He was a former Russian intelligence officer nabbed in Moscow in 2004 for having betrayed his country to Britain’s MI6 in the 1990s and early 2000s. He was a colonel when he retired in 1999, moving on to work for the Russian Foreign Ministry. Tried and convicted of high treason,
Continue readingTag: donald trump
Babel-on-the-Bay: “We stand on guard for thee.”
The last time our parliamentarians screwed around with Canada’s national anthem, they were trying to make it gender neutral. What they accomplished was to have some of us singing different words, others of us confused and all of us stuck with awkward phrasing. And it is tough to fake that
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Bully Pulpit of Donald Trump.
President Theodore Roosevelt said, more than 100 years ago, that the White House is a bully pulpit. It means something very different to the bully in today’s White House. Roosevelt saw the bully pulpit as a position for good. Trump sees it as a position to abuse the less powerful.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Small men. Big rockets. Bad news.
What are the similarities between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un? They all think they have the biggest, fastest, most invincible nuclear weapons. They all think of themselves as wielding immense power. They all fear for their position in a true democracy. How would Mr. Putin survive in a
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Is Donald Trump Finally Cracking Up?
He's shown signs of cracking up before. His shrinking inner circle claims he's still the same old Donald Trump.But others say something is happening to him. And that he's never looked or sounded so crazy. And I see what they mean.He's threatening to impose punishing tariffs on steel and aluminum
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The bravado of President Trump.
Every time we have needed a warming thought in these blah days of winter, we have pictured President Trump running into a school to rescue children from a mentally ill person with a gun. It is similar to the bravado of a 12-year old suggesting that teachers be armed: ludicrous.
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Day Putin Told Trump The Bromance Is Over
It was never as torrid an affair as many people imagined. The two political thugs were forced to admire each other from afar.Thank goodness.But it was an affair. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin slathered praise all over each other.While I, like so many others I'm sure, just hoped that the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Thomas Walkom and Andre Picard took the time to wonder whether the Libs actually planned to deliver on pharmacare before Bill Morneau confirmed otherwise. – Joe Fries examines the history of P3s in British Columbia. And Alex MacPherson breaks the news that
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Donald Trump: Comic Book Hero or President Chicken?
The voices in Donald Trump's head are screaming so loudly these days, he's been shooting off in all directions.One moment he's all for raising the age limit for buying a gun, the next moment he isn't.And of course this is just a really bad joke.Read more »
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – The New York Times’ editorial board comments on the predictable flow of the Trump tax cuts toward primarily the few who already had more wealth than they could possibly put to productive use. And Tom Parkin discusses Jagmeet Singh’s expectation that Canadians
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: They are killing their children in America.
It seems that Bashar al-Assad needs the Russians to help him kill children in Syria. Many world organizations have already charged al-Assad with crimes against humanity. But what about Donald Trump’s crimes against humanity? Is he not culpable when he caters to his friends in the National Rifle Association (NRA)?
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Parkland Kids Take On Donald Trump and the Gun Lobby
It was a day to remember. A day of extraordinary sights and sounds. Like Donald Trump being forced to listen to sobbing teenagers and the parents of their murdered friends. And trying to show he felt their pain, with the help of some scribbled notes. Which as Billy Bragg says is beyond belief. When I
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Lost in the Madness of the Land of the Trump Beast
When I was a boy no book made more of an impression on me than did William Golding's Lord of the Flies.And no scene was more horrifying than the one when the gentle Simon comes across the Lord of the Flies himself, a pig's head on a stake.And as the
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Can Donald Trump Be Blackmailed Over Sex?
Earlier today I looked at what Donald Trump might be hiding. And quoted what the New York Times' Thomas Friedman had to say about that. President Trump is either totally compromised by the Russians or is a towering fool, or both, but either way he has shown himself unwilling or unable to
Continue readingMontreal Simon: What Is Donald Trump Hiding?
Ever since Robert Mueller indicted thirteen Russians for interfering in the 2016 election, Donald Trump has been acting like he's finally losing his marbles.Lashing out at just about everybody. President Trump lashed out with fresh anger about the intensifying Russia probe over the weekend, accusing Democrats of enabling a foreign adversary to interfere
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Parkland Massacre and the Revolt of the Young
Most school massacres in the United States follow a depressing and predictable pattern.First there is the horror and the shock. Then there are tears and teddy bears, and candles, and heartbreaking pain and sorrow.And then the dead are forgotten by those who didn't know them or love them.Until the next massacre tears
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Why Donald Trump Can No Longer Fire Robert Mueller
Donald Trump can rant and rave about Robert Mueller's indictment of 13 Russian trollsHe can claim the indictments shows there was no collusion.He can try to discredit the FBI. As only a pathetic and increasingly desperate dotard could.But he can't call Russian interference a hoax any longer.And he can't fire Mueller.Read
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Thomas Edsall discusses the difficulties in trying to address wealth inequality through a money-infused electoral system: Five years ago, for example, Adam Bonica, a political scientist at Stanford, published “Why Hasn’t Democracy Slowed Rising Inequality?” Economic theory, he wrote, holds that “inequality should
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Donald Trump and the Parkland Massacre
It was just a horrible coincidence, albeit a bloody one.But only hours after I ran this post with the picture of Donald Trump brandishing an AR 15 rifle. The same weapon was used to slaughter a large number of high school students in Florida. A heavily armed young man barged into his
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The NRA Warns the Media: Stop Making Fun of Trump Or Else
Donald Trump's spy chiefs are telling him the Russians are already meddling in the midterm elections. Robert Mueller and his FBI posse could come down on him at any moment.His White House is being accused of covering up cases of domestic abuse even as his lawyer is now claiming he used his
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