Well, it’s Groundhog Day. After checking five papers, the highest ranking was number thirteen, given all the other sh*yte shows. Spoiler alert: one saw shadow, one didn’t.
I gave Trump some credit when he was on about taking Greenland this time around as just some bluster to get Denmark to up their defense spending there, which happened. Greenland has one of the worlds largest deposits of rare earth minerals so as long as China or Russia isn’t trying to get them, all is good. If the GOP is content with a “NATO be damned!” policy, the USA has enough military power there to file some annexation paperwork with the UN, pay the $50 filing fee and Denmark hands over the keys.
But he’s still talking about it, and now of course he’s on about Canada as the “51st state”. This notion I don’t get. The Lousiana Purchase didn’t create a gigantic state of Louisiana. If all Trump or an oil propector president wants is a bigger slice of the Arctic pie, watch out for NORAD and take the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon (tack that onto Alaska) and the USA has 52 states and 13+ (depending on what Iceland claims) longitudinal lines of Arctic. Maybe not as much as Russia yet somehow China has a piece too.
By this time you’d have dealt with Political Factors, Military & Geopolitical Considerations and International Consequences. And about 120,000 new citizens yet that’s less than .5% of Canada. If you want all of Canada, the harder part will be Sovereignty & National Identity and Cultural Differences. Why complicate the latter as Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Ontario at the very least consider their provinces culturally unique. There’s three smaller provinces in the East and doesn’t Barron Island sound much better than Prince Edward Island? Of the four left out West only “British Columbia” definitely needs a name change. Now the USA flag can have 62 stars.
And peace in our time.
Other than that pesky little ‘consent of the governed’ problem.
Over my dead body, and several of yours.
Our pastor is very careful to keep politics out of the church. The closest he gets is to acknowledge that we are in trying times; and no matter your views, we all trust in Jesus. I’m pretty sure he personally leans left, but that is only a guess.
Our pastor does not name names when speaking of current issues but I know what she means. The sermon today really encouraged us to be brave and to love and assist all peoples. Our services are livestreamed and go onto Youtube so if anyone wants to know what a Lutheran pastor here in Kansas is doing I can post a link. She has been here about five months and is fired up.
I wish we could do more. But we vote for our representatives to represent us. All we can do is tell them what we want, and they do whatever they want. Fortunately, my representatives are all Democrats.
I plan on doing this.
And then the Democrats – or somebody not the current “Republicans” – would take the trifecta.
Trump’s not about to give Canada that much of a vote.
But the whole idea’s insane. And yes there’d be a lot of dead bodies.
@Johnny_L.A @Baker As a free-lance classical singer just moved to NYC, I’ve been subbing in various church choirs. The one I’ve sung in the most is Plymouth Church, where I was today.
Henry Ward Beecher was the minister there for much of the 1850s - 1870s, and the church is fiercely proud of its Abolitionist heritage. The basement has been preserved - it was living quarters for escaped enslaved people, and served as one of many last stations on the Underground Railroad. Lincoln worshipped there whenever he visited NYC, and the only reason he announced his candidacy for president at Union Cooper instead of Plymouth Church was because the crowd was so large.
It is also unique in my experience, in that all of the stained glass windows in the sanctuary depict stages in US history, including a massive stained glass window of Abraham Lincoln.
If you’re interested, you can find more out at their website - https://www.plymouthchurch.org/
I am going to check that out. I love stained glass.
A church I was once a member of had lovely glass, and up front there were twelve big windows depicting the disciples. There were symbols of each of them, like a rooster and an upside down cross for Peter, symbolic of how he died. I would explain them all to the 2nd and 3rd grade Sunday school students, and by the time I would get to the third or fourth the bloodthirsty little monsters were asking “Oh, how did this one die?”
Maybe Chuck Schumer (or some Democrat) could do something useful and suggest Canadians first get the right to vote in the USA. The thing about that is, the press would think he’s serious and ridicule him, as would Trump. Maybe the Dens stance is “we can’t call him a lunatic, we can’t impeach him, so let’s just play along like it’s a joke”. Trump does not joke. He does not have a sense of humour.
Ronald Reagan:
"My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.
That was a mic check before a speech (the topic of which may be of interest to some here - about giving student religious groups the right to meet in public high schools).
Reagan was known for his levity, though that was pretty poor timing and the Russians certainly did not appreciate Regan’s levity. It wasn’t funny anyways.
Is Schumer going to write in his memoirs that he was thinking of calling Trump a lunatic and STFU or do it. Tip O’Neil, former speaker of the house, said “Ronald Reagan was the most ignorant President to occupy the White House”. He didn’t live long enough as he could have said it twice more.
I laughed.
Then and/or now? Ash, that Ronnie, he was such a cad.
In my poor Russian, in St. Petersburg, I told the joke the guy in the Slaughtered Lamb tells in “An American Werewolf in London”: Englishman, Frenchman, American and Mexican on a plane. They laughed because the “punchline” as it were, is at the expense of the American (sorta). A classic “unexpected” outcome that is quite believable at the same time (it’s on Youtube).
Jokes about Reagan would not go over as well there, and this is around 2011. Trump would not laugh at that joke, even if he got it.
That is such an amazing experience! Thank you for sharing.
I love that era of history and have been to many Civil War sites around the USA. I have not been to the Plymouth Church in NYC.
Should we need a modern underground railroad I would offer my service.
Then. It was obviously a joke, and completely in line with my sense of humour.
Here’s what a deceased U.S. personage thought about tariffing Canada:
Reagan understood that tariffs destroy jobs. Trump understands that also – it is why he is mentioning that this might – read will – create pain. Unfortunately, Trump doesn’t care about jobs, and does care about creating a hidden tax so Americans can be tricked into thinking he lowered taxes.
If the free trade agreement was that bad, why was the stock market at an all-time high?
You’re just now asking?
Wait a minute—the tariffs ARE on Americans, not Canadians. Did he forget how that works?
I don’t think he ever knew. I’m sure that he believes that Canada, Mexico, and China will be writing cheques payable to the United States. And the rare person who tries to correct him on this mistaken belief, will likely be fired in short order.