Welcome to the New World Order! How are you enjoying the first days of the new American Empire? Apparently, Greenland is for sale, Panama will be invaded, and Canada will be annexed: a whole new world, in fact. Columbia had refused to accept deportees from the Excited States until Trump threatened them with tariffs, his new favourite thing, then they capitulated. In this, of course, they were only following the example of billionaires and Republican politicians, lining up right behind Elon Musk and his Nazi salute, the far-right German party the National Soc… sorry, the AfP, and the Reform (or Brexit) Party in the U.K..
All of this may still seem a little unreal, or surreal, to many, but it’s not nearly as bad as it may get. What if Trump moved on from tariff and “persuades” countries to do as he wants by threatening something more than “economic pressure”. It reminds me, in a most unpleasant way, of a wonderfully sarcastic song by Randy Newman back in 1972, “Political Science”. I used to think it was sarcastic, now I fear it might be prophetic. Here’s some lyrics:
“No one likes us, I don’t know why. We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try. But all around even our old friends put us down. Let’s drop the big one and see what happens.” (© Randy Newman, 1972).
And doesn’t this sound like Trump: “We give them money, but are they grateful? No, they’re spiteful and they’re hateful. They don’t respect us, so let’s surprise them. We’ll drop the big one
and pulverize them.” Hello Panama, hey there, Greenland! The song even reflects the MAGA rather warped sense of geography: “Asia’s too crowded, Europe’s too old. Africa’s far too hot and Canada’s too cold. And South America stole our name! Let’s drop the big one, there’ll be no one left to blame us.”
Now, doesn’t that sound just a little too relevant today? Of course, having Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal would give the Excited States control over access to the Arctic and make it harder for others to access the Pacific without going around South America. He does say it’s all about National Security, doesn’t he?
Trump will be quoting another Randy Newman song to us all: “You’ve got a friend in me”! We simply haven’t seen this kind of attitude, rhetoric, or behaviour in American leadership before in our lifetimes, though there was that thing back in the 1930’s…. In the past, we had the press and media generally to provide some truth and balance in informing us about what was really happening around us. But Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has done away with fact-checking, and Elon Musk has weaponised (to use a favourite MAGA term) social media, and now we can’t even believe them when they tell the truth. How can we know?
But debate, discussion, the free exchange of ideas among those who disagree, is a vital plank in democratic systems, even in personal relationships. Christiane Amanpour remains one of the most respected journalists around, with immense credibility, and her view of the current situation is worth noting:
“Of course, not everybody’s going to agree on everything and nor should they. But unless we can agree that the sky outside is blue and the grass is green, we have no chance. What is overtaking the public square is that every single fact is now the subject of accusations of lies or bias. Zuckerberg enabling totally permissive commentary is another arrow in the heart of truth.”
You may have thought I was exaggerating in the past when I wrote about this danger, thinking it couldn’t affect Canada or North Grenville. But I think talk of tariffs, trade wars, the demolition of Canada’s and Ontario’s economies, have changed that. When a Conservative Prermier like Doug Ford is talking about taking economic war to the Americans, you know it’s serious. Wearing his hat that says “Canada is not for sale” is a remarkably radical move for a Tory politician.
Sadly, the federal Conservatives have not been as vocal in this area. Instead, Poilievre has taken aleaf out of the Trump playbook and started to use stupid nicknames for his opponents. Remember Trump’s favourites: “Sleepy Joe Biden”, or “Crooked Hillary Clinton”, “Ron DeSanctimonious”, or “Birdbrain” Nikki Haley? Well Pierre (no nickname) has tried to copy that too. Recent press releases from the Conservatives have read: “Trudeau’s Wacko Environment Minister Endorses Carbon Tax Carney’s Radical Plan”, or, similarly, “Trudeau’s Radical Carbon Tax-Loving Environment Minister Endorses Carbon Tax Carney”. No, not nearly as good, perhaps, as Trump’s collection, but then Pierre is not quite up to speed yet.
He is, however, paralleling Trump in another way. He’s dragging his party away from their Conservative roots, from the traditions of leaders like Joe Clark or Brian Mulroney, and people of integrity such as Flora McDonald or Peter Lougheed. Conservatives may not like Poilievre and his style or manner, but they’ll vote Tory out of loyalty and watch as he continues to transform the party out of all recognition as truly conservative political entity, just as the American Republicans have capitulated to Trump and his ilk. A potential tragedy for Canada. But I may be wrong. Maybe the fact that even a man like Ford will, at least for now, stand up for his country gives us hope. Steve Clark has always shown himself to be a man of honour, even for those not of a Conservative Party outlook. The two elections in the coming months, provincial and federal, will be an interesting insight into Canada’s future, I think. Which way will we go?
As I said: welcome to the New World Order. It’s going to be fascinating.