I acknowledge a whole host of political and personal sins that Trump is guilty of, but recent events continue to prove correct what I have been saying since 2015, namely that Trump is "more sinned against than sinning." The amount of vitriol, demonization, character assassination, phony impeachments, social-media cancelations, ridiculous Congressional inquisitions, coordinated disinformation campaigns by deep state actors, lawfare, show trials, more lawfare, and now actual violence directed at Trump vastly outweighs the rhetorical flourishes he engages in against his perceived political enemies. You can't keep provoking and harming him 24/7/365 for 8 years and then complaint that he might become "vengeful" when he is President again. It's more than anyone can be expected to endure.
"Trump has been far and away the most egregious offender, the worst by a country mile." I wouldn't jump up and down and say that, Terry. Trump gets carried away with his rhetoric sometimes, but anyway he is just one man. His enemies by contrast are legion - politicians on both sides of the aisle and at every level of government, media pundits and personalities with millions of viewers, Hollywood celebrities openly "joking" about his decapitation and assassination. There's really no comparison in the volume or extremism of the rhetoric: the anti-Trump vitriol is a wall of sound coming at you. They keep imploring that Trump is the reincarnation of Hitler, what do you expect to happen? Who wouldn't want to be the hero that assassinates a genuine Hitler before he comes to power (again)?
Canadians on twitter compare Danielle Smith, Doug Ford, and Pierre Poilievre - even previous CPC leader Erin O'Toole - to Hitler. Years ago, I noted in C2C Journal that the "Poilievre = Ford = Trump = Hitler" meme was making the rounds on twitter. Progressive snowflakes and leftwing flakes tear their hair out over any slight degree of difference. The cluster B sufferers are mostly on the left. That's what's driving this dynamic, make no mistake.
Totally agree. I used to be a journalist and wish in many ways that my life had allowed me to continue in that line, but you know, life happens. I just don't understand the left's vitriol. I've tried, I really have but I just can't understand it. So I wonder who is it benefitting and at the chance of appearing naive or a conspiracist, I think that Trump has so rattled the big money leftists, government leaders, CEO's etc etc, that they just can't let up as their raison d'etre and bank balance has been threatened. I think Trump is brave and crass and kind of refreshing to see someone who just says what's on his mind. My kids are all millennials and they are pretty aghast at my opinions, but all you can do is act as you think is right, do the right thing and hope they all catch up. And we have the idiot Trudeau to manage here so what do we know eh?
Trump's cardinal sin was being an outsider. Both he and Bernie agree that Washington is controlled by the subsurface network of influencers Trump called "The Swamp" and only those creatures thrown up by it, are acceptable.
The rise of an American Oligarchy with enormous economic and political power seems less noticed as they do not flaunt their power with mega-yachts as ostentatiously as the Russians, but finance "non-profits" as a parallel, virtual government.
Mark, I'm well aware of the anti-Trudeau sentiment in Canada. There is a qualitative difference, though. These are the little people expressing their frustrations at a distant, abusive, and unaccountable leader. Hanging a politician in effigy is a long-standing cultural expression of fed-upness by the less powerful. Nobody actually thinks the action should be carried out in real life. No, not even Diagolon does. LOL
The chorus of anti-Trump vitriol and deliberate harm (lawfare, etc.), on the other hand, comes from the most powerful and influential people in the country - including judges and prosecutors, and the obscure deep-state actors. They set the example from which much of the population takes its cue. If it is OK for Biden to say that he'd like to take Trump out behind the school and beat the hell out of him, why wouldn't a follower carry out that wish given the opportunity? If the "Trump = Hitler" meme is shouted from the rooftops by every pundit and politician and celebrity that you admire, why wouldn't one of the little people think it is his duty to assassinate him?
Even Rebel News doesn't call for Trudeau to be ground into the dust in any way except at the ballot box. High-profile Canadians like Connor McDavid don't go around saying he'd like to punch Trudeau in the face, or ask when the last time a hockey player assassinated a Prime Minister... Don Cherry might think "Fuck Trudeau!", but he doesn't pull out a bloody Trudeau head on Coach's Corner. Theo Fleury is probably the most vocal hockey celebrity in Canada against Trudeau, but what threats has he made? The "trucker convoy" was extremely careful to emphasize the peacefulness of their protest - they actually *reduced* the crime level in Ottawa while they were maintaining order there. One or two of the "Coutts four" foolishly brought weapons to the protest at the border, and the minute this was revealed the organizers decided it had gone too far and disbanded. There's really no comparison here to what Trump faced daily for the past 8 years.
They were not calling for Trudeau to be hanged in effigy, does executed sound like " in effigy" firing squad, guillotine?
To murder his cabinet? It is the same rhetoric as in the United States, or for that matter the same rhetoric that you see in many other countries the world over.
You lament the treatment of Trump, without nary a word of his provocations.From Jan 6th and work back, calling for Hilary Clinton to be assassinated, that was seven years ago.
You know the Second Amendment people could stop her. The list is endless.
You seem to have a selective memory when it comes to Republicans.
And as for Ottawa, I have relatives and good friends who live there. They will gladly call you out on your assertion that it was peaceful.
You seem to be spooked by a fringe minority of jokesters. You probably think Diagolon is a terrorist organization, too. Get a grip on reality!
All I have seen are bumper stickers and people wearing T-shirts with nooses. I'm pretty sure if there were actual angry people shouting for Trudeau to be killed, the RCMP would have intervened by now. They even arrest Rebel News reporters simply for asking Liberal politicians questions, ffs. Actual threats would be all over the news forever. The guy who threw a handful of pebbles at Trudeau on the campaign trail was in the news for weeks. So, no, there are no credible public threats to Trudeau's life or health, or to those of his cabinet members - unless you count the Free Palestine hoodlums.
You falsely accuse me of saying nary a word of criticism of Trump, whereas in fact I opened my comment by acknowledging the package of flaws that is Donald Trump. He does make provocative utterances from time to time - although nothing remotely close to the open and undisguised threats against him. He only called for Clinton's "assassination" in your fevered imagination. In fact, the second amendment people showed up in force and stopped her at the ballot box - so Trump was very correct in his prediction.
Everyone knows people in Ottawa, Mark. Explain to me why, when the police tried to ban gasoline being taken in the protest region to keep the trucks running for heat, hundreds of people *from Ottawa* showed up carrying empty gasoline containers the next day. Even in Ottawa, the trucker convoy enjoyed a significant level of popular support. It was a party atmosphere where there was no crime (other than the apartment fire set by radical leftie public servants) and the sidewalks were cleared daily. Methinks you are the one suffering from a selective memory.
I wont fill up the page with more links there are just way too too many of them.
Similarly the Democrats are guilty of the same flaws.
Grant you seen to have a bias towards Trump, if that is the case , then your response is understandable. If you admire him then, that's your opinion and belief, not going to challenge that.
And you deflect with regards to the point that i brought up about online hate in Canada. Almost did a whataboutisim .
Give it up, Mark. Repeating yourself with links isn't thinking it through. (i) I have already explained what Trump meant when he said the second amendment people will stop Hilary at the ballot box. (ii) It is NOT an offense of any kind to say that Clinton should be jailed for committing felonies, by using a personal server for gov't business while she was in cabinet. Even Comey concluded that what she did was a breach of the rules for handling gov't communications and classified documents. She also destroyed records after they had been subpoenaed by Congress, which is a felony. (iii) Donald is not responsible for the comments of Junior, any more than Joe is responsible for the conduct of Hunter. I can only conclude that you are a true TDS sufferer.
I do not "admire" Trump. I loath him. I loath almost all politicians. But I can make discriminations among them, unlike you, apparently. You seem to think politics is a team sport. I haven't seen anything from you yet that would indicate you are worthy of more of my time.
This is why, Kelly: Canadians are the victims of a socialist education system. John Stuart Mill recognized nearly 200 years ago that if the government delivers the education, then they are going to indoctrinate people to love the government and hate anything that stands in opposition to the government. That's why Mill advocated the voucher system in education. Wise man way ahead of his time.
Never more evident than the compliant and passive public response to disastrous government policies on Covid. To the point where they turned in their neighbours.
Something very much like that has been developing for quite some time. Awaken a comatose Republican and a comatose Democrat from 20 years ago and neither would recognize their parties.
That is because as bad , corrupt and too ideologically driven as they are, the Democrats are still more palatable than the Republicans. I wish the gap were wider but it is wide enough for me.
Normally I agree with Terry Glavin but in this case I differ.
While both some Republicans and Democrats have been over the top with their rhetoric, the Democrats and their friends in the media have been doing most of the toxic rhetoric by demonizing, smearing and dehumanizing Trump.
The Democrats and media allies have said Trump and supporters are fascist ( The May 16 edition of the New Republic depicted Trump as Hitler on its front cover) and there is an end to democracy if Trump wins, started the Putin-Trump collusion hoax, using 'lawfare' to go after Trump and supporters etc.
On June 27 Biden, “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.” .
I'm sure Biden did not mean to actually shoot Trump but the media would have condemned Trump if he said anything similar.
Exactly how do comments like this turn down the rhetoric and calm the waters?
"The main takeaway: What is every bit as astonishing as how close Donald Trump came to certain death - a matter of centimetres- is that it took this long for someone to try to kill him. Which is just as amazing as the fact that Trump’s innumerably vulgar imbecilities have not yet incited any of his lowbrow devotees to take a shot at Joe Biden."
Correct. An AR15 is not a "true" machine gun, being semiautomatic rather than fully automatic, which is an important distinction, but not a matter of hyperbole.
The thing about asking Joe Biden to stop calling Trump a threat to democracy is that, as you acknowledge, with Trump we actually have the guilty act and very likely the guilty mind to go with it, from Trump's phone calls to election officials attempting to pressure them into "finding" him votes in key races back in November 2020 and Trump's incitement of a mob to terrorize Mike Pence into not certifying Biden's win. David Frum started warning readers that Trump was a dangerous authoritarian before he was elected and Professor Allan Lichtman, the historian who developed the "keys to the White House" predictive model has said much the same recently. Even if Biden, Harris and other Democrats stopped raising the threat to democracy that another Trump presidency poses, will that be enough to dial down the extremism, or are we in for a US presidential election season that will make 1968 look like a picnic on Toronto Island?
"Have we really forgotten this story? It’s only from last November: Top US general taking steps to protect family after Trump death comments."
I think it is, and was, pretty obvious that Trump was suggesting the general had engaged in treasonous activity. And the punishment for that, which is administered by the STATE, is - or at least it was at one time - death.
Correct. There is a vast difference that TDS sufferers seem to overlook between advocating someone's death because of a political / economic / legal disagreement and calling for a legal process to administer justice.
Not impressed Terry. Russia gate was a hoax. The campaign of lies against trump by the corporate press cannot be equivicated to what is happening on Trump's side. I don't like Trump. But the lies and prosecutions against him must be denounced and ended.
Don’t forget that many regret the going after him on the hush money thing and would have wanted him charged for actually wanting more votes from Georgia, no matter how. And the rest of it of his outrageous lies and efforts to accept that he lost. Fairly.
A bit of history. Richard Nixon lost by far fewer votes to John Kennedy and knew there may well have been serious goings on in Democratic Chicago to suppress results.
Many Republicans tried to persuade him to demand a recount but Nixon would not because he felt that it would be too damaging to the electoral process and Americans faith in the democratic process if he did.
In this, he was a patriot who cared for his country. Trump is the worst, most corrupt and unprincipled US president in my lifetime. I am 74.
The immediate reaction of my well educated, Left leaning friends was that this was obviously staged to garner sympathy for Trump. "Why didn't he fall over, how could the shooter be Republican?" Melania's rather eloquent and moving appeal to consider the families, the humanity "buried below the political machine"... "while we are here in this earthly realm", couldn't possibly have been her own work, the slight deviations from idiomatic English, references to "Donald's passion, laughter, love of music" all the product of truly crafty PR professionals.
My suggestion that maybe Melania, Jill and Michelle have coffee, compare notes and a chat, then a word with their husbands, given the influence they often exert, resonated with a few NP readers and I see today that at least Melania and Jill have spoken on the phone.
Many of the societal cracks into which opportunists pound wedges are interesting to follow back in time. Marx gave class division "scientific" validation and Trotsky's exportable "perpetual revolution" seems now more effective than Stalin's showcase "Soviet State" model for "smashing Capitalism" and the states that host it, as it morphs and adapts into multiple variants.
Like sharks who must keep "moving forward" to survive, Progressives constantly need targets to attack, whether former working class heroes recycled as "deplorables", or Israel's lone island of democracy in the "backward" Middle East, repurposed as "genocidal Nazis", even humanity itself can be a "planet destroying cancer". Historical amnesia facilitates label switching.
All need "calls to action" with continuous fear as the motivation with the breakdown and severing of personal connections and the "madness of crowds" the end results.
Very good points with Marxist Ideology, or communist Ideology. Now add to the mix Islamist ideology which has now proliferated throughout universities world wide. The use of Petro dollars to undermine
I don't think many actually want to follow Islam, it is just a convenient insert of the moment for the "oppressed" class...which so many groups are clamoring to join.
Hearing that the appeal of dividing the world in just two parts, is is that it is so easy, eliminating the need to have a second thought, we may just end up dividing the divisions ever finer, until we blow away.
Why do you bother subscribing if my "opinions" are worth no more than anyone else's? You might want to save some money and unsubscribe. I'm sure you will find other newsletters that will tell you exactly what you want to hear.
I'm getting it from "both sides" here. Which is, at least, amusing.
I’m intrigued by the number of comments taking you to task, also in today’s NP column, for voicing a reasonable neutral reflection on the whole issue. Society clearly is more divided than we care to admit.
I generally really like what you write and usually agree; however, I have an exception here. While I could point to a numbers of lines in this article, I'll go with this quote; "Trump has been far and away the most egregious offender, the worst by a country mile."
So when Maxine Waters tells people to "go after them, wherever you see them, etc.," (paraphrased) "and attack them at restaurants, on the streets, etc," that's not worse than what Trump has said. Or when that "comedian" held up the head of Trump as something that should be done, that's not worse than anything Trump has said? Or how about when, it was either Madonna or Gwen Stephany, said;; "I've often thought seriously about blowing up the Whitehouse," this isn't worse then anything Trump has said?
There are many many more examples of what these left zealots have said that I could quote and I expect if you think about it, so could you.
I actually don't know where you stand on Trump, but this article may be a clue. However, what I will say is that this is not unbiased reporting and that has been one of the biggest issues since Trump "came down the escalator." I really expect more from you.
So far as I am aware, neither Maxine Waters or Madonna or the other demi-celebrities you mention are running for the office of President of the United States of America.
Thanks for your replay.... Fair enough. Maxine Waters and some other elected Dems used similar highly inciting language though. Terms such as a "threat to democracy," or comparisons to Hitler have not been one-offs. Part of my point is that there are several people saying far worse things than Trump and several of them are elected. I haven't found Trump's language, when taken in context, to be threatening or inciting. You may feel differently.
It is all so depressing. The American political system is broken and I am not sure when (if?) it will get fixed.
Post shooting I am resigned to another term of Trump and the US being dragged further into a shitty place. I assume Trump will not take any action on climate change, that he will further divide the United States, and that he will push to have Ukraine surrender to Russia.
Long term the demographics of the United States will change enough that the forces that are willing to support the GOP will drop off more and more. The hope lies with the rising diversity in the US, too bad there is no political party for them to be active in to make the changes needed
Terry, You are not in that category but I do subscribe to some writers I often disagree with. It's helpful to avoid the echo chamber effect and, frankly, adds a great deal in thinking more deeply about contentious issues. Objectivity comes with a cost.
I acknowledge a whole host of political and personal sins that Trump is guilty of, but recent events continue to prove correct what I have been saying since 2015, namely that Trump is "more sinned against than sinning." The amount of vitriol, demonization, character assassination, phony impeachments, social-media cancelations, ridiculous Congressional inquisitions, coordinated disinformation campaigns by deep state actors, lawfare, show trials, more lawfare, and now actual violence directed at Trump vastly outweighs the rhetorical flourishes he engages in against his perceived political enemies. You can't keep provoking and harming him 24/7/365 for 8 years and then complaint that he might become "vengeful" when he is President again. It's more than anyone can be expected to endure.
"Trump has been far and away the most egregious offender, the worst by a country mile." I wouldn't jump up and down and say that, Terry. Trump gets carried away with his rhetoric sometimes, but anyway he is just one man. His enemies by contrast are legion - politicians on both sides of the aisle and at every level of government, media pundits and personalities with millions of viewers, Hollywood celebrities openly "joking" about his decapitation and assassination. There's really no comparison in the volume or extremism of the rhetoric: the anti-Trump vitriol is a wall of sound coming at you. They keep imploring that Trump is the reincarnation of Hitler, what do you expect to happen? Who wouldn't want to be the hero that assassinates a genuine Hitler before he comes to power (again)?
Canadians on twitter compare Danielle Smith, Doug Ford, and Pierre Poilievre - even previous CPC leader Erin O'Toole - to Hitler. Years ago, I noted in C2C Journal that the "Poilievre = Ford = Trump = Hitler" meme was making the rounds on twitter. Progressive snowflakes and leftwing flakes tear their hair out over any slight degree of difference. The cluster B sufferers are mostly on the left. That's what's driving this dynamic, make no mistake.
Totally agree. I used to be a journalist and wish in many ways that my life had allowed me to continue in that line, but you know, life happens. I just don't understand the left's vitriol. I've tried, I really have but I just can't understand it. So I wonder who is it benefitting and at the chance of appearing naive or a conspiracist, I think that Trump has so rattled the big money leftists, government leaders, CEO's etc etc, that they just can't let up as their raison d'etre and bank balance has been threatened. I think Trump is brave and crass and kind of refreshing to see someone who just says what's on his mind. My kids are all millennials and they are pretty aghast at my opinions, but all you can do is act as you think is right, do the right thing and hope they all catch up. And we have the idiot Trudeau to manage here so what do we know eh?
Trump's cardinal sin was being an outsider. Both he and Bernie agree that Washington is controlled by the subsurface network of influencers Trump called "The Swamp" and only those creatures thrown up by it, are acceptable.
The rise of an American Oligarchy with enormous economic and political power seems less noticed as they do not flaunt their power with mega-yachts as ostentatiously as the Russians, but finance "non-profits" as a parallel, virtual government.
Canadians in Twitter compare.......
Grant you should check out UTube , The calls for Trudeau to be hanged, murdered,........
Mark, I'm well aware of the anti-Trudeau sentiment in Canada. There is a qualitative difference, though. These are the little people expressing their frustrations at a distant, abusive, and unaccountable leader. Hanging a politician in effigy is a long-standing cultural expression of fed-upness by the less powerful. Nobody actually thinks the action should be carried out in real life. No, not even Diagolon does. LOL
The chorus of anti-Trump vitriol and deliberate harm (lawfare, etc.), on the other hand, comes from the most powerful and influential people in the country - including judges and prosecutors, and the obscure deep-state actors. They set the example from which much of the population takes its cue. If it is OK for Biden to say that he'd like to take Trump out behind the school and beat the hell out of him, why wouldn't a follower carry out that wish given the opportunity? If the "Trump = Hitler" meme is shouted from the rooftops by every pundit and politician and celebrity that you admire, why wouldn't one of the little people think it is his duty to assassinate him?
Even Rebel News doesn't call for Trudeau to be ground into the dust in any way except at the ballot box. High-profile Canadians like Connor McDavid don't go around saying he'd like to punch Trudeau in the face, or ask when the last time a hockey player assassinated a Prime Minister... Don Cherry might think "Fuck Trudeau!", but he doesn't pull out a bloody Trudeau head on Coach's Corner. Theo Fleury is probably the most vocal hockey celebrity in Canada against Trudeau, but what threats has he made? The "trucker convoy" was extremely careful to emphasize the peacefulness of their protest - they actually *reduced* the crime level in Ottawa while they were maintaining order there. One or two of the "Coutts four" foolishly brought weapons to the protest at the border, and the minute this was revealed the organizers decided it had gone too far and disbanded. There's really no comparison here to what Trump faced daily for the past 8 years.
Sorry Grant
They were not calling for Trudeau to be hanged in effigy, does executed sound like " in effigy" firing squad, guillotine?
To murder his cabinet? It is the same rhetoric as in the United States, or for that matter the same rhetoric that you see in many other countries the world over.
You lament the treatment of Trump, without nary a word of his provocations.From Jan 6th and work back, calling for Hilary Clinton to be assassinated, that was seven years ago.
You know the Second Amendment people could stop her. The list is endless.
You seem to have a selective memory when it comes to Republicans.
And as for Ottawa, I have relatives and good friends who live there. They will gladly call you out on your assertion that it was peaceful.
Sorry, Mark, I'm not persuaded.
You seem to be spooked by a fringe minority of jokesters. You probably think Diagolon is a terrorist organization, too. Get a grip on reality!
All I have seen are bumper stickers and people wearing T-shirts with nooses. I'm pretty sure if there were actual angry people shouting for Trudeau to be killed, the RCMP would have intervened by now. They even arrest Rebel News reporters simply for asking Liberal politicians questions, ffs. Actual threats would be all over the news forever. The guy who threw a handful of pebbles at Trudeau on the campaign trail was in the news for weeks. So, no, there are no credible public threats to Trudeau's life or health, or to those of his cabinet members - unless you count the Free Palestine hoodlums.
You falsely accuse me of saying nary a word of criticism of Trump, whereas in fact I opened my comment by acknowledging the package of flaws that is Donald Trump. He does make provocative utterances from time to time - although nothing remotely close to the open and undisguised threats against him. He only called for Clinton's "assassination" in your fevered imagination. In fact, the second amendment people showed up in force and stopped her at the ballot box - so Trump was very correct in his prediction.
Everyone knows people in Ottawa, Mark. Explain to me why, when the police tried to ban gasoline being taken in the protest region to keep the trucks running for heat, hundreds of people *from Ottawa* showed up carrying empty gasoline containers the next day. Even in Ottawa, the trucker convoy enjoyed a significant level of popular support. It was a party atmosphere where there was no crime (other than the apartment fire set by radical leftie public servants) and the sidewalks were cleared daily. Methinks you are the one suffering from a selective memory.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiax4qRkqyHAxW1lYkEHR9XAXwQFnoECBAQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F10%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fdonald-trump-hillary-clinton.html&usg=AOvVaw2xhpNgn9HEz7lMehz2EZZp&opi=89978449
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiax4qRkqyHAxW1lYkEHR9XAXwQFnoECBsQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2016%2F06%2F02%2Fpolitics%2Fdonald-trump-hillary-clinton-imprisoned%2Findex.html&usg=AOvVaw2MOan5IDSvzGPbzFB1SLK8&opi=89978449
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiL7dPik6yHAxUGFVkFHdjJCCwQFnoECA0QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2022%2F10%2F31%2Fpolitics%2Fdonald-trump-jr-paul-pelosi-reaction%2Findex.html&usg=AOvVaw3szlgMXmuKHpYz1FSsvZe8&opi=89978449
I wont fill up the page with more links there are just way too too many of them.
Similarly the Democrats are guilty of the same flaws.
Grant you seen to have a bias towards Trump, if that is the case , then your response is understandable. If you admire him then, that's your opinion and belief, not going to challenge that.
And you deflect with regards to the point that i brought up about online hate in Canada. Almost did a whataboutisim .
Give it up, Mark. Repeating yourself with links isn't thinking it through. (i) I have already explained what Trump meant when he said the second amendment people will stop Hilary at the ballot box. (ii) It is NOT an offense of any kind to say that Clinton should be jailed for committing felonies, by using a personal server for gov't business while she was in cabinet. Even Comey concluded that what she did was a breach of the rules for handling gov't communications and classified documents. She also destroyed records after they had been subpoenaed by Congress, which is a felony. (iii) Donald is not responsible for the comments of Junior, any more than Joe is responsible for the conduct of Hunter. I can only conclude that you are a true TDS sufferer.
I do not "admire" Trump. I loath him. I loath almost all politicians. But I can make discriminations among them, unlike you, apparently. You seem to think politics is a team sport. I haven't seen anything from you yet that would indicate you are worthy of more of my time.
I still fall to understand why so many Canadians still think the Democrats are "the good guys".
This is why, Kelly: Canadians are the victims of a socialist education system. John Stuart Mill recognized nearly 200 years ago that if the government delivers the education, then they are going to indoctrinate people to love the government and hate anything that stands in opposition to the government. That's why Mill advocated the voucher system in education. Wise man way ahead of his time.
Never more evident than the compliant and passive public response to disastrous government policies on Covid. To the point where they turned in their neighbours.
If it were a Hollywood western, both sides would be wearing black hats.
That pretty well sums it up for me quite succinctly.
Terry,
I would like to throw something at you, an idea, an observation, is it possible that there are two coups going on in America, Both at the same time?
Both decades and decades in the making , both converging at this point in time. Two different ideologies, both fighting for rule in America.
Something very much like that has been developing for quite some time. Awaken a comatose Republican and a comatose Democrat from 20 years ago and neither would recognize their parties.
That is because as bad , corrupt and too ideologically driven as they are, the Democrats are still more palatable than the Republicans. I wish the gap were wider but it is wide enough for me.
News media propaganda
They are not Kelly,
Pointe Finale.
Normally I agree with Terry Glavin but in this case I differ.
While both some Republicans and Democrats have been over the top with their rhetoric, the Democrats and their friends in the media have been doing most of the toxic rhetoric by demonizing, smearing and dehumanizing Trump.
The Democrats and media allies have said Trump and supporters are fascist ( The May 16 edition of the New Republic depicted Trump as Hitler on its front cover) and there is an end to democracy if Trump wins, started the Putin-Trump collusion hoax, using 'lawfare' to go after Trump and supporters etc.
On June 27 Biden, “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.” .
I'm sure Biden did not mean to actually shoot Trump but the media would have condemned Trump if he said anything similar.
You have selective biase, as do many of the commenters here on Substack.
Its almost like a program that was on tv years ago. The program was called Point Counterpoint
Exactly how do comments like this turn down the rhetoric and calm the waters?
"The main takeaway: What is every bit as astonishing as how close Donald Trump came to certain death - a matter of centimetres- is that it took this long for someone to try to kill him. Which is just as amazing as the fact that Trump’s innumerably vulgar imbecilities have not yet incited any of his lowbrow devotees to take a shot at Joe Biden."
Sadly, that comment is not without validity, though.
Really? I wonder how you would feel if someone referred to you as a ' lowbrow devotee '
An AR15 is not a machine gun. If we're going to dial down the hyperbole, first we need to dial down the hyperbole.
Correct. An AR15 is not a "true" machine gun, being semiautomatic rather than fully automatic, which is an important distinction, but not a matter of hyperbole.
Still does unbelievable damage, if you have ever seen the photos of the carnage it can and does inflict, this is not for the squeamish.
Thank you , good piece as always, Mr. Glavin.
Thanks Yvonne!
The thing about asking Joe Biden to stop calling Trump a threat to democracy is that, as you acknowledge, with Trump we actually have the guilty act and very likely the guilty mind to go with it, from Trump's phone calls to election officials attempting to pressure them into "finding" him votes in key races back in November 2020 and Trump's incitement of a mob to terrorize Mike Pence into not certifying Biden's win. David Frum started warning readers that Trump was a dangerous authoritarian before he was elected and Professor Allan Lichtman, the historian who developed the "keys to the White House" predictive model has said much the same recently. Even if Biden, Harris and other Democrats stopped raising the threat to democracy that another Trump presidency poses, will that be enough to dial down the extremism, or are we in for a US presidential election season that will make 1968 look like a picnic on Toronto Island?
"Have we really forgotten this story? It’s only from last November: Top US general taking steps to protect family after Trump death comments."
I think it is, and was, pretty obvious that Trump was suggesting the general had engaged in treasonous activity. And the punishment for that, which is administered by the STATE, is - or at least it was at one time - death.
Correct. There is a vast difference that TDS sufferers seem to overlook between advocating someone's death because of a political / economic / legal disagreement and calling for a legal process to administer justice.
I decided to cancel my subscription. I prefer Coffee and Covid by Jeff Childers when it comes to anything US.
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Not impressed Terry. Russia gate was a hoax. The campaign of lies against trump by the corporate press cannot be equivicated to what is happening on Trump's side. I don't like Trump. But the lies and prosecutions against him must be denounced and ended.
Just FYI, I suspect my conclusions differ little from your own, Adam, but I don't "denounce." I leave that sort of thing to clerics.
Ha! You have me there.
Terry was not wrong about Russia Gate.
Not a hoax, just go ask the CIA.
Do you really think that they are going to let on how badly compromised then US had become under Trump.
Don’t forget that many regret the going after him on the hush money thing and would have wanted him charged for actually wanting more votes from Georgia, no matter how. And the rest of it of his outrageous lies and efforts to accept that he lost. Fairly.
A bit of history. Richard Nixon lost by far fewer votes to John Kennedy and knew there may well have been serious goings on in Democratic Chicago to suppress results.
Many Republicans tried to persuade him to demand a recount but Nixon would not because he felt that it would be too damaging to the electoral process and Americans faith in the democratic process if he did.
In this, he was a patriot who cared for his country. Trump is the worst, most corrupt and unprincipled US president in my lifetime. I am 74.
I have to confess, I developed a bit of a soft spot for Nixon in his post-presidency days.
Meant to say, suppress Republican votes.
The immediate reaction of my well educated, Left leaning friends was that this was obviously staged to garner sympathy for Trump. "Why didn't he fall over, how could the shooter be Republican?" Melania's rather eloquent and moving appeal to consider the families, the humanity "buried below the political machine"... "while we are here in this earthly realm", couldn't possibly have been her own work, the slight deviations from idiomatic English, references to "Donald's passion, laughter, love of music" all the product of truly crafty PR professionals.
My suggestion that maybe Melania, Jill and Michelle have coffee, compare notes and a chat, then a word with their husbands, given the influence they often exert, resonated with a few NP readers and I see today that at least Melania and Jill have spoken on the phone.
Many of the societal cracks into which opportunists pound wedges are interesting to follow back in time. Marx gave class division "scientific" validation and Trotsky's exportable "perpetual revolution" seems now more effective than Stalin's showcase "Soviet State" model for "smashing Capitalism" and the states that host it, as it morphs and adapts into multiple variants.
Like sharks who must keep "moving forward" to survive, Progressives constantly need targets to attack, whether former working class heroes recycled as "deplorables", or Israel's lone island of democracy in the "backward" Middle East, repurposed as "genocidal Nazis", even humanity itself can be a "planet destroying cancer". Historical amnesia facilitates label switching.
All need "calls to action" with continuous fear as the motivation with the breakdown and severing of personal connections and the "madness of crowds" the end results.
Very good points with Marxist Ideology, or communist Ideology. Now add to the mix Islamist ideology which has now proliferated throughout universities world wide. The use of Petro dollars to undermine
I don't think many actually want to follow Islam, it is just a convenient insert of the moment for the "oppressed" class...which so many groups are clamoring to join.
Hearing that the appeal of dividing the world in just two parts, is is that it is so easy, eliminating the need to have a second thought, we may just end up dividing the divisions ever finer, until we blow away.
1.4 billion people is a hell of a lot of people not wanting to follow Islam.
We both know same of the reasons for that. I think i understand what your saying.
My immediate reaction.......not surprised!
I did not like your tone in this Real Story.
Each to his own opinions based on experience, intellect and emotion.
Why do you bother subscribing if my "opinions" are worth no more than anyone else's? You might want to save some money and unsubscribe. I'm sure you will find other newsletters that will tell you exactly what you want to hear.
I'm getting it from "both sides" here. Which is, at least, amusing.
"The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth outweighs the world."
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
I’m intrigued by the number of comments taking you to task, also in today’s NP column, for voicing a reasonable neutral reflection on the whole issue. Society clearly is more divided than we care to admit.
Big time.
Getting it from both sides sounds very Canadian, n'est pas Monsieur Glavin.
I generally really like what you write and usually agree; however, I have an exception here. While I could point to a numbers of lines in this article, I'll go with this quote; "Trump has been far and away the most egregious offender, the worst by a country mile."
So when Maxine Waters tells people to "go after them, wherever you see them, etc.," (paraphrased) "and attack them at restaurants, on the streets, etc," that's not worse than what Trump has said. Or when that "comedian" held up the head of Trump as something that should be done, that's not worse than anything Trump has said? Or how about when, it was either Madonna or Gwen Stephany, said;; "I've often thought seriously about blowing up the Whitehouse," this isn't worse then anything Trump has said?
There are many many more examples of what these left zealots have said that I could quote and I expect if you think about it, so could you.
I actually don't know where you stand on Trump, but this article may be a clue. However, what I will say is that this is not unbiased reporting and that has been one of the biggest issues since Trump "came down the escalator." I really expect more from you.
So far as I am aware, neither Maxine Waters or Madonna or the other demi-celebrities you mention are running for the office of President of the United States of America.
Thanks for your replay.... Fair enough. Maxine Waters and some other elected Dems used similar highly inciting language though. Terms such as a "threat to democracy," or comparisons to Hitler have not been one-offs. Part of my point is that there are several people saying far worse things than Trump and several of them are elected. I haven't found Trump's language, when taken in context, to be threatening or inciting. You may feel differently.
I try not to "feel" facts.
I agree. :)
It is all so depressing. The American political system is broken and I am not sure when (if?) it will get fixed.
Post shooting I am resigned to another term of Trump and the US being dragged further into a shitty place. I assume Trump will not take any action on climate change, that he will further divide the United States, and that he will push to have Ukraine surrender to Russia.
Long term the demographics of the United States will change enough that the forces that are willing to support the GOP will drop off more and more. The hope lies with the rising diversity in the US, too bad there is no political party for them to be active in to make the changes needed
Like Canada, Gen X, millennials and Zoomers are turning away from the left and centrists.
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Please unsubscribe yourself. Thanks.
Terry, You are not in that category but I do subscribe to some writers I often disagree with. It's helpful to avoid the echo chamber effect and, frankly, adds a great deal in thinking more deeply about contentious issues. Objectivity comes with a cost.
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