It is hard to believe the sizeable and immoral segment of American public opinion that supports American president Trump. There are pollsters who are now telling us that everybody loves a bad boy. And they say there is no badder boy than The Donald. This is not just sad. It
Continue readingTag: American politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: Walls Fail Us.
The last time we dealt with the subject of walls, we received a scholarly comment from a monarchist on the efficacy and history of the Great Wall of China. Since that was not the point I was trying to make, I was somewhat at a loss to respond. I took
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A note from a neighbour.
“The depths of winter are about over and it will soon be time for spring clean-up and to lean on our rakes as we catch up on the neighbourhood gossip. I see that there has been little progress on that southern wall you have been promising. You would not need
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “But I have promises to keep.”
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders knows where he is from. He went back to his roots in Brooklyn, New York last week to launch his campaign against the presidency of fellow New Yorker Donald Trump. At 77, senator Sanders is likely to be the oldest person bidding for the Democratic Party
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Time to grow up Bernie Sanders.
It’s okay. I can say that to him. I am a Canadian and am also a democratic socialist. I understand his problems. And Bernie Sanders is too old to be President of the United States of America. He was showing the strain last time he ran against Hillary Clinton for
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The ties of Trump and Toad.
It is doubtful that American president Donald Trump, has ever bothered to read Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows. Published in 1908 in the United Kingdom, it is a book that has delighted children everywhere for more than a century. What would surprise Mr. Trump today is how much he
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A nation in a state of stasis.
A nation in stasis is a state that can neither move forward nor back as the forces in play remain equal and opposed. And this is the State of the Union as reported by American president Donald Trump. His report of exaggerations and lies and threats was of a quarreling
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Checking in on the US Democratic contenders for President
So it’s getting to that time where everyone is declaring they’re running for president in the US – the election of course is in November 2020… and politics always is in overdrive south of the border – but even more-so with the tumultuous election and reign of Donald Trump. The
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Politics in anxious times.
If prime minister Justin Trudeau had his druthers, he would not want an election this year. It is simply bad timing. Canadians are anxious. It is not any one thing. The world is just not behaving as it should. Not even the weather is acting as normal. People are concerned.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Wishy-washy on the Wall.
It is beginning to look like there is some daylight between president Donald Trump and a faction of his Republican followers. It happened last Saturday during Trump’s speech to save his wall. He was using people already in the U.S. to trade for the $5.7 billion he needs for the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mr. Trump as a savant?
The other day, reading something from a forgettable writer, I started out laughing at the presentation of U.S. president Donald Trump as a savant. Please understand that a savant is someone with debilitating mental problems or deficiencies but also has one or more remarkable skills. In Mr. Trump’s case, I
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: UPDATED: A Breath Of Fresh Air
Newly-elected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez articulates the kind of values that progressives pine for in their political leaders. Given the gladiatorial nature of American politics, the chances of her vision coming to fruition are probably slight; however, just getting her ideas out there in the public arena is an accomplishment, one
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Would a gold piano sound tinny?
Most commentators write a recap about the preceding year on New Year’s Eve but I only thought back a week to an ‘oops.’ I realized that this Canadian missed the Monarch’s message to the Commonwealth. It is with fond memories I note that mother used to always insist that her
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mr. and Mrs. Trump go to war.
In the last half of the 20th Century, Hollywood star Bob Hope was famous for his Christmas shows for American military. These shows took place in areas of conflict where Americans where deployed around the world. Hope’s compensation was that he could edit the recordings of the shows and run
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: For want of a wall.
About a quarter million Americans can now be classified as slaves. They are not being paid for their work. They have to do their jobs anyway. You will understand this better when you realize that they work for an organization that has Donald Trump as its chief executive officer. These
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Who’s left at the Trump White House?
OK, so it is hard to get good help these days. The problem is that the revolving door they put on the employee’s entrance at the White House is getting far more traffic than even president Donald Trump’s detractors expected. The question is, is the atmosphere just getting more toxic
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Imperial Trump is the problem.
The Emperor of Twits was using his Twitter Throne to criticize the Fed last week. It seems that president Trump is unaware that he might just be the problem and certainly not the solution to the turmoil over interest rates and the tumbling of the markets. The leader of the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Pompeo’s Rebellion.
It makes you wish you were there to see the look of astonishment on the European’s faces as American secretary of state Mike Pompeo explained his version of Donald Trump’s ‘Brave New World.’ It happened last week in Brussels. It might have contradicted the agreement Mr. Trump made with China’s
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: American capitalism betrays us.
Since 1908, when Sam McLauglin started building auto bodies in Oshawa for William Durant’s Buicks, Canada has been part of what became General Motors. Through good times and bad times, in World Wars and in boom times Canadians have supported GM. Today, we stand betrayed. The relationship was always a
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: And a possum shall lead them.
Are you old enough to remember American Walt Kelly’s sage words: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”? And if you knew what those words meant, there is still hope. Cartoonist Kelly died in 1973 but people still make pilgrimages to the Okefenokee Swamp to seek the wisdom
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