As someone with a more than passing familiarity with librarian culture, Matt & Jen’s rhapsodizing of librarians as bastions of free speech brings out an “Oh my sweet summer child” from me.
The latest generation of librarians, including those now moving into management, have been at the forefront of the wokescold movement. Does no one remember the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians‘ protest letter about TPL permitting Megan Murphy to speak on their premises? Try to borrow a book that espouses gender heresy from VPL, I wish you luck. Spending 10 minutes on what is probably the most popular librarian Facebook group, ALA Think Tank, will quickly disabuse you of any notion that today’s librarians are crusaders for free speech (I cannot do so, however — TERFs are explicitly banned from joining). Genderwang is not the *only* shibboleth of 21st century library culture, though it’s probably the biggest.
The principle of free speech has not been a cornerstone of modern MLIS education for at least 15 years, but probably longer. To be fair, I’d like to think it was originally dropped because at the time, it just seemed so self-evident that departments thought it would never face challenge, or certainly not from within. They never foresaw the rise of DEI & emotional safetyism.
The line was crossed in Trump 1.0, but it was so inept that it wasn't scary. This time it different. It was crossed in the campaign. "Vote for me and it could be the last time you have to."
I caught that, but so many many people did not noticed those words. I do not see it pointed to as much as it should be. I think he slipped up on it in public only once.
G & G, you keep giving MC "the benefit of the doubt" but I just cannot agree. He "needs time" you say. As you said these things you also recalled that we are supposed to be "on a war time footing." Somehow your statements just do not add up. Remember also that during the election campaign it was made very clear by MC and his acolytes that Canada was in an "economic war" with the US and .... blah, blah, blah elbows blah, blah, blah.
I offer for you the news that Germany commissioned a floating LNG import terminal, announcing the idea of the Wilhelmshaven terminal in May, 2022, starting construction July 4, 2022, completed November 15, 2022. A total of 194 days from start of conception to completion.
MC has been the Big Kahuna for 168 days as of today (August 29, 2025) and he hasn't even announced ONE project that WILL proceed. He (allegedly) has opened a "major projects office" in Calgary. Ooops. It seems that the new Big Kahuna of the MPO was announced today. When and where the MPO will open, will staff up and other relevant details isn't terribly clear.
Aha! Announcements. Announcements are progress - right? Nope.
The Germans were able to build a new LNG port in 194 days. We cannot even announce a project after 168 days. The Germans were NOT on war time footing but they did it ALL in 194 days.
I repeat myself. You are far, far too easy on MC. Put differently, you sully yourselves by allowing MC to act like JT and to judge him on that basis.
I agree. Jen sounds absolutely Pollyanna-ish about Carney sometimes. Matt has some concerns, but seems reluctant to mention them. And that's fine. I try to give a new leader the benefit of the doubt to some extent as well. I don't hate Carney, but I don't quite trust him.
Excellent points. The world order has changed. US falling into shadow. Europe is preparing for war. Sorry, he should be up to his ears right now in contracts. It was Carney who put off a budget until the fall. It was Carney who said Canada will support a Palestinian state if certain criteria are met. It was Carney who raised everyone's expectations for a deal with the felon in the white house. So, no free rides IMHO.
We have a federal government that culturally is Francophone and it was summer vacation. Few things are more sacred than figuring out ways to work less when the weather is nice for that culture.
Accountability? Do you want Canada to fall apart by demanding people do what they say? Besides, we are too "polite" to cause that sort of conflict. We voted against Pierre because he was too "American" meaning results orientated and conflict friendly.
Wars can wait, the backyard pool calls. Vacation, like union strikes is a right after all. Meanwhile Canada collapses under the weight of our pathologies.
For me, people voted against Poilievre (or PEE PEE to those who really #$% hate him and need anger management classes. But PEE PEE? Serious? Holy jeez step back from social media) because he is unlikeable in the vote-rich parts of the country. Sure the CPC got 40% in the last election but they aren't the government.
The CPC in its current configuration will not win a national election. People vote for people thy like and trust. The smarmy apple case, while madly popular with the CPC, I think had the opposite effect on the electorate. They parked their votes with the CPC because Trudeau was still PM. He's gone and is replaced by a coronated former banker. I think Canadians are tired of the online wars dripping into their lives on traditional media and online. Just do your effing jobs. That's all. Poilievre's job is to oppose - and also to oppose while not saying what he would do differently because that is not relevant. He is opposition leader. He opposes. The news media needs to be reminded of this and Canadians need civics lessons.
Most Canadians in the most vote rich areas of Canada lean left. That apple episode with Pierre was a litmus test of sorts just like black face was for Justin.
People will present many facts on why they ignore one but focus on the other but usually it's because it validates their preconceived notions.
One thing is for sure though, Canada will be a very different place once the Central Canadian boomers and their little brother syndrome with the Americans is no longer with us.
It's again cultural. Canadians have a cultural aversion to personal accountability and the conflict it causes. We choose equality, equity and "politeness" over results time and time again. Great if your primary goal it to keep your society from falling apart, but awful if you want to actually grow and improve things
Milo, yes, there is a cultural aversion to accountability and conflict.
I disagree, however that that is "great" in keeping a society from falling apart. Actually, it seems to me that the stagnation it encourages brings on the dissolution of society whereas accountability and modest conflict arising therefrom allow the possibility of improvement.
Just like in finance where the saying that a bubble can exist longer than you can stay solvent, in politics kicking the can down the road can go on for longer than people thought possible.
As long as the money printing machine runs 24/7 it can literally and figuratively paper over a lot.
Realistically, for the winner, the job of getting re-elected begins the day after the election. For me, the entire parliamentary system needs a complete reboot so the focus can be back on the people that elected them. I see no reason to think otherwise. And now I read that Poilievre is going back to railing against the carbon tax, I see no evidence the CPC has learned anything from the last three elections they lost which they should have won.
In your opinion what should he be focusing on? The pathologies of Canadian baby boomers and their eternal little brother syndrome coupled with their entitlement? Votes in urban Canada, again entitlement mongering?
You can't make the CPC into something it isn't. They will never be able to out Liberal the Liberals. Waiting out for the boomers to die out IMHO is the long game.
I'll remind Jen and Matt that Trump hasn't touched any private citizens firearms yet, unlike the Canadian government with its various prohibitions and stillborn buyback confiscation scheme. Also, the US government hasn't locked down the bank accounts of those who protest or even represent those against their agenda. It's Canada also who has put the media on their payroll, not the US.
(That's my totalitarian line btw, when citizens are disarmed and punished for protesting and when media is bought off)
Canadians are great at criticizing Americans, I just wish we were as great at being accountable to our own people.
The final, irrevocable red line for me will be when the US armed forces are required to take a personal oath of loyalty to the president not the constitution.
Yes right on. That is the red line. It does not exist in Canada. Canada’s oaths are to the King as represented by the Governor General and the PM from whom life and liberty flows by a document called a Charter (which means permission ). Poor Abe Lincoln must have turned over in his grave when Canada adopted the Charter and negated a thousand years of British rights and freedoms. (Gettysburg address? C’est quoi ça, calisse? Des menteries de têtes carrées, Ben oui)
I'd really like a discussion on our Canadian red lines. How much antisemetism are we going to accept? How much debanking? How much crime? How much media control? etc.
Yepp. To me Canada, is sleepwalking alongside a cliff. Reminder to us - Canada never ever had a widespread conservative newspaper until the National Post came along.
Theoretical question looking for no answer here: Was that healthy for the development of the political literacy of citizenry ?
Covid disrupted Canada's self-correction ability, and Trump recently dealt it another blow. Things aren't supposed to be the way they are right now in Canada, and likely wouldn't be if the pandemic hadn't happened.
Trudeau blew a lot of money prior to the pandemic and was dividing citizens right from the start of his tenure. Covid just put us further in debt and widened those cracks.
He was also well on track to lose after 2019 before the pandemic gave him the ability to plow ahead unchecked and spend unlimited money before calling a wedge-issue-extravaganza election in 2021. Circumstances (exacerbated by media capture) have given the Liberals two extra governments at this point.
"He was also well on track to lose after 2019 before the pandemic"
What are you basing that claim on?
In 2019 and 2021 the Liberals won slightly less of the popular vote than the Conservatives, so some polls showing the Conservatives with 1-2% voter lead would not amount to the Trudeau Liberals being "well on track to lose after 2019 before the pandemic".
Given that Trudeau called the 2021 election because the Liberals were in August that year kicking the Conservatives' butts in the polls, you could just as easily argue that Trudeau artificially destroyed the goodwill that the Liberals had successfully built up - as opposed to your insinuation that the Liberals were given a gift by "Circumstances (exacerbated by media capture)".
Sinking polling between the election and the start of the pandemic, and a growing sense of general stagnation and disarray. I recall many others including Matt Gurney making the same point, that we had arrived in 2024 to the point in party support where we would have been years earlier if not for the pandemic.
Considering the Liberals had just spent half a trillion dollars buying public support and their leader had been telecasting soothing tones through TV's on a daily basis while half the country either didn't know who the CPC leader even was in August 2021, or thought this Erin person was probably female, that election was very very close.
I'm interested to see what an election looks like that's not run in the middle of a real or apprehended national crisis. We've had two of those back to back now.
I am not sure what the "sinking polling" is that you are talking about. When I look up polling in February 2020 for example, I do see an Angus Reid poll with the CPC 8% ahead but also a Campaign Research poll with the CPC and LPC tied: https://338canada.com/20200226-ang.htm
At any rate, although there certainly was a pro-incumbency phenomenon across the democratic world in 2021, you are glossing over the strong continuity between the 2019 and the 2021 election results. It looks more like the pandemic fundamentally failing to change anyone's minds than the pandemic artificially creating a return to the past.
Crises are an inevitable part of the human condition. If the Conservatives can only bank on winning elections hoping that they will luck out with the inevitable not happening, well then...
It's kinda sweet that ya'll can still summon justifiable outrage that the former PM couldn't think his way to the incredibly-obvious-to-those-paying-attention strategic value of shipping Canadian energy resources to Germany & Japan. Not to mention what it might have done for relations with western Canada. I think I've been outraged enough times that now it's more like '<sigh> whatevs, that seems to be what some Canadians want, I wonder what it'll take to change their minds?' But to answer the actual question you asked about red lines: mine is when the words and non-verbals of leaders or prospective leaders leak their contempt for the people paying their salaries, which often goes alongside an attitude of 'democratic checks and balances are for schmucks'. Which we don't need to look south of the border to see. It's happening here, too. It is not confined to one end of the political spectrum. The old horseshoe analogy works.
Yes re. an attitude of 'democratic checks and balances are for schmucks'. To me it is obvious that Carney has no use for the HoC, and it will become very obvious in the fall session.
"Grab her by the pussy" was the moment I knew he wasn't fit for the job and "Fight, fight, fight" was when I knew the switch had flipped.
Civil War (the film) lives rent free in my head these days. Alex Garland's film felt like a clairvoyant look at the prequel to that film, and like Matt, I was most impacted by the scene where they go dress shopping in the town.
Quoting the famous words of my sister when we talk about climate change "It's not a big deal if you just don't think about it".
Red line for me would be if DJT tries to stay on after the current term.
I wish all the people commenting on your piece about fascism in the U.S. would reflect and comment on Justin Trudeau's reign in Canada. It seems we forget very quickly - Green (slush) Fund scandal that disrupted parliament before he proroged where the Auditor General reported 150+ issues in handing out grants and the government defied parliament's request for the records and even the Spealers order. Pandemic producement, where we spent billions with no transparency and accountability. Vaccine mandates forcing people to choose between taking it or losing their jobs. The bills to restrict free speech packaged as harm reduction online which you have commented on. Foreign interference and lack of transparency on what was really happening (we still don't have the registry promised many years ago). Invoking the Emergency Act. The reaction to anyone questioning their narrative, whether Covid related, residential schools, potential mass grave sites, climate related programs like the Carbon Tax, etc. All of this brough about by centralized power in the PMO which means our nation is much closer to a dictator in practice than the U.S. especially when there is a majority government. We need changes in how our federal government works to distribute power better and transparency (a simple example would be to have a parliamentary committee for approving appointments, like judges).
Green slush fund - naked corruption, informed by the admittedly fascistic green ideology.
Pandemic procurement - corruption & laziness mixed with political opportunism, not fascism.
Vaccine mandates - mildly fascistic, but mostly political opportunism, and driven equally by the PM and PMO.
Free speech restricting bills - mostly corruption, but I'll grant mildly fascistic, and I think driven by the PMO more than PMJT.
Emergency Act - mildly fascistic, but more so a narcissistic attempt by PMJT to have a 'just watch me' moment of his own akin to his father.
Carbon Tax - a mix of fascism (green ideology) and simple corruption to feed Green slush fund.
You are correct that Canada in practice is even more dictatorial than the US, but that didn't start with PMJT - it's been building steadily since Trudeau the Elder.
H E L L T O T H E Y E S to Jen regarding our former PM (Peace Be Upon Him) and his 'no business case' for LNG but a TEENS (pun intended) of BILLIONS of $$$ for EV battery plants for EV cars that FEW people want (regardless of Trump slashing EV mandates) because they're perfectly happy with their ICE or (non-plug-in) hybrid cars (which ARE actually proven and practical tech)!!
The reports made it clear (drawing in part on classified intelligence and detailed investigations) that Russian interference in the 2016 election was significant.
To suggest otherwise is to disseminate false information.
The first red line is always freedom of the press. The great 20th century fascists always threatened the needs outlets first. McCarthyism saw journalists discredited in the communist purges.
Putin controls the press in Russia and China has strict limits today. In the west however the information war is waged by flooding the channels with ideological junk. The political left seems to have the upper hand here.
When Rachel Maddow is on a plane to San Salvador the US had definitely stepped over he line.
The political left seems to have the upper hand here? Seriously? Have you not heard of an organization called Fox News? It was a terrible mistake to let them operate like they do by repealing the Fairness Doctrine. Msnbc, for example, is a news organization with a political slant. Fox News is not a news organization. It's a propaganda machine dressed up as a news organization. There is no President Trump without Fox News.
NBC has a political slant. MSNBC is continuous anti Trump, anti Republican dialog. I say "seems" because MSNBC is a lot better produced than Fox and seems to be more available without commercials. I note however that CNBC wants to change the name to "MS Now", probably to distance themselves from the content. MSNBC seems to have had a fall off in viewers lately ( if you believe the New York Post ) and the audience may be tiring of the content.
Regarding Trump and America’s spiral towards authoritarianism, Dan Carlin’s Common Sense did an incredible podcast on the methodical deterioration of the power of Congress in favour of the executive branch through the use of “emergency use authorization.” Episode is here - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/common-sense-with-dan-carlin/id155974141
It’s well worth a listen.
What we’re seeing now is a President ruling by fiat, and justifying the use of explicitly unconstitutional power through “emergency use” declarations. I think we’ve crossed a number of red lines as far as offenses against the constitution- and it isn’t/wasn’t just Trump. What I’m waiting to see is what the SCOTUS has to say about it. It looks like the appeals court ruling against Trump regarding the use of emergency powers to justify tariffs will go before them. If they reverse this decision, essentially anything can be deemed an emergency at any time and federal executive power/policy can be brought to bear. Not a step back in the right direction to say the least…
On the note of the judiciary, I will pivot to Canada. Is it possible that our judicial institution lives within the same deluded filtered information space as our politicians do? The rulings and precedence that are being set are popularly and dangerously out of step with public sediment/reality. I am finding myself feeling at a boiling point with public disorder and a lax, seemingly indifferent judiciary. It seems dumbfounding to me that we would need to explain to a judge that a chronic criminal should not be released on bail for the 14th time.. or that a dangerous offender should get more than maybe 6 years. I’ll admit there are authoritarian solution type feelings bubbling up for me on this issue. The David Frum quote referenced seems to apply to this one for me in Canada. Time for our collective judicial system to get their heads out of their asses.. before Canadians look to solve this in a different, more illiberal way.
I don't think that's it. I think it's that Trump is himself so erratic that it's hard to pin down a coherent political ideology. Most fascist movements are ideologically coherent. Trumpism isn't. What comes after Trump's personality cult moves past his natural lifespan, however long that proves, may be more recognizable.
Despite his mercurial attitude he never misses an opportunity to grift money. A lot of that is getting ignored/sidelined this time. It’s incoherent because he’s primarily a high class grifter.
Donald sold his country’s grand strategy for bitcoins. Donald also bullies companies like a Third world bureaucrat to seek rent money from them.
Indeed. The *good* thing about Trump is his age — he cannot live forever. It the next-in-lines we need to watch. Saw a meme this morning — a red ball cap with ˆWaiting for the big beautiful obituaryˆ.
I hold out hope that the guy drops dead, which I think would unambiguously benefit almost everyone at this point. I'm not even very far down the Trump=fascism hole, but if you want to make the comparison, he's considerably closer in age to Hindenburg in 1933 than to Hitler.
Yes. But just corruption is NOT just corruption. The scale, breadth, depth and speed of it took me really aback. The institutions are rapidly being corrupted. That is where the dangers are. If this is not stopped, before you know it you are into fascism, political prisoners and very large prisons for them, that is concentration camps. This is not a new dance, it is an old dance.
Naaah, this is classic third world style corruption. It’s just in its early stages.
Trump is basically an regular third world bureaucrat. He “rent seeks” (i.e. abuses laws to solicit payment) like a third world bureaucrat. And just like a third world bureaucrats he is walking scam.
You're right that Trump is a grifter through and through and not an idealogue. But don't forget the Project 2025 people who are very much Christian fascists. They're the ones that produced the stack of executive orders that he signed without having much understanding of what he was actually doing. It's becoming increasingly clear that their dream is a society like Margaret Atwood's Gilead. And then there's the Steve Bannon crowd who are determined the Trump is getting a third term. It would be a big mistake to not take them seriously.
A big red line for me would be when the government directs banks to freeze bank accounts of participants and/or supporters of anti-government protests without due process. Another one is when the government takes steps to confiscate all handguns owned by residents. Another one is making mass media financially dependent so that their reporting can be influenced.
Neither has happened in the USA so far AFAIK, only in Canada.
As someone with a more than passing familiarity with librarian culture, Matt & Jen’s rhapsodizing of librarians as bastions of free speech brings out an “Oh my sweet summer child” from me.
The latest generation of librarians, including those now moving into management, have been at the forefront of the wokescold movement. Does no one remember the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians‘ protest letter about TPL permitting Megan Murphy to speak on their premises? Try to borrow a book that espouses gender heresy from VPL, I wish you luck. Spending 10 minutes on what is probably the most popular librarian Facebook group, ALA Think Tank, will quickly disabuse you of any notion that today’s librarians are crusaders for free speech (I cannot do so, however — TERFs are explicitly banned from joining). Genderwang is not the *only* shibboleth of 21st century library culture, though it’s probably the biggest.
The principle of free speech has not been a cornerstone of modern MLIS education for at least 15 years, but probably longer. To be fair, I’d like to think it was originally dropped because at the time, it just seemed so self-evident that departments thought it would never face challenge, or certainly not from within. They never foresaw the rise of DEI & emotional safetyism.
I'd take an article about this!
The line was crossed in Trump 1.0, but it was so inept that it wasn't scary. This time it different. It was crossed in the campaign. "Vote for me and it could be the last time you have to."
I caught that, but so many many people did not noticed those words. I do not see it pointed to as much as it should be. I think he slipped up on it in public only once.
G & G, you keep giving MC "the benefit of the doubt" but I just cannot agree. He "needs time" you say. As you said these things you also recalled that we are supposed to be "on a war time footing." Somehow your statements just do not add up. Remember also that during the election campaign it was made very clear by MC and his acolytes that Canada was in an "economic war" with the US and .... blah, blah, blah elbows blah, blah, blah.
I offer for you the news that Germany commissioned a floating LNG import terminal, announcing the idea of the Wilhelmshaven terminal in May, 2022, starting construction July 4, 2022, completed November 15, 2022. A total of 194 days from start of conception to completion.
MC has been the Big Kahuna for 168 days as of today (August 29, 2025) and he hasn't even announced ONE project that WILL proceed. He (allegedly) has opened a "major projects office" in Calgary. Ooops. It seems that the new Big Kahuna of the MPO was announced today. When and where the MPO will open, will staff up and other relevant details isn't terribly clear.
Aha! Announcements. Announcements are progress - right? Nope.
The Germans were able to build a new LNG port in 194 days. We cannot even announce a project after 168 days. The Germans were NOT on war time footing but they did it ALL in 194 days.
I repeat myself. You are far, far too easy on MC. Put differently, you sully yourselves by allowing MC to act like JT and to judge him on that basis.
I agree. Jen sounds absolutely Pollyanna-ish about Carney sometimes. Matt has some concerns, but seems reluctant to mention them. And that's fine. I try to give a new leader the benefit of the doubt to some extent as well. I don't hate Carney, but I don't quite trust him.
The truth is, I absolutely don't trust him.
I simply see him as a more sophisticated continuation of the previous regime.
Excellent points. The world order has changed. US falling into shadow. Europe is preparing for war. Sorry, he should be up to his ears right now in contracts. It was Carney who put off a budget until the fall. It was Carney who said Canada will support a Palestinian state if certain criteria are met. It was Carney who raised everyone's expectations for a deal with the felon in the white house. So, no free rides IMHO.
We have a federal government that culturally is Francophone and it was summer vacation. Few things are more sacred than figuring out ways to work less when the weather is nice for that culture.
Accountability? Do you want Canada to fall apart by demanding people do what they say? Besides, we are too "polite" to cause that sort of conflict. We voted against Pierre because he was too "American" meaning results orientated and conflict friendly.
Wars can wait, the backyard pool calls. Vacation, like union strikes is a right after all. Meanwhile Canada collapses under the weight of our pathologies.
For me, people voted against Poilievre (or PEE PEE to those who really #$% hate him and need anger management classes. But PEE PEE? Serious? Holy jeez step back from social media) because he is unlikeable in the vote-rich parts of the country. Sure the CPC got 40% in the last election but they aren't the government.
The CPC in its current configuration will not win a national election. People vote for people thy like and trust. The smarmy apple case, while madly popular with the CPC, I think had the opposite effect on the electorate. They parked their votes with the CPC because Trudeau was still PM. He's gone and is replaced by a coronated former banker. I think Canadians are tired of the online wars dripping into their lives on traditional media and online. Just do your effing jobs. That's all. Poilievre's job is to oppose - and also to oppose while not saying what he would do differently because that is not relevant. He is opposition leader. He opposes. The news media needs to be reminded of this and Canadians need civics lessons.
Most Canadians in the most vote rich areas of Canada lean left. That apple episode with Pierre was a litmus test of sorts just like black face was for Justin.
People will present many facts on why they ignore one but focus on the other but usually it's because it validates their preconceived notions.
One thing is for sure though, Canada will be a very different place once the Central Canadian boomers and their little brother syndrome with the Americans is no longer with us.
It's again cultural. Canadians have a cultural aversion to personal accountability and the conflict it causes. We choose equality, equity and "politeness" over results time and time again. Great if your primary goal it to keep your society from falling apart, but awful if you want to actually grow and improve things
Milo, yes, there is a cultural aversion to accountability and conflict.
I disagree, however that that is "great" in keeping a society from falling apart. Actually, it seems to me that the stagnation it encourages brings on the dissolution of society whereas accountability and modest conflict arising therefrom allow the possibility of improvement.
Just like in finance where the saying that a bubble can exist longer than you can stay solvent, in politics kicking the can down the road can go on for longer than people thought possible.
As long as the money printing machine runs 24/7 it can literally and figuratively paper over a lot.
Realistically, for the winner, the job of getting re-elected begins the day after the election. For me, the entire parliamentary system needs a complete reboot so the focus can be back on the people that elected them. I see no reason to think otherwise. And now I read that Poilievre is going back to railing against the carbon tax, I see no evidence the CPC has learned anything from the last three elections they lost which they should have won.
In your opinion what should he be focusing on? The pathologies of Canadian baby boomers and their eternal little brother syndrome coupled with their entitlement? Votes in urban Canada, again entitlement mongering?
You can't make the CPC into something it isn't. They will never be able to out Liberal the Liberals. Waiting out for the boomers to die out IMHO is the long game.
Believing that growth/improvement and social cohesion are mutually exclusive is some kind of messed up, buds.
Planning for the Wilhelmshaven terminal started in 2017, according to Wikipedia.
Construction July 3, 2022, completion November 15, 2022 and we cannot even announce a project.
Indeed, but you said "announcing the idea of the Wilhelmshaven terminal in May, 2022".
I'll remind Jen and Matt that Trump hasn't touched any private citizens firearms yet, unlike the Canadian government with its various prohibitions and stillborn buyback confiscation scheme. Also, the US government hasn't locked down the bank accounts of those who protest or even represent those against their agenda. It's Canada also who has put the media on their payroll, not the US.
(That's my totalitarian line btw, when citizens are disarmed and punished for protesting and when media is bought off)
Canadians are great at criticizing Americans, I just wish we were as great at being accountable to our own people.
100%
The final, irrevocable red line for me will be when the US armed forces are required to take a personal oath of loyalty to the president not the constitution.
Already there — look at all the service Chiefs who were purged and replaced with ones who passed the loyalty test.
Yes right on. That is the red line. It does not exist in Canada. Canada’s oaths are to the King as represented by the Governor General and the PM from whom life and liberty flows by a document called a Charter (which means permission ). Poor Abe Lincoln must have turned over in his grave when Canada adopted the Charter and negated a thousand years of British rights and freedoms. (Gettysburg address? C’est quoi ça, calisse? Des menteries de têtes carrées, Ben oui)
I'd really like a discussion on our Canadian red lines. How much antisemetism are we going to accept? How much debanking? How much crime? How much media control? etc.
Yepp. To me Canada, is sleepwalking alongside a cliff. Reminder to us - Canada never ever had a widespread conservative newspaper until the National Post came along.
Theoretical question looking for no answer here: Was that healthy for the development of the political literacy of citizenry ?
Answer: absolutely not.
Covid disrupted Canada's self-correction ability, and Trump recently dealt it another blow. Things aren't supposed to be the way they are right now in Canada, and likely wouldn't be if the pandemic hadn't happened.
Trudeau blew a lot of money prior to the pandemic and was dividing citizens right from the start of his tenure. Covid just put us further in debt and widened those cracks.
He was also well on track to lose after 2019 before the pandemic gave him the ability to plow ahead unchecked and spend unlimited money before calling a wedge-issue-extravaganza election in 2021. Circumstances (exacerbated by media capture) have given the Liberals two extra governments at this point.
I have lots to say about Canadian voters 😂
"He was also well on track to lose after 2019 before the pandemic"
What are you basing that claim on?
In 2019 and 2021 the Liberals won slightly less of the popular vote than the Conservatives, so some polls showing the Conservatives with 1-2% voter lead would not amount to the Trudeau Liberals being "well on track to lose after 2019 before the pandemic".
Given that Trudeau called the 2021 election because the Liberals were in August that year kicking the Conservatives' butts in the polls, you could just as easily argue that Trudeau artificially destroyed the goodwill that the Liberals had successfully built up - as opposed to your insinuation that the Liberals were given a gift by "Circumstances (exacerbated by media capture)".
Sinking polling between the election and the start of the pandemic, and a growing sense of general stagnation and disarray. I recall many others including Matt Gurney making the same point, that we had arrived in 2024 to the point in party support where we would have been years earlier if not for the pandemic.
Considering the Liberals had just spent half a trillion dollars buying public support and their leader had been telecasting soothing tones through TV's on a daily basis while half the country either didn't know who the CPC leader even was in August 2021, or thought this Erin person was probably female, that election was very very close.
I'm interested to see what an election looks like that's not run in the middle of a real or apprehended national crisis. We've had two of those back to back now.
I am not sure what the "sinking polling" is that you are talking about. When I look up polling in February 2020 for example, I do see an Angus Reid poll with the CPC 8% ahead but also a Campaign Research poll with the CPC and LPC tied: https://338canada.com/20200226-ang.htm
https://338canada.com/20200225-cam.htm The trend is not immediately obvious to me, at least.
At any rate, although there certainly was a pro-incumbency phenomenon across the democratic world in 2021, you are glossing over the strong continuity between the 2019 and the 2021 election results. It looks more like the pandemic fundamentally failing to change anyone's minds than the pandemic artificially creating a return to the past.
Crises are an inevitable part of the human condition. If the Conservatives can only bank on winning elections hoping that they will luck out with the inevitable not happening, well then...
It's kinda sweet that ya'll can still summon justifiable outrage that the former PM couldn't think his way to the incredibly-obvious-to-those-paying-attention strategic value of shipping Canadian energy resources to Germany & Japan. Not to mention what it might have done for relations with western Canada. I think I've been outraged enough times that now it's more like '<sigh> whatevs, that seems to be what some Canadians want, I wonder what it'll take to change their minds?' But to answer the actual question you asked about red lines: mine is when the words and non-verbals of leaders or prospective leaders leak their contempt for the people paying their salaries, which often goes alongside an attitude of 'democratic checks and balances are for schmucks'. Which we don't need to look south of the border to see. It's happening here, too. It is not confined to one end of the political spectrum. The old horseshoe analogy works.
Yes re. an attitude of 'democratic checks and balances are for schmucks'. To me it is obvious that Carney has no use for the HoC, and it will become very obvious in the fall session.
"Grab her by the pussy" was the moment I knew he wasn't fit for the job and "Fight, fight, fight" was when I knew the switch had flipped.
Civil War (the film) lives rent free in my head these days. Alex Garland's film felt like a clairvoyant look at the prequel to that film, and like Matt, I was most impacted by the scene where they go dress shopping in the town.
Quoting the famous words of my sister when we talk about climate change "It's not a big deal if you just don't think about it".
Tbh, we will only know if the US becomes a dictatorship it in retrospect, when its all over.
Even then, its going to be debatable. People still debate whether Quebec under Duplessis would be considered a dictatorship.
Couple of comments.
Red line for me would be if DJT tries to stay on after the current term.
I wish all the people commenting on your piece about fascism in the U.S. would reflect and comment on Justin Trudeau's reign in Canada. It seems we forget very quickly - Green (slush) Fund scandal that disrupted parliament before he proroged where the Auditor General reported 150+ issues in handing out grants and the government defied parliament's request for the records and even the Spealers order. Pandemic producement, where we spent billions with no transparency and accountability. Vaccine mandates forcing people to choose between taking it or losing their jobs. The bills to restrict free speech packaged as harm reduction online which you have commented on. Foreign interference and lack of transparency on what was really happening (we still don't have the registry promised many years ago). Invoking the Emergency Act. The reaction to anyone questioning their narrative, whether Covid related, residential schools, potential mass grave sites, climate related programs like the Carbon Tax, etc. All of this brough about by centralized power in the PMO which means our nation is much closer to a dictator in practice than the U.S. especially when there is a majority government. We need changes in how our federal government works to distribute power better and transparency (a simple example would be to have a parliamentary committee for approving appointments, like judges).
Green slush fund - naked corruption, informed by the admittedly fascistic green ideology.
Pandemic procurement - corruption & laziness mixed with political opportunism, not fascism.
Vaccine mandates - mildly fascistic, but mostly political opportunism, and driven equally by the PM and PMO.
Free speech restricting bills - mostly corruption, but I'll grant mildly fascistic, and I think driven by the PMO more than PMJT.
Emergency Act - mildly fascistic, but more so a narcissistic attempt by PMJT to have a 'just watch me' moment of his own akin to his father.
Carbon Tax - a mix of fascism (green ideology) and simple corruption to feed Green slush fund.
You are correct that Canada in practice is even more dictatorial than the US, but that didn't start with PMJT - it's been building steadily since Trudeau the Elder.
Good points.
Will likely comment on a few things...but first.
H E L L T O T H E Y E S to Jen regarding our former PM (Peace Be Upon Him) and his 'no business case' for LNG but a TEENS (pun intended) of BILLIONS of $$$ for EV battery plants for EV cars that FEW people want (regardless of Trump slashing EV mandates) because they're perfectly happy with their ICE or (non-plug-in) hybrid cars (which ARE actually proven and practical tech)!!
Correct.
However, our former PM The Smirk does not deserve any "Peace Be Upon Him". The persistent contempt he showed us year after year.
My word you guys are all cracked.
Does ANYONE here understand that Russiagate has been revealed to be a fabrication of the DNC and the government intelligence agencies?
Do you understand that the Biden admin worked with social media to censor the speech of ordinary people?
And you’re worried about Trump’s fascism? You’re all cracked…
Both things can be true.
Biden / DNC corruption & abuse of power AND Trump / GOP corruption & abuse of power can both be self-evident.
Utter rubbish.
The reports made it clear (drawing in part on classified intelligence and detailed investigations) that Russian interference in the 2016 election was significant.
To suggest otherwise is to disseminate false information.
Educate yourself: https://www.cjr.org/special_report/trumped-up-press-versus-president-part-1.php
A review undertaken by the office of a Trump appointee who had a history of pro-Russian comments hardly counts as non-partisan and credible.
Further reading : https://open.substack.com/pub/taibbi/p/in-brutal-document-release-the-russia?r=b0bnv&utm_medium=ios
The first red line is always freedom of the press. The great 20th century fascists always threatened the needs outlets first. McCarthyism saw journalists discredited in the communist purges.
Putin controls the press in Russia and China has strict limits today. In the west however the information war is waged by flooding the channels with ideological junk. The political left seems to have the upper hand here.
When Rachel Maddow is on a plane to San Salvador the US had definitely stepped over he line.
The political left seems to have the upper hand here? Seriously? Have you not heard of an organization called Fox News? It was a terrible mistake to let them operate like they do by repealing the Fairness Doctrine. Msnbc, for example, is a news organization with a political slant. Fox News is not a news organization. It's a propaganda machine dressed up as a news organization. There is no President Trump without Fox News.
NBC has a political slant. MSNBC is continuous anti Trump, anti Republican dialog. I say "seems" because MSNBC is a lot better produced than Fox and seems to be more available without commercials. I note however that CNBC wants to change the name to "MS Now", probably to distance themselves from the content. MSNBC seems to have had a fall off in viewers lately ( if you believe the New York Post ) and the audience may be tiring of the content.
Regarding Trump and America’s spiral towards authoritarianism, Dan Carlin’s Common Sense did an incredible podcast on the methodical deterioration of the power of Congress in favour of the executive branch through the use of “emergency use authorization.” Episode is here - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/common-sense-with-dan-carlin/id155974141
It’s well worth a listen.
What we’re seeing now is a President ruling by fiat, and justifying the use of explicitly unconstitutional power through “emergency use” declarations. I think we’ve crossed a number of red lines as far as offenses against the constitution- and it isn’t/wasn’t just Trump. What I’m waiting to see is what the SCOTUS has to say about it. It looks like the appeals court ruling against Trump regarding the use of emergency powers to justify tariffs will go before them. If they reverse this decision, essentially anything can be deemed an emergency at any time and federal executive power/policy can be brought to bear. Not a step back in the right direction to say the least…
On the note of the judiciary, I will pivot to Canada. Is it possible that our judicial institution lives within the same deluded filtered information space as our politicians do? The rulings and precedence that are being set are popularly and dangerously out of step with public sediment/reality. I am finding myself feeling at a boiling point with public disorder and a lax, seemingly indifferent judiciary. It seems dumbfounding to me that we would need to explain to a judge that a chronic criminal should not be released on bail for the 14th time.. or that a dangerous offender should get more than maybe 6 years. I’ll admit there are authoritarian solution type feelings bubbling up for me on this issue. The David Frum quote referenced seems to apply to this one for me in Canada. Time for our collective judicial system to get their heads out of their asses.. before Canadians look to solve this in a different, more illiberal way.
The probable reason why Matt isn’t convinced by American fascism is because it’s essentially a form of third world crony rent seeking corruption.
Folks confuse structure for form. It might look fascist but in its form it is just corruption.
I don't think that's it. I think it's that Trump is himself so erratic that it's hard to pin down a coherent political ideology. Most fascist movements are ideologically coherent. Trumpism isn't. What comes after Trump's personality cult moves past his natural lifespan, however long that proves, may be more recognizable.
I agree - no discernable ideology other than his own inconsistent musings and pronouncements.
Trump is a despot, not a fascist.
The evidence for this is consistent since Trump secured power.
There may, however, be fascists operating within the Trump power structure.
Despite his mercurial attitude he never misses an opportunity to grift money. A lot of that is getting ignored/sidelined this time. It’s incoherent because he’s primarily a high class grifter.
Donald sold his country’s grand strategy for bitcoins. Donald also bullies companies like a Third world bureaucrat to seek rent money from them.
Indeed. The *good* thing about Trump is his age — he cannot live forever. It the next-in-lines we need to watch. Saw a meme this morning — a red ball cap with ˆWaiting for the big beautiful obituaryˆ.
I hold out hope that the guy drops dead, which I think would unambiguously benefit almost everyone at this point. I'm not even very far down the Trump=fascism hole, but if you want to make the comparison, he's considerably closer in age to Hindenburg in 1933 than to Hitler.
There is a pattern to Trump. He's a Latin American style caudillo. Look to folks like Peron and it makes sense. It's the revenge of the entitled.
Yes. But just corruption is NOT just corruption. The scale, breadth, depth and speed of it took me really aback. The institutions are rapidly being corrupted. That is where the dangers are. If this is not stopped, before you know it you are into fascism, political prisoners and very large prisons for them, that is concentration camps. This is not a new dance, it is an old dance.
Naaah, this is classic third world style corruption. It’s just in its early stages.
Naaah, this is classic third world style corruption. It’s just in its early stages.
Trump is basically an regular third world bureaucrat. He “rent seeks” (i.e. abuses laws to solicit payment) like a third world bureaucrat. And just like a third world bureaucrats he is walking scam.
You're right that Trump is a grifter through and through and not an idealogue. But don't forget the Project 2025 people who are very much Christian fascists. They're the ones that produced the stack of executive orders that he signed without having much understanding of what he was actually doing. It's becoming increasingly clear that their dream is a society like Margaret Atwood's Gilead. And then there's the Steve Bannon crowd who are determined the Trump is getting a third term. It would be a big mistake to not take them seriously.
A big red line for me would be when the government directs banks to freeze bank accounts of participants and/or supporters of anti-government protests without due process. Another one is when the government takes steps to confiscate all handguns owned by residents. Another one is making mass media financially dependent so that their reporting can be influenced.
Neither has happened in the USA so far AFAIK, only in Canada.
Similar red lines. We've crossed them.