Posts Made By: David Cotterell

Acknowledged with thanks.

Dave

He could start with his wife....

Dave

.........to join your republic as the 51st state but I have a better idea, why don’t you join Canada as a province. Then you can have universal health care, gun control, a limitless energy supply, a shared currency and the “border problem” goes away. And as an added bonus, you will return to the fold of the Commonwealth. I’m sure King Charles would be especially pleased.

Canada

Well, at least Trump's attorneys got paid for once...

Dave

Originally Posted by Jim Moscheck

At least ole Rapey McForehead is not longer in the House. LOL. Maybe he’ll get his day in court to tell his side of the story.

He's at least a fivehead.

Dave

Hang in there, Jim.  You have the important responsibility to carry your wife's memory along with you over the years. You'll do it with increasing ease as time goes by...

And Merry Christmans, Happy Hanukkah to all the wacky denizens of this tiny little corer of the world.

Dave

The R voters who will no longer have Obama-care health care protections, thrown into the insurance marketplace festooned with pre-existing conditions and coverage denials. Not all R voters, but some.

The R voter whose favourite bass-fishin'  lake suddenly has an oily sheen on it and no fish because reduced EPA regulations finally allowed some company to release a substance into the water instead of having to send it for safe treatment.. Not all R-voting bass fishers, but some.

The R voter  who sees the cost of consumer goods rising more and more quickly as a result of tariffs slapped on Mexico and Canada.  Not all R voters, but quite a few... 

The R voter who is shocked to find that the public high schools in his town are suddenly teaching Ward and June Cleaver domesticity as the only ideal,   Biblical Creationism and white-washing history..  Not all voters, but a few million, at least.

There are many more leopards out there, getting ready to pounce.  

Of course all of the above will happen to some D voters as well, but they didn't fuckin' vote for it.

Dave

Trump has repeatedly said he will either get rid of or change the ACA.  Change it how?  How many will lose some coverage? How many will be forced to try to get private insurance?  How many will become uninsured?   

Trump has repeatedly mentioned 'swift deregulatory decisions'.  Remove a procedure here, a chemical  from a list and suddenly buddy's lake has a new pollutant.  Or his lake  is beside a refinery which used to maintain its berm to a mandated level but now can allow small leak here and there.

Trump has repeatedly threatened Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs and 'economic warfare (just today)'.  This will increase the price of innumerable goods for the American people.  

Trump has continually spoken about 'removing woke' from the schools and promising school choice to all which will assist charter schools with religious agendas to receive public money..   

The goals of project 2025 are the elephant in the room.  It doesn't matter if Trump publicly sates that he doesn't support those goals.  He might be, stay with me on this because it's an 'out there' argument, he might be LYING.  Just look at his own 'Agenda 47'....

Multiple millions of Americans have voted for the side that is actively working against the best outcomes for themselves.  

Dave

Originally Posted by James Brown

By the way, your post is a fine example of the left wing arrogance that caused Trump's ascendancy and possibly Trudeau's collapse.  You obviously prefer to deal in doomsday fantasies rather than to understand the motivations of the US voters. 

It is indisputable that a lot of traditionally D voters voted for Trump this time around, and they did it for the best of reasons.  I'm talking about the working men and women abandoned by the D's who now obviously prefer "virtuous" billionaires, athletes and movie stars over the working class.   

Of course, many D voters down here do hold Trump voters in contempt, just like you.  Especially the rich college-educated Ds.  Because of this, the Ds will lose election after election until they realize that their smug, completely obnoxious, and self-righteous attitudes are unwarranted. 

Ever wonder why the union workers in the US abandoned Biden/Harris for Trump?

I do not hold Trump voters in contempt.  No.  I just fail to understand that in the face of mountains of evidence there are millions of people who vote against their own best interests, economically and socially.  No contempt, James.  It's despair!!  
Dave

Originally Posted by James Brown

Why have you been reticent to share your thoughts on the situation in Canada?  You almost certainly have a better formed opinion than any of us Yanks do.

Canada has a long history of Liberal governments lasting about 8-15 years and then a shorter Conservative re-adjustment..  Since roughly 1900:

Laurier (L), 17 years, 
Borden (C), 8 years
Meighen (C), 1.25 years
Mackenzie King, (L), 5 years
Meighen (C), 0.25 year
Mackenzie King, (L), 4 years
Bennett (C), 5 years
Mackenzie King, (L) 13 years
St. Laurent, (L), 9 years
Diefenbaker, (C), 6 years
Pearson. (L), 5 years
P. Trudeau (L), 11 years
Clark (C) 1 year
P. Trudeau, (L) 4 years
Turner (L), 0.25 year
Mulroney (C), 9 years
Campbell, (C) 0.5 year
Chretien (L) 10 years
Martin (L), 3 years
Harper (C), 9 years
J. Trudeau (L) 9 years

So Conservative for 40 of the 130 years since Laurier was elected.  This is a Liberal country. With occasional Progressive Conservative interstices.

J.T's demise is no surprise at all.  They all seem to wear out their welcome eventually.

It seems now that there's a good chance for Pollievre (C) to win the next election (sometime before next fall is the mandate by constitutional law).  Much will depend on who the next Liberal leader is, how soon he/she takes office.  I'm hoping for Mark Carney, former Governor of both the Bank of Canada and of the Bank of England.   

Pollievre and his Neo cons are like Trump-'lite'.  They are far to the right* of the socially conservative, fiscally conservative parties that were called 'Progressive Conservative' until the 1990's  and for whom I voted more than once.  They want to privatize health care, remove climate change amelioration,  and favour corporate profit over social welfare.  An interesting wrinkle is that Pollievre has repeatedly refused to submit to a government security background check which would be a necessary vetting for our head of government.  Not sure why he's being stubborn about this. He's a lifetime parliamentarian and has never held a job in the private or public sector...

On the Left-right spectrum we would compare US and Canadian Parties thusly:

Left.......NDP (Canada).........Liberal (Canada)...........Conservative (Canada) and Democrat (US) in a virtual tie.........Republican (US)........Right

Hope this helps a bit..

Dave