FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Mar 6

The Kingmakers: How Corporate Elites Work to Re-elect President Trump

by bcurry

Now that Donald Trump has garnered the Republican candidacy for the Presidential election next November, you can be sure that a number of the corporate elite will be lining up to support him and help fund his campaign.  After all, Trump believes that he is one of them.  Remember, that both Hitler and Mussolini garnered the support of the corporate elite respectively in Germany and Italy to help overthrow their existing democratic regimes in order to push forward their agenda and solidify their places among the wealthiest in each nation.  Both average Germans and Italians, like many Americans today, were upset with the current economic state.   Once in charge, those same elites worked with each dictator to build up the military-industrial complexes, much like what Putin has been doing and continues to do in Russia today.

Trump’s efforts to garner corporate support is already underway as witnessed by the recent reported meetings whereby he is urgently seeking a cash infusion to aid his presidential campaign.  These took place with the likes of Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest men, and a number of wealthy Republican donors.  Furthermore, now that Nikki Haley has withdrawn from the presidential campaign, it will be interesting to see whether the conservative billionaire Koch brothers will back Trump during his campaign.  The Koch brothers founded and fund the Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP), a libertarian conservative political policy body.  Initially, the AFP, which fuels the most powerful donor network in conservative politics, had declared itself as part of the NeverTrump effort for 2024, aiming to deny former President Donald Trump a third nomination for the White House.  Therefore, it will be interesting to see whether the Koch brothers will continue to take this position.

In addition, Nikki Haley was probably not the corporate elites’ most preferable candidate. Instead, like Musk, they would have preferred Florida Governor Ron Desantis as their candidate given his similar extreme right-wing political positions to those of Trump.  However, Desantis had a weak campaign and did not live up to the expectations of many of the corporate elite and those in the Republican Party.  The tide swung quickly in favour of Nikki Haley as a possible alternative to Trump, although unfortunately somewhat weak at the outset.

The corporate elite know that despite all the current indictments against Trump and his continuing denial of the results of the last presidential election, his hard-core MAGA base will continue to support him regardless.  Noteworthy, “The Daily Show” correspondent Jordan Klepper couldn’t recently hide his frustration with Nikki Haley supporters who fiercely condemned Trump but then, in the same interview, admitted they’ll still probably vote for the former president when he takes on President Joe Biden in November.

There appears to be too much at stake for corporate America not to support Trump.  After all he supports the fossil fuels sector, denying the impact of climate change; he believes in an “American First” policy at the expense of international trade agreements; he wants to build up America’s nuclear arsenal and speed up the military-based space race; he would never introduce new tax measures aimed at high-income earners or any new capital gains taxation; once again reduce the abilities of federal regulatory agencies such as the EPA and IRA; and he would increase further access to federal lands and waters for mineral exploration.

It was just a matter of time before we witnessed the “kingmakers” coming out of the woods, SuperPacs and all.  While a few corporate elites may support Biden, the majority like Elon Musk will most likely support and fund Trump.  It’s quite simple, the so-called “haves” want to keep what they have without paying their fair share.  After all, they are the kingmakers, and neither you nor anyone else can change that.  Just ask the German and Italian descendents of earlier insidious times!

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Feb 9

Politicization of Health Issues in North America

by bcurry

The last few decades have seen a greater politicization of a number of issues related to health.  The clear division among pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine proponents during the COVID pandemic was a major indication of such politicization, with even public officials taking up one side or another.  The pandemic raised a number of health issues in both the U.S. and Canada, forcing governments and medical practitioners to support one side or the other.  However, the science was clear and supported the need for a vaccine and the various societal restrictions introduced to protect peoples’ lives.  The high number of COVID-related deaths, particularly in the first year of the pandemic, confirmed the urgency for action in order to minimize the terrible impact of the virus on the population at large.  Results indicated that where individuals were not immunized, the probability of serious health consequences and even death was that much higher.  Many ended up placing an extreme hardship on the health care system and communities.

In the U.S., the recent Supreme Court’s decision which overturned Roe vs. Wade — a 1973 landmark decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion — opened up the door to reviving the whole issue surrounding abortion, another primarily health issue.  Again, pro-life and pro-choice groups became more politically active in many states, with some state governments enacting laws introducing all kinds of restrictions on abortion, sometimes leading in practice to an outright ban.  This placed medical practitioners in a difficult situation, often putting a woman’s health in jeopardy as a result of the loss of the abortion option. 

More recently, governments in Canada and the U.S. have or plan to introduce legislation to support planned policy changes affecting transgender and non-binary youth and adults.  Often under the banner of “parental rights”, the laws aim to restrict health-care options for such youth and inform parents of any name and gender identity changes students request at school.  Age limits are being prescribed for the use by medical practitioners of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender affirmation.  As a result, medical experts and patients are weighing in on gender-affirming care and the potential impact of such laws on affected youth.  They believe that limiting their access to care will put some kids at risk of self-harm, especially with respect to their mental health.  Psychiatrists who see gender-diverse youth and adult patients believe that to outlaw access to puberty blockers ignores best practices, guidelines and international standards of care endorsed by major medical associations.  Such laws are an unnecessary and unconstitutional political intrusion into the personal health choices of children, their parents and their doctors.  What is difficult to understand is that it appears to be the policy equivalent to hitting a fly with a hammer, given that the issue affects a very tiny portion of the population, often depicted as representing well less than one percent of children and adolescents.

When it comes to personal health matters, I believe that the majority of people would prefer that the government stay out of the equation.  In Canada, we saw a similar political split during past debates on the issue of medical assistance in dying (referred to as MAiD).  There were those that opposed MAiD primarily on religious beliefs, compared to the medical profession and civil rights groups who argued in favour of assisting those with terminal diseases, living with pain, in anguish, and with no hope for a cure.  In the six years since assisted dying was decriminalized by the Canadian Parliament in 2016, more patients are seeking MAiD year over year as this option becomes more widely known and available.  Since the introduction of this practice into the Canadian healthcare system, over 40,000 Canadians have taken advantage of the option. Decisions for assisted dying are left to the individual, his or her family and their medical practitioners, using several prescribed guidelines developed under the program.

I don’t know about you, but I want to make decisions about my health with the least amount of government interference or that of politically motivated groups.  I want decisions to be based on the best science at the time and the experience and input of medical practitioners.  There has been far too much politicization of health issues, driven by motives that most likely have nothing to do with the freedom to determine what is right for each person.  Our beliefs are our own.  As long as one is not harming anyone else, our health-related choices are our business. 

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Jan 4

Strange Situation In Republican Primaries For Their Presidential Nominee

by bcurry

As a Canadian political observer, there is little doubt that the current situation south of the border involving the Republican Party (GOP) and their selection of a presidential candidate to run in the election later this year is all very strange.  You have former President Donald Trump who is currently under indictment in four different civil and criminal cases.  Despite this, the majority of GOP supporters continue to back Trump, with the polls showing that he is still leading the other GOP candidates by a substantial margin.  Trump’s primaries’ platform to date has reflected his desire for “personal retribution” against those who opposed him following his failure to get re-elected in 2020, and to implement an “autocratic” regime.

In addition, one of the indictments pertains to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by a violent mob and Trump’s alleged role in the conspiracy to keep himself in power by overturning the election results.  Recently, both Maine and Colorado had decisions to throw Trump off the ballot over 14th Amendment’s ban on “insurrectionists”.  Given this unprecedented situation, Trump is expected to appeal and both cases are likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.  On top of which, Trump’s main GOP primary rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, have declined to attack Trump with regards to any of the indictments for fear of upsetting Trump’s GOP base and thereby loosing their potential support.

Given his apparent continuing political support among the MAGA Republicans, Trump has declined to even participate in the recent candidate debates, something unheard of in Canadian politics.  When leadership conventions are held in Canada, current party leaders or aspiring party members to lead the party are required to present their platforms in front of party members as part of the voting at the party convention.  As well, open candidate debates are held prior to the leadership convention.  In the case of Trump, the other candidates are at a disadvantage since they cannot debate him in an open forum, subsequently being left to mainly attack each other in his absence.  Trump, on the other hand, has simply continued to carry out his usual style of campaigning in public and through media coverage, openly attacking his GOP rivals in his traditional style of vicious name calling and spiteful insinuations about their character.

What is even crazier, a new poll recently taken by the Washington Post with the University of Maryland indicated that MAGA has not only stuck with Trump on the questions of January 6th, but a few who even believed that he might have done something wrong at the time have now come back to his side.  Still, they apparently aren’t many.  However, Republicans loved Trump then and they appear to continue to love him now.  Nevertheless, there is little doubt that should Trump be convicted of a criminal indictment, the majority of American voters nationally, especially independents, would choose President Biden over Trump in the next presidential election.  On the other hand, polls indicate that Republicans don’t seem to care.  They’re even starting to warm to the idea of Trump serving from a jail cell, which legal experts believe is constitutionally possible.  This result would really be bewildering to say the least!

For this reason, NBC News reported in December 2023 that Trump’s campaign believes the January 6th trial was specifically timed to take him off the campaign trail at a crucial stage. They further believe that they can outsmart the prosecutors by wrapping up the primaries early.  At this time, much is up in the air when it comes to trial dates surrounding the indictments.  Observers also correctly believe that Trump doesn’t want the particular January 6th trial to happen anytime soon.  It’s pretty much self-evident that he really doesn’t want to be convicted, despite his lawyers’ assurances about an appeal.  Obviously, they further believe that should he win the election, Trump would simply pardon himself and be done with it.

Anyone, including myself, watching this “circus” from afar is left scratching their heads.  Democracy had taken a serious beating in light of Donald Trump’s ridiculous accusations that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by Joe Biden.  His continuing attacks on the judicial and democratic processes in public forum, culminating in the terrible attack on the Capitol, have resulted in major blows to the state of American democracy.  His disposition for autocratic leanings is of great concern to other democracies, including that in Canada.  In the coming months, Canadians need to more closely watch the strange situation flowing from the GOP primaries.  One way or another, the results will affect us all!

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Oct 22

The Power of the American Military Industrial Complex Continues to Grow

by bcurry

Lester B. Pearson, a former Canadian Prime Minister, was quoted in 1955: “The grim fact is that we prepare for war like precocious giants, and for peace like retarded pygmies.”  As you may know or not know, as a diplomat Pearson was largely responsible for encouraging the formation of the League of Nations after World War II, which in turn became the United Nations.

Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned in 1953: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”  As a former general during World War II, Eisenhower clearly understood the power of the military industrial complex in the States, a power that has continued to grow from this day forward.

The U.S. is the world’s biggest arms exporter.  As of last year, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the U.S. controlled an estimated 45 percent of the world’s weapons exports.  This is nearly five times more than any other nation and its highest level since the years immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union.  That is up from 30 percent a decade ago.

The current conflict between Israel and Hamas is just the latest impetus behind a boom in international arms sales that is bolstering profits and weapons-making capacity among American suppliers, especially with respect to Israel’s military.  The U.S. already provides Israel with more than $3 billion in military assistance every year, and Congress is now apparently being asked to increase funding to Israel to the tune of $10 billion in emergency aid due to the conflict.

Even before Israel responded to the deadly Hamas attack, the combination of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the perception of a rising threat from China was spurring a global rush to purchase fighter planes, missiles, tanks, artillery, munitions and other lethal equipment.  Other countries such as Turkey and South Korea are also increasing their military equipment exports, giving purchasers more options at a time when production shortfalls in the U.S. mean it can take years for orders to be filled.  During the Biden administration countries such as Poland, Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Japan have signed military equipment deals with the U.S.  Even some small Pacific island nations have done the same. Taiwan alone has a backlog of American weapons orders worth as much as $19 billion.  Canada recently signed an agreement with Lockheed, the world’s largest military contractor, to purchase F-35 fighter jets worth billions of dollars.

Economically, there is little doubt that foreign-based wars can stimulate certain sectors of a country’s economy.  One only has to recall the impact of the Vietnam and Iraq wars to witness the role of American military hardware providers who benefited from the billions of dollars spent in support of American actions in both countries.  Unfortunately, thousands of American lives were loss and thousands more were injured in these two nebulous conflicts.  Military equipment is being sold to all sorts of regimes, several non-democratic, simply to garner support for American foreign policy initiatives in their respective region.

Sadly, there are those who note that the Pentagon and the State Department are continuing to work to find ways to accelerate approval of foreign military sales to keep up with the rising global demand.  The industry has declared that the main bottleneck remains manufacturing capacity, requiring an industrial base capable of meeting these requirements.  Yes, there will always be those that argue if the U.S. industry doesn’t fulfill such perceived needs, then other countries will simply step in to do so.  Regrettably, this appears to be a winnable argument in Congress, with the military industrial complex taking full advantage at the expense of American taxpayers since it is often combined with foreign aid and foreign policy.

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Oct 6

Speakers of U.S. House of Representatives and Canada’s House of Commons Resign

by bcurry

Two interesting events happened in the last couple of weeks.  Both speakers of a Congressional and a Parliamentary body were forced to resign in unprecedented ways. 

On September 26th, Anthony Rota stepped down as House of Commons Speaker after inviting a former Ukrainian soldier who fought in a Nazi division to Canada’s Parliament during the recent visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who delivered an address in the House of Commons.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear that the Speaker’s mistake was deeply embarrassing for the House, Canada and the Ukraine.  Rota, a Liberal Party Member of Parliament, was pressured by his party and members of the opposition to immediately resign, something very rare in Canada’s parliamentary history.

In the U.S., the House of Representatives voted on October 3rd to oust Kevin McCarthy, a, a vivid rebuke of his leadership and an escalation of the civil strife within the Republican Party.  The so-called band of eight Republicans who rejected McCarthy, most of whom are Republican Party member, as Speaker of the House.  It was the first such removal in American history members of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, were opposed by 210 of their fellow GOP representatives, all of whom voted to keep the Speaker in place.  McCarthy had aligned with the Democrats in the House to pass legislation allowing the government to continue operating until next November, thus preventing an imminent shutdown of federal government services and much of its employee compensation.  What is particularly disconcerting is the current provision which allows any one Representative to call a vote in order to replace a sitting Speaker, as was done in this case by Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida.

In the case of the Canadian Parliament, the Speaker’s resignation was unfortunate but was quickly resolved through the quick selection and appointment this week by House members of a new Speaker, one Greg Fergus who became Canada’s first Black Canadian Speaker of the House of Commons.  His independent role as Speaker, although he is a Liberal Party Member of Parliament, is to maintain order in the House and direct the daily operations of his office.

On the other hand, the House of Representatives has yet to select a new Speaker from the majority Republican Party.  The Speaker’s removal has only deepened the body’s dysfunction, leaving the House rudderless so-to-speak, and with no clear path to effective leadership.  Although a government shutdown was narrowly avoided over the past weekend, another looms next month.  Future assistance to Ukraine as it fends off a Russian invasion is also at stake.  McCarthy has declared that he will not run again for the position and has not endorsed a would-be successor, leaving Republicans to scramble to find a viable candidate.  There are a lot of concerns among experts about the actions of the fringe elements of both parties, and their potential negative impact on the House functioning and the possibility for compromise agreements as to budgets and the functioning of the state.  They have pointed to the troubled tenures of previous Republican speakers of the House such as John A. Boehner and Paul D. Ryan, both of whom struggled with stiff resistance from their right flank.  Indeed, a fundamental role of the House Speaker is to attempt to pursue conciliatory measures between the two parties through negotiations and on-going discussions.  Unfortunately, it appears that the parties themselves have grown weaker because they are increasingly controlled by those on the fringes, as exemplified in this case.  Moderates in both parties have expressed their concerns, but apparently to no avail. 

The increasing failure of Congress to function in an orderly fashion and to represent the interests of all Americans has placed democracy in a dangerous situation.  The on-going haphazard saga of the annual Congressional budgetary review and votes is clearly unworkable under these circumstances.  The sooner that the House can select a new Speaker, the sooner the House can hopefully get back to democratic governance.  Let’s hope for the sake of all Americans and democracy that this will happen in a quick and sensible manner!

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Sep 7

What’s Going On With All These Pollsters?

by bcurry

Pick up any newspaper today or read news articles online, and you can’t avoid seeing the most recent polls concerning the U.S. presidential primaries or the standings of federal political parties and their leaders in Canada.  The most interesting polls of course have to do with the potential impact of the recent indictments against former President Donald Trump.

However, support for Trump, may obscure a still varied Republican electorate. To better understand the party today, one pollster split Republican and Republican-leaning voters into groups, based on the results of its Times/Siena poll. The groups were defined by how Republican-leaning voters felt on the issues — not how they felt about Mr. Trump.  The results depict a Republican coalition that consists of different six groups.  Their support for Trump varies accordingly.

According to a poll commissioned by POLITICO Magazine and conducted by Ipsos in June, roughly half of the country believes that Trump committed the crimes alleged against him.  What should happen to Trump if he gets convicted?  The poll’s results show that forty-three percent said he should go to prison, but most were willing to spare him jail time.  Nearly a quarter of respondents said that Trump should incur no punishment at all (22 percent), while 18 percent said he should receive probation and another 17 percent said he should face only a financial penalty.  Interestingly, roughly one-third of respondents said that they are not particularly familiar with the allegations in the indictment cases.

Nationally, recent polls indicate that support for President Biden and Trump is about evenly split.  However, analysts note that should Trump win the Republican primaries, he would most likely loose to Biden. This despite voter concerns over Biden’s age and his low approval ratings.

In Canada, the political drama is far less evident than in the U.S.  Recent polls show that the current leader of the federal Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, has pulled ahead of Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.  Moreover, an Ipsos poll in December 2022 indicated that nearly half of Canadians want there to be a federal election in 2023, although the official deadline for the next federal election is 2025.  In addition, the poll indicated that, after over eight years in office, a slim majority of those polled are hoping one politician won’t be running in the next election: Prime Minister Trudeau.  Fifty-four percent of those polled said Trudeau should step down as the leader of the Liberal Party in 2023, although just 27 percent said they actually believe he’ll do so.  The Prime Minister’s approval rating has been coming down when compared to Poilievre’s.  However, with an election still potentially two years away, anything can happen as indicated by recent polls, and much will depend on the regional distribution of votes.

Polls are powerful – they can influence emotions and shape political fortunes. They can be used to drum up support for campaigns and reveal how closely aligned (or far apart) the general public is on consequential presidential or prime ministerial policies.  Recent national elections have reminded us how problematic it is when we think of polls as forecasts of the future rather than a glimpse at where people stand at a given moment in time.  Also, not all polls include a margin of error, including non-probability polls such as those you can opt into online.  According to Pew Research Center, participants for these polls self-select, or opt in, and there is a risk that “these samples will not resemble the larger population”.

Polling is a huge industry.  All political parties and many third-parties, including media sources, use polls to get an idea where the voters stand on certain issues and how much support is out there for parties’ platforms.  Past history has shown that the closer one gets to an election date, the more accurate certain polling can begun.  Unfortunately, polls released just prior to that date can potentially influence the way in which certain voters, especially the undecideds, may consider voting.  After all, everyone prefers to support a potential winner, notably if they are voting as independents.  Prior to the next American and Canadian elections, I’d be closely watching the potential impact of polling and whether the results reflect the final outcome of the election.

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Aug 9

Political Polarizations Has Increased Mistrust in Many of Our Public Institutions

by bcurry

The New York Times in a very recent article (August 7th) notes that Republican (G.O.P.) contenders in the presidential primaries are bent on feeding voter distrust in public institutions such as the courts, schools and the military.  Obviously, most appear to be following the lead of Donald Trump who, for example whenever he has the chance, publicly attacks the U.S. Justice Department and the F.B.I.  During the pandemic Trump even disparaged the Surgeon General, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Resources.  Now, facing a barrage of indictments by the Justice Department, Trump has further accelerated his personal attacks on these major institutions.  Unfortunately, several other G.O.P. candidates have followed suit in an apparent attempt to appease Trump’s core followers.

All of the rhetoric, including that disseminated by social media and right-wing media, has created an environment where recent polls show that Americans’ trust in their institutions has apparently fallen to historical lows.  Feeding on voters’ already deeply embedded scepticism might have once been seen as politically risky, but social media and the right-wing media have helped change that.  The Republican governor of Florida and a candidate, Ron DeSantis, has led the charge against what he sees as a biased and liberal-influenced education system in his state.  Not to be outdone, another G.O.P. candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, has gone on record that he would shut down the F.B.I. and the I.R.S. as part of his fight against the so-called “deep state”.

My primary question is what would replace all these important institutions in a democracy that claims to need independent bodies to deal with issues like law and order, public health, the environment, new technologies and the role of the military?  In a modern society, freedoms are important, but there still has to be some oversight of those matters as they relate to the public good.  Campaign rhetoric perpetuating conspiratorial themes does not help to ensure a rational and knowledge-based debate on many of the challenges that, as a democracy, we face daily.  It’s easy to argue that things should be eliminated, but no one Republican has yet rationally put forward any ideas about how one would go about replacing these institutions — and with what.

The Republican Party, just as the Conservative Party in Canada, has long stood for “smaller government in size and role” going back to the days of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.   However, the current G.O.P. extreme rhetoric goes far beyond the past political stances of Republican presidents, from Richard Nixon to the Bushes.  As the Times article notes: “The proliferation of attacks has alarmed both Republicans and Democrats who worry about the long-term impact on American democracy.  Public confidence in core institutions — from the justice system to voting systems — is fundamental to a durable democracy, particularly at a time of sharp political division.”

Just as I am certain that there are a good number of moderate Republicans in the U.S. and conservatives in Canada who oppose such extreme rhetoric, I am hoping that cooler heads will prevail among our electorates in both countries.  Our democracies are closely watched by countries around the world, and defending our democratic institutions has never been more important in the face of the growth of autocratic regimes globally.  These institutions are essential to defending our democratic values and promoting the public good.  We need to strengthen them rather than knock them down as the result of excessive political polarization.  It’s one thing to push for smaller government influence in our lives, it’s another to suggest that one can simply eliminate or emasculate its influence in highly complex modern societies.  Doing so would just replace democracies with autocracies by centralizing political and economic powers under one regime.  We now have checks and balances, including the courts and justice system, to prevent this from happening.  Unfortunately, the Republicans appear more than willing to minimize such oversight.  Ultimately, the current split in their party, led by Donald Trump’s extremism, could greatly weaken their platform in the eyes of the American electorate, and particularly those of independents.

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Jun 12

The Rise of Conspiracy Theories in the U.S. and Canada

by bcurry

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a “conspiracy” as a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful.  “Conspiracy theory” is defined as a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for an unexplained event.  Of course, in 2017, influencial QAnon surfaced with its origin in the American far-right political sphere.  QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as “Q”.  According to Wikipedia, the core QAnon conspiracy theory is that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic child molesters were operating a global child sex trafficking ring, led by the Democratic Party and in particular former President Barack Obamak Hillary Clinton, and George Soros.  They were alleged to have conspired against former U.S. President Donald Trump prior to and during his term in office.  According to Media Matters for America, as of August 20, 2020, Trump had amplified QAnon messaging at least 216 times by retweeting or mentioning 129 QAnon-affiliated Twitter accounts, sometimes multiple times a day.  An article in The Atlantic in February 15, 2022 wrote that QAnon followers came to refer to Trump as “Q+”.  QAnon followers also had emerged in Canada, often accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of his Liberal government as part of the same global movement.

Most recently, an ecoterrorist conspiracy theory emerged that accused environmentalists of setting recent wildfires in Canada in order to make a point about the impact of climate change in North America.  While totally ridiculous and contradictory in nature, this conspiracy theory emerged in social media and notably among certain ultra-right groups.  Maxime Bernier, a former Conservative federal foreign minister-turned fringe party leader of the People’s Party of Canada, said in a June 5 tweet: “I bet a good portion of the wildfires raging across the country were started by green terrorists who want to give their climate change campaign a little boost.” This conspiracy theory is nothing new as, for example, in California in 2021 some people claimed online that arsonists were behind several wildfires — but there was no evidence that environmentalists were pushing a climate change agenda.  Moreover, officials of provincial agencies investigating the causes of wildfires in Quebec, Nova Scotia and Alberta have more or less determined such theories are bogus.  They note that there are several which are caused by humans, but these are almost always accidents and that recent lightning strikes were to blame for many of the wildfires.  Unless lightning is involved, a blaze classified as human-caused normally can be accidental, intentional or undetermined.  This does not exclusively mean arson.

Most recently, former President Trump is facing numerous federal charges that include willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements and a conspiracy to obstruct justice.  Trump has repeatedly characterized the investigation as being politically motivated, and in recent weeks his lawyers have sought to raise what they say are issues of prosecutorial misconduct.  His defence is implying that there is a conspiracy within the Justice Department and the F.B.I., spearheaded by the White House and the Democrats, to go after him in order to prevent him from running for president in 2024.  Trump continues to refer to the investigation by federal officials as a “witch hunt”, for which there is currently no evidence to support his claims.  Although the evidence against Trump appears to be overwhelming, a majority of his supporters state their belief that there is a conspiracy against the former president aimed at preventing him from running in the next presidential election.

Unfortunately, Donald Trump is the main culprit purposely promulgating conspiracy theories and continues to have the support of a large base of rank and file members of the Republican Party.  Even some notable members of the Party, including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Republican Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Gaetz of Florida, have backed Trump’s conspiracy theory regarding what is often referred to as “the weaponization of federal law enforcement.”  When it comes to governance today, there appears to be no shortage of conspiracy theories, ludicrous or not.  What’s worst, a large percentage of Americans and Canadians appear to be accepting such theories as gospel.

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May 10

America Wanted to be Great Again.  Now It’s Just Sick!

by bcurry

I know what I’m about to write is controversial.  However, it is true and the facts bear it out.  During and after the pandemic, the U.S. like a lot of countries went through very difficult times.  Over a million Americans died due to COVID and many more were ill and now face what has become known as long COVID.  The rate for COVID-related deaths was the highest on a per-capita basis among industrialized countries.  Although a vaccine existed, a large number of Americans refused to get immunized and even prevented their children from being protected against this horrific disease.  Now, corporate giants are buying up primary care practices at a rapid pace in order to institute what is now referred to as corporate medicine.  In order to take advantage of the growing privatization of Medicare and an aging population, deals are being made which will risk shifting the balance in health care from quality treatment to profits.  Today, nearly seven in ten of all American doctors are either employed by a hospital or a corporation, with primary care doctors increasing simply becoming employees.  It’s all tied to billing.  As for Medicaid coverage, as pandemic protection expires, states are again determining which people are eligible for the health insurance program.  Millions could potentially lose access to their current coverage. 

Then there is the issue of abortion.  More and more states have placed either greater restrictions on legal abortions or have effectively banned abortions within their states.  Anti-abortion factions have even initiated lawsuits aimed at questioning the safety of medication abortion, the method used in more than half of abortions in the U.S.  They are trying to block legal access to mifepristone, a drug approved years ago by the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) as being safe.  The Justice Department strongly disputed the claims in these lawsuits The F.D.A.’s rigorous reviews of mifepristone over the years repeatedly reaffirmed its decision to approve mifepristone, which blocks a hormone that allows a pregnancy to develop.  In addition, where states have placed strict prohibitions on abortions, doctors are complaining that the health of pregnant women can be seriously endangered due to their inability to perform an abortion for medical reasons, resulting in needless suffering.

Then there is the record number of mass shootings so far this year in the U.S.  To date, there have been 22 mass killings in 2023, defined as four or more people killed, not including the perpetrator.  According to the Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit publicly sourced database, there have also been at least 202 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, leaving 792 victims injured and 276 dead.  The archive defines a mass shooting as at least four victims struck by gunfire.  Military-styled assault weapons, used in most of these shooting are everywhere, and apparently easily purchased by anyone without stringent background checks.  As usual, Republicans and gun owners offer their condolences and prayers, often alluding to some form of mental illness as the primary cause.  While mental illness is a concern, studies have shown that the majority of the shooters acted because of other motivations, including hate and anger directed at particular groups and individuals.  There appears to be no end to these tragedies in sight.

Then there are the growing actions by certain states over transgender youth.  Over the past three years, Republican state lawmakers have put forward a barrage of bills to regulate the lives of transgender youths, restricting the sports teams they can play on, bathrooms they can use and medical care they can receive.  The people pushing these laws include Christian conservatives — among them some of the same figures who fought the legalization of gay marriage.  Medical groups have overwhelmingly rejected arguments by conservative activists emphasizing parental control and child protection and calling transition care harmful.  They note that transgender people have higher rates of depression and suicide.  Research shows that transition care — which can involve puberty blockers, hormones or surgery, though minors rarely receive surgery — can improve mental health.

Over all, the list goes on and on and on.  I have not even touched on issues related to climate change which several state governments continue to ignore and disavow.  I used to look up to the U.S., but no more.  Its policies now represent the elements of one very sick society.

Abortion Civil Rights Conservative Political Groups Health Care US US Politics

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Apr 2

Trump Could Run For President.  This Could Not Happen in Canada.

by bcurry

Legal exerts in the U.S. believe that former President Trump could run for president from prison.  Two previous candidates, Eugene V. Debs in 1920, and Lyndon LaRouche in 1992, both unsuccessfully ran from prison.  Experts note that there’s nothing in the Constitution preventing him from doing so.  Much will be determined by the outcome of a trial over Donald Trump’s indictment by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office which investigated Trump’s personal and business finances, including a payment by Michael Cohen, Trump’s formal personal lawyer.  The payment was made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election.  One major drawback is, if convicted, Trump would be subject to the same rules as other prisoners, which could definitely restrict his communications and ability to appear at events.  Furthermore, he would need to rely on proxies to campaign for him.  This of course removes Trump from the hustings which has proven to be his greatest strength on the campaign trail, especially among his followers.

Whether or not Trump is found guilty, the situation leaves the Republicans in a major bind, especially during their primaries to select their next candidate to run for president.  Trump’s core is still evidently strong and could mount a serious protest against the choice of any other Republican candidate.  In light of this, there is also nothing to stop Trump from declaring himself an independent candidate for president.  This in turn would most likely split the conservative support in the next election, much to the benefit of the Democrats and the incumbent president.

What’s interesting is such a situation could not occur in Canada as the Prime Minister (PM) is the leader of the party which gets the most seats in Parliament.  Unlike the American president, one does not vote directly for the PM, but votes for candidates of a political party within their electoral riding.  The party leader is selected through a party’s leadership convention, although in the case of an incumbent PM, his leadership is usually automatic unless contested within the party.  A PM typically sits as a member of Parliament (MP).  Once a party achieves the majority of seats in the House of Commons, the leader can then form the government and he or she is designated by the Governor General to fulfill the role of PM.  Thus, he or she could never run for leader of a party and in turn PM from prison.

Since the indictment of former President Trump is the first of its kind in American history, there are a few unknowns as to how everything will unfold.  One must also remember that Trump is still under investigation for other things, including other ongoing investigations related to his role in the Capitol riot, an alleged scheme to overturn election results in Georgia, and his handling of government records.  What’s interesting is that the indictment and these investigations have not really damaged Trump’s popularity among conservatives.  A very recent poll taken post-indictment indicates that Trump’s lead over Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential primary surged to a 26-point.  In the poll, 57% of those asked said they would vote for Trump, while 31% indicated that they would back DeSantis.  This whole scenario represents a very real problem for the Republican Party, despite their outcries over Trump’s indictment.

Only in America you say!  America’s democratic institutions have been under attack for some time now from the far-right.  This entire predicament simply adds to the turmoil.  It is obvious that the authorities have to handle the whole episode with diplomacy and silk gloves.  In the end, whatever the eventual outcome of this indictment and ongoing investigations, the whole affair could become a political circus.  Certainly, no one, including a former president, is above the law.  Donald Trump is no exception.  The best thing that could happen is for Trump to withdraw his candidacy to be the Republican presidential candidate.  However, I strongly believe, knowing Trump, that this will never happen!

Donald Trump Elections Political Scandals US US Politics

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