I think you very much missed the point.
Sympathize? See my post two posts above. That is a loaded word.
Of course many people sympathize with the frustrations of Covid restrictions. I do. Fewer advocate breaking the law, far fewer hurting the economy.
Obviously the protestors include a hodgepodge of disaffected groups - including people unhappy with Trudeau, Trumpistas, contrarians, hippie types, anarchists, those whose identity is tied up with refusing vaccines, the frustrated, some truckers, American and foreign agitators, attention seekers, as well as those outside of mainstream politics.
Looks like in Paris that copycat truckers are dealt with in the same way that Trump dealt with peaceful protesters that blocked his path to an upside down Bible photo op. With gas.
Why in the FUCK does this link not show a preview?
I sympathize with the frustrations and I’m ready to be done with all of this. The big difference between my attitude and the truckers is that they blame Trudeau and I blame SARS-COV-2.
I would hope for it to be done today, but I want it to be done when science says it should be done.
The Washington Post website describes it thus:
(Excerpt)
“For many Ottawa residents, the last two weeks of gridlock, horn-blaring, intimidation, and reports of vandalism and hate crimes have been anything but friendly. Bus routes have been rerouted. Roads and businesses are blocked. Confederate flags and swastikas have made appearances. Monuments have been defaced. Far-right extremist groups and right-wing American media have taken up the cause.
The protest was sparked by U.S. and Canadian rules requiring cross-border truckers to be fully vaccinated. But it quickly expanded into a movement against pandemic restrictions more broadly, which are mostly imposed by provinces, and against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The Canadian Trucking Alliance, an industry group, has denounced the protest, noting that the vast majority of Canadian truckers are vaccinated and that many of the convoy’s organizers are not truckers.
But the protesters are confident in their righteousness. Dismissing polls and scientific studies, they say they are tacitly backed by “the silent majority” — as well as millions of dollars raised online from donors, many of whom remain anonymous and some of whom have U.S. ties.”
Boy, are they in for a big surprise when they ask when they get their checks.
I’ll second that…
At least one protester has been asking organizer Pat King for cash to cover a two-week hotel bill. King reacts like a deer in the headlights, states that he does not have that kind of cash on him, and suggests that the person go to the “war room” for reimbursement:
https://twitter.com/Mike_L_Bailey/status/1492311468456435716
(Video in a tweet, about 1 minute long.)
Frankly, I’m hoping Trudeau will have his own “Just watch me” moment.
I think the FCC will make their lives miserable if they pull this shit in the US.
Wait until they try to renew their insurance. Or drivers licenses. (I hope). Are insurance companies ok with using your vehicle for an illegal road blockade?
In today’s Perfectly Peaceful Protest News, several Patriots conducted drills in how people will respond when someone tries to seal the doors to their condo building using handcuffs.
This is all, of course, perfectly normal, and not at all a cause for concern.
As the son of a linguist and someone who grew up in Canada but has lived in the U.S. for 35 years, this. BUT if you have a good ear you can often tell a Canadian even if most people cannot. It’s those tense vowels…
Never said they were “fringe”, I said they’re a minority. And it’s not a third of Canadians blockading an international border and screwing the economy on both sides, it’s a subset of the 1/10 of truckers who aren’t vaccinated and for some reason don’t want to be. If you don’t want to meet the requirements for a job too bad, so sad get a different job. No one is entitled to drive a truck for a living. Don’t want to get vaccinated? OK, no one is going to physically hold you down and force a needle into your arm but your choice will have consequences. If these people want to make that choice they need to put their big-boy pants on and deal with the consequences of that choice.
It’s not protesting that is “not accepting democracy”, it’s what the protests are about - wanting a special privilege so they don’t have to be responsible members of society without consequences. That’s not democracy.
Sure - when is it going to start happening? The court ruling came down on Friday. The protesters had until 7 pm to start clearing out. If I had a say, I’d have busted out the handcuffs the next morning, towing rigs, and slamming people in jail. Either the law has teeth or it doesn’t. It’s starting to look like yet another instance where conservative White men get away with things that would have anyone else up against a wall or face down on the ground with their hands behind their back.
Arrest those remaining, confiscate their vehicles, tear up their CDL’s, and blacklist them. They can all get different jobs for a living, because I don’t want someone in charge of a multi-ton behemoth hurtling down the interstate who can’t follow the rules.
It’s not just Canada this is hurting - the auto industry in the US is shutting down for lack of parts coming across the border. The American idiots sending money are shooting themselves in the foot.
Not “tens of thousands” - hundreds of thousands. Close to 2 million people (collectively in both countries) are directly employed by the auto industry. Which is shutting down due to lack of parts. That’s just the auto industry. NOTHING is crossing the border where they yahoos are. The remaining crossing points like the Blue Water Bridge just can’t handle all of what needs to be moved.
^ This.
OK - try this on for size: The protest HAS been deemed illegal by the duly elected government of Canada as of Friday evening. So what they doing is not legal.
Also - and this is an important point - this is affecting not just Canada but also the US. I’m sitting here 400 km away from the Canadian border and the auto assembly plant in my area is shut down as of Monday and most of the workers on furlough because the parts they need never arrived from Canada. This is affecting MY neighborhood now. And a lot of other neighborhoods. $300 million a day in trade crosses the Ambassador Bridge and none of that is happening now. This bullshit is inflicting real economic damage on both sides of the border now. Damage just as real as burning down a dry cleaner during a riot, even if it’s less obvious.
^ This. I hear too many people these days saying “it’s not like that”. Yes, it IS like that. It doesn’t help when my White friends repeat bullshit from those types then amend it with “but not you, I didn’t mean you.” Well, maybe you personally didn’t but the people you’re associating with sure as hell do. Good people doing nothing is the start of the slide into hell.
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay-um! It’s a Canadian Nazi! Sub-species bald-headed bearded jackass. Never seen one of those before. Heard of 'em, but not seen one. ::: lowers binoculars :::: I’ll make a note in my Nazi-watching notebook. ::: scribbles in battered spiral bound :::
To annoy you? Anyhow - for those who know French, know how to translate a website, or just up for a linguistic challenge, here is Le Monde on the affair:
In sum: 97 arrests, 513 warnings, tear gas, and a definite nipping in the bud of a similar attempt to blockade/shut down Paris. Apparently another group is going to try on in Brussels on Monday. Apparently the Europeans are less tolerant of this sort of foreign-inspired “protest” than we are. Good for them.
Yeah? When 40% of the US population has bought into the Trumpist/Qanon/right wing crap?
I am no longer confident that I can trust the rule of law to protect me in my own country. Not when people who hate what I am seek to usurp elections, hold insurrections, and otherwise display authoritarian traits.
Hope I don’t get caught J-walking. The penalties for that are enforced with much more severity than shutting down a continent.
On a more positive note, here’s some video of the Pro Ottawa Protest today.
Ford and Trudeau have both managed reasonably well through these challenging times. Even working together when needed. Canada in general has fared pretty well as a result.
But it’s starting to look like the both of them are willing to lose it all, rather than act with decisiveness.
They are literally sitting on their hands as Trumpism infects our politics full on. And it’s spreading like a plague around the world because these bozos are too timid to use the powers they have.
The time for tough talk, threats, chastising, is LONG past. I don’t believe any of the good they’ve managed, will matter in the end, if they don’t get this under control.
I’m doubting either will see office again if they don’t stop talking tough and get some results. The Prime Minister, the Premier, the city police, the OPP, and the military on scene all appear inept and ineffective. More so with each day that passes.
Meanwhile, Canadians are left to wonder exactly how every level of enforcement/government is being out maneuvered by THIS group?
Canadians need to wake up to the fact that Conservatives are infested with and beholden to white supremacists and neo Nazis, as are the institutions of law enforcement, and even the military. Just like they are south of the border.
If reading this thread tells me anything, it’s that what’s true in the US is true above the 49th parallel as well. Scratch the polite veneer off a “conservative” and you find a swastika tattoo.
It’s hard for the Law & Order crowd to crack down on skinheads because their concept of Law is to keep out-groups in Order.
Kids, these are the people we call “The Good Guys”. Notice how they were able to make a statement without requiring any symbols of hatred like a confederate flag or a fucking swastika. Let’s hear it for the good guys, teach your children well, eh?