goals that trump has already floated: a major military incursion into Mexico on the pretext of curtailing the flow of drugs into the US, as well as stopping the flow of migrants from Central and South America; the takeover of the Panama Canal either through coercion or outright military means; the annexation of Greenland either by purchase or military means; and finally the annexation of Canada either by “persuasion” or a military incursion.
Then the article lays out how each of these four goals could be accomplished – the threats, the cyber disinformation attacks (which would create chaos in each jurisdiction), the showcasing of “Quislings” who are solidly behind the idea of annexation and stand before the world proclaiming how much better off the subjugated citizens would be and their desire to be subsumed by the US. And finally the military actions if the “voluntary” tactics don’t work.
By the time we get here, Trump would have already taken back the Panama Canal and found a way to annex Greenland. Trump has long set his sights on making Canada a part of the US. The Republican Party would prefer it to be a territory, with no say in the US government. “The Canadians, they are going to elect two Democrat senators; we don’t want that. Territory status isn’t too bad,” according to Representative Byron Donalds.
Canadian support for being a part of the US runs around 20% at best, and triggered increased feelings of nationalism in the other 78%. Most Canadian leaders (outside of Alberta) are taking a “F*** You” attitude towards Trump’s threats of tariffs. Politicians there are engaged in competitive outbidding to see who can be the most hostile to Trump, his tariffs, and attempts to make the Canada part of the US. Only Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has shown receptiveness to treating the Trump administration, and its punitive tariffs, with kid gloves.
If Trump has successfully acquired the Panama Canal and Greenland via some combination of threats, coercion, or military force, his eye will turn to bringing Canada into the fold. By this time, the US has discarded NATO, Congress has been cowed, the military brass tamed and staffed with yes men. He believes that he is coming from a position of military strength: Canada and NATO cannot possibly hope to stop a US invasion.
Sounds crazy, right? But it’s not unimaginable given the shameful display of “power” that happened in the Oval Office yesterday (Mar 1 2025), the attempted humiliation of President Zelenskyy in front of a televised international audience. We got to see “the real” trump and vance on display!
At this point, if Canada has failed to give in to demands and economic blackmail, they and NATO will be given an ultimatum presented as a fait accompli: you will let US troops in. You cannot stop us by conventional means. The three options to NATO at this point are to allow us to annex Canada, fight a conventional war they cannot hope to win, or to use nuclear weapons against the United States and engage in mutually assured destruction. At the same time, the public in NATO countries will have been subjected to a barrage of disinformation for months, and support for a futile (and bloody) conventional war or a nuclear exchange will be low.
This will likely be the thought process of the Trump administration if they have made it this far. The problem with this thinking is that like most historical US leaders, they’re not prepared to deal with an insurgency. And Canada is no exception.
Imagine a country with the population and GDP of California, with a land area larger than the United States, having no say in its own governance. Now imagine it has been invaded, and that getting military-style weapons from the country that invaded them is ridiculously easy. Imagine that the country doing the invading doesn’t have the troops or the resources to lock things down adequately.
On top of that, unlike Iraq, there is a clear and mostly coherent sense of nationalism in Canada (they’re still very proud of burning the White House down in the War of 1812.) There’s also the matter of people who would come from other countries, including the US, to participate in an insurgency in Canada.
Russia assured their people in 2022 that Ukrainians were just like them and wanted to re-join the old Soviet Empire. It didn’t work out like that. If anything, Canadians are less enthusiastic about being a part of the US than Ukrainians were about being part of Russia. It’s hard to see this turning out well for the US in the long run.
My immediate reaction – Fantasyland! But I have a niggling feeling that these scenarios are not impossible. My anger at trump and his cat-and-mouse nonsense over “tariffs” has grown because I can sense what’s described in this Substack piece becoming a reality. I’m not fear-mongering here. I’m just trying to increase awareness of the bigger agenda that for the moment is obscured by the tariffs. The tariffs are the opening salvo in trump’s game. What I don’t think he understands is the extent the tariffs themselves will be detrimental to the US economy. Nor has he figured in the impact individual Canadian’s boycotting US goods can have overall.
We need to be serious in our efforts to buy Canadian, to work hard at buying local, to refuse to spend our $$$ with US companies as much as we can to make the lives of Americans, who are also pawns in this game, as difficult as possible. Our best hope for side-stepping an impending onslaught is for the American people to fight back themselves. For them (especially Republican supporters of trump) to become so angry they take action to curtail his (and musk’s) power. Our best allies are those disaffected American’s who wrench back control for themselves.
In the meantime, there are difficult days and weeks and months ahead. We can overcome dismay and despair by reaching out to one another, by supporting one another, and by taking those small personal actions that collectively can have an impact. Stand strong!
The substance of the piece comes about half-way through:
On it is Mr. Trump’s promise to impose tariffs on everything that enters the U.S., apparently from anywhere in the world, to pay for a wide variety of programs. He has vowed to “demolish” the country’s intelligence agencies, which he has portrayed as part of a politicized “deep state” out to get him.
His agenda also calls for mass deportations of undocumented people — a policy that is likely to prompt a wave of asylum seekers to Canada — along with other measures to restrict immigration, both legal and illegal. And Mr. Trump said that he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to members of the NATO defense alliance that do not meet their unofficial commitment to spend 2 percent of their economic output on their militaries. Canada is prominent among them.
I recommend you read the piece in its entirety! It discusses trade talks (and concessions we’ll be forced to make); the influx of refugees from the US fleeing deportation (we’re not going to be able to reject the majority of these people). It forecasts the end of our supply management system (farmers you’re going to be forced to compete with the international market!). Maybe further oil development including a pipeline to the eastern seaboard (might there be a side pipe to eastern Canada? Probably unlikely – we’ll be selling our oil with high tariffs, though!). We’re also going to have to up our defence spending “hugely” – to reach the 2% the rest of NATO spends.
There’s nothing unexpected in that list, except all of it will make the cost of living in Canada rise further. The costs of refusing to reduce our carbon footprint will also climb as we pay for larger and more frequent natural disasters… What can I say?
Have you heard Poilievre offer policy on any of these issues? No. He’s running on an anti Trudeau platform. So how do you think he’s going to tackle what’s coming at us like a speeding train?
And none of that accounts for escalating war in several hotspots around the world and any unexpected events like another pandemic (always on the horizon, and we’re still completely unprepared to deal with anything like that).
I’m not feeling upbeat today (I wasn’t yesterday, either). So I’m off to teach a class to a group of women wanting to learn how to use their serger sewing machines. I can at least make myself useful and help them get a handle on how to thread the machines and what you can do with them.
Later this afternoon, there’s a party at the Craig Gallery to celebrate my Fibre Art exhibit. That will lift my spirits a bit.
Find someone to do something for today. Be a good friend. It will make you feel better, too!
“Christians, get out and vote! Just this time! You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It will be fixed, it will be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. You got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you don’t have to vote.” [trump speaking in Florida 7/26/2024]
I searched “Did trump actually say christians get out and vote…” – just to confirm he’d said it as Brodner quoted. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe Brodner, I was interested in finding out more about the context and whether any of the major news outlets would bother to report the comment.
I definitely found headlines, so trump’s rantings are garnering some attention. They need a lot more attention. Given the overall context of his “speeches” I’m taking the words at face value – vote him into office and that’s the end of meaningful presidential elections. I suppose he could be saying that he’ll have changed the political reality to such an extent that even if there were to be elections whether Christians vote or not won’t matter because any election would simply be pro forma.
I’m on the sidelines in this US election. I don’t have a vote. I’m Canadian. I’m fascinated with the way the election has changed since last Sunday when Biden announced he was passing the torch to Kamala Harris. Energy was palpable almost immediately. I am hoping she can maintain and grow support for her campaign because trump winning the election would be horrific. At least that’s how I see it from my vantage point in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Not only would a trump win be dreadful for the US, it would change lives in Canada in some expected and many unexpected ways. The economic impact would be felt here instantly. But more egregious would be the way in which our political conversation would change – becoming even more partisan, more vicious, more divisive on all sides. We don’t need that.
So I watch the campaign with more than a little concern. I read trump’s words as invoking a dictatorship – support me this time and that’ll be the end of it – I’ll make sure you’ll never need to vote again.
I’m hoping Harris can build and sustain momentum – the US needs her to win. The rest of the world needs her to win.
Go Kamala, go girl!
But I don’t have a vote….
[PS: If you don’t know much about it check out Project 2025 – it’s the GOP/Trump blueprint for a trump presidency – the document itself is 900 pages long, but this synopsis will fill you in.]
jmn 