James Houser

Husband, U.S. Army NCO, wannabe historian. Developing a history podcast at @unksoldierspod, set to launch August 2021. Fan of beer and small dogs.

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@Cocolovesblueb1 @jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo I don't align with communism! (Though what China is these days can hardly be called communist.) I'm simply pointing out that rational self-interest might drive Canada to align with China if the US continues to behave the way it has. The US allied with the Soviets in the past...

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@Cocolovesblueb1 @jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo The devil at your door is the only country that has invaded Canada twice, makes regular threats of annexation, tears up trade deals it already signed and has attacked two countries without warning in the last year. And the details of the trade deal are out there.

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@Cocolovesblueb1 @jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo When credibly threatened with aggression and subjugation by the neighboring great power, a smaller, weaker country will seek closer relations with that power's rival. The fact that this surprises people, or they see something nefarious in it, means they haven't studied history.

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 You're not analyzing anything though, you're yelling about theater kids like a boomer and ignoring all my points lol

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@Cocolovesblueb1 @jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo All of that is true; and despite that, more Canadians still now see China as the less threatening option. The American deal essentially demanded Canadian subjugation. The devil at your door, or the devil across the sea? Most Canadians seem to be more worried about the former.

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 I don't even know what this actually means lol, it's not an argument. You're screaming at the mirror

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 I accept your changing of the subject and concession of the above points. My question is, why would you think that actual Canadian nationalists would accept submission to the United States? Because that is basically what the deal demanded. Nationalism tends to be, um, exclusive

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 What has he done, substantively? What foreign policy goal has he achieved against any of those countries? (Strait's still closed)

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 It was America that declared a trade war with the whole world, if you recall; Canadians are not ignorant of that. And you see Canadian nationalism emerging on all political sides up there. How do you work anything out when America demands the right to rewrite the deal at whim?

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@Cocolovesblueb1 @libertatumadvo @jerkytweets1 Source: The New York Times https://t.co/8pDOOOfw5Q

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 Oh, I agree that nations exist. What you seem to forget is that the Canadians have their own nationalism apart from America and "the West", their own sense of identity and pride and sovereignty. One great power currently threatens that identity and it is not China.

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 Trump is unwilling to play hardball with China, barely willing to countenance action against Russia, on the losing side of negotiations with Iran and cancelling military exercises to appease North Korea. Why would Canada align itself with an empire clearly in retreat?

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 If Trump wants Canadian cooperation for a Chinese faceoff that is utterly not in their interests, he should probably offer them concessions, not threaten them and make them see China as the better, more reliable, less threatening option

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 Was this before, or after, the threats of annexation and a series of bad faith trade negotiations? What were US-Canada relations like before that? Hint: sometimes countries react to threats to their sovereignty.

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 Which of those poses a current, actual military threat to Canada if they so choose? If you're a Canadian strategist, which is more likely to preserve your autonomy in the long run? Hint: not the country that has, historically, already invaded you twice

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 Well, you should probably tell that to the people ranting about it being the 51st state. If your neighbor keeps promising they want to dominate and annex you, maybe allying with the other major great power is actually just rational.

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@jerkytweets1 @libertatumadvo @Cocolovesblueb1 Why should Denmark and Canada see China as a threat instead of, idk, the aggressive neighboring power threatening to annex their territory? Why worry about the devil across the sea over the devil at your door?

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@mitchellvii Update?

[James Houser @jamesthouser]

@KTB_500 @KingObtuse @smallwars A doctrinal debate is not undermining readiness and there's certainly no need to call in the SecDef as if he's a hall monitor. If anything, this response sounds like post-World War I horse cavalry enthusiasts still trying to find ways that their branch was valid after 1918.