It often pains me to contemplate my fellow humans. That they can be so easily swayed by demagoguery that works against their own best interests speaks ill of our species. The following clip from Abdul El-Sayed serves as a litmus test of sanity, critical thinking, and just plain common sense.
Oh, and in case you didn't realize how great a threat El-Sayed is to all that's holy in America, you have Ted Cruz to remind you of the even greater peril he represents:
The above is the result of my supplying Chat GPT with a shot of a pitbull, directing A.I. to put Pete Hoekstra's face on it. The picture seems appropriate, given that it is eminently clear whenever he opens his mouth, he is acting as Trump's attack dog.
The latest drool from Hoekstra's mouth, of course is that we are actively interfering in the American mid-term elections.That claim is especially rich, coming from the emissary of a country that is known far and wide for interfering in many countries' democracies, and even facilitating their leaders' overthrow. Closer to home, there has been widespread reporting of American meddling in the recent Alberta referendum. No so-called fact sheet can deny these truths.
Given their self-proclaimed status as the greatest country in the world, nay, in all of history, egregious hypocrisy is not something that troubles America. Those of us who have not consumed that particular kool-aid see things differently, and are deeply offended by Hoekstra's latest salvo.
During an interview on The Really Big Show podcast posted last week, Hoekstra said political ads run by the province of Ontario last year could be interpreted as political interference.
Hoekstra also cited recent comments by Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and former prime minister Justin Trudeau and suggested they also could amount to interference.
Hoekstra warned Canadian politicians to keep their "nose out" of American politics in the weeks before the midterm elections.
Trudeau criticized the Trump administration during a discussion at Brown University on Sept. 22.
"There is a pattern here of doing things that are driving up prices for your consumers and not necessarily making anything better for America, by fighting with one of your oldest and best allies," Trudeau said during the conversation.
Apparently, the freedom of speech the Americans claim to revere does not extend to non-citizens, nor does sovereign action taken by another country sit well with Hoekstra and his master.
In the interview, Hoekstra said Joly made comments about targeting retaliatory tariffs at "politically sensitive states."
Joly pushed back on Wednesday, telling reporters that Canada would never engage in election interference and would "never accept that also being done to us in Canada."
Perhaps former American ambassador to Canada, James Blanchard, puts things into a perspective that most Canadians can agree with.
The Star's Justin Ling sees method in all of this Trump-inspired madness:
[I]t is a pretty naked attempt to sow distrust ahead of the coming midterms. Trump is on track for a brutal drubbing at the ballot box — and we don’t yet know if he’ll try to pull a last-minute disenfranchisement of Democratic voters, or how he’ll contest the results.
The midterm American elections are fast approaching. Soon, one way or the other, Canada and the world will know the truth.
When I was teaching, it was often my experience with general level classes that the most disruptive students got the most attention, to the detriment of the rest of the class. It was a classic case of the tail wagging the dog.
Something similar, in my view, transpired in the whole lead-up to the Alberta referendum. A group of malcontents, loud, brash and uninformed, pressed a weak premier, Danielle Smith, to hold a referendum on a referendum, which went down to defeat and will probably ultimately result in the removal of Smith, owing to the number of separatists in her caucus.
There is no doubt the pro-separation faction exerted an oversized influence on the province, an influence that should, but will not be, muted after 75% of Albertans rejected their siren call.
So what are the people saying? This first set of letters from The Globe reveals much:
After Danielle Smith’s referendum, the political reality looks stark. It seems this multimillion-dollar exercise was never about leaving Canada, it was an amateur schoolyard brawl manufactured for her own short-term survival.
By inviting grassroots radicals into the tent to secure her leadership, Ms. Smith has built a volatile political compost pile. Now it is rapidly breaking down the leftovers. The roughly 75-per-cent majority who voted “remain” are exhausted by the chaos, while hardline separatists feel betrayed by a Premier trying to be all things to all people.
My view from a distance makes the destruction clear: Ms. Smith has run out of runway. If she is wise, she would exit stage left now, before the political pile overheats and consumes her government.
Charles Claus Terrace, B.C.
Now that Alberta has overwhelmingly voted to remain in Canada, I hope this matter, and the illusion that separatists carry any political weight in the province, can be dismissed for good.
Danielle Smith should resign immediately for calling an unnecessary referendum to placate separatists in her United Conservative Party. It also stirred up unnecessary divisions, at a time when unity is required to face real threats to Canadian sovereignty from the Trump administration.
Jeff Buckstein Ottawa
Re “Alberta voters reject push for separation referendum” (Online, Oct. 20): What do separatists not understand? No means no.
William O’Meara Toronto
From Star readers:
Albertans need a new leader
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith allowed a referendum question to be brought forward by a movement that unsuccessfully tried to remove Alberta from Canada. This at a time when all Canadians need to pull together. Perhaps it’s time for Albertans to demand a new leader; one who cares about the future of our great country.
Linda Matthews, Toronto
Yes Alberta has chosen to stay in Canada for now, but the question about immigration still garnered more than half for the yes vote. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the focus should now be affordability, safety and “less immigration.”
He and Albertans are again blowing the dog-whistle. They don’t want people to come to their province who will likely be working more hours for less money than those they consider “true” Albertans.
They forget that the immigrant is the doctor, nurse, restaurant worker or truck driver. They stimulate the economy, pay taxes and volunteer. Alberta will soon be crying that they can’t find people to work.
Murray Van Halem, Dundas, ON
Undoubtedly, many thousands of words will be produced analysing the results of the referendum. One thing is clear, however: there will always be those who refuse to let reality intrude upon their outlandish dreams and schemes.
P.S. check out The Beaverton for a fresh breath of satire under this headline:
With the exception of posting links to my post, I do not use Twitter anymore. Bluesky does seem to be a more friendly environment, and, best of all, it is not owned by a raging megalomaniac. Here are a few excerpts from Bluesky that I rather liked.
As an increasingly desperate Amerika rants and raves and deteriorates, its sense of exceptionalism largely remains intact in the minds of many. That can be the only explanation for the arrogant pontifications of the repugnant Trump envoy to Canada, Pete Hoekstra.
In his most recent upbraiding of Canada, he warned that the U.S. is watching us closely for signs of election interference:
Hoekstra warned Canadian politicians to keep their "nose out" of American politics in the weeks before the midterm elections.
Apparently, speaking truth to a nation increasingly allergic to any semblance of it is deeply offensive. Recently former prime minister Justin Trudeau displayed such temerity during a discussion at Brown University:
"There is a pattern here of doing things that are driving up prices for your consumers and not necessarily making anything better for America, by fighting with one of your oldest and best allies," Trudeau said during the conversation.
Hoekstra said if any actions by Canadians end up amounting to election interference, the United States will respond.
"We're monitoring it, we're evaluating it and if some of it becomes election interference then America will respond to it," Hoekstra said.
The Toronto Star's Andrew Phillips sees this as a classic case of projection, an example of which is a chronic liar thinking everyone else lies as well.
This is rich, coming from the representative of a president who’s made questioning Canada’s very existence (“51st state!”) into a cheap applause line at his campaign rallies. Whose own treasury secretary pumps oxygen into the Alberta separatist movement, and whose diplomats listen respectfully while those same separatists offer up Canada’s resources in return for support from Washington.
Classic projection: we’re meddling in your internal affairs (as we’ve done everywhere from Argentina to Hungary, not to mention Venezuela) so naturally we think you’re meddling in ours.
The other possibility, Phillips suggests, is that the tactics Canada has used, such as targeting red states with specific tariffs, are working.
Canadian tariffs are hitting key industries in states like North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas, Montana and Illinois. Most are so-called red states, i.e. reliably Republican, but they can see the link between Trump’s trade obsession and damage to their own economies, as well as the general inflation it fuels.
Other Canadian actions are having an effect, too. The boycott of travel to the U.S. has hit Las Vegas particularly hard. Democrats there are making much of the fact that Canadians, normally Nevada’s biggest source of foreign visitors, aren’t filling hotel rooms there. What happens in Vegas, in this case, doesn’t stay in Vegas: it spills into the midterm battle.
Phillips also suspects that Canada is being set up as a scapegoat to explain the drubbing Republicans will likely take in the mid-terms. My own cast of mind, however, suggests something more might be at work. While lying awake early one morning, a vivid scenario came to me: after the midterms, Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, refuses to allow the newly elected Representatives to be seated, citing election interference, ballot irregularities, and unsanctioned voting. He could very well say that until a full investigation is undertaken, he has a responsibility to 'protect' the integrity of the democratic process.
And his kind of election interference would be something only those who still believe in real American democracy could remedy.
