As The Year Winds Down

As the year winds down, it is hard not to feel dispirited. With our domestic federal politics in disarray, and, of course, the United States' devolution well underway, with oligarchy brazenly flaunted, it is difficult to believe better times await us.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez succinctly addresses the latter:

Unfortunately, the traditional bulwarks of democracy are also rapidly fading, engaging in the very thing American historian Timothy Snyder has warned us against: anticipatory obedience. The thirst to appease Trump seems insatiable.

Tech chief executives, media organisations and foreign leaders are seeking the president-elect’s favor through donations, self-censorship and appeasement. Analysts say the surrender is driven by a combination of greed, fear of Trump’s unfettered power and a belief that resistance is futile.

In Star Trek: the Next Generation, the Borg were a hybrid species that subsumed into their collective various cultures and civilizations, with the warning that resistance was futile. And yet in that universe, resistance, and ultimately victory, prevailed. The real world, however, seems to be doing the opposite with Trump.

“Part of the shock of the Trump win is how quickly and how many people in various areas, from the media to politicians, are acquiescing in advance,” said Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill. “People are resigning themselves to self-preservation over the good of maintaining a free and fair democracy and resisting Trump.”

Despite his criminal, civil and moral record, Trump is being feted everywhere.

Steve Schmidt, a political strategist and former campaign operative for George W Bush and John McCain, said: “He’s entering office is the most powerful president in American history. He is an American Caesar, unrestrained. Trump has made a threat and said, I’m coming after people, and he’s appointed people that will do what he wants without him having to tell them to do it.”

A parade of chief executives have travelled to Mar-a-Lago to bend the knee to Trump. Along with Meta chief executive Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Sergey Brin and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made the pilgrimage. Meta, Amazon, Uber and Open AI chief Sam Altman are all reportedly donating $1m to the fund for the inauguration on 20 January.

Bezos, a onetime critic of Trump’s rhetoric, now says he is “optimistic” about Trump’s second term while also endorsing his plans to cut regulations. As owner of the Washington Post newspaper, Bezos killed an endorsement of Harris during the presidential election. The Post is struggling to find a new executive editor amid fears it will no longer live up to the “Democracy dies in darkness” slogan it championed during Trump’s first term.

The hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe show, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, visited Mar-a-Lago in November despite previously eviscerating his fascist rhetoric. Scarborough defended the meeting, arguing that any journalist would take an opportunity to meet the president-elect but he and Brzezinski were being penalised for being “transparent” about it.

This proliferation of knee-bending is bad for the body politic and can only embolden the president-elect. 

Setmayer, who now runs the Seneca Project political action committee, commented: “The way some in the mainstream media have already decided that acquiescence is their way of self-preservation not only is naive but dangerous because without that we don’t have an informed citizenry. It’s supposed to be without fear or favor and media is acting out of fear. And by way of acting out of fear, they are giving Trump the favor that he wants.”

There is much, much more in The Guardian article that I have excerpted here, and I hope you will have the time to read it. There are at least two inferences to be drawn from the current sycophantic demonstrations of fealty toward Trump. One is that democracy is being debased to the degree that it will soon be unrecognizable. Another, and this is more disturbing in its own way, is how quickly our species can adjust/pervert our concept of what is right and just. In the current rush to normalize Trump, we are casting aside traditional concepts of morality, fairness and justice, something history amply teaches us will lead to dire consequences for all.

Some Interesting Graphics (A.K.A. America The Beautiful)

Make of this what you will,  but it always puzzles me why the American dollar is so valued, while ours is not.

And under The Land of Opportunity For Some rubric, there is this:

In Times Of Uncertainty And Adversity

 .... I always turned to trusted sources for perspective and commentary - editorial cartoonists. My favourite by far is Theo Moudakis:

A 'Proud Feminist' No More

Things are unfolding at a rapid rate, so I shall just post a few excerpts from Stephen Maher's piece published in The Star just a few minutes ago.

In a speech to a feminist political charity in Ottawa Tuesday night, Justin Trudeau lamented the election of Donald Trump as a setback for women’s progress.

“I want you to know that I am, and always will be, a proud feminist,” he said. “You will always have an ally in me and in my government.”

On Friday, the proud feminist had a meeting with Canada’s first female finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, and told her that he intended to replace her, presumably with Mark Carney, on Tuesday.

First, though, Trudeau wanted Freeland to present the government’s fall economic statement, featuring a gimmicky $2.7 billion holiday tax break the PMO had persuaded her to include. She would have to humiliate herself on her last day on the job by announcing a measure she opposed, missing the deficit target she had set herself in May. Trudeau had thus created a situation where it was easier for Freeland, his single closest and most important cabinet ally, to denounce him and quit, rather than do as he asked.

The departure of the long-suffering Freeland, the consummate team player, reminded me of the departure in 2019 of former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, who quit hours after the prime minister told reporters “her presence in cabinet should actually speak for itself.”

In both cases, the proud feminist put women who had shattered glass ceilings in a position where they were better off resigning rather than let Trudeau continue to humiliate them.

Taken together, the two incidents make Trudeau look like a narcissistic gaslighter, a fake feminist who thought he could subordinate talented women to his will based on his own excessive self-confidence.

With her departure, the whole operation now seems like a farcical mess.

On Monday, Trudeau huddled with his remaining cabinet. No minister who left the meeting would say out loud whether they still have confidence in him as prime minister. Five or six more ministers were rumoured to be ready to follow Freeland out the door.

The proud feminist now looks like a one-trick pony, a narcissist whose leadership was only effective while his charisma was working. Now that his charm has worn off, he is left with nothing, performing progressivism as if a breathless world was still waiting for his latest charming quip while everyone just wants him to go.

As they say, there is much more to come, so I'm sure we'll all stayed tuned with the aphoristic "bated breath". 

Breaking News!

 Chrystia Freeland has just resigned!

Time For A Refresher Course

I have never been fond of the American aphorism, "My country, right or wrong." On the surface, it suggests a reflexive, unbending and blind loyalty to and pride in one's nation, no matter its shortcomings. This can lead to all sorts of excesses, as U.S. history so amply demonstrates. However, love of and pride in a person's country of birth is, or can be, quite a different thing.

I've been thinking about national pride in light of what Charlie Angus recently had to say. He reminds us of how that pride informed our past politicians, whether in government or opposition, in their relationship with the Americans. While that relationship has mostly been cordial, it has never been servile.

Now comes word of a new poll by Angus Reid that shows a steep decline in national pride.

In 1985, 78 per cent said they were “very proud” to be Canadian. This dropped to 52 per cent in 2016 and now by another 18 points to 34 per cent. The proportion who say they are either proud or very proud of their nationality has dropped precipitously from 79 per cent to 58 per cent over the past eight years.

The Star's Kevin Jiang offers some analysis: 

These numbers could indicate Canadians feel the country isn’t living up to their expectations, Ramos said, especially in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You don’t have to look very far across the Toronto Star headlines to see that there are issues around stagnant wages, around affordability, around housing,” [political sociologist Howard] Ramos said. “This is a big part of what’s being observed in this trend.”

As well, there are key demographic differences. 

Older Canadians were significantly more likely to feel deeply attached to Canada, with 63 per cent of men and 66 per cent of women over 55 echoing that sentiment. In contrast, just 39 per cent of men and 26 per cent of women aged 18 to 34 answered the same.

Political party affiliation also plays a role.

Conservative voters were most likely to want to see the country split up or take up Donald Trump’s offer to become the 51st state; 11 per cent of Conservative supporters said they want to join the U.S. while eight per cent said they’d prefer to “see the country split up into two or more smaller countries.”

There can be little doubt that disaffection is widespread, for the above stated economic reasons, as well as things like wait times for medical service, etc. As well, I can't help but wonder about the effect of right-wing podcasters on Canadians' views, especially younger ones, of our country. 

Is there a way of reversing this trend? Obviously, politicians are in key positions to influence our national vies. The constant harping about the brokenness of Canada by opportunists like PP certainly contribute to the negative sentiments, a view echoed by Richard Nimijean, a Carleton University professor:

“National identity is not static,” Nimijean said. “If things are tough all over and if our leaders are talking about things being bad ... it’s not surprising we get these kinds of results.”

But Ramos believes these results may also indicate the country is in need of a clearer definition of what it means to be Canadian. He points to a 2015 interview with the New York Times, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was “no core identity, no mainstream in Canada.”

“Maybe it’s time for us to begin to think about what is that identity,” Ramos said, “and what we should be proud of.”

And that, of course, is a topic fit for any number of blog posts, but perhaps it is time for a refresher course on our country and why it is so dear.

I shall end now by wearing my heart on my sleeve, something I am usually loathe to do. There is no other country on earth I would rather be a citizen of. It was this country into which I was born and have been nurtured, and it will have my undivided (but not uncritical) loyalty until my days are done.

 

UPDATED: Our National Pride Needs This

Here is a  reminder and a jolt from Charlie Angus, one that should be heard by all who would appease the mad king, Trump, at the expense of our national pride and nationhood:

UPDATE:

Here are a few more words of wisdom from Charlie Angus: