FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Jul 23

Trump’s ‘Law and Order’ Gamble Gone Very Wrong

by bcurry

Imagine living in an urban setting and witnessing people being dragged off the streets and driven away by uniformed agents who can’t be identified. Almost sounds like Nazi Germany or today’s communist China. Well, this is what recently happened in Portland, Oregon, where federal agents, including several from Homeland Security, were employed in a kind of protest crackdown. Next, President Trump, joined by Attorney General William Barr, announced a plan to send federal agents to the Democratic-run cities of Chicago and Albuquerque to crack down on violent crime. All of this grand gesture appears to be part of an escalation of his “law and order” theme heading into the final months before the presidential election.  How convenient!

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot for one rejected the use of federal agents for the kind of protest crackdown seen in Portland, saying such actions were deemed unconstitutional, an infringement on peoples’ liberties and would be met with legal action. Like other mayors around the country, she does not want to see authoritarian, unnecessary and unaccountable military-style ‘crackdowns.  Instead, as in the past, local police forces are quite willing to have the help of the federal law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI, to work alongside them when needed in resolving outstanding criminal cases, including homicides.  Unlike the national guard units in each state, most federal law enforcement agents are not adequately trained and equipped to deal with protesters as witnessed in Portland. Even the use of the national guard is seen as a last resort under certain conditions.

One has to ask, with everything going on in the U.S. including a pandemic and protests against police shootings of unarmed civilians, why the President would launch such an far-fetched initiative at this time?  In two words: ‘political tactics’.  Trump is down in the polls by double-digit numbers in his bid to be re-elected.  Extreme desperation has set in, especially now that the on-going battle against the coronavirus is in wretched straits.  As for the President’s actions, let us remember what Lord Acton once declared: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  He also stated: “Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.”

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Jul 7

One Word for What’s Going on in the States: “Nuts”

by bcurry

The U.S. has just passed 130,000 Covid-19 related deaths, while the President claims that 99 percent of those infected don’t have to be concerned. Now, you have the 43-year-old rap star Kanye West announcing via Twitter on the Fourth of July that he is plans to run in the 2020 election for U.S. president. Great, now one has one nut job aspiring to replace the current nut job.  Obviously, he can’t run for either of the two existing parties. However, unfortunately there is technically a way that West could still run for president. He would have to register as an independent candidate.  This would depend on where he wanted to run, as deadlines for those intending to run in several states have already passed with the remainder closing registrations by August.  Like many, I can only hope that this is a PR stunt or some form of joke à la comedian Pat Paulsen who ran satirical campaigns for President of the United States between 1968 and 1996.

What’s happening in the States is no longer a laughing matter. The issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement are no laughing matter.  The record daily counts of positive coronavirus cases are no laughing matter.  The increasing violence and shootings in American cities are no laughing matter.  While the relevant statistics are a concern, the impact on individual Americans, particularly on those marginalized and vulnerable citizens, is even more of a concern.  The inability of the national government to provide real leadership in light of the realities of the afflictions, including the pandemic, affecting the society is of grave concern.  Instead, the President is perpetuating policies of division in order to placate what’s left of his supporters in order to somehow get re-elected — no matter what the consequences.

All this may represent the last straw, given that the President continues to ignore the advice and concerns of his own advisors and leading experts. As an extreme narcissist, Trump is unable to admit that he had made mistakes and that his decisions have resulted in unintended consequences, both within the U.S. and elsewhere. There is an old adage that you get what you voted for.  That definitely applies in this case a hundred times over.  Perhaps, Trump should secretly elope to Russia into the welcoming arms of his friend Vladimir Putin, another extreme narcissist. However, I’m not too sure that the First Lady, Melania Trump, would join him?

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Jun 11

Trump’s Strange Saga of U.S. and Denmark Over the Purchase of Greenland

by bcurry

With everything going on in the world today, maybe one needs a minor distraction like the battle of Donald Trump over the purchase of Greenland by the U.S.  About a year ago, Trump approached the Danish P.M., Mette Frederiksen, with an offer to buy Greenland which is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark. Thinking it was some kind of April Fool’s Day joke, the Danes refused. Unfortunately, like so many times before Trump took the refusal to even consider the idea a sign of disrespect and immediately cancelled his planned September 2019 trip to Denmark — one which had been at the formal invitation of Queen Margrethe, Denmark’s head of state. Needless-to-say, this did not go over well with the Danes who after all are an important NATO ally.

Greenland is the world’s largest island and has a population of less than 60,000 inhabitants. Denmark contributes two thirds of Greenland’s budget revenue, the rest coming mainly from fishing. Greenland is noted for its vast tundra and immense glaciers. While the country has a vast array of minerals, including rare-earth elements used for electronic, military and new energy technologies like wind turbines, these are very difficult to mine in its harsh environment.

As a strategic location, Greenland was important to the U.S. during the Cold War as evidenced by American military presence at the Thule Air Base under a U.S.-Danish treaty dating to 1951. However, in this day and age of new military capabilities, including those in space, Greenland would not be considered anymore as a strategic importance. Then there’s those rare earths, most of which currently come from China. Experts believe that the environmental impact of mining for rare earths is profound and extremely costly.  Even if it was to happen, the process to get new mining operations off the ground takes decades.

However, despite the Danish rejection to what Trump referred to as one “big real-estate” deal,   the Trump administration has opened a consulate in Greenland for the first time in nearly 70 years. In a further extension of U.S. influence, Greenland announced at the end of April that it had accepted an offer of US$12.1 million for mining, tourism and education. There is little doubt that Trump is keen to expand the U.S. presence in the entire Arctic region amid fears of growing Russian and Chinese militarization. The U.S. recently announced its intention to create a new fleet of ice-breaking ships for use in the Arctic.

As for Canada, Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert located on Ellesmere Island is the northernmost settlement in the world. With the end of the Cold War and the advent of new technologies allowing for remote interpretation of data, the over-wintering population has been reduced to 62 civilians and military personnel as of 2016. I guess that the location for an American base on Ellesmere Island is not as popular as one in Greenland, although the two islands are geographically at an identical latitude. The new consulate in Greenland has once again made for strange bedfellows.

Canada, as a near-Artic country and member of The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), conducts aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning in the defense of North America.  For this reason, Canada has been wary of Chinese and Russian threats to expand in the region, and like the U.S. is also building a new fleet of ice-breaking ships for use in the Arctic.  Rather than worry about relations with Greenland, maybe Trump should be working more closely with Canada to safeguard our Artic waters.

 

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Feb 14

Treating Tweets By Donald Trump As Gospel And The Impact on Governance

by bcurry

At no time in American Presidential history has technology created serious concerns regarding the separation of powers and the obstruction of justice. When the American President tweets out something, his administration, his followers and the general public treat it as gospel.  Gone are the normal press conferences of the past, only to be replaced instead by tweets and short media scrums.  The problem is over how to draw a line between the ad hoc public declarations of the President and perceived interference in the justice system.  Remember, the justice system is expected to be an independent part of governance and rightly so.  Besides Congress and the Executive, the justice system through its various branches is designed to ensure independence and impartiality in its decision making processes and in enforcement of the law.

However, Attorney General William Barr has now stated that President Trump’s criticisms of the handling of his friend Roger Stone’s sentencing has undermined the legal system, and he is not able to do his important job. Although there may be no direct evidence of interference by Trump, his tweeted assertions that the Justice Department’s Prosecutors’ push for a sentence of up to nine years for Stone’s convictions was too harsh could only be perceived as an attempt to influence the Attorney General.  Subsequently, the AG decided to overrule his own prosecutors and withdraw the sentencing recommendation, giving the appearance of caving in to Presidential pressure.  Instead, the AG’s office suggested that the prosecutors instead lay out factors for Judge Amy Berman Jackson to consider in sentencing Mr. Stone but defer to her on the length of the final sentence. With this outcome, the four prosecutors resigned from the case in protest, with one actually leaving the Justice Department.

As the New York Times notes, speaking up could have put Mr. Barr at risk of losing the backing of the President, but remaining silent would have permitted Trump to continue attacking law enforcement and all but invited open revolt among the some 115,000 employees of the Justice Department. Previously, the President had made it difficult for Mr. Barr to maintain the appearance of independence, threatening the AG’s credibility by repeatedly calling for federal investigations of Trump’s perceived enemies.  Trump had suggested to the president of Ukraine that he work with Mr. Barr and the President’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani to investigate for personal political benefit some of Mr. Trump’s political opponents: i.e. Joe Biden and his son. This action of course formed the whole basis for the impeachment hearings and trial against Trump in Congress.

Even more serious, is the fact that public statements by any President, in whatever format, are considered as the administration’s official position. Despite the fact that the President’s staff often is forced to follow up with a further explanation of just what the President’s assertion was, Trump’s initial tweet will always be taken by his followers as gospel.  This may play well with Trump’s base of support, but will often undermine the credibility and sanctity of the three separate legs of governance and democracy.  Even the Republicans in Congress are now beginning to realize that the powers of the President have to be restrained as intended under the Constitution, given the importance of the intended checks and balances provided by the three arms of government.

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Jan 7

Trump Is Completely Out To Lunch When It Comes To Iran

by bcurry

Here we go again! Hasn’t the American administration learned from past mistakes in the Middle East?  Remember supporting the former dictator, the Shah of Iran, against the Iranian people who suffered terribly under his regime.  Remember the flimsy excuses given by Bush Jr. to invade Iraq based on false intelligence about  Saddam Hussein’s supposed “weapons of mass destruction”.  Remember how the American occupation of Iraq and failure of subsequent Iraqi governments led to the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIL) and subsequent years of terror in the region.

Now, we have an American President ordering the assassination of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who the Trump administration claimed to pose a “clear and present danger.”  One can always ask “why now”?  Seems all too convenient as a distraction for a President who is smack in the middle of the impeachment process.  Now, U.S. and NATO forces and Westerners in the region are at real risk from Iranian reprisals.  The Iraqi parliament has voted to kick American and foreign forces out of the country, despite Trump’s threats of placing stiff sanctions on Iraq and making the Iraqis pay for the al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq.  This important base hosts many U.S. troops and was a strategic key in the war against ISIL.  Indeed, the U.S.-Iranian conflict may have just opened the door for the reemergence of ISIL in the region which is a much greater threat to everyone.  Remember that Iranian-backed forces fought against ISIL in Syria.

The actions by Trump carried out by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo  and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper may have just complicated what is already a dangerous situation in the region.  As was the past case in Iraq and Afghanistan, the current administration appears to have no strategy to deal with the likely escalation of U.S.-Iranian conflict that will most definitely follow.  Iran on the other hand has been given an opportunity by the American actions to distract the Iranian people from recent protests and uprisings within Iran against the regime driven by the country’s poor economic conditions.  In addition, the Iranian regime now has an excuse to recommense its nuclear arms program by withdrawing from the current accord which, under Trump, is no longer recognized by the U.S.

Canada, which has hundreds of military and other personnel in the region, has helped in the training of Iraqi security forces. With the recent events, they have been told to stand down.  The Americans have unfortunately paused their counterterrorism operations and are now focused on ensuring their security on bases throughout the region.  Some retaliatory moves by Iran are bound to happen, leaving Westerners throughout the region in a very dangerous position.  Trump’s further threats of potential reprisals, military or economic, may only add to what is already a very volatile situation.  Indeed, I would advocate that all Canadian personnel be withdrawn immediately and entirely from the region, in particular from Iraq.  Once again, why should Canadians pay with their lives for U.S. mistakes in the region?

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Dec 15

Canada and the U.S. Trade Fall-Out From U.K.’s Brexit

by bcurry

Both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump issued statements congratulating Boris Johnson on his recent overwhelming electoral victory, pledging to co-operate on “issues that matter to both of our countries”.  One of these issues will be that of trade between our countries and the U.K. when it leaves the European Union (EU) with the implementation of Brexit. Although the U.K. now looks set to leave the EU on Jan.31, 2020, an “implementation period” will maintain its existing trade agreements through to Dec. 31, 2020. Currently, Canada’s trade with the U.K. is covered under the terms of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) negotiated by Canada with the E.U. Donald Trump’s United States doesn’t currently have a trade agreement with Europe. Of course, Boris Johnson would love to enter into a free trade agreement with the U.S.  Good luck on that one.

The UK is by far Canada’s most important commercial partner in Europe and our fifth largest trading partner globally. According to Global Affairs Canada, two way merchandise trade in 2018, reached over $25 billion. However, Canada is not expected to make any moves on trade with the U.K. until it sees what happens with the outcome of U.K. trade negotiations with the EU. As it now stands, British trade policy is perceived as being in a mess, especially in the financial services and agricultural sectors. Depending on how things go with Brussels, the powerful U.K. banking industry may want more access to Canada’s market.  It’s very unlikely that Canada is going to be willing to give them something in that area. The Canadian banking and financial services sector is quite highly regulated and restrictive.

As for the U.S., next to the EU, the U.S is the top trading partner with 13.3% of total UK exports going to the U.S. in 2019, totalling about $64 billion (U.S.). It’s much more important for the UK to have access to American markets than it is for the U.S. to have increased access to UK markets. Trump has already made it clear that Boris Johnson wants to do business with the U.S. “so badly” — but at what costs? For example, concerns have been raised that parts of the Britain’s publicly-funded National Health Service (NHS) could be made available to U.S. markets by a Conservative government.

Whatever the case, as a result of the new Conservative government’s desire to move quickly on Brexit, 2020 will bring about some interesting and often troubling trade and domestic issues for the U.K. It is certain that Britain’s leaving the EU will lead to renewed independence initiatives in Scotland and the question of the potential union of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, both regions which strongly preferred to remain as part of the EU. Whether Brexit will lead to better economic conditions in the U.K. will be a determining political factor for the new government. Meanwhile, Canada and the U.S. can only sit back and observe the outcome before making any further trade-related moves. Many North American businesses which have U.K. subsidiaries are sitting on their hands and postponing any planned investments. Unfortunately, the British people are the ones who have to deal with the economic vulnerabilities and political uncertainties resulting from Brexit.

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Dec 9

Accusing Canada of Not Living Up to Its NATO Commitments is Overkill

by bcurry

Canada has roughly the same population (approx. 36 million people) as the state of California. Despite this, Canada has a long and proud military history — having significantly contributed citizens and materials to two World Wars and more recently to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) involvement in Afghanistan and Latvia. With a relatively small number of regular military personnel who are well armed and trained, Canada has contributed to numerous peace time operations of both NATO and the United Nations.

At a NATO summit in Wales in 2014, NATO nations for some arbitrary reason agreed to the target measurement of 2 per cent of a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for its total defence spending. Canada currently spends about 1.31 per cent of GDP on defence. However, tabulate the defence dollars actually being spent on the military and Canada ranks an impressive sixth among the 29 NATO nations. A number of expert observers have agreed that NATO’s defence budget formula is very flawed, and allows small obscure countries like Bulgaria and Estonia to declare that they are more than meeting the 2 per cent target. In such cases, the purchase of a new ship or aircraft and one can easily surpass this GDP target. However, these and other similar countries contribute little in actual on-the-ground NATO support or suffer casualties as Canada did in Afghanistan.

So along comes Donald Trump who threatened to pull the U.S. out of NATO if all its members didn’t meet the 2 per cent of GDP target. The U.S., as a so-called super power and having its own foreign policy objectives backed up by an immense military-industrial establishment, now spends 3.42 per cent of its GDP on defence. Little surprise there, especially given vast American operations in the Middle East, South-East Asian seas and Afghanistan. For Trump to say that NATO is “obsolete” and frequently compliment Russian President Vladimir Putin are both absurd and even dangerous. After Russia’s “illegal annexation” of Crimea, NATO spoke of its solidarity with the Ukraine. Someone has to stand up to Russian aggression — if not NATO then who?

As part of its commitment to national security and to NATO, Canada is due to embark on major expenditures on fighter jets and the navy. Whether or not Canada meets some arbitrary target in defence spending is not all that critical. What is, is the country’s need to maintain a professional, prepared and well trained military.  I fully believe that the brave and competent men and women of Canada’s armed forces will continue to uphold the country’s proud military heritage. Something that the likes of Donald Trump cannot and will not fully appreciate.

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Oct 8

Trump’s Foreign Policy Is A Complete And Utter Flop

by bcurry

Just hours after President Trump declared that American troops were being withdrawn from the Syrian border, he warned Turkey that he would “totally destroy and obliterate” the economy of Turkey if he’s unhappy with how the country carries out its planned assault on Kurdish fighters. Indeed, what Trump has done is a betrayal and abandonment of the Kurds who, with U.S. backing, have been fearlessly fighting the Islamist radicals of ISIS in northern Syria. Both Democrats and Republicans have condemned the move as irresponsible and dangerous, leaving the Kurds to worry about a war with the more powerful Turkey and an inability to deal with the thousands of ISIS members interned in Syria. Some have even suggested that ISIS may re-emerge under the circumstances.

This is just another example of Trump’s lack of good judgement and his inability to appreciate the consequences of his foreign policies to date. Take North Korea for example, we now have a situation where nothing has happened since the talks between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un broke down. Indeed, the meetings only helped to legitimatize Kim’s regime on the world stage, while allowing him to continue testing missiles capable of reaching most Asian countries.  There are also suspected hidden nuclear fuel production sites around the country.

With respect to the European Union (EU), Brexit and the Ukraine, Trump has interfered on a number of occasions, upsetting his NATO and European allies. He has instead aligned himself with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and dropped out of nuclear missile treaty with Russia, which is what Russia wanted all along. Trump is far too close to Putin, particularly in light of the Russian invasion of Crimea and confirmed Russian hacking in the 2016 election.

In terms of the current disastrous Brexit negotiations between Britain and the EU, Trump is much too close to Prime Minister Boris Johnson who in an undemocratic manner tried to circumvent the British Parliament to get his way. Then there are the recent revelations about Trump’s unprecedented dealings with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky which have led to the launch of an impeachment enquiry in the House of Representatives.  Here we have the President trying to persuade the Ukrainian President to get involved in a political-inspired investigation of an American presidential candidate.  Trump’s request has been tied to the withholding of military aid to Ukraine, something everyone agrees is not normal and most likely illegal. He has even suggested that China should undertake a similar investigation. Go figure!

On top of all this, one has the U.S. State Department in total turmoil. Its officials have little input into the Trump Administration’s foreign policy decisions and are daily loosing credibility abroad and in the U.S.  Once a highly respected and influential arm of government, one now has a Secretary of State who has become nothing more than a puppet for the President.  Mike Pompeo simply defends his boss’s mistakes, regardless of the international consequences.  One can only imagine what goes on in the National Security Council on a daily basis?

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Sep 13

Why Is The Trump Administration Attacking Environmental Protection?

by bcurry

A recent article in the New York Times (September 12, 2019) noted that up until June of the year, 85 environmental rules had been rolled back under the Trump administration. Several rules, a number of which had been implemented under the Obama administration, were aimed at preventing pollution in air and water.  In addition, some were aimed at protecting endangered species and ensuring safer drilling and extraction related to the oil and gas industry.  A simple answer is that the rollbacks are aimed to please farmers, rural landowners, developers and the coal, oil and gas industry which make up a good portion of Trump’s support.

The most recent rollback by the Trump administration is the repeal of a major Obama-era clean water regulation, known as the Waters of the United States rule, that had placed limits on polluting chemicals that could be used near streams, wetlands and other bodies of water.  This rule was designed to limit pollution in about 60 percent of the nation’s bodies of water, protecting sources of drinking water for about one-third of the United States.  We all know about the repercussions from unsafe drinking water — just think of Flint, Michigan.

For years, one admired the work of the once highly-respected U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which often led the way in environmental protection measures that Canadian environmental agencies similarly adopted. Think of the bilateral work between Canada and the U.S. in areas such as dealing with “acid rain” and the clean up of the Great Lakes.  It’s a shame that under Trump the EPA is moving backwards in terms of protecting the environment and endangered species and away from its original mandate.  To reverse these measures may take years to accomplish and the country will see serious environmental repercussions.

In terms of dealing with carbon emission reductions — think climate change — the Trump administration has taken a “laissez fare” approach, and even aggressively attacks states such as California who are trying to do something about their carbon emissions. This includes Trump’s warning to the state that a recent emissions deal with several automakers may be illegal.  A letter from the EPA and the Department of Transportation is the latest sign of President Trump’s anger at California and car manufacturers that have bucked his plans to roll back regulations put in place to combat climate change. Inevitably, the matter may end up being decided by the courts — again prompting more delays and serious drawbacks in tackling air pollution and climate change issues.

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Aug 14

Trump Greatly Underestimated China’s Resolve on Trade

by bcurry

The great negotiator, Donald Trump, has once again underestimated his opponents on the international stage. Recently, he threatened the Chinese with more tariffs on additional imports from China if they didn’t give in to U.S. demands. Now, the next worst thing to encountering a skunk is to back the Chinese regime against their proverbial wall.  That’s exactly what Trump’s administration has done.  In addition, he has often said that the tariffs would be paid for by the Chinese, not by the American consumer.  Alas, once again, Trump has reversed his latest tariff threats by claiming that he did not want to punish American consumers prior to Christmas with higher prices on imported Chinese products.  Americans apparently still want to purchase such goods as cellphones, clothing, TVs, video games, toys, etc., etc. at affordable prices.

Besides devaluing its currency, the Chinese administration has numerous other weapons in its economic arsenal. The last thing that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants to do is loose face in China. The CCP is having to deal with threatening situations in Hong Kong and Tibet, and is not reluctant to use force to quell such threats, despite the potential for international condemnation. Defending human rights is not the CCP’s forte.  The CCP is prepared to do whatever it takes to maintain its control and power.  This will not change anytime soon.

In recent years, China has expanded its economic and political influence in serious geopolitical moves. It is not only a formidable force in Southeast Asia, but has moved to directly influence events in Africa, the Middle East and South America. Its foreign policies include providing financial and technical aid for infrastructure and resource development in several countries.  It is always looking for new markets and resources. China wants to establish itself as a leading superpower on the world stage, and it will not be bullied by anyone, including the American President.

It’s time that the West stops underestimating the strengths of China.Inc.  China is a superpower and wants to be treated as an equal by the U.S.  Time is not on the side of Trump.  All that China needs to do is wait and watch for the coming global recession eventually and inevitably brought on by this trade war.

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