USA

Wednesday January 9, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 9, 2019

Trump doubles down on push for border wall in televised address

U.S. President Donald Trump blamed unauthorized immigrants for killing Americans, taking their jobs and flooding his country with drugs as he doubled down on demands that Congress hand over US$5.7-billion for a wall on the border with Mexico in a nationally televised address.

In a 10-minute Oval Office speech, Mr. Trump tried to rally his base and hold his Republican Party together amid a government shutdown he triggered over congressional refusal to fund the wall.

“Some have suggested a barrier is immoral,” Mr. Trump said. “The only thing that is immoral is for the politicians to do nothing and continue to allow more innocent people to be so horribly victimized.”

Democratic leaders on Tuesday rejected the President’s demands, and accused him of unfairly targeting asylum-seekers.

“The women and children at the border are not a security threat,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a televised rebuttal, as she accused Mr. Trump of “manufacturing a crisis.” Added Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: “The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a 30-foot wall.”

In his speech, the President described several murders committed by immigrants, lamented the quantities of heroin arriving from Mexico and claimed that “all Americans are hurt” by migrants coming to work in the U.S.

In fact, a study by the libertarian Cato Institute last year found that crime rates among immigrants in Texas – both legal and unauthorized – were lower than those among native-born Americans. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency found that 90 per cent of smuggled heroin went through designated ports of entry such as border crossings, and air or seaports, which means it would not be stopped by a wall.

The President also repeated an assertion that the wall will be paid for by Mexico through the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The trade pact contains no provision for Mexico to pay for the wall.

Mr. Trump, however, stopped short of declaring a state of emergency that would give him the power to divert money from the military to build the wall. Such a move would likely be met with a court challenge. (Source: Globe & Mail) 

 

Monday December 24, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday December 24, 2018

A President In Praise Of Strongmen And Dictators

October 12, 2018

President Trump can be stinging and sarcastic. It’s part of his charm, for those who find it charming. He has the audacity of discourtesy, if you please, whether calling a woman “Horseface,” as he did this week, or ridiculing African nations as … something I quoted on the air only once.

But the president reveals a softer side when he talks about strongmen and dictators.

He’s said there may be “severe” consequences if Saudi leaders ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. But when the president received Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House last March, he told reporters, “We understand each other. Saudi Arabia is a very wealthy nation, and they’re going to give the United States some of that wealth, hopefully.”

July 18, 2018

The president has often been magniloquent in his praise of those who control the press, suppress dissent, and strike down dissidents. He praised Vladimir Putin, saying before the 2016 election, “The man has very strong control over a country. Now, it’s a very different system, and I don’t happen to like the system. But certainly, in that system, he’s been a leader, far more than our president.”

When Bill O’Reilly, then of Fox News, called Putin “a killer,” Trump memorably replied, “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”

The president lauded President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, while human rights groups say his police and vigilante groups killed more than 7,000 drug dealers and drug users, without arrest or trial.

June 12, 2018

“Many countries have the problem, we have a problem,” Trump told him, “but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”

President Trump celebrated with President Xi of China when his parliament prepared to approve a change to allow President Xi to stay in office indefinitely. “I think it’s great,” Trump told him at his Mar-a-Lago estate. “Maybe we’ll give that a shot some day.”

And of course the president has gotten almost dewy-eyed over Kim Jong Un of North Korea, telling Fox News, “He’s got a very good personality, he’s funny, and he’s very, very smart.” Later he told a rally in West Virginia, “He wrote me beautiful letters. And they’re great letters. We fell in love.”

Flattery is free, and presidents have sometimes had to praise despots — Stalin during World War II, or Mao Zedong when the door to China was thrown open — for larger national interests. President Trump often scores political points with sarcasm. But when the president pours praise on so many despots, he sounds nothing but sincere. (Source: NPR) 

 

Wednesday December 12, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 12, 2018

Trump’s trade war bluster over China is rattling the world

January 26, 2017

The sharp rise of the Dow Jones industrial average since Donald Trump’s election as president in November 2016 is something he and his supporters often cite to show how he has helped the economy — and how, despite his divisive style, Trump’s tax cuts and regulation reductions have been good for America. But the president’s bluster about trade wars — “I am a Tariff Man” — and the important U.S.-China relationship has so far fuelled only chaos. Consider this week. The Dow dropped 799 points Tuesday then had a wilder day on Thursday, closing down 79 points after falling as much as 784 points.

There’s been global fallout since Saturday, when Trump asserted that Chinese President Xi Jinping had caved in his trade war with the U.S. Trump said he’d cut an “incredible” deal in which China would drop a 40 per cent import duty on American cars in return for the U.S. dropping a planned increase in tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese exports.

November 30, 2018

Initially, markets around the planet were thrilled by the news — a trade war between Earth’s two biggest economies creates headaches for nearly everyone. But as it became clear that Xi had only agreed to a 90-day truce on trade issues — not remotely what Trump claimed — investors panicked. The Dow has fallen by 2,000 points from its 2018 high, wiping out nearly all of its gains for the year. Adding to investors’ worries: the news that Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the giant Chinese tech firm Huawei, had been arrested by Canadian authorities at the U.S. Justice Department’s behest, reportedly because of Huawei’s breaking sanctions by doing business with Iran.

December 5, 2017

Given that she is the daughter of Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, who is revered in China for creating a tech behemoth that is a legitimate rival to U.S. firms, Beijing’s sharp reaction to her arrest was no surprise. But the arrest only underscored the valid reasons that Washington has for being upset with China’s trade practices. China tramples on laws and agreements it doesn’t like, not just by trading with international sponsors of terrorism and subsidizing exports but by aggressively stealing intellectual property and business secrets from U.S. tech firms. Trump has a case when he says his predecessors let Beijing get away with awful behaviour.

But it’s his problem now. He has stated that “trade wars are great and easy to win.” It’s easy to declare nonexistent wins. It’s far more difficult to stabilize the strategically vital relationship between Washington and Beijing with the care and thoughtfulness it demands — and the world needs. (Source: San Diego Union-Tribune) 

 

Tuesday December 4, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 4, 2018

Donald Trump threatens to kill NAFTA in push for Congress to approve new trade deal

U.S. President Donald Trump says he will withdraw the United States from NAFTA “in the not-too-distant future” in a hardball attempt to pressure Congress into voting to approve his new agreement with Canada and Mexico. 

November 30, 2018

The original North American Free Trade Agreement would otherwise remain in place if Congress rejected or delayed the new agreement, which Trump calls the USMCA and Canada calls CUSMA or “the new NAFTA.” A Trump withdrawal would give Congress a take-it-or-leave-it choice between the new agreement — which is highly similar to the original — and no agreement at all.

The new agreement has been criticized on various grounds by both Democrats and Republicans, leaving its prospects for passage uncertain. The Democrats, who will take control of the House of Representatives in January, have made clear that they do not plan to approve the deal any time soon.

Trump’s announcement late Saturday introduced new uncertainty into the continental trading relationship just a day after the leaders of the three countries held a signing ceremony for the new agreement, at which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the agreement “lifts the risks of serious economic uncertainty” that hovered over the negotiations themselves. Trump’s words suggested the state of bilateral trade will remain uncertain as long as the president is in office.

November 12, 2018

Advocates of free trade say a withdrawal would be a foolish gamble with the American economy. Trump has said he doesn’t see it that way, since he believes the economy was stronger without NAFTA than it is with it.

“Congress will have a choice of the USMCA or pre-NAFTA, which worked very well,”  Trump told reporters on the flight back from the G20 summit in Argentina.

“Congress will have a choice of approving the USMCA, which is a phenomenal deal. Much, much better than NAFTA. A great deal, ” he said. He again described NAFTA as a “disaster,” although the new deal he calls “incredible” retains almost all of NAFTA’ s central features while making a smattering of substantial changes.

The Canadian government declined to comment on the record. An official said on condition of anonymity, “ We are focused on our domestic ratification process and not a process that is internal to the U.S.” 

September 6, 2018

Trump’s announcement is likely to displease businesses across the continent, which have hailed the new agreement for preserving tariff-free North American trade and for allowing them to make investment plans with some degree of confidence that the rules will not soon change.

It is unclear whether Trump has the power to actually withdraw the U.S. from NAFTA. Some experts say he does, some say he doesn’t. The move would undoubtedly be challenged in U.S. courts, which have not yet weighed in on the question.

A Canadian government official told the Star last year that they have concluded “there’s a pretty good chance that he could just do this.” The official said the government also believed the old Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which preceded NAFTA, would snap back into force if he did.

June 6, 2018

Others say it would not be so simple.

It is also unclear whether Trump will indeed proceed. Trump has repeatedly delivered trade threats he has not carried out, and his aides — joined by Trudeau — have talked him out of withdrawing from NAFTA before. He has sometimes appeared to use harsh trade rhetoric primarily to appeal to parts of his political base, and his tough talk on Saturday came immediately after he announced that he had taken a conciliatory stance in a trade meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, postponing a plan to increase tariffs on Chinese products. (Source: Toronto Star) 

Saturday December 8, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday December 8, 2018

‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ pulled from some Canadian radio stations

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is getting a chilly response from Canadian radio stations.

December 4, 2018

At least two of the country’s biggest radio operators — Rogers Media and Bell Media — say they’ve decided to pull the controversial Christmas favourite out of their rotations this year.

That comes as the duet, written back in 1944, faces renewed scrutiny over what some say are inappropriate lyrics in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Earlier this week, Cleveland radio station WDOK-FM announced it was no longer playing the song in response to listener feedback. Some took issue over lyrics where one singer is trying to persuade the other to stay inside, with exchanges that include, “What’s in this drink?” and “Baby, don’t hold out.”

Bell Media spokesperson Scott Henderson says the company, which runs two 24-hour Christmas stations in Vancouver and Ottawa, chose not to include the Christmas tune on its playlists this year.

“The song wasn’t scheduled for airplay on any Bell Media Radio stations and there are no plans to play it in the future,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

December 9, 2017

Rogers Media also runs a number of all-Christmas music stations, including 98.1 CHFI-FM in Toronto and 98.5 CIOC-FM in Victoria. Spokesperson Caitlin Decarie says the broadcaster also removed the song this year, but declined outline how it reached the decision.

“There are so many wonderful songs that celebrate the holiday season,” she said.

A representative for CBC Radio was unable to answer whether its stations include the Christmas song in its current rotation.

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has been considered a holiday classic ever since it won the Academy Award for best original song in the film “Neptune’s Daughter.”

Christmas Classics

It’s since been covered countless times by singers Ray Charles and Betty Carter, Idina Menzel & Michael Buble, as well as Dolly Parton and Rod Stewart.

Concern over the song has existed for years, leading to many reinterpretations of the lyrics.

Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon-Levitt flipped the gender roles in a performance for the pop singer’s 2013 holiday special with the Muppets.

And two years ago, Minnesota couple Lydia Liza and Josiah Lemanski rewrote the lyrics to include lines about consent, such as a response to the woman’s line “I ought to say no, no, no” with the man saying: “You reserve the right to say no.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)