Does a Pope trump a Trump?
This must be the divine intervention that American Catholics have been praying for. Having a younger brother who is (in his order of importance) Republican, Roman Catholic, an American citizen…
American politics
You betcha it’s the Trump team!
The leaders of America’s Republican Party have already picked the team that will take on the world when it wins the November election. They are betting on billionaire Donald Trump…
Time for Republicans to act grown-up.
Sitting here in Canada and looking south gives us an overview of American politics. It is only recently that there has been a lot of cringing from what we are…
Life in a world without heroes.
There are no longer heroes in North America. Small children used to look up to police in their uniforms and want to emulate them. Now they fear them. And it…
Is America destroying the dream?
A reader asked recently why we were ignoring the current American political scene. It is not that we are not following what is going on. We just feel sad about…
What do Trump, Ford, Harper have in common?
If you think the front runner for the Republican Party nomination for American President is a joke, you did not understand Toronto’s former Mayor Rob Ford either. And Stephen Harper…
Born to (be able to) Run
Today, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made news by pledging to outlaw travel to areas of the world that are “ground zero for terrorist activity.” These are places that are, according…
Trump trumps rational (?) Republicans.
Politics in America is sometimes like a badly edited Hollywood movie. It is not always rational. The recent introduction of Donald Trump as a candidate for the Presidential nomination of…
One of Justin Trudeau’s better moves.
It makes sense to make nice with the United States. It is surprising for many Canadians when that becomes necessary. Not since Prime Minister John Diefenbaker pissed off President John…
Bearing bad news for NDP’s Tom Mulcair.
George Lakoff is an American who thinks. The UCLA Berkeley professor was in Toronto last week. We missed a chance to meet him. He is reported to have told his…
Mandatory Church Attendance?
I’m sorry. As Johnny Carson used to say, “I do not make these things up, folks, I merely report them.” Perhaps Americans have far more in common with that theocracy…
Meanwhile, South Of The Border
Ah yes, that land whose political representatives make our elected reprobates look like shining exemplars. For this edition of The Dark Side, we return to the ongoing saga of Gordon…
If there is Will, he will find a way.
Not being a regular reader of the Washington Post, we might not have read many columns by George F. Will. It was only when Toronto’s National Post picked up one…
A friendly note to the American Congress.
Hey you jerks, please do not do that for us. We do not want the Keystone XL pipeline either. Canadians who care are firmly against any pipelines that try to…
That was another good year.
The New Year came and went and it was such a busy time for political comment that we missed commenting on the past year. And that year needs a look.…
Which twin has the Toni?
During a career in public relations in Canada, you kept an eye on what was happening in PR south of the border as well as the Canadian market. You always…
Hamburg, Illinois man charged selling live Asian carp
A HAMBURG, ILLINOIS man has been charged with possession and distribution of live bighead and silver carp, a felony under United States law. On October 7, 2014, Randall E. Watters…
The Bully Pulpit of the Paul’s.
This is not the Apostle Saint Paul under discussion here. Libertarian extremists Ron Paul and his son Randal Paul are something else. The senior Paul is still the cantankerous fanatic…
There are liars and damn liars.
The Woodrow Wilson Institute based at the Smithsonian in Washington is an honoured institution recognizing the only American President to have earned a PhD. It seems a shame that its…
Fracking impact report due early May
Fracking well in USA. A panel report on the potential environmental impacts of shale gas exploration, extraction and development in Canada has been finalized but will not see the light…