Tuesday November 10, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday November 10, 2020

Trump’s narcissism has become the GOP’s Achilles’ heel

October 10, 2020

President Trump, days after losing the presidency by millions of votes and by a significant margin in the electoral college, still cannot admit he lost. There are a number of possible explanations for this. He may be such a raging narcissist that he simply cannot recognize failure and rejection. He may see the legal attacks as a money-raising venture (solicitations for the lawsuits in fine print reveal he can use the money to pay off campaign debt). He may see this as a financial strategy as he returns to the business world (no one wants to stay at Loser Trump’s hotels, but Martyr Trump has some brand appeal). As a political strategy, rejecting the election results keeps deluded supporters in a frenzy over a “stolen” election that was not stolen at all. (Have we found any shred of evidence of fraud or error that would change thousands of votes? Of course not.)

January 8, 2020

In any case, a range of conservatives — from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to talk-radio hosts to evangelical Christian patsies for Trump to potential 2024 Republican candidates — evidently think there is value in keeping up the pretense, which they know to be insane and anti-democratic. McConnell probably thinks it will juice up Georgia voters for the Senate runoff elections and stoke fundraising. The talk-radio jockeys and the rest of the unhinged right-wing media need new outrages to feed viewership. Trump-friendly evangelical Christian leaders have been selling white grievance for decades and likely see this as the latest reason to instill in their followers a sense of injustice, loss and anger. (It will also be fodder for arguments to intensify voter suppression based on the myth of rampant voter fraud.) And the 2024 contenders want to be seen as the heirs to the MAGA crowd, so they imitate Trump’s delusional refusal to accept the results.

June 4, 2019

The interesting question is not whether these people are behaving undemocratically, dishonestly and immorally; we know that to be the case. What we should be asking is why they are playing along with Trump. After losing a presidential election based almost entirely on conspiracies and white grievance, they seem determined to do it all over again.

January 11, 2016

The interesting question is not whether these people are behaving undemocratically, dishonestly and immorally; we know that to be the case. What we should be asking is why they are playing along with Trump. After losing a presidential election based almost entirely on conspiracies and white grievance, they seem determined to do it all over again. (Continued: Washington Post) 

Depicting Trump as an animal was going too far – Tuesday, Nov. 10, editorial cartoon

Letter to the Editor, The Hamilton Spectator, November 17, 2020

This editorial cartoon went too far and was unbecoming of a Canadian newspaper. I agree that American President Donald Trump has lost the respect of other world leaders, and that the entire world is watching his childish and unethical behaviour with disgust. He is racist, sexist and xenophobic. He fans the flames of unrest and inequity in his country. He is attempting to dismantle the very democracy that is the basis of American citizenship. However, he is not an animal; he is a very flawed and dangerous human with too much power. It is beneath The Hamilton Spectator or any respected Canadian newspaper to engage in the same kind of dehumanizing humour that has marred Trump’s presidency.

Laura Wolfson, Dundas

Thursday November 5, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 5, 2020

Doug Ford sold on new rating system, health experts not so much

Ontario’s new five-stage rating system for moving regions into and out of various pandemic restrictions is good news, according to many businesses. But it’s bad news according to some health authorities.

May 29, 2020

Perhaps both these things are true and the new system is good for businesses hanging on by their fingernails, and bad for others who think health outcomes are the only things that matters. 

The government is wrestling furiously with finding the right balance between efforts to flatten the curve and ways to help struggling businesses stay alive. It’s possible there is no perfect balance, and no satisfying everyone. 

According to some voices from the business sector, the colour-coded stage (green/good, yellow/less good, orange/worrisome, red/partial lockdown) approach, which also comes with specific measures that accompany each stage, will make stability and predictability possible, something that has not been the case so far. So if things are getting bad and the metrics look like they are moving in the wrong direction, businesses and individuals can step up their response before their region moves to the next stage. Or failing that they can foresee what might be coming rather than being in the dark. 

But on the public health side, there are issues. For one thing, the ceiling has been raised. For example, to take steps like closing restaurants, gyms and bars, the region would need to have a positivity of 10 per cent (100 cases per 100,000 people per week). And other factors, such as the health system and local public health authorities at risk of being overwhelmed, would have to be at play as well.

October 28, 2020

But that rate of infection has only happened a couple of times since the pandemic began. Since testing was ramped up in late spring no region has come close to 10 per cent. Doesn’t this suggest that those sorts of closures wouldn’t happen even under the worst case scenario? Has the government taken lockdowns off the table entirely in favour of protecting the battered economy?

Some health experts seem to think so. Dr. Michael Warner, head of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto, put it this way in an interview with Torstar’s Bruce Arthur: “It’s like public health is treading water, and the premier is pushing their heads down. It’s government that makes the decisions on public health, and not public health.”

Epidemiologist Dr. Nitin Mohan told Arthur: “They’re relying on people to understand their own risk threshold, and that’s not working well, and what you’re saying now, we’re going to open up, and the perception is things are safe. Essentially, you’re inviting a disaster.”

Dr. Andrew Morris, professor of infectious diseases at University of Toronto was more pointed. “This is going to be very ugly. We’re following the European approach here. The very first question that should be asked is in the presence of ongoing growth, how can you in any way justify loosening measures? That makes absolutely zero sense. The one thing you shouldn’t do when you’ve got a losing strategy is take on a worse strategy. Which is what they’re going to do.”

These are troubling statements. You don’t expect every health expert to be on exactly the same page, but when credible experts are this far removed from government policy, it sounds like there is a central disconnect. 

Yet we are assured the government is making policy decisions based on public health input from its own advisers. How can the experts advising the government and those quoted in the media and elsewhere be so far apart? Or is the government’s approach being driven by business instead of public health? (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Wednesday November 11, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 11, 2020

Remember our war dead and a nation that endures

There will be no parades of aging veterans marching to Canada’s war memorials on this Remembrance Day and in this pandemic year.

May 8, 2020

There will be fewer wreaths laid at these monuments to the nation’s war dead and fewer people to lay them or stand silently to hear “Last Post” played at 11 a.m. by buglers who must keep their distance from everyone else. 

In some places, the public has been ordered to stay away from the cenotaphs to stop the spread of COVID-19 and participate at home in virtual ceremonies or, alternatively, to simply put on a poppy and pause for two minutes wherever possible.

That’s how it must be. No matter where you are in Canada, this Remembrance Day will be unlike any in memory, and for this full blame lies with a microscopic and potentially lethal virus.

June 6, 2019

But there’s no reason this Remembrance Day can’t be as meaningful and, yes, instructive as every one that preceded it. In fact, as Canadians cope with a pandemic that has changed every aspect of their lives, what this country went through in the past facing enormous threats under extreme duress can inspire us today, in a very different kind of national emergency.

Of course, more than anything else, this Nov. 11 is a day when every person in this country should recall the sacrifices hundreds of thousands of Canadians made in two world wars, in the Korean and Afghanistan wars and in decades of peacekeeping and even peacemaking missions in the world’s hot spots. 

June 6, 2014

More than 100,000 Canadians died in those 20th century wars and another 158 soldiers from this country perished in Afghanistan earlier this century. Hundreds of thousands of other Canadians have been permanently injured in body or mind by war. 

Those who have served in this country’s military and emerged unscathed by the experience should be in our minds, too. Many of them put their lives on the line. All were in one way or another defending the interests of their country when it called. They all deserve our recognition and unflagging gratitude.

That deliberate act of remembering in this very strange year may bring unforeseen benefits, too. Like us today, the Canadians who lived through two world wars — the second of which was the most deadly and devastating in human history — also faced terrifying dangers, witnessed great suffering, experienced the painful loss of loved ones and had massive changes thrust upon them.

May 5, 2000

But the country got through it. For instance, in the Second World War, which dragged on six years, basic foods such as sugar, butter, tea, coffee and even meat were strictly rationed to Canadians at home so those serving overseas would have enough to eat. 

The rationing of gasoline and tires limited travel and getting in or out of the United States became difficult. On the east coast, blackouts were strictly enforced with air raid wardens going door-to-door to ensure blinds were drawn so enemy submarines would not see merchant ships illuminated by city lights. Taxes were hiked as Ottawa ran up massive deficits to fund the war effort.

Renowned historian J.L. Granatstein has accurately described that war effort as “a complete mobilization of Canadian society” in which “Canadians consciously and deliberately set aside their individual desires for the common good.”

On this Remembrance Day, wear a poppy for the sake of those who served Canada and, too often, paid the greatest sacrifice in doing it. But remember, too, what other generations of Canadians have endured, what they gave up and how they prevailed. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Saturday November 7, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 7, 2020

Biden Agenda To Face The Challenges Of A Closely Divided Congress

President-elect Joe Biden said Friday, as ballots were still being tabulated in states across the country, that voters had spoken loudly to embrace the policies and principles he campaigned on.

October 31, 2020

“They have given us a mandate for action on COVID and the economy and climate change and systemic racism,” Biden said in a late-night speech in Wilmington, Del. “They made it clear they want the country to come together — not pull apart.”

Biden followed Saturday night by calling on Democrats and Republicans to come together after the election and pledged to join them.

“And I believe that this is part of the mandate from the American people. They want us to cooperate,” Biden said. “That’s the choice I’ll make. And I call on the Congress — Democrats and Republicans alike — to make that choice with me.”

But Biden, who secured enough votes to win the Electoral College on Saturday morning, will face a narrowly divided Congress when he takes office in January. Biden’s significant lead in the popular vote did not translate to a Democratic wave in the House and Senate, leaving Biden without the votes necessary to pursue an aggressive legislative agenda in Congress.

Democrats maintained control of the House of Representatives but the GOP made gains, picking up at least five seats in the election. Control of the Senate will remain undecided until early January following a pair of runoff elections in Georgia.

November 6, 2020

Republican reaction to Biden’s victory has been muted as focus shifts to GOP efforts to defend incumbent Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in those Georgia seats. So far, most Republican senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have not congratulated Biden or acknowledged his victory.

But Democrats are already calling those races the linchpin that determines the success of Biden’s agenda. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., used Biden’s victory as a call to arms in the Georgia races.

Regardless of the outcome in Georgia, the victors will have a narrow majority in the Senate. And Democrats will be forced to contend with divisions within their own party on some of the biggest policy items on Biden’s list.

Among the most controversial is a plan to combat climate change. Democrats themselves are not fully unified on how to approach the issue. Divisions over how quickly and aggressively to move to limit carbon emissions have simmered within the party since progressive lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., introduced the Green New Deal — a plan to eliminate the carbon footprint by 2030 — back in 2019.

Progressive activists are also calling for Biden to move on another issue that divides the party, Medicare for All. Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., both oppose the plan and instead want Obamacare expanded with a public option. But progressives argue that the party has shifted to embrace widespread government-sponsored health care.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

Biden has consistently promised that one of his top priorities will be to take immediate steps to combat and control the spread of the coronavirus, which has surged in recent weeks. His plan includes investing in expanded testing with a Pandemic Testing Board and a vast Public Health Jobs Corps as well as better tracing capacity and greater production and distribution of personal protective equipment. His plan also includes a plan to boost jobs to aid in economic recovery.

Congressional leaders say they hope to pass some COVID relief before the end of this year but Democrats have long insisted that they expect the economy will need further support in 2021. (NPR) 

 

Friday November 6, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday November 6, 2020

Trump’s Stunning News Conference

What the president of the United States did tonight wasn’t complicated but it was stunning, even after four long years of the politically extraordinary.

February 22, 2011

President Trump attacked democracy.

In his remarks tonight from the White House, Mr. Trump lied about the vote count, smeared his opponents and attempted to undermine the integrity of our electoral system.

“If you count the legal votes, I win,” he said, before ticking off a litany of baseless claims about ways his campaign had supposedly been cheated by his opponents, nonpartisan poll workers and a vast conspiracy of technology companies and big business.

But nothing is “rigged” or “stolen” or “illegal.” No one is “doing a lot of bad things.”

Donald Trump is simply losing.

And he’s apparently decided to try and take our system down with him.

John McCain’s revenge

Joe Biden has been cutting into Mr. Trump’s lead, or expanding his own, in three of the four states that will decide the next president: Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada. Notably, in the state where Mr. Trump appears to be making gains — Arizona — the president seems to take little issue with the vote count.

The votes that Mr. Trump calls “late” and “illegal” were postmarked by Election Day, making them valid. In Pennsylvania, the Republican-led state legislature wouldn’t allow poll workers to start counting mail ballots until Election Day. So now, they’re being counted.

Instead of letting the process play out, the president is calling on election officials to stop counting ballots, potentially disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters. As James Baker, the former secretary of state who led the Republican legal and political team during the Florida recount battle in 2000, told my colleague Peter Baker today: “That’s a very hard decision to defend in a democracy.” 

There’s also a pragmatic question about the president’s allegations: If Democrats were going to rig an election, why didn’t they do a better job of it? After many Democrats all but predicted a landslide, the party has so far lost seats in the House and faces a steep path to take control of the Senate. Mr. Trump touted those Republican victories in his comments tonight.

On social media, his family members and allies have been calling for Republicans, like Senator Lindsey Graham, to support the president’s claims — even trying to make the issue an early litmus test for the 2024 campaign. (We haven’t even finished with 2020!) Of course, Republicans who back Mr. Trump could be throwing into question the validity of their own victories.

So with a few exceptions, they’ve largely returned to the position they often adopt with the president: silence. But it may become increasingly difficult to stay quiet. (New York Times)