The following article appeared in the Vancouver Sun several days ago. I saw it for the first time just a few minutes ago. It's written by a columnist whose works I have enjoyed and appreciated for over 40 years. I believe he's captured the essence of how the majority of present day Canadians feel.
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Author of the article: Pete McMartin Published Feb 03, 2025
Goodbye, America.
It’s been nice knowing you.
Goodbye New York, and your Jewish delicatessens with corned beef sandwiches stacked as high as your skyline.
Goodbye Detroit, my boyhood neighbour, and so long to Tiger Stadium, the Detroit Institute of Arts and Motown.
Goodbye Bellingham, Seattle and Portland — how I’ll miss my Cascadian cousins with our shared Pacific sensibilities. And while I’m at it, goodbye to the cheap gas and shoreline cottages of Point Roberts, America’s appendix dangling just below the border not a mile from me. What was once so close has never been so far.
Goodbye Stag Leap’s Pinot Noir, Maker’s Mark bourbon, and Hebrew National hotdogs. My tastebuds mourn.
Goodbye to the cowards on both sides of the border who have demonstrated that whatever fidelity to democratic ideals they profess to have extends only so far as their self-interest. They should get a real job, say, in a chain gang.
Goodbye to anyone, again on both sides of the border, who bends the knee to Trump, rather than standing up to him, as any self-respecting person would and should, and telling him to piss off. Goodbye to a culture that demands we bend the knee.
Goodbye languid vacations in Maui and Palm Springs. My next winter vacation will be in a sunny climate other than any America can offer, and preferably in a country the U.S. has treated as disdainfully as mine. I’ll have more than a few to pick from.
Most painful of all, goodbye to my American friends, some of whom I have known all my life, and some of whom I’ve collected along the way. I can cross your border but no longer wish to: Your Narcissist-in-Chief has decreed that my countrymen and I have the choice of becoming destitute, vassals or enemies. I’m choosing the latter.
Meanwhile, your silence and the silence of all Americans in response to this aggression leaves me disheartened. That silence speaks volumes. I — we — have heard you loud and clear how little our friendship as a country means to you.
Goodbye to the image of America I once held dear — the America of Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley and James Brown, of George Gershwin and Aaron Copeland, of Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut and Mark Twain, of Martin Luther King and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Goodbye to what I envied as the country that prided itself on encouraging unparalleled innovation in science, art and business. Any good that remains of it has been overshadowed by rapacity, cheap commercialism and egotism.
Goodbye to that ever-present sense of inferiority I once had when considering the relationship between Canada and America. What doubt I had of our own greatness is gone, and in its place is a certitude that Canada is superior to the U.S. in all the ways that matter. I look across the border now and see a violent, burgeoning autocracy now ever on the edge of civil war, and a population that is either cheering on this new brutalism or quaking in fear from it.
Goodbye to tepid patriotism. If Trump has done us any favour, it is awakening us to the fact that we can no longer take Canada’s existence for granted, that the bad actors in the world have begun to look covetously upon our improbably vast land that is laden with riches, that they want those riches and that niceness as a national character is not enough to dissuade them from taking them. Schoolyard bullies don’t want to be buddies. They want your lunch.
And after a long era of living a geopolitical life of convenient economic and military subservience, we’ve awakened to the fact that we are going to have to relearn our independence and fight any way we can to keep it.
Goodbye to living under the American nuclear umbrella, or any form of American hegemony. Goodbye to negotiation, wheedling, genuflecting or feel-good hands-across-the-border fairy tales. The American government has shown that established alliances mean nothing to it now, and so cannot be trusted. In Trump’s new world order, all the old verities are off the table, so let us make new ones.
Do levy tariffs, as we have promised to do, and do grit our way through the inevitable economic pain that will come. Re-arm as if we were on a war footing, because we are on a war footing. Conduct the mother of all public relation campaigns that let Americans know how badly they are perceived in the world, that they’ve gone from the shining city on the hill to just another empire with the same tired territorial ambitions as Russia or China. Do anything to impress upon Americans that their government is without real friends or allies, and that they, in essence, are alone.
So, goodbye America, it’s been nice knowing you, but I don’t know you anymore. I’ve reached that point in our relationship where any admiration I have had for you has been replaced by a new, angry resolve, which is: I won’t consort with the enemy.
Not that it'll make any difference to a select few here, but I'll try and continue to be helpful and civil in the tech areas of PFF... for now anyway. Here in P&R though, it's probably best if I spend as little time as possible. Nothing stated in this section of the forum will have any impact whatsoever on world affairs... and it's not exactly uplifting to read what's being posted. So what is the point? There is no point.
I would also say that IF Canada would somehow join with the USA, that rather than being a vassal, the residents of Canada would become citizens, rather than being subject of the Crown.
Either way, stick around this section Patrick, I may not always agree with you, but I still count you as a friend.
Funny, from 2021 thru 2024, the 'left' pounded the 'right' repeatedly and mock former President Donald Trump...
Now, with the pendulum going back to common sense, and with the "majority of present-day Canadians feel" which are left-wing voters; they're in denial and want to leave the USA...
Edit - Going back to USA, the next two years will be interesting in California; Newsom approves $50M to fight against the common-sense approach; again
[This message has been edited by Vintage-Nut (edited 02-10-2025).]
The following article appeared in the Vancouver Sun several days ago. I saw it for the first time just a few minutes ago. It's written by a columnist whose works I have enjoyed and appreciated for over 40 years. I believe he's captured the essence of how the majority of present day Canadians feel.
Not that it'll make any difference to a select few here, but I'll try and continue to be helpful and civil in the tech areas of PFF... for now anyway. Here in P&R though, it's probably best if I spend as little time as possible. Nothing stated in this section of the forum will have any impact whatsoever on world affairs... and it's not exactly uplifting to read what's being posted. So what is the point? There is no point.
The author makes some really valid points. It's interesting how clear things can be from a few miles or a few thousand miles away. It's like the old saying, they can't see the forest for the trees.
Patrick, I've always found you a straight-shooter. You've corrected me a few times as only you can but never with malice or spite. I'll miss you and will keep in contact with you on PMs and email. You're welcome visit anytime.
By the way. Canadians may want to rethink becoming a state. I'm assuming if it came into the union, it would come in as 10 states so there would be 20 Senators and a mass of representatives.
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 set the number of members in the US House of Representatives at 435 so unless this law is changed, the other 50 states would have to give up Congressional representation. Imagine what would happen if the Canadian states came in. As a group, you would have as many representatives as California AND 20 senators. I would expect the majority of the voters would be Centrists instead of far right MAGAts.
BTW, do you know the reason that Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are not states? The likelihood is most would vote Democrat which would make it difficult for MAGA to gain control of congress.
Goodbye, joke of a country that couldn't exist without our continued economic and military support and drain on our resources. Welcome, new Americans!
Do you really believe this? There are 24 members of the Commonwealth including the United Kingdom, India, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These five alone could match or exceed the economic and military support of the U.S. Commonwealth countries may have their differences but they certainly don't wait until forced into something to react and they tend to do what's best for the Commonwealth, not the individual nations.
Calling Canada a joke of a country that couldn't exist without the U.S.' continued economic and military support is foolish and spiteful. You should open up your Trump Bible (the one printed in China with the Constitution in it) to Matthew 7:3-5. It says: "Or how can you say to your neighbour, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye' while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour's eye."
BTW, do you know the reason that Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are not states? The likelihood is most would vote Democrat which would make it difficult for MAGA to gain control of congress.
Seriously? You don't remember or realize that House of Representatives, the Senate and the Oval Office have in the past and very recently been under complete control of Democrats and, had the Dems wanted PR and the DC of Columbia then it could have happened. While I don't know all the reasons, what I do believe is that if either side wanted statehood for those two it would have happened already.
Rams
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 02-11-2025).]
Originally posted by Vintage-Nut: Edit - Going back to USA, the next two years will be interesting in California; Newsom approves $50M to fight against the common-sense approach; again
That's why I ask, where are the crazy idiots with guns who like to shoot random people when you really need them?
First thing I see is that they're saying they're going to punish New York, Seattle, Portland, and Detroit... all cities that have basically become complete **** -holes as a result of leftist policies.
There's this comment that I find interesting: "I look across the border now and see a violent, burgeoning autocracy now ever on the edge of civil war."
I can assure you, the United States is not on the edge of civil war. The United States is now more resolved than it has been since 9/11. Despite what you may see on the liberal news stations... there was a CNN poll (I can't find it now), that, even though Trump's approval rating is 54%, more than 70% of respondents (keep in mind, a small majority of them were left-leaning), actually support what Trump is doing. That means that even though they don't like him, they support what he's doing.
Respectfully, Patrick... for many people, politics has become a team sport. For people like Ray (respectfully), being "Democrat" is not only their identity... it's their religion. A refution of their party is viewed as a complete rejection of themselves... and this is how they take it. This is a really important distinction, because most Republicans are not like this. When Obama won, I was bummed a little... figured, ok, we'll see what happens. When Biden won, I was also bummed... at no point though did I cry... I mean, my God? But every left-leaning person I know... cried real tears when Trump won. Not the second time so much, but the first time. For them, they'd believed the hype that the world was going to end... but more importantly, it was a direct refute to their own belief system (or so they believed). For these kinds of people, being "wrong" is difficult, and when an entire country says you're wrong, it's even harder to take.
But Trump isn't ending the world. The country has been run horribly for quite some time... I mean, let's not beat around the bush here. We had completely open borders. There are mass tent-encampments all over the left-leaning cities, everywhere. Inflation was through the roof, and things have gotten SO BAD... that Democrat-inclined but politically uninvolved people were starting to feel significant pain. The constant propaganda of culture war nonsense was simply too much for people...
Furthermore, Trump is now doing what President Milei did... eliminating unnecessary government organizations that the Democrats have basically turned into political-action arms... which, no matter what your beliefs are, was absolutely not appropriate for them to politicize. Trump is basically significantly reducing the ability for Government to manipulate the public by cutting off the funding streams and action-arms of the government... USAID, Department of Energy, etc. These are things that should not have been used that way, and now they've run their course.
You're upset obviously because you don't like your country being pushed around. Totally understandable... but we can all benefit from more money being spent at home, than abroad fighting useless wars and overthrowing other people's governments.
Originally posted by Mike in Sydney: BTW, do you know the reason that Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are not states? The likelihood is most would vote Democrat which would make it difficult for MAGA to gain control of congress.
D.C. cannot become a state. It would be unconstitutional as it would have undue influence on the seat of the nation. Democrats keep floating the idea, but it would get thrown out in the Supreme Court unequivocally.
Originally posted by Mike in Sydney: By the way. Canadians may want to rethink becoming a state. I'm assuming if it came into the union, it would come in as 10 states so there would be 20 Senators and a mass of representatives.
Think about that. Think hard. How many of those States would be liberal lunatics ? America is a fly over bastion of power.
Did you know, when Texas approved induction to be a USA State on December 29, 1845, we were granted the right to create five distinct States with ten Senators.
[This message has been edited by cliffw (edited 02-11-2025).]
Originally posted by Mike in Sydney: BTW, do you know the reason that Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are not states? The likelihood is most would vote Democrat which would make it difficult for MAGA to gain control of congress.
My. That is shallow.
Are you really trying to say that MAGA has been impeding that goal since 1494 ? When Columbus sailed the blue.
Why the hell does the District of Columbia need Congressional representation ?
Are you really trying to say that MAGA has been impeding that goal since 1494 ? When Columbus sailed the blue.
Why the hell does the District of Columbia need Congressional representation ?
Get it right, Cliff. Not 1494. In 1492, Columbus discovered San Salvador. In 1493, Columbus discovered Puerto Rico. Columbus never discovered America. Leif Ericsson did. (BTW, Leif was born in Iceland, which was owned or bound to Denmark until 1944. So, maybe the Danes and Icelanders have a valid claim to North America?)
More to the point...No, Cliff, I'm not saying MAGA has been impeding Statehood for D.C. since 1494. But the District of Columbia has more residents than either Wyoming or Vermont. If Wyoming and Vermont have congressional representation, why not D.C.? O.K., it may require an Amendment to the Constitution but why should 700K+ voters be disenfranchised?
And while I'm on the subject, Puerto Rico has a population greater than the combined population of the six smallest states. If these states have congressional representation, why not Puerto Rico? Maybe the U.S. should just grant them total independence like they did for the Philippines in 1946. It would certainly eliminate the possibility of having anti-MAGA representation in the Senate and Congress since they would be a sovereign nation.
Originally posted by Mike in Sydney: More to the point...No, Cliff, I'm not saying MAGA has been impeding Statehood for D.C. since 1494.
Whoa there big fella, what happened to it being MAGA's fault.
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Originally posted by Mike in Sydney: BTW, do you know the reason that Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are not states?
All that other mentioned stuff is simply a distraction from what you previously posted. I'm still maintaining that if the Dems wanted such representation for PR and DC, it would have been done long ago.
Rams
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 02-11-2025).]
Originally posted by Mike in Sydney: Get it right, Cliff.
Why do you always embarrass me in public, .
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Originally posted by Mike in Sydney: Not 1494. In 1492, Columbus discovered San Salvador. In 1493, Columbus discovered Puerto Rico. Columbus never discovered America. Leif Ericsson did. (BTW, Leif was born in Iceland, which was owned or bound to Denmark until 1944. So, maybe the Danes and Icelanders have a valid claim to North America?)
Interesting points I had forgotten. Yes, Leif Ericsson did discover an unknown land, Canada I believe. Newfoundland. New found land. Just by being bored and seeing what was next to see. Columbus sailed to challenge Anthony Fauci the science that the world was flat. He was looking for India, Indian tea. Which did not happen but that is why native Americans are called Indians.
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Originally posted by Mike in Sydney: More to the point...No, Cliff, I'm not saying MAGA has been impeding Statehood for D.C. since 1494. But the District of Columbia has more residents than either Wyoming or Vermont. If Wyoming and Vermont have congressional representation, why not D.C.? O.K., it may require an Amendment to the Constitution but why should 700K+ voters be disenfranchised?
Heh, so much to say. First, most every resident in D.C. has a home elsewhere where they can vote. I can understand why some might move to Texas, Florida, Tennessee, even California. I can not think of one reason to move to D.C. unless you are a government critter.
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Originally posted by Mike in Sydney: And while I'm on the subject, Puerto Rico has a population greater than the combined population of the six smallest states. If these states have congressional representation, why not Puerto Rico? Maybe the U.S. should just grant them total independence like they did for the Philippines in 1946. It would certainly eliminate the possibility of having anti-MAGA representation in the Senate and Congress since they would be a sovereign nation.
Is Puerto Rico wanting independence ? No. When was the Philippines a USA territory ? Does Puerto Rico have a greater population than Gaza ? The number of population, ... is not a good argument. Hence the reason for our Electoral College.
. . Vancouver, where there are plenty of mindreaders, tickle the lumps, pick the noodle. It's the end of the world as we know it ! Aaugghh ! The end is nigh ! Repent ! Seek out the Sasquatch on Hope Mountain, ask them the meaning of life, you must be pure, full of love, honest. You must not be afraid, they mean you no harm, they will prank you, teen humour, like. Make it an adventure, seeking revelation, bring food, they like food offerings. So close, yet light years away ! You have to believe in the force, yes, that force. Then, you will be well.
So, maybe the Danes and Icelanders have a valid claim to North America?)
Come and take it.
They could not, on their combined best day take, much less fight their way back out of the combined towns where I live and shop. (CopperasCove/Killeen Tx)
Does anybody else see what I think the author's main point is?
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Goodbye to tepid patriotism. If Trump has done us any favour, it is awakening us to the fact that we can no longer take Canada’s existence for granted, that the bad actors in the world have begun to look covetously upon our improbably vast land that is laden with riches, that they want those riches and that niceness as a national character is not enough to dissuade them from taking them. Schoolyard bullies don’t want to be buddies. They want your lunch.
And after a long era of living a geopolitical life of convenient economic and military subservience, we’ve awakened to the fact that we are going to have to relearn our independence and fight any way we can to keep it.
Goodbye to living under the American nuclear umbrella, or any form of American hegemony. Goodbye to negotiation, wheedling, genuflecting or feel-good hands-across-the-border fairy tales.
You're big enough to take care of yourself. Always were. But to have him slap you in the face like that hurts. Understandable. The big kid next door isn't going to protect you from the bullies any more. The bullies aren't just the kid down the street, but now gangs from the next town. And the fight isn't just a fight. It's technological, cultural, and a million more ways.
America is, honestly, having a tough time dealing with it's enemies. And having to protect (and pay for) everyone of our friends who are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, is making it harder. Were we going to invade or annex Canada? No, that's nuts, and Trump knows it. You do, too. But Canada needed a wake up call, along with NATO. You say goodbye to the American hegemony? Good. We're tired of planting and trimming the hedge alone.
Does anybody else see what I think the author's main point is?
You're big enough to take care of yourself. Always were. But to have him slap you in the face like that hurts. Understandable. The big kid next door isn't going to protect you from the bullies any more. The bullies aren't just the kid down the street, but now gangs from the next town. And the fight isn't just a fight. It's technological, cultural, and a million more ways.
America is, honestly, having a tough time dealing with it's enemies. And having to protect (and pay for) everyone of our friends who are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, is making it harder. Were we going to invade or annex Canada? No, that's nuts, and Trump knows it. You do, too. But Canada needed a wake up call, along with NATO. You say goodbye to the American hegemony? Good. We're tired of planting and trimming the hedge alone.
Agreed, Canada is rich in resources but not so well off in the size of their population versus the size of their country. If Canada were to be attacked, defending it with the Canadian population would be extremely difficult if the attacker was a major military country like Russia or China. Without US support, it would not be pretty. I have no doubt the US would assist if not simply take over the defense.
Allowing Canada to join the US could make everything easier and safer for all concerned, the hard part would be overcoming the pride issue. Mexico is an entirely different issue IMHO.
Rams
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 02-16-2025).]
Allowing Canada to join the US could make everything easier and safer for all concerned, the hard part would be overcoming the pride issue. Mexico is an entirely different issue IMHO.
Rams
Trump doesn't actually want Canada. Remember, he's a businessman, and a New York businessman at that. The Art of The Deal is to start off asking for the moon. When you settle for an arm and a leg, they think they've won.
In the event Canada gets invaded by somebody not us, we'd intervene, of course. Everybody knows that. We like Hockey and Maple Syrup, too. We don't share the longest undefended border in the world by disliking each other. But Trump had to get Canadians to look at their country and ask, "Is this what we really want, eh?"
Is Mexico a different issue because it's a corrupt place full of heavily armed cartels, or because it's full of Brown People, and traditionally the USA doesn't deal well with Brown People? I'm genuinely asking, and not accusing anyone of racism, but let's face facts. Aside from Quebec, the average Canadian is little different that the average Mainer or Minnesotan. (Please don't be insulted by that. I didn't compare you to people from New Jersey.) We tried having a completely different sub population with the Native Americans. Look how well that worked out. An entire nation of Mexicans would be a disaster for both of us.
Is Mexico a different issue because it's a corrupt place full of heavily armed cartels, or because it's full of Brown People.
Just last week I had a contractor at my home for a project, as he was leaving, he asked me if I was alright with an Hispanic crew doing the work.
I responded by saying that I didn't give a damn if they were Hispanic, Chinese, black, green or Indian, just as long as they were here legally and could do quality work.. My response to your honest question is an honest reply, Corruption within the Mexican Government and the Cartels, human, drug trafficking and illegal entry is where I draw the line.
Rams
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 02-17-2025).]
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