It certainly is a mess. I'm horrified daily at the lengths the idiot "president" is going to to alienate the United States from the rest of the world and the work he is doing to alienate us one from the other. This is NOT the country I grew up in, in many ways, and in others, it's just the culmination of years of dysfunction in our government. I wanted to move to Canada after he was elected the first time, making jokes about my refugee status. It doesn't feel like a joke anymore. It's really hard to relocate if you're not wealthy or have a skill that Canada is in need of. I would happily join Canada, as a resident of New York, if we could move that invisible line south a bit. I don't understand someone unfriending all of his America FB connections. As an American, being resented because of the heinous decisions fascist at the helm is not a solution or kind. I applaud the response of Canada, the boycotting, the coming together. It's a beautiful thing to witness.
Nan, a condo neighbor of mine is an immigration lawyer. She was swamped with calls from Americans after Trump won. She had to tell them that if they were over 40 without desirable skills, rhey were out of luck.
Yup. It's very sad and still, of course, I understand it. I wonder what will happen if some of us really will have to leave...it all reminds me too much of Germany/Europe during the first Nazi regime.
I hope you know how over half of us here in America felt when we read the news of Trump's words towards Canada...horrified! So many of us are resisting. Keep doing what you are doing. We're behind you all the way.
I've never felt more patriotic than I have these past few weeks.
I was born in Canada to Irish immigrant parents who arrived here in the 1950's. They had nothing but disdain for their new country. "Canadians are lazy, they've had everything handed to them on a silver platter, only the Irish know the meaning of hard work ..." was my father's constant refrain. His attempts to instill traditional Irish values in me seemed mostly about his hatred for the British. I didn't feel an affinity for either country.
In the 1980s, I lived and worked in NYC for three years, and finally I felt like I'd found a home. I loved the energy of the city, the warmth and generosity of friends and colleagues who welcomed me. Sometimes the extreme patriotism rankled, but I wondered if I was envious because I didn't feel that strongly about my home country.
The unlikely gift from Donald Trump. We Canadians are discovering our true patriot love—our pride in who we are and have always been, not simply our tangled feelings about NOT being American.
We lived in Toronto for a year (and learned to say "Torrono") and enjoyed the city and its people. I root for Canada in this stupid war of tariffs and wars. America is the bully. The Biff from Back To The Future. My patriotism for America is sparked in defense of our rule of law. And as a hockey fan, I always preferred the Canadian anthem when both were played.
WaPo just published a humor piece by Calvin Trillin on Wayne Gretzky as America’s first Canadian president. (Remember, the 51st state would be very bad news indeed for GOP standing in the Electoral College.) It’s not as funny as it should be, but I did like Trillin’s quip about priority number one for the first 100 days—“the mass deportation of dorks.”
Rona I always and invariably enjoy your Sunday morning pieces. I think you let your birth country off too easy. I grieve for democracy in the USA, but equally for the rest of the world. What kind of strategy is burn it all down so only the strongest prevail?
I read about the resistance. But where are the leaders? One day Kamala Harris is telling thousands at rallies she is going to come to work everyday to achieve her to do list, while the other guy will hate and seek retribution. The next day bye. Gone. The others clean up as best as they can. Yes, I understand the US is not a parliamentary democracy with an opposition leader. It’s a system that works well until there’s a coup.
Alice, I could have gone on and on. It is not a strategy. It is madness. There are those who truly believe the country’s problems can only be solved by burning it down and starting over. Maybe they will never wake up. I think there’s another segment of voters who will come to see they have been exploited and lied to. But by that time it may be too late.
We both left the US as students (me to UK), met husbands of the new country and never looked back! I even renounced my US citizenship and was made to feel like a traitor in the process, which only confirmed my decision. But England is not in a good place right now and it occurs to me it would benefit from a takeover bid by Trump. We need a bit of the nationalist fervour you are getting in Canada. And meanwhile, I am glad to not be living in the US but at the same time feel very sad for my country of origin. You can leave the place, but it doesn't completely leave you.
It certainly doesn't leave you. My American childhood will always color my view of the world. One reason I will not renounce is being made to feel like a traitor. Americans are good at that kind of thing.
Reading this, and having spent four years living in los Estados Unidos de México, a familiar phrase came back to my mind: "Pobre México, tan lejos de Dios y tan cerca de Estados Unidos.”* It was first coined by one Nemesio García Naranjo in 1962, apparently. You hear it a lot in Mexico. They're probably saying it now.
*("Poor Mexico, so far from God and so near the United States).
It was a privilege for me to live there. I got to see a lot of the country. But I barely know Canada. Perhaps that’s something to put right before my travelling days are gone forever.
The irony of calling the Canadian border a made up line and yet basing his political campaign on protecting the southern border of the US. I need the t-shirt Joan Baez was wearing that said "Is he dead yet?"
I live in Maine now and have lived in Vermont and New Hampshire for long stretches of my life. I always loved being Canada's neighbor and particular enjoyed visits to Montreal, Q City and Toronto. I grew up crossing the bridge from Detroit to Windsor to visit first cousins who are Canadian residents still. A favorite author writes prolifically of Three Pines, which I long to visit. I humbly apologize to all Canadians for our strained relations, courtesy of the madmen at the helm of our government. If I didn't have young grandchildren in New England, I would leave this country on the next plane. Alas, who would have me?
This was a wonderful post, thank you. In the late 1960s, I spent three of my formative years (ages 8-10) in U.S. public schools in Virginia, as a Canadian kid pledging allegiance to the American flag every morning, and I have great affection for my American friends. I have opined elsewhere that it may be Americans' love of liberty that saves them from this moment, because they will reject the strictures that come with an authoritarian "government" of this magnitude. (I put "government in quotes because they are not seeking to govern. They want to rule.) But there will be plenty of suffering in the meantime.
Big distinction between ruling and governing! I hope you’re right, Julie. I try not to think about dark scenarios, but there will surely be violence before this ends.
"The way Trump tells it, Canadians should quit bellyaching about tariffs and accept our destiny as the 51st state. He has called the Canadian border 'that artificial line' that 'somebody drew…many years ago with a ruler, just a line.'” An artificial line? Guess he knows nothing about that line and its history. The Treaty of Paris (1783) first established that border and established the independence of the new colonies from Britain. He knows nothing about that borderline and the war of 1812 and the cessation of much of northern Minnesota and the Dakotas. He knows nothing about history or diplomacy. Stupidity reigns south of the shared border.
He probably thinks Americans won the War of 1812, if he thinks at all. What an irony that the national anthem celebrates a battle in a war Americans lost.
Yes. And how ironic many rejoice in a new "Gilded Age" without understanding what the word gilded means. PT Barnum rejoiced in Americans where "there's a sucker born every minute."
We have family in Victoria and rent an apartment there. We would move to BC in a minute. But alas we are retired and Canada doesn’t want us. If we could afford private insurance instead of Medicaid. We would already be there with our grandchildren
I live just down the road from Vancouver, BC, in Washington, a blue state. Both Senators are Democrats as is my Representative. Calling them is like preaching to the choir. Right now, something I can do is share factual information, to inform on social media, while knowing that those few friends who are dug in will never read it. At 71, I fantasize about moving out of the US but feel I must stay put and resist.
In his first term, I remember thinking of Trump as the bully, Biff, in “Back to the Future”. But for a moment of courage by George McFly, the future would have been a dark dystopian nightmare. It feels like this is where we are. Where is our George McFly?
Debra, not only do we need you where you are, it could be a monumental challenge to move somewhere else. Europe, maybe, like some American expat stackers? Canada is pretty much closed to all who are not young and in high-demand professions.
I'm Canadian, but like so many, have deep cross-border ties to both countries. My ancestors crossed back & forth over the border many times after coming to North America (the one I can trace back furthest here so far came to the Ottawa Valley in the 1820s). I was born in a small Prairie border town; my dad is from there too and my mother is from a small town 20 miles south of the border. I spent much of my childhood summers with my grandparents in Minnesota. My grandfather grew up on a farm within a short walk from the border and told me stories about rum runners from Canada driving through the fields during Prohibition. He also told me he cast his first vote for FDR because he thought "he was a real nice man." I miss my grandparents every day, but I am thankful they are not around now to see what's happened to their country. :( My husband says he will never set foot in the U.S. again. I will never say never, because of my extended family there, but I think it will be a while before I go back.
There are many like your husband, Lori. Some will not change planes in the U.S. Anger is the wellspring of a great sadness between people who should and could be connected.
It certainly is a mess. I'm horrified daily at the lengths the idiot "president" is going to to alienate the United States from the rest of the world and the work he is doing to alienate us one from the other. This is NOT the country I grew up in, in many ways, and in others, it's just the culmination of years of dysfunction in our government. I wanted to move to Canada after he was elected the first time, making jokes about my refugee status. It doesn't feel like a joke anymore. It's really hard to relocate if you're not wealthy or have a skill that Canada is in need of. I would happily join Canada, as a resident of New York, if we could move that invisible line south a bit. I don't understand someone unfriending all of his America FB connections. As an American, being resented because of the heinous decisions fascist at the helm is not a solution or kind. I applaud the response of Canada, the boycotting, the coming together. It's a beautiful thing to witness.
Nan, a condo neighbor of mine is an immigration lawyer. She was swamped with calls from Americans after Trump won. She had to tell them that if they were over 40 without desirable skills, rhey were out of luck.
Yup. It's very sad and still, of course, I understand it. I wonder what will happen if some of us really will have to leave...it all reminds me too much of Germany/Europe during the first Nazi regime.
I can definitely picture Americans having to leave.
Yes. Me too. I try not to obsess on it. I’d lose my mind.
Define desirable skills :)
For starters, nurse or family doctor.
So home builder and designer wouldn’t make the cut?
I hope you know how over half of us here in America felt when we read the news of Trump's words towards Canada...horrified! So many of us are resisting. Keep doing what you are doing. We're behind you all the way.
Thank you, Linda. We are just getting started. Things will get tougher, but we are tough people.
I've never felt more patriotic than I have these past few weeks.
I was born in Canada to Irish immigrant parents who arrived here in the 1950's. They had nothing but disdain for their new country. "Canadians are lazy, they've had everything handed to them on a silver platter, only the Irish know the meaning of hard work ..." was my father's constant refrain. His attempts to instill traditional Irish values in me seemed mostly about his hatred for the British. I didn't feel an affinity for either country.
In the 1980s, I lived and worked in NYC for three years, and finally I felt like I'd found a home. I loved the energy of the city, the warmth and generosity of friends and colleagues who welcomed me. Sometimes the extreme patriotism rankled, but I wondered if I was envious because I didn't feel that strongly about my home country.
Now I do.
The unlikely gift from Donald Trump. We Canadians are discovering our true patriot love—our pride in who we are and have always been, not simply our tangled feelings about NOT being American.
Rona,
We lived in Toronto for a year (and learned to say "Torrono") and enjoyed the city and its people. I root for Canada in this stupid war of tariffs and wars. America is the bully. The Biff from Back To The Future. My patriotism for America is sparked in defense of our rule of law. And as a hockey fan, I always preferred the Canadian anthem when both were played.
Most Americans, thankfully, are not bullies. I think every day of those standing up for the rule of law.
WaPo just published a humor piece by Calvin Trillin on Wayne Gretzky as America’s first Canadian president. (Remember, the 51st state would be very bad news indeed for GOP standing in the Electoral College.) It’s not as funny as it should be, but I did like Trillin’s quip about priority number one for the first 100 days—“the mass deportation of dorks.”
Rona I always and invariably enjoy your Sunday morning pieces. I think you let your birth country off too easy. I grieve for democracy in the USA, but equally for the rest of the world. What kind of strategy is burn it all down so only the strongest prevail?
I read about the resistance. But where are the leaders? One day Kamala Harris is telling thousands at rallies she is going to come to work everyday to achieve her to do list, while the other guy will hate and seek retribution. The next day bye. Gone. The others clean up as best as they can. Yes, I understand the US is not a parliamentary democracy with an opposition leader. It’s a system that works well until there’s a coup.
Alice, I could have gone on and on. It is not a strategy. It is madness. There are those who truly believe the country’s problems can only be solved by burning it down and starting over. Maybe they will never wake up. I think there’s another segment of voters who will come to see they have been exploited and lied to. But by that time it may be too late.
A great read, "Autocracy, Inc." by Anne Applebaum explains the strategy. It's real, although DJT is just an easy-to-buy pawn in the plan.
We both left the US as students (me to UK), met husbands of the new country and never looked back! I even renounced my US citizenship and was made to feel like a traitor in the process, which only confirmed my decision. But England is not in a good place right now and it occurs to me it would benefit from a takeover bid by Trump. We need a bit of the nationalist fervour you are getting in Canada. And meanwhile, I am glad to not be living in the US but at the same time feel very sad for my country of origin. You can leave the place, but it doesn't completely leave you.
It certainly doesn't leave you. My American childhood will always color my view of the world. One reason I will not renounce is being made to feel like a traitor. Americans are good at that kind of thing.
Reading this, and having spent four years living in los Estados Unidos de México, a familiar phrase came back to my mind: "Pobre México, tan lejos de Dios y tan cerca de Estados Unidos.”* It was first coined by one Nemesio García Naranjo in 1962, apparently. You hear it a lot in Mexico. They're probably saying it now.
*("Poor Mexico, so far from God and so near the United States).
Ha! That’s a great line. You do get around, Jeffrey. No wonder you write with such deep sympathy for countries and cultures.
It was a privilege for me to live there. I got to see a lot of the country. But I barely know Canada. Perhaps that’s something to put right before my travelling days are gone forever.
The irony of calling the Canadian border a made up line and yet basing his political campaign on protecting the southern border of the US. I need the t-shirt Joan Baez was wearing that said "Is he dead yet?"
Good point, Cindy. And I have been a fan of JB since the early 60s.
I live in Maine now and have lived in Vermont and New Hampshire for long stretches of my life. I always loved being Canada's neighbor and particular enjoyed visits to Montreal, Q City and Toronto. I grew up crossing the bridge from Detroit to Windsor to visit first cousins who are Canadian residents still. A favorite author writes prolifically of Three Pines, which I long to visit. I humbly apologize to all Canadians for our strained relations, courtesy of the madmen at the helm of our government. If I didn't have young grandchildren in New England, I would leave this country on the next plane. Alas, who would have me?
I feel for you, Kathryn. And I will miss road trips through New England. We especially like Maine, but Nova Scotia is remarkably Maine-ish.
This was a wonderful post, thank you. In the late 1960s, I spent three of my formative years (ages 8-10) in U.S. public schools in Virginia, as a Canadian kid pledging allegiance to the American flag every morning, and I have great affection for my American friends. I have opined elsewhere that it may be Americans' love of liberty that saves them from this moment, because they will reject the strictures that come with an authoritarian "government" of this magnitude. (I put "government in quotes because they are not seeking to govern. They want to rule.) But there will be plenty of suffering in the meantime.
Big distinction between ruling and governing! I hope you’re right, Julie. I try not to think about dark scenarios, but there will surely be violence before this ends.
"The way Trump tells it, Canadians should quit bellyaching about tariffs and accept our destiny as the 51st state. He has called the Canadian border 'that artificial line' that 'somebody drew…many years ago with a ruler, just a line.'” An artificial line? Guess he knows nothing about that line and its history. The Treaty of Paris (1783) first established that border and established the independence of the new colonies from Britain. He knows nothing about that borderline and the war of 1812 and the cessation of much of northern Minnesota and the Dakotas. He knows nothing about history or diplomacy. Stupidity reigns south of the shared border.
He probably thinks Americans won the War of 1812, if he thinks at all. What an irony that the national anthem celebrates a battle in a war Americans lost.
Yes. And how ironic many rejoice in a new "Gilded Age" without understanding what the word gilded means. PT Barnum rejoiced in Americans where "there's a sucker born every minute."
I'm not sure he knows there was a War of 1812...
We have family in Victoria and rent an apartment there. We would move to BC in a minute. But alas we are retired and Canada doesn’t want us. If we could afford private insurance instead of Medicaid. We would already be there with our grandchildren
I too have family in Victoria, a delightful place. Canada does not make it easy for people to move here.
I live just down the road from Vancouver, BC, in Washington, a blue state. Both Senators are Democrats as is my Representative. Calling them is like preaching to the choir. Right now, something I can do is share factual information, to inform on social media, while knowing that those few friends who are dug in will never read it. At 71, I fantasize about moving out of the US but feel I must stay put and resist.
In his first term, I remember thinking of Trump as the bully, Biff, in “Back to the Future”. But for a moment of courage by George McFly, the future would have been a dark dystopian nightmare. It feels like this is where we are. Where is our George McFly?
Debra, not only do we need you where you are, it could be a monumental challenge to move somewhere else. Europe, maybe, like some American expat stackers? Canada is pretty much closed to all who are not young and in high-demand professions.
Dire, dark out there.
May we light neighboring flames,
keep each other brave.
...
May we not forget
that we are all close neighbors,
that we are all kin.
Yes. You remind me of Auden’s “affirming flame,” from his poem bout another dark time.
Yes. You remind me of Auden’s “affirming flame,” from his poem about another dark time.
I'm Canadian, but like so many, have deep cross-border ties to both countries. My ancestors crossed back & forth over the border many times after coming to North America (the one I can trace back furthest here so far came to the Ottawa Valley in the 1820s). I was born in a small Prairie border town; my dad is from there too and my mother is from a small town 20 miles south of the border. I spent much of my childhood summers with my grandparents in Minnesota. My grandfather grew up on a farm within a short walk from the border and told me stories about rum runners from Canada driving through the fields during Prohibition. He also told me he cast his first vote for FDR because he thought "he was a real nice man." I miss my grandparents every day, but I am thankful they are not around now to see what's happened to their country. :( My husband says he will never set foot in the U.S. again. I will never say never, because of my extended family there, but I think it will be a while before I go back.
There are many like your husband, Lori. Some will not change planes in the U.S. Anger is the wellspring of a great sadness between people who should and could be connected.