Canada

Donald Trump, The Full Blown Imperialist! :(

Ronald 40 Comments

Donald Trump was thought to be an isolationist in his foreign policy views in his first term.

But now in his second term, Donald Trump is a full blown imperialist, who has no concern for our relations with nations that have been America’s allies since after World War II.

So Trump is making clear that he intends, even by military force if necessary, to seize control of the Panama Canal, which was legally handed over by treaty in the Jimmy Carter Administration, effective in the year 2000, and with Republican and Democratic backing in the signing of the treaty in 1977. Such action will cause a major rift with Latin America.

So Trump is continuing to assert that Canada will be the “51st state”, and is imposing heavy protective tariffs, and acting aggressive and abusive toward our northern neighbor. This is causing great stress and the rise of antiAmericanism in Canada, which has no intention of giving up its sovereignty.

So Trump is claiming that Greenland, which has been semi-autonomous from Denmark for a long time, will become a territory of the United States, causing hostility and alarm in Denmark, the European Union, and among our NATO Allies.

So Trump is claiming that the Gaza Strip needs to be emptied, and redeveloped with American investment, a totally loony idea, which would cause the spread of Middle East terrorism to all Americans who would work or live in territory that America has no right to claim.

Donald Trump is, clearly, a full blown imperialist, similar in many ways to authoritarian leaders, including Vladimir Putin of Russia, with his attempt to justify invasion and seizing of territory in Ukraine!

This makes the 47th President “a clear and present danger” to international peace!

The Deteriorating US-Canada Relationship

Ronald 22 Comments

The United States has been blessed with having the best possible neighboring nation in Canada, which it shares a boundary of 5,525 miles, the longest boundary between any two nations in the world.

There has been no major issues between Canada and the US for nearly two centuries, just the “normal” disagreements that any two neighbors might have over time.

But now, the United States under President Donald Trump is creating conflict with its policy of promoting economic war through imposing tariffs, which only harm both nations.

Additionally, Trump has promoted the idea of Canada becoming the “51st State”, totally preposterous idea, and if anything, Washington DC SHOULD be the 51st state!

It has caused growing hostility between Canadians and Americans, whether at sports events, or just promoting a new wave of Canadian nationalism, resentful of the unnecessary provocations which undermine both nations, not only economically, but also regarding national defense and security of both nations.

Canada may stop sharing intelligence information with the United States as a result of Trump’s cozying up with Russia and Vladimir Putin in its war with Ukraine, as well.

There is the danger that the nations America is closest to (all of which share the English language)–not just Canada, but also the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand–will stop such shared intelligence, which would be a major tragedy in international relations against authoritarian regimes around the world that undermine security of all of those nations! This alliance has been known as the “Five Eyes” alliance.

It could also affect other major democracies, including France and Germany, to be more cautious in their dealings with the US government.

The recent news that new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has denounced Donald Trump and that Canada will match tariff for tariff is something all decent Americans will support wholeheartedly!

Trump’s War On Federal Government: Young Civil Servants, Higher Education, Veterans, And More! :(

Ronald 30 Comments

Donald Trump’s war on the federal government is an attack on the future and on so many other areas of life.

It is a war on young people who have and wish to enter public service, with many thousands of probationary workers now unemployed, due to major cutbacks in many federal agencies.

It is a war on higher education, cutting funding for training and educating an intelligent work force in the sciences, the humanities, and all other areas of public knowledge.

It is a war on our patriotic veterans, who are losing many government jobs, and a cutting of programs to help veterans who risked their lives, and now are being denied adequate consideration of their health and welfare needs.

It is a war on protection of our national security, with mass purges of dedicated intelligence, foreign policy, and defense personnel who have dedicated their lives and careers to protecting the homeland from foreign threats of authoritarian government, including Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

It is a war on health care, science, and medicine, and endangers all Americans when it comes to threats from many diseases worldwide, that now will not be dealt with in an efficient matter, and will cost a multitude of lives.

It is a war on the environment, conservation, and the realities of climate change, guaranteeing worldwide disasters that will threaten human existence in the future.

It is a war on our long held alliances with democracies in Europe and in Asia, and antagonizing, unnecessarily, our neighbors, Canada and Mexico, and inciting anti Americanism in Latin America. It is causing our closest allies in NATO and in Asia to reconsider sharing intelligence information.

It is a war on public virtue, with a certainty that we will witness the greatest level of corruption and concentration of wealth in the hands of a few evil individuals, ever seen in American history, far surpassing the earlier corruption that took place under Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and even the first term of Donald Trump.

The Trump Presidency is setting America back to an earlier time before all of the great reforms that took place from the Progressive Era of Theodore Roosvelt and Woodrow Wilson; the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt; the Fair Deal of Harry Truman; the New Frontier of John F. Kennedy; the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson; the movements forward under Republicans Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon; the accomplishments under Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; and the advancements under Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Donald Trump Creating International Crises And Disruption Of American Diplomacy!

Ronald 13 Comments

Donald Trump is creating an image that “Might Makes Right” in international affairs, and that presents a disaster for the world!

Trump has said the Russia-Ukraine War must end, and is taking the side of Vladimir Putin, that territory gained from Ukraine since 2014 should be conceded by Ukraine, and that Ukraine cannot be allowed to join NATO in the future.

Trump says Russian troops have been “sacrificed”, and that, therefore, that nation must be able to have its advancements on the battlefield legalized under international law!

Trump is setting up the situation for his own plans to be aggressive in foreign affairs, and claim that American “sacrifices” must be rewarded with the gaining of teritory he has an eye on, including the Panama Canal, Greenland (Denmark), Canada, and the Gaza Strip (Middle East).

We are about to see America become aggressive and imperialistic as it was in the 1840s under President James K. Polk and the 1890s under President William McKinley!

Trump wants to act like the governments of Russia and China, and divide the world into areas of dominance controlled by those two nations and America.

It is a repudation of our alliances, including European nations in NATO, and Pacific alliances with Asian nations and Australia and New Zealand.

This is a radical, revolutionary transformation of American foreign policy, diametrically opposite to that pursued by Presidents from Franklin D. Rooevelt through Joe Biden, minus the first four years of Donald Trump!

Donald Trump “Worship” Of Andrew Jackson And WIlliam McKinley!

Ronald 15 Comments

Donald Trump has, through his words and actions, indicated a “worship” of two Presidents, both of whom became engaged in controversial actions.

The 7th President, Andrew Jackson (1829-1837), was a clearcut racist who thought native Americans were subhuman, and defied the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall, in the case of Worcester V Georgia (1832), that upheld Cherokee Indian rights to their ancestral lands in Georgia.

That 1832 case led Jackson to announce defiance of the Court, and state that John Marshall and the Supreme Court had made its decision, now let them enforce it!

The result was the forced removal of thousands of native Americans to Oklahoma, infamously known as “The Trial Of Tears”, between 1830 and 1838, after passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

About 15,000 native Americans were killed or died from disease during this forced removal, where about 60,000 native Americans, of five tribes—Creek, Choctaw, Chicasaw, Cherokee, and Seminole–were forced to “Indian land” in Oklahoma, which after a half century and discovery of oil, led to white settlement, taking away much of that territory from native Americans.

The 25th President, William McKinley (1897-1901), became infamous for having promoted the McKinley Tariff of 1890, making for very high tariffs on foreign goods, a factor in the worst economic downturn of the 19th century, the Panic of 1893, which was not overcome until the second year of the McKinley Presidency in 1898.

McKinley also is remembered for having promoted imperialism and expansion, including the gaining of Hawaii by joint resolution in 1898, and going to war with Spain, and gaining control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and a “sphere of influence” over Cuba, giving the US an “Empire”, and new markets for industrial goods produced by corporations in their quest for new markets for their goods.

And the US fought a three year “guerrilla war” against the Philippines, who wanted independence after being liberated from Spanish control, but instead were forced to be a colony until after World War II in 1946, an event known as the “Filipino Insurrection”, mostly ignored in teaching of American history to students!

Trump is now pushing protective tariffs on all nations, and is now advocating American expansionism by considering retaking control of the Panama Canal; suggesting Canada become the 51st state; making clear his desire to gain control of Greenland from Denmark; and suggesting that the US take over the Gaza Strip in the Middle East and force removal of the 2 million Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan.

So Trump is guided by the worst policies of two of his predecessors in the White House–Andrew Jackson and William McKinley!

Pure Insanity: The Gaza Strip, Added To Panama Canal, Greenland, Canada, As Expansionist Ambitions Of Donald Trump!

Ronald 37 Comments

America and the world is in a season of pure insanity, with lunatic, out of control President Donald Trump, setting out to dismantle many federal government agencies with the assistance of billionaire Elon Musk, who holds no government position and is a danger to the nation and the world, alongside the 47th President!

But also, Donald Trump, supposedly a President who was “isolationist” and wanted America to withdraw from world commitments, is on a rampage to have the United States take over the Gaza Strip, and remove all Palestinians permanently from their land!

This, if it occurred, would be truly “ethnic cleansing”, similarly to what America did to its native Americans over the past four centuries!

THere is ZERO support in the Middle East to relocate, forcibly, 2 million Palestinians, and imagine if one was to say that the Jewish population of Israel should leave their land under force of a foreign nation that has no business getting involved in any threatened, and forced, relocation of population?

And Trump is a threat not only on the Gaza Strip, but also to the Panama Canal treaty signed and ratified by the US Senate a quarter century ago under President Jimmy Carter, a rightful action to undo three quarters of a century of exploitation by the United States from the time of Theodore Roosevelt onward.

And Trump also is threatening Denmark over its territory of Greenland, all over wanting access to the mineral resources of that barren island of only about 56,000 people, endangering US relations with our European allies in NATO.

And putting tariffs on Canada, and then having a 30 day delay, is inflaming anti American sentiments in Canada, among all political views in that nation, and the insult of Trump suggesting that Canada become the 51st state, and calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “Governor”!

Donald Trump is out of control, acting maniacally, and his Republican Party is ceding all rights of Congress to promote checks and balances, as required under the US Constitution!

America is in a constitutional crisis and an American national security crisis, and the only winners are our adversaries in Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and foreign terrorists!

Trump Tariffs On Canada And Mexico Will Backfire!

Ronald 2 Comments

Donald Trump is committing economic suicide by imposing 25 percent tariffs on our two neighbors, Canada and Mexico.

It is guaranteed to backfire, and cause a major inflationary spiral, and shortages of all kinds of good, with corporations passing on the cost increases to American consumers.

It is tragic that America is geting involved in a trade war with our neighbor to the North, who has been the best possible ally in peace and wartime, with our border being stable for two centuries.

It is also tragic that we have a President ready to take military action against Mexico or other nations in Latin America, to impose his will not only on trade, but also his desire to retake control of the Panama Canal, breaking the international treaty under President Jimmy Carter that was ratified by a bipartisan group of Senators in 1978.

We are in a major constitutional crisis, as Donald Trump is a “clear and present danger” to international cooperation and peaceful diplomacy.

When will Congress reasert itself, and stop the mad dash of Donald Trump to create international chaos with democratic nations, while cozying up to authoritarian leaders in nations that wish America harm?

Trump On Rampage: Denial Of Temporary Protected Status For 600,000 Venezuelans, And Protective Tariffs Of 25 Percent On Canada And Mexico!

Ronald 2 Comments

Donald Trump, after just 11 days in office, is clearly on a rampage of destruction, so overwhelming that it is hard to fathom and simplify the damage done.

The government is now denying the temporary protected status granted to about 600,000 Venezuelan refugees in 2021.

And it seems inevitable the same will happen to refugees from Haiti, Ukraine, and Afghanistan.

Additionally, on Saturday, the plan is to impose 25 percent protective tariffs on all goods from our neighbors, Canada and Mexico, which will cause massive inflation if it goes on for a long time.

This is a series of actions that can be considered a “political massacre”, and endangers the entire nation long term!

As we enter February, one has to wonder how much more can decent Americans take!

Richard Nixon, by comparison, is a “choir boy”!

Back From Rome, Italy Vacation To True Madness!

Ronald 20 Comments

This author and blogger has been away on vacation for two weeks, taking a well deserved break and hitting the mark of being 80 years old.

Part of that vacation was traveling to Rome, Italy with my older son to experience the heritage of the Roman Empire, and it was very enlightening, and revealing, how what happened to Rome in ancient times seems to be happening in America in the 21st century, a sense of true madness!

The fact that we are seeing the conflict between MAGA Republicans and technocrats, including Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, makes clear that we are headed toward total chaos and anarchy.

The two factions, one very racist, misogynist, and nativist, clashes with the billionaires which include people of color and foreign birth in the battle for control of future policy.

The idea that Donald Trump is threatening to take control of the Panama Canal, given back by treaty under Jimmy Carter, and taking place in 2000, is astounding.

The repeated desire of Trump to take over Greenland from Denmark, and to suggest all of Canada as the 51st state is mind boggling.

The growing threat to journalism and freedom of the press of all kinds, including comedy, and also commentary, even by bloggers like this author, is stunning.

With only 23 days until Joe Biden leaves office, and Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office, there is a sense of foreboding that one wonders about the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence only 18 months away!

Trade With China, Canada, Mexico Are Dominant In American Economy

Ronald 3 Comments

When one looks at a map of the United States, based on significance of trade with our leading trade partners–China, Canada, and Mexico–it is clear that Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffs of 10 percent on China and 25 percent on Canada and Mexico, will cause an economic calamity.

Eighteen states have China as their major supplier of imported goods; twenty three states have Canada as their major supplier of imported goods; and three states have Mexico as their major supplier of imported goods. Germany, Saudi Arabia, and India have an impact in a few other states.

So it is pure insanity to impose protective tariffs, when history tells us it always leads to economic disaster.