@markmulroney American here with links to Canada. This is entirely correct. Trump could be the best thing to happen to Canada Assuming Canada is capable of acting like an adult country and not a spoiled teen that found out they need to buy there own iPhone.
Donald Trump has slapped huge tariffs on pretty much everything we export.
I have an idea, how about we keep hurling disparaging and insulting remarks to our neighbors to the south, that'll fix everything.
Canadians are absolute idiots. Truly.
It's a symptom of a privileged society that has no respect for the very country that helped us establish our standard of living and quality of life, not to mention the security it provides of living next to the largest superpower in the history of humankind.
Nearly every country in the world would trade spots with us without blinking.
Business 101. You don't have to agree with them, but treat your most important customer respectfully.
We deserve what's coming.
As a former NBA team physician (76ers) for many years, who has sat through many many games up close, I can say without hesitation that WNBA players and officials have somehow been signaled and cleared to neutralize or even harm (for reasons I cannot fully understand) Caitlin Clark. Hopefully they will wake up and appreciate this league-saving extremely talented once in a generation player. Kind of reminds me of when our amazing Allen Iverson came in to the league. Although I don’t believe anyone set out to harm him, the league & refs initially seemed to do their best to try to neutralize him and (unsuccessfully) reduce his star-power. With Caitlin, it’s gone to a whole new and unacceptable level where I believe actual intentional harm is in play.
@CaitlinClark22@IndianaFever@WNBA
Here are a few points you might be misreading or over-emphasizing in ways that are unhelpful to Canada.
First, of course the U.S. is going to notice when Canada declares Communist China it's strategic partner, partners w/ the CCP's Gestapo police forces despite objections from Canadian law enforcement and the Chinese diaspora in Canada, imports the CCP spy vehicles that Democrats banned in America, white washes the CCP's genocide that has united Democrats and Republicans in America, and then conjures up and proposes a middle powers alliance that seems to be a collection of countries who have spent 2 decades ignoring their responsibilities to develop and maintain hard power capacities. There is not a revelation to be found in America noticing yet another self-destructive streak in close allies. Carney's broad defection against Western alliances and values and towards the Chinese Communist Party will of course be noticed, especially since Canada has seriously lagged on addressing homeland security threats presented by the CCP that also impact the U.S. This does not signal seriousness and resolve.
Second, part of the supposed "threat" of the middle powers is that they will (maybe) actually get to work on being ready to defend themselves without defaulting into handing off security problems to the U.S. There is a deep irony here, because the U.S. has been asking them to do exactly that for 15 years since the Obama administration. "We're so mad at you and the massive trade markets and largely free defense services you provide for us, so in a tantrum, we are going to cut off our own nose to spite our face" by rejecting (?) America's superior military capabilities and war technologies that much of the rest of the world would make great sacrifices to have.
Again, this does not signal seriousness and resolve. It's more like the 32 year old living in the basement who won't get a job who then finally throws a tantrum saying 'I'm going to run away and get a job because mom and dad are so annoying about my joblessness.' Quietly making good on decades-ignored alliance commitments would show strength and resolve, while defaulting into theatrics shows weakness and potential lack of seriousness.
Third, I would take what Colby says at exactly face value instead of re-engineering it into a more comfortable narrative. American strategists should harbor legitimate and well-founded concerns that Canada and European allies will go down yet another fruitless and self-destructive path that will end up far worse for Canada than for America. That's what Colby is warning. He's not saying you're going to hurt America, he's saying you're going to hurt yourselves when instead of this fantasy project, you can just focus your energy on the essentials. Canada and many of the Western European countries have repeatedly taken a self-destructive path, often underwritten by some sort of belief that a few extra layers of rhetoric and theatrics can somehow translate into the economic growth and military hard power you don't have.
There's a straightforward path for Canada and Western Europe to take: 10,000% focus on building hard power and strong economies. That needs to be done no matter what. Immediately defaulting into rhetoric and theatrics about geopolitical fantasies should immediately give Americans concerns about another bout of self-harm coming from up north.
To play devil's advocate on this, if your actual intention is to separate from America and go it on your own to defend yourselves through the middle powers fantasy, *what you're doing is would not be the way to execute this plan.* The smart play would be to quietly accept the free defense services that America still provides despite all the tweets Canada doesn't like, continue to enjoy the implicit threat from the Americans to kick either Russia's or China's ass if they mess with Canada, all while making the necessary investments in defense capacities while unleashing the Canadian economy in a way that is necessary to underwrite future Canadian hard power. Then maybe 5-10 years down the road after significant capacities have been developed, the middle powers could make good on the fantasy. *What you wouldn't do* is immediately tell the USA about a plan you have that you think will hurt the USA before you actually execute that plan, because that would unnecessarily provoke the Americans and generally be self-defeating.
And that gets the deepest strategic question: is Canadian leadership even capable of effective strategic planning and action? Because if they are, they're doing a hell of a job of hiding it.
There is a great deal of hubbub about a collective “middle powers”strategy these days.
At DoW, we are not concerned that this is a serious possibility. Rather, we are more concerned that a few allies and partners will *think it is* and waste valuable time, money, and political capital on a distraction. 1/