FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Jan 4

Americans in 2021 will be even more divided than ever

by bcurry

While one may welcome in the New Year, there is little doubt that Americans will be even more divided than ever.  Even a pandemic could not bring Americans together after the recent presidential election.  Spurred on by outgoing President Trump, numerous Republicans and conspirators such as QAnon, many Americans believe that his re-election was stolen by a corrupt voting system.  They have managed to put the very essence of democracy under a microscope for all the wrong reasons.

Many Americans look at Democrats and see a party made up primarily of radical lefties, blacks, LGBtQ+, and belonging to an apparatus run by political elites, business leaders and Hollywood celebrities who are also pedophiles and actively working against Trump.  Democrats see Republicans as white, right-wing, evangelical and gun-toting folk.  While these perceptions are far from the truth, polls nevertheless have shown that they are basically how both sides like politically to characterize the other party’s membership.  Even concerted efforts to deal with the pandemic have not brought the two sides any closer together.

Following the U.S. election outcome, several Republicans in Congress and elsewhere have unfortunately continued to cater to Trump’s base by promoting false and misleading accusations about the voting process.  With so much anger in the air and a President who refuses to concede his loss, the political and social atmosphere is more toxic than ever.  The right-wing extremist Proud Boys will march on Washington as Senator Ted Cruz leads 12 GOP senators who are still trying futilely to overturn the results of the presidential election only to appease Trump’s base.

What all this means is that President-elect Joe Biden’s first major challenge will be to convince many Americans that his administration is legitimate, something rarely heard of in U.S. history.  Protests will follow with both pro-Biden and pro-Trump supporters attempting to out shout the other side in front of far from neutral media.   Depending on what happens in the two Georgia runoffs for the U.S. Senate, Congress may or may not become a continuing stalemate of ideological differences.  President-elect Biden’s administration will have their work cut out for them to get anything significant accomplished in the next four years.  With the divisions running so deep and Donald Trump screaming in the Twitter background, one cannot envy the challenges that his administration will face in the coming months.

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Dec 29

2020 Did Have Some Good News

by bcurry

No one will disagree that 2020 was not the best year for most of us, except for those heavily invested in the Stock Markets.  However, there was some good news despite the COVID pandemic.  Here are a few examples:

  • Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump to become the next American president, although there are millions of angry Americans who still wanted to see Trump re-elected.  Despite Trump’s attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the voting process, democracy won in the end run.
  • Obviously, the coronavirus vaccine remarkably became the fastest vaccine to be ever developed, authorized for use and is now being administered.  Its development prompted a wave of unprecedented global scientific and governmental collaboration.  As one scientist put it: “In the last 11 months, probably 10 years’ work has been done.”
  • With fewer people driving, flying and travelling in general, air pollution levels went down in most major cities.  At one point, it was reported that global greenhouse gas emissions fell 17 percent, the biggest drop in human history. 
  • More countries, including Canada, made net-zero emissions pledges in 2020.  South Korea became the first Asian country to set a 2050 net-zero emissions goal, followed by Japan and China, which committed to reaching net zero by 2060.  China is the world’s biggest emitter and had previously committed only to aim for peak emissions in about 2030.  The U.S. is expected to return to the Paris Accord on Climate Change under Biden’s administration and to commit to net-zero emissions goals.
  • There were also major breakthroughs in the development of HIV prevention methods in 2020.  Diagnoses of HIV among gay and bisexual men dropped to their lowest level in 20 years in several Western countries and more assistance is being provided to poorer countries.
  • Demand for renewables, growing before the pandemic, held steady during 2020.  Advancements in green tech have rapidly brought down the costs of wind and solar, making them highly competitive with fossil fuels.  As a result of the lockdowns in several economies, the demand for fossil fuels went down and is expected to decline over the next decade.
  • Green technologies are quickly growing, especially with the emerging transportation demands for more e-vehicles in moving both cargos and people.  In addition, private vehicles are increasingly being designed out of urban areas with encouraging results for communities and businesses.
  • More policies emerged to support greater diversity, most notably in the arts and in business.  Such policies focus on more underrepresented groups, including women, people from racial or ethnic minority groups, LGBTI or disabled people.
  • The Black Lives Matter movement raised the issue of systemic discrimination throughout societies, forcing governments and leaders to recognize and to act on its existence in different societal contexts.
  • As a result of the many coronavirus-related deaths in long-term care residences, governments have been finally forced to recognize the horrendous situation respecting the warehousing of the elderly in our society.  Hopefully, this will lead to the restructuring of long-term care as an extension of health care systems and to a more humane treatment of our vulnerable and ageing population.
  • The pandemic has hopefully demonstrated the real need for global approaches to deal with poverty, climate change, refugees, endangered species, and a myriad of other issues.

Hopefully, 2021 will be a much better and safer year.  Happy New Year to all!

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Dec 26

Will Vulnerable Countries Have Adequate Access to COVID Vaccines?

by bcurry

Many are celebrating the fact that the end of 2020 has seen the arrival of COVID vaccines from pharmaceutical manufacturers, and rightly so.  Indeed, the U.S. has already secured claims on as many as 1.5 billion doses of approved and potential vaccines, while the European Union has locked up nearly two billion doses — enough to vaccinate all of their citizens and then some. Canada is in line to receive millions of vaccine doses early in the new year.  However, reports indicate that many poor countries could be left waiting until 2024 to fully vaccinate their populations, if they’re lucky.  In addition, access to vaccines is not based on need.  It’s based on the ability to pay and the need for pharmaceutical companies (primarily located in the advanced economies) to waive traditional protections on intellectual property, thereby allowing poor countries to make affordable versions of the vaccines.  Unfortunately, the work of the World Trade Organization (W.T.O.) and the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.) to provide needed aid to poor countries has been blocked by the Trump administration.  On top of which, the Trump administration has also withdrawn financial and moral support for the vital work of the World Health Organization (W.H.O.).

This has left the masses of people in poor countries with no short-term access to vaccines, in economic chaos and with rising public debt.  This global pandemic will result in existing economic inequalities between the have and have-not countries becoming even greater.  Some will even argue that the ravages of the pandemic in poor countries, largely unchecked by vaccines, could limit economic fortunes globally.  Governments in the wealthy countries must at some point shore up the assistance necessary to support health care systems and vulnerable populations in poor countries.  The Canadian government recently announced that it is part of a global movement to ensure that available surplus COVID vaccines will be offered to vulnerable countries as soon as possible.  When and by how much are two questions that immediately come to mind!

One can only hope that the incoming Biden administration will quickly proceed to address this important issue and lend the full support of the American nation to such organizations as the W.T.O., I.M.F. and W.H.O. in combating this global pandemic.  Without the full American participation, the ability to ensure that sufficient COVID vaccines are available to vulnerable countries becomes a mute issue.  Just as the pandemic created a health crisis in wealthy countries, it has created an even bigger one in the poorer countries.  Unless the current situation changes, it is predicted that many poor countries will no doubt be left waiting until 2024 to fully vaccinate their populations.  If true, this could become the worst international tragedy of this century.

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Dec 20

When Sedition Enters In To The Lexicon of Trump’s Administration

by bcurry

According to the New York Times, Donald Trump recently discussed with Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, the possibility of imposing martial law to overturn the election.  Having lost all of his court cases alleging fraud during the presidential election and with the Electoral College having given Joe Biden the majority of electors needed to make him officially President-elect, Trump is at the end of his rope.  Or maybe not?

Apparently, in his meeting with Trump and his advisors, Flynn suggested that the President send troops into the swing states which he lost to Biden in November and have the military basically rerun an election in each of those states.  If true, the proposal would represent the or speech inciting rebellion against the legitimate authority of a state.  Insurrection is a violent uprising against authority and coup is a sudden violent seizure of power from a government.  Even the mere contemplation of such an act by the Commander-in-Chief is alien to Americans, particularly as one of the military’s principal responsibilities is to defend the constitution of the United most drastic and unconscionable move by Trump up until now.  All kinds of thoughts come to mind, comprised of concepts such as sedition, insurrection and coup.  Sedition is defined as conduct States.

The next stage in the election timetable is when the House and Senate hold a joint session to count the electoral votes, with the hearing presided over by Vice-President Mike Pence.  This is normally a formality, although some Republicans may like to challenge the result through a debate in both chambers.  Such a challenge has no chance of succeeding.  To all intents and purposes, President-elect Biden now represents the new head of government, only to be inaugurated.  The inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021 as the 46th president of the United States will mark the commencement of his four-year term president and Kamala Harris as the vice-president.  Democracy will live on in the U.S. despite Trump’s desire to undermine it.

According to the New York Times, Trump also weighed appointing Sidney Powell as special counsel within the White House to investigate voter fraud.  Ms. Powell promoted conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines.  Several lawsuits related to election fraud filed by Ms. Powell have been tossed out of court.  In addition, legal action has been launched by Dominion Voting Systems against Ms. Powell over her baseless claims about its voting machines.  In both of the above irrational proposals, the President was advised that he had no constitutional authority for what was being discussed and any subsequent appointment could not be affiliated with the Justice Department.  Thus, such an appointment would be meaningless. 

All this to say that Donald Trump is now treading on thin ice!  Any proposal for military action by Trump should be considered as an act of sedition.  What Trump should be doing is simply offering his concession and helping to plan the transition to a new administration, like his modern predecessors before him.  American democracy demands it!

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Dec 13

Sorry To See Trump Leave Office, But Not Too Sorry

by bcurry

Well, an era is coming to an end once Donald Trump leaves office.  Indeed, it’s all definitely been weird and left one with a lot of stuff to blog about.  Just look at a few of blog titles noted below as issued over the last four years.  The fact that Trump continues to contest the election results should be of no surprise.  The surprise may be that many Republicans are continuing to support the President, even though it means contesting the very fundamental nature of American democracy.  It certainly is a sad state of affairs, especially given all of the ridiculous law suits filed with numerous courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, aimed at overruling valid election results.  Now that all this meaningless litigation has apparently been put to bed, maybe the current administration can get on with the transition business toward new governance.

Unfortunately, Trump continues to stir up his supporters which has galvanized protest marches and counter protests across the nation, some even resulting in violence.  Trump has undermined their confidence in the electoral system, something which may take years to repair.  As well, Trump is building up a war chest to be used to finance his future activities and propaganda as to how his re-election was stolen.  One can certainly foresee more bluster on the part of Trump.  In the meantime, what does all this mean for the dysfunctional Republican Party?  How are the Republicans going to recover in order to become more centrist and recover the support of independent voters, while distancing themselves from ultra-right extremists? 

Meanwhile, the rest of the world, including Canadians, watches as the great American democracy is being torn apart.  Hopefully, the administration under President-elect Joe Biden will be able to bring enough Americans together in order to effectively deal with serious domestic and international issues, and once again to provide much-needed global leadership.  Let’s say good riddance to one era of division and vindictiveness, while heralding in the start of a new era promoting hope and the collective well being. 

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Dec 9

Like Several U.S. States, Alberta Took Too Long to Introduce COVID-19 Measures

by bcurry

Canada has its regional equivalent to Georgia, Iowa, South Dakota and Florida.  It’s the Western province of Alberta.  Just this week, Alberta’s Premier Jason Kenney imposed a province-wide lockdown, calling it a “last resort”.  Back in November, Alberta had declared a state of public health emergency.  The measures will last at least four weeks — meaning family gatherings will be prohibited over the Christmas season.  It will involve an immediate mandatory province-wide mask law, a shutdown of restaurants and bars and a ban on social gatherings of any kind.  Kenney’s recent elected United Conservative government had been reticent to implement restrictions, citing the balance between the consequences of a prolonged economic closure and the harms of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Alberta was the sole province in the country without a province-wide mandatory mask law, although many municipalities had enacted bylaws.  Even in areas without such laws, many retail outlets require them.

Alberta, with a third the population of Ontario, was having the same number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as that province, with a weekly high positive-test rate of over 8 percent.  In late November, Alberta had more than 13,000 active cases, the most in the entire country, despite having fewer people than Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.  Deaths had climbed close to 500, and more than 300 people were in hospital, with more than 60 of them in intensive care units (ICUs).  So far in December, Alberta is shattering records, with over 1,800 new cases daily and a positive-test rate of 9.5 percent.  Straining the capacity of the health-care system in the province, the Alberta government has asked the federal government and the Red Cross to supply four field hospitals to care for COVID-19 patients.

Like the Upper Midwest and Plains states in the U.S., Albertans tend to reflect a mid-West attitude in their opinions of government and any perceived impact on their liberties.  If any province were similar in outlooks to Americans, Alberta could be the equivalent of a 51st state.  They have primarily voted for conservative governments for over the last half century and often express their objections to federal government intrusions into their affairs, especially when it comes to the oil and gas and cattle industries.  When all taxes are taken into consideration, Albertans across all income ranges generally pay lower overall taxes compared to other provinces.  Alberta continues to be the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax.  For years, the province relied heavily on receiving royalties from its oil and gas industry to supplement its revenues.  However, with the pandemic and the recent downturn in oil and gas demand, Alberta’s economy and its people have greatly suffered.  Now, they have to cope with increasing COVID-19 outbreaks and the resulting strain on their health-care system.

The Alberta government’s current lockdown is receiving criticism from doctors and others, who argue that while the measures might have succeeded had they been implemented weeks ago, they now are coming too late.  For months, Albertans continued to flock to bars and restaurants and to congregate for funerals, weddings and church services.  Like many in the states, scores of Albertans protested any form of restrictions despite the clear evidence that not taking precautions would lead to more people becoming sick and dying.  Interestingly, recent surveys show that Jason Kenney’s administration is considered by Albertans to be among the worst in Canada when it comes to dealing with the pandemic at the provincial level.  Reminds you of anyone?

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Dec 7

Waning Support for Death Penalty Won’t Stop Trump from Proceeding with Executions

by bcurry

The Trump administration is ratcheting up the pace of federal executions prior to his leaving office.  Having resumed executions in 2019 for federal crimes, there have been 13 executions since last July.  His administration resumed putting inmates to death after a 17-year hiatus.  This will cement Trump’s legacy as the most prolific execution president in over 130 years. While President Obama had placed a moratorium on federal executions, he left the door open for future presidents to resume them.  It is reported that Attorney General William Barr defended the extension of executions into the post-election period, saying he’ll likely schedule more before he departs the Justice Department. 

It should be remembered that the U.S. is the only Western industrialized country to continue to have the death penalty.  The death penalty was ‘de facto’ abolished in Canada in 1963 and ‘de jure’ by legislation in 1999.  An Angus Reid survey in 2012 indicated that fifty percent of Canadian respondents said they prefer life imprisonment without the possibility of parole while only 38 percent supported the death penalty.  Interestingly, according to the same survey, 88 percent of respondents who voted Conservative in the 2011 federal election were more likely to regard the death penalty as appropriate — much in line with their Republican counterparts in the U.S.

At last count, President-elect Joe Biden is a death penalty foe, and a spokesman told the American Press that Biden would work to end the death penalty for federal crimes once he is in office next January.  However, this still currently leaves the death penalty as a legal capital punishment in 28 American states.  Last year, those states carried out a combined 22 executions.  However, most states halted executions since the start of the pandemic as a safety measure in prisons. 

Another concern for the federal government and the affected states is the current shortage of the lethal drug used to carry out the sentences, much of it previously imported from Europe.  For this reason, the U.S. Justice Department was forced recently to update protocols to allow for federal executions by firing squad and poison gas, though it’s unclear if those methods might be used in coming weeks.  Some states also have the option of hanging in carrying out their sentences.  All of which are barbaric!  One wonders if they intend to bring back the guillotine, once used by a number of European countries but since abolished with removal of the death penalty?

It will be interesting to see whether the Biden administration will live up to its intention to do away with the death penalty for federal crimes, despite the current Republican-led Senate.  Hopefully, if Biden follows through, states with capital punishment may consider putting an end to their death penalty option and thus becoming part of the more humane and civilized world.  In addition, Canada has seen a number of prisoners who have been found innocent after serving a number of years as a result of life sentences.  As history shows, abolishing the death penalty would also put an end to the tragic execution of persons found innocent after the fact. 

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Dec 4

Although Climate Change Has Taken a Back Seat to the Pandemic, Today It’s Still a Major Issue

by bcurry

The annual cost of catastrophic weather disasters is rising sharply.  Meanwhile, Canada and the U.S. aren’t doing enough to prepare for future disasters.  In the last year we’ve seen severe storms, hurricanes, wildfires and major droughts across North America.  There is little scientific doubt that this is the result of climate change.  According to a recent report by the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices, the costs of weather-related disasters equalled 5 to 6 percent of Canada’s annual economic growth since 2010, compared with an average of about 1 percent prior to that year.  Based largely on data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada, there were $14.5 billion (US$11.2 billion) of direct disaster-related costs from 2010 through 2019.  This is very likely an underestimation, particularly when indirect costs are taken into account.

Unfortunately, the current coronavirus pandemic has to a large extent put the issues surrounding climate change on the back burner for the time being.  Most experts would agree that, even without the pandemic, the bad news is that climate-change adaptation in Canada is far behind where it needs to be.  In addition, Canada still relies heavily on the fossil fuel industry as a major driver of its resource-based economy.  A number of studies have shown that the Canadian banking industry still invests heavily in the fossil fuel industry.  One recent study by the Rainforest Action Network notes that in the 4 1/2 years since the Paris agreement on climate change, fossil-fuel lending has grown at five major Canadian banks.  These banks provided more than $131 billion (Canadian) to oil and gas companies in 2019 alone.  Even the Export Development Canada, an arm’s-length federal agency that helps Canadian industry sell its products abroad, averaged about $10 billion (Canadian) a year in support for fossil fuels exports.

CEOs at Canada’s major banks may well pay lip service to reducing the carbon intensity of their investments and their support for green technologies, but the reality is that they have continued to greatly finance the fossil fuel industry.  Some have even promised to be carbon neutral by 2050, aligning themselves with Paris agreement targets.  However, their financial support significantly assists in investments related to exploration, production, refining, and transportation of fossil fuels — all of which contribute to Canada’s and to global carbon emissions.  Some will argue that it is the sole role of banks to make money and it is their primary responsibility to support the Canadian economy.  But at what cost? 

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Nov 29

Who Among Us Is Ready To Be Vaccinated For COVID-19?

by bcurry

Now that anti-coronavirus vaccines are on the horizon, possibly as early as next month in the U.S., who among us is ready to be vaccinated?  Bioethicists are now jumping into the fray in order to suggest some alternative approaches for early vaccination selection.  According to the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization, it is recommending four initial key groups: those at risk of severe illness and death (such as the elderly or those with pre-existing conditions), essential workers most likely to transmit the disease (such as health-care workers), those at risk who live in communities that could suffer disproportionate consequences (such as isolated Indigenous communities), and other workers providing services that contribute to “the functioning of society.

Up to now, the Canadian federal government, which is responsible for the eventual national distribution of vaccines to the regions, has given little indication as to which groups will receive the first inoculations.  Since the coronavirus has especially been deadly for seniors and particularly those in long-term care residences, it would not be a surprise that their residents and staffs would be at the front of the line.  After that, officials will most probably target health care workers and first responders who are needed to treat persons sick with COVID-19.  Given the current increasing numbers of cases in the U.S. and Canada, there is little doubt that more hospitalizations will occur.  Unfortunately, the arrival of vaccines will not curtail the impending massive increases over the winter period in related death tolls.  Others who are young and for the most part healthy will likely have to wait to be vaccinated.

Then there are those who will not want to be vaccinated for whatever reasons.  It’s impossible for anyone to be forced to take the COVID-19 vaccine once it’s available.  Opinion polls have shown that over one in four Americans are very likely going to not get vaccinated, some of whom are anti-vaccinationists to begin with.  Others will simply take a wait and see approach, not trusting the claims by public health officials that the vaccines are safe with no serious side effects.  Another consideration is that while at least 19 countries already have programs in place that compensate individuals injured by vaccines, Canada does not except for Quebec.  The U.S. has the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program which is a no-fault alternative to the traditional legal system for resolving vaccine injury petitions.  However, individuals must file a petition for compensation with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims if they believe they were injured by a covered vaccine.  Resolving such claims is no doubt a lengthy process with no guarantee of compensation in the end.

Failure to get vaccinated may come with specific consequences.  For example, one can certainly imagine that the authorities and businesses may want proof of vaccination before someone can return to work or go to school.  Furthermore, one’s freedom to travel by air or public transportation may be restricted without proof of immunization.  Until much of the population is adequately vaccinated and so-called “herd immunity” sets in, people are being urgently warned to continue to avoid crowds, wear masks and practice good hygiene in the meantime.  It will be many months until we will have this terrible virus under control, hopefully as a result of the effective implementation of national and regional vaccination programs.  This includes the buy-in of the majority of the population.  As they say, hope rests eternal!

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Nov 25

What Does “De-funding of the Police” Really Suggest and Why?

by bcurry

Here in Canada and the U.S., certain interest groups have called for the de-funding of the police.  In 2020, prompted by several high profile incidents on both sides of the Canadian border, many Canadians took part in protests calling for an end to racial bias and misconduct by police towards Indigenous and racialized people in Canada.  Yet, the issues surrounding systemic racism can be found throughout society, requiring a more holistic approach.  Furthermore, a 2019 Statistics Canada survey found that just over 4 in 10 (41%) Canadians aged 15 and older in the provinces reported having a great deal of confidence in the police, while nearly half (49%) said they had some confidence. Less than 1 in 10 (9%) Canadians reported having low confidence in police—that is, not very much or no confidence at all.

Understandably, those who reported less or no confidence in the police were among distinct groups that included Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, people with mental or cognitive disabilities and bisexual persons (those who self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or otherwise not heterosexual).  Even among these groupings there were differences in the reported level of confidence in the police.  While those who reported having had recent negative interactions with police expressed low confidence in them, the correlation between such negative interactions and their obvious discontent, whether legitimate or not, is hardly surprising.

My initial understanding of the de-funding of the police is that fewer police would be needed if more social services were available to handle cases involving these distinct groups.  The difficulty with the premise is that we are still a society where the rule of law must prevail.  As such, there will always be a need for certain degree of enforcement that will ensure that the majority of citizens feel relatively safe in their communities.  Indeed, the vast majority of policing should be about prevention by ensuring that violators of laws are safely apprehended.  In support of this societal goal, one only has to think of violent crimes, traffic violations, organized criminals, break-ins, terrorism, etc., etc.

Of course, how enforcement is carried out can always be improved.  Many recent community service innovations by police have involved greater liaison with social service agencies, community representatives and health care practitioners.  A first important step has always been to better educate enforcement personnel with respect to their interaction with these distinct groups, in particular persons with mental or cognitive disabilities.  The police are dealing with daily and difficult symptoms of a society lacking in sufficient resources to tackle poverty, inadequate health care, deficient education resources, mental illnesses, systemic racism, etc., etc.  Law enforcement is an inherent and essential part of our society and the majority will clearly oppose the de-funding of the police as promoted by certain distinct groups.  Realistically, this controversial concept is a non-starter — period.

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