Although no real good can come out of it, I continue to be both rivetted and repulsed by the ongoing devolution of American society. Everywhere one looks, it is apparent that political leadership inspired by vision and integrity is close to extinction, replaced by demagoguery and pandering to America’s basest
Continue readingTag: American politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: Bitumen is not oil.
If pipeline companies were honest about what they are transmitting around North America, there would be fewer problems with environmentalists. It would also help if reporters were more accurate and editors more diligent There are differences between refined oil products such as the different grades of gasoline and crude oil.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The strength of Joe Biden.
Listening to American President Joe Biden address his nation the other night was a rare delight. Here was a politician at the apex of his career. He was entitled to those words of self-congratulation. His first 100 days in office did set new records. He not only knew how to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Is Trump just a tool of QAnon?
I love conspiracy theories. I delight in challenging them. Some of the stories you hear from the United States these days are not being spread to generate amusement but many are quite funny. I am puzzled by the the basic tenet of QAnon. They say that the world is really
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Biden is ahead of Trudeau on climate.
Hey Joe, what did you think of the hypocrisy you got from Trudeau during your virtual summit on Tuesday? One of the first items of business when you became U.S. president was ending that Keystone XL pipeline that was designed to take Canadian bitumen from the Alberta tar sands to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: While the World Watches.
It was hardly just Americans watching the fiasco of an impeachment in their senate last week. Canadians were only a small part of the international community watching the events. You can easily imagine the hourly reports arriving on the desks of Xi Jinping in Beijing and Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: In the cause of Canada.
It was an interesting program on Steve Paikin’s Agenda last week that was co-sponsored by TVOntario and the Toronto Star. It was on Canada’s prospects in sustaining its democracy. The thought was that the same pressures that affect American democracy eventually get to Canada. Well, that thought is likely to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: On the right with U.S. Catholics?
And we thought Donald Trump was a problem. What gives with those politically right-wing Roman Catholic bishops in the U.S? It turns out that those guys are criticizing their own Pope and, at the same time, their country’s new president. Is Pope Francis the last line of defense for Joe
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: America, we hardly knew ya!
While some desperate Canadians still manage to flee south to escape our bitter winters, we have not been seeing Americans breaching our locked-down borders in any large numbers. American tourists used to come in droves for the pageantry in Toronto of our Caribbean festival and our gay days and maybe
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Black’s pal Trump.
If Bob Hepburn of the Toronto Star had not raised it, I never would have noticed. It has been about ten years since Conrad Black was released from prison in the United States and deported to Canada. Obviously, he is more comfortable holing up in Toronto’s Bridal Path area in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Exit President Trump.
It has been America’s shame. The past four years of the American presidency has shown the world a failure of democracy in the strongest country in the world. When you do not pay attention, when you do not care, you can get a president like Donald Trump. It needs to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: How many did Trump kill today?
That is not a light at the end of the tunnel on January 20. It is the funeral pyre at the crematorium for all the people that Mr. Trump has killed. He has been pushing for the return of the death penalty for federal crimes and has already had eight
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: We are going to miss Mr. Trump
Don’t get me wrong here. I know full well what a horror it has been with Donald Trump at loose in the White House. I am really not sure if the building will have to be tented and fumigated or just needs deep cleaning? The Trump smell will hang over
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Whatever happened to Uncle Malcolm?
It can be awkward when you have relatives who support Donald Trump. They think of him as a cross between God and the great leader. He can do no wrong. They are also born-again Christians and they are convinced that I am going to Hell anyway. As long as I
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trump battles grief and the ocean tides.
As though commanding the ocean tide, the imperial Donald Trump continues his petulant arguments about his electoral college defeat by Joe Biden. No doubt his efforts to nullify the election are just another step in a life of dishonesty and delusion. But Trump is still in the denial stage. With
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Requiem for a Fascist Clown
In a fitting end to four years of chaos, bigotry, and wilful aversion to the truth, Donald Trump is refusing to accept the results of the election that he lost, surprising no one. His campaign has filed lawsuits in multiple states, seeking to overturn, or at least forestall, Joe Biden’s
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Requiem for a Fascist Clown
In a fitting end to four years of chaos, bigotry, and wilful aversion to the truth, Donald Trump is refusing to accept the results of the election that he lost, surprising no one. His campaign has filed lawsuits in multiple states, seeking to overturn, or at least forestall, Joe Biden’s
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The perplexed pollsters.
How would you feel if the three times out of 20 you are wrong in your forecasts, and it all happened in the same election? That was the pollsters’ dilemma with last week’s election in the United States. They were just flat out wrong. But you have got to have
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A note to a busy Joe Biden.
It was an impressive speech the other night from Delaware. It was the right tone to take with the Trump supporters. You offered them the olive branch and left it to them to accept. It was a class act. No doubt, you have a lengthy ‘to-do’ list already but many
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: It will never be the same America.
Mother was born in Milwaukee, grew up in Chicago and then married a Canadian. It made Chicago a special place, as children, where we visited fun relatives. Two of my brothers now live in the United States. I have always felt at home in both countries. But no longer. We
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