Canada, Greenland, Mexico, etc - USA Tariffs / Trade War commencing March 2025 #5

[MelmothTheLost]

Does anyone else remember that great song "They're coming to take me away, ha ha!" What a beautiful song!

Napoleon XIV. Banned from the BBC radio airwaves.

 

[SouthAussie]

Yes, I was just thinking that Bessent wants to portray that tourist numbers are dropping so drastically because of their "tough stance on law" ..... rather than the tariffs, verbal attacks on other countries, untruths, what they are doing to immigrants and students, breaches of our personal privacy - and all the rest of the horrible stuff.

imo

Of course, I meant Rubio in my above post. Sorry. Too late to edit.
I was thinking of Bessent at that moment because I was thinking of his Ukraine mineral deal words.

 

[Mo Thuairim]

Of course, I meant Rubio in my above post. Sorry. Too late to edit.

Rubio is so welcoming lol. This reminds me of the recent reports of US-bound passengers at Dublin airport (many of them Americans) getting 'scolded' and aggressively questioned by US border officials in immigration pre-clearance checks if they have Trump-critical content on their phones. Who on earth would want to go to a country where at best they will be chastised for not admiring the current regime and at worst detained or deported.

 

[LovesPeace2]

Woman, 2 young kids missing after trying to cross border into Canada: RCMP | Globalnews.ca

RCMP say the three people are missing in the woods near the Quebec border with the U.S. after they were part of a group attempting to cross into Canada.

globalnews.ca

Three other people — two men and a woman — were arrested Wednesday night after crossing the border illegally near Godmanchester, Que., a small municipality that borders New York state.
RCMP Cpl. Martina Pillarova says police interviewed the three people caught and learned a woman and two young children were missing in the woods.

 

[303gmf]

Thank you @detective.moon for posting this. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an expert on this subject. I just finished watching this and I encourage/implore EVERYONE to do so, even (especially) Trump followers. This is a historical discussion of dictators. It is not an attack on Trump. She barely mentions him, but it’s easy to see the connections. An interesting point she explains is why people are drawn to support dictators.

JMO

She writes a Substack newsletter I subscribe to, she and Heather Cox Richardson have written such important words

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Rubio is so welcoming lol. This reminds me of the recent reports of US-bound passengers at Dublin airport (many of them Americans) getting 'scolded' and aggressively questioned by US border officials in immigration pre-clearance checks if they have Trump-critical content on their phones. Who on earth would want to go to a country where at best they will be chastised for not admiring the current regime and at worst detained or deported.

It's all rather - Communist, eh?

 

[SouthAussie]

It's all rather - Communist, eh?

Ironic that the party that was always calling others "Communist" "Marxist" is the party that turned out to be that way.

imo

 

[ilovewings]

All caused by one man who possesses millions of enablers, the most influential ones being Republican members of the US Congress.

They watch as he tanks not only the US economy, but the entire planet's economy, and as I said before, they cower in fear of his retribution should they actually obey the oaths they took to uphold and protect the Constition.

Despicable and disloyal. Traitorous even.

All IMO.

I don't think even a writer of fiction could have made a story up like what is happening in our country because of one man who is ruling like a King, enabled by the Republican party in congress, who have the power to stop the madness-- but won't---

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I don't think even a writer of fiction could have made a story up like what is happening in our country because of one man who is ruling like a King, enabled by the Republican party in congress, who have the power to stop the madness-- but won't---

At least the UK has a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch's role is largely ceremonial. Charles may be a bit loopy and talks to houseplants but he can't do much damage in the greater scheme of things.

 

[iamshadow21]

Ironic that the party that was always calling others "Communist" "Marxist" is the party that turned out to be that way.

imo

When things go to extremes - either way - they form a circle, not a line. Totalitarian regimes look very the same, regardless of if they started as right or left wing movements.

MOO

 

[Cedars]

IMO this thread has gone off the deep end into hysteria. I do not think there is any comparison between strict border controls and gassing people in concentration camps, or literally starving people to death, and it disrespects the millions of people who have actually suffered that fate.

JMO

 

[Herat]

Rubio is so welcoming lol. This reminds me of the recent reports of US-bound passengers at Dublin airport (many of them Americans) getting 'scolded' and aggressively questioned by US border officials in immigration pre-clearance checks if they have Trump-critical content on their phones. Who on earth would want to go to a country where at best they will be chastised for not admiring the current regime and at worst detained or deported.

Rubio seems to me to be desperately unhappy, getting more paranoid, getting that shark-eye look of detachment.

He's right in center of the connecting web of Trump's increasingly fascist actions. Ukraine manipulations, EU detachment, threats of Greenland takeover, threats of Canada takeover, detention and expulsion of unbelievers, lies and expulsions of dissenting aides and government employees, the lies behind the Signalgate scanals, the lack of ability of Hegland, the corruption of National Security and Intelligence positions, and on and on.

I get the impression he thought he'd get the VP position, but now realizes he is the intentional fall guy for all of the Trumpian schemes. He must realize how much Trump really wants to humiliate him, and can. Little Marco, indeed.

I think he's a man who is losing his soul and can see how the US can collapse, but can't find his way out.

 

[otto]

IMO this thread has gone off the deep end into hysteria. I do not think there is any comparison between strict border controls and gassing people in concentration camps, or literally starving people to death, and it disrespects the millions of people who have actually suffered that fate.

JMO

The connections between National Populism, reliance on a scapegoat, and "gassing people in concentration camps" needs to be shortened. The point is that there is a rise in National Populism in the USA. National Populism relies on uniting the population against an identifiable group who is blamed for all that ails the country's population. During the 1930s in Germany, Jewish people were identified as the culprits responsible for economic depression.

Over the last couple of years Trump and Republicans started defining a "scapegoat" by blaming migrants for rape, murder, criminal activity, and eating pets. That set the stage for convincing the USA population that they are victims that need government intervention for protection.

In the last two months, that blaming mentality has expanded to other countries. That was easily achieved because the USA population already believed themselves to be victims of outside forces (migrants), and therefore not responsible for their own circumstances.

First, Canada was blamed for "cheating" the USA with "unfair" practices. That scapegoat group has since expanded to include all countries (excluding Russia). Other societies, whether from South America, Canada, China, the EU, Australia, or anywhere else, are defined as cheaters. The result is that the USA citizen believes themselves to be victims of forces outside their control, therefore whatever the "intuitive" government does will be trusted as necessary and correct.

In summary, the point is that the current USA government, like Hitler, has created a scapegoat that the USA population can blame, with the consequence that a country of victims sits helpless while their trusted government looks after the problem through tariffs, disintegration of due process, silenced protesters, destruction of privacy, and elimination of freedom of speech. It has nothing to do with the treatment of scapegoats and everything to do with the usefulness of scapegoats in the pursuit of unmitigated political power (authoritarianism).

"National-populism, a key element of the new configurations of the far right, has been described as a schematic and Manichaean reading of reality, of easy circulation, which is dominated by the figure of one or more scapegoats, “anti-popular” agents deemed to be at the root of the ills suffered by the national community. While the old fascisms built a discourse based to a great extent on the exploitation of the scapegoat of the Jewish-Masonic and Communist conspiracies, the new far right organizations have built a new scapegoat for all the ills of our society, immigration."

Europe: A continent in crisis, a rising far right - International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Europe is in crisis, and we are living through one of the worst anti-social and anti-labour offensives of our recent history, a crisis that is being used as backdrop for the justification and implementation of a “maximalist” neoliberal agenda, delivered through the IMF and its structural...

internationalviewpoint.org

 

[ilovewings]

Rubio seems to me to be desperately unhappy, getting more paranoid, getting that shark-eye look of detachment.

He's right in center of the connecting web of Trump's increasingly fascist actions. Ukraine manipulations, EU detachment, threats of Greenland takeover, threats of Canada takeover, detention and expulsion of unbelievers, lies and expulsions of dissenting aides and government employees, the lies behind the Signalgate scanals, the lack of ability of Hegland, the corruption of National Security and Intelligence positions, and on and on.

I get the impression he thought he'd get the VP position, but now realizes he is the intentional fall guy for all of the Trumpian schemes. He must realize how much Trump really wants to humiliate him, and can. Little Marco, indeed.

I think he's a man who is losing his soul and can see how the US can collapse, but can't find his way out.

I don't see a man of discontent at all: I see a man full of hubris moving in the orbit of the man who controls him and all Republicans--- I don't believe he is looking for a way out- I believe he is awash in feelings of superiority- he has the power of the Secretary of Defense-- an appointment I am sure he never envisioned when he entered politics---- such a lofty position--- He is losing his soul- but he doesn't know it. The Republican party has sacrificed their souls, their better selves, for POWER

 

[erratum]

IMO this thread has gone off the deep end into hysteria. I do not think there is any comparison between strict border controls and gassing people in concentration camps, or literally starving people to death, and it disrespects the millions of people who have actually suffered that fate.

JMO

Really not such a stretch. Hitler didn't start by gassing people....that's just what it led up to.

The American in me says that there is no way in hell the USA could become what it once (not that long ago) fought so hard to help abolish. The human in me, however, sees an America that I've never seen before. Not just the reigning government of the day, but the percentage of the populace that are okay with it.

The conditions inside the infamous El Salvador prison where deported migrants are held

The U.S. has sent hundreds of people to the notorious mega-prison in El Salvador known as CECOT. William Brangham discussed conditions inside that facility with Noah Bullock, the executive director of Cristosal, an international human rights group based in El Salvador.

www.pbs.org

"And according to our investigations, those prisons may even have more adverse conditions than the ones that are depicted in the CECOT. We have documented systematic physical beatings, torture, intentional denial of access to food, water, clothing, health care. And the combination of both the physical abuse and the denial of basic needs has led to the death of at least 368 people, according to our investigations."

Really not such a stretch at all.

 

[Lilibet]

She writes a Substack newsletter I subscribe to, she and Heather Cox Richardson have written such important words

Yes, I follow both Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Heather Cox Richardson, plus Olga Lautman (Trump Tyranny Tracker) and others who are staying alert.

 

[otto]

Really not such a stretch. Hitler didn't start by gassing people....that's just what it led up to.

The American in me says that there is no way in hell the USA could become what it once (not that long ago) fought so hard to help abolish. The human in me, however, sees an America that I've never seen before. Not just the reigning government of the day, but the percentage of the populace that are okay with it.

The conditions inside the infamous El Salvador prison where deported migrants are held

The U.S. has sent hundreds of people to the notorious mega-prison in El Salvador known as CECOT. William Brangham discussed conditions inside that facility with Noah Bullock, the executive director of Cristosal, an international human rights group based in El Salvador.

www.pbs.org

"And according to our investigations, those prisons may even have more adverse conditions than the ones that are depicted in the CECOT. We have documented systematic physical beatings, torture, intentional denial of access to food, water, clothing, health care. And the combination of both the physical abuse and the denial of basic needs has led to the death of at least 368 people, according to our investigations."

Really not such a stretch at all.

It was a gradual slide towards National Populism and related consequences. The USA has been divided into two distinct groups for 10 years (or more). On the one hand, there are the gun toting nationalist make-me-richer Republicans. On the other, there are Democrat wokesters who opened the Southern USA border to everyone. That opened the door for a big divisive argument: migrants. I think that most countries agree that open borders was a mistake.

As soon as one open-border migrant committed rape or murder, Republicans generalized to claim that the open border was filling the country with raping, murdering, pet-eating criminal migrants. That morphed into the statement: all migrants are criminals. Propaganda at its best!

The Republican scapegoat was formally defined: migrants. Republicans can declare that because someone was deported to El Salvador, they must be a criminal and a migrant. People no longer ask: is that deported person a proven migrant or criminal? They accept that because the person was deported, and migrant=criminal, no further discussion required and due process is unnecessary.

It is now generally accepted that migrants (foreigners) must be distrusted. Not only are they criminal invaders, but they are unfair cheaters. Slap those foreign countries with tariffs! That will stop their criminal cheating. Violate the privacy and civil rights of tourists! That will reinforce the belief that the USA government is protecting the USA from foreign criminals.

Travelers to the USA are stripped of rights, detained and imprisoned, and no one in the USA blinks. People who are legally in the USA are detained and imprisoned, some are deported to foreign prisons. The silent majority believes that it would not happen without good reason. That's where they are mistaken. When it happens to them, then they will understand, and not sooner.

Meanwhile, they believe that they will be rich after short term pain - who cares how they get there. The pot of gold is sitting at the end of the rainbow just out of sight. Trump said so.

 

[Yellowbelly]

When things go to extremes - either way - they form a circle, not a line. Totalitarian regimes look very the same, regardless of if they started as right or left wing movements.

MOO

A horseshoe is the image that's sometimes used to illustrate the closeness between extreme left and extreme right.

In the years when Nazi Germany was allied with the Soviet Union between the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and Barbarosa, the Gestapo and the NKVD were said to have got on brilliantly.

 

[Lilibet]

IMO this thread has gone off the deep end into hysteria. I do not think there is any comparison between strict border controls and gassing people in concentration camps, or literally starving people to death, and it disrespects the millions of people who have actually suffered that fate.

JMO

With all due respect @Cedars, are we reading the same thread? Nobody has made those comparisons to strict border controls. What we are seeing here in the U.S. are incremental steps toward totalitarianism, not just in the treatment of immigrants, but in the takeover of government departments and confidential information about citizens by the DOGE teen teams.

Some of us are staying alert to the danger of all this, which is not going “off the deep end into hysteria.” For those of us with a knowledge of history (especially in 1930’s Germany), minimizing and complacent acceptance of this is dangerous. Rather than disrespecting those who have suffered under totalitarianism, we are honoring their memories by remembering.

JMO

 

[musicaljoke]

IMO this thread has gone off the deep end into hysteria. I do not think there is any comparison between strict border controls and gassing people in concentration camps, or literally starving people to death, and it disrespects the millions of people who have actually suffered that fate.

JMO

We need to recognize that, at the very least, there are severe threats to American democracy and that those threats are already seen in the swift movement toward totalitarianism government.