— Feature, Musings —10.13.2025 04:16 AM
— Feature, Musings —10.13.2025 04:16 AM
Warren,
The retaliatory tariffs WERE the message but then he emasculated himself by caving and removing them.
I disgree with those who say PP had it in the bag. He only had it in the bag because Trudeau was the other option. As soon as Trudeau was out of the picture that meant a shift in the political paradigm. Then it became who do you like election campaign. And it’s still a who do you like political environment. That’s precisely why PP is royally screwed no matter how inept the Carney government is or becomes.
Meek Carney
The thing people are missing is that Carney was only showing *that he could retaliate effectively* and that got Trumps attention. He didn’t realize or understand that that could happen… Because…. lets not forget….. we are negotiating with an incompetent moron completely detached from reality.
The hockey fight analogy is actually something I agree with. A fight in the first period isn’t about winning the game in the first period… its about setting the tone for the rest of the game.
The next piece people are missing is that there is no reason to believe the Canadian hard ball retaliation will not be back on the table in the future. Its a long game of rope a dope and I don’t see it as chickening out.
Sean,
Agreed, but Carney’s credibility level as the good cop has already been severely damaged versus Ford as the bad cop. Ford has strengthened immensely in the public’s estimation, while Carney has sunk to new lows.
So…if Carney does a 180 further down the road, it won’t be terribly effective because the provinces control most of the cards. Trump will only blink if we cut off oil, gas, electricity and hydro exports to the United States, and that is not doable by the feds alone. Ford has the balls in spades, Legault is questionable, and Smith is too busy kissing Trump’s ass. In short, when we removed the counterveiling tariffs last month, we fucked ourselves. They can come back on, but their leverage effect is now negligible.
Warren,
It’s hardline all the way, or Trump wins and we lose.
Warren,
Austerity and shrinking government should be for good economic times to redress and reset the ship. These aren’t good economic times so the Liberals will do a bare minimum in the budget. It will be more window dressing than anything else.
Warren,
Gaza = Stockholm syndrome. Remove Hamas and Fatah from the picture and replace both with other authentic and credible Palestinian governance in a de jure state and that will take care of most innate hatred against Israel and Jews. But it will take time across all Arab League countries.
I would love to see the poly market odds on Hamas actually disarming and relinquishing power. Both of which are key elements of Trump’s peace plan.
Doc,
Voluntarily, zero.
Yes, colour me skeptical too. I see that Hamas has resumed public executions . . .
Warren,
I wonder what the Trump ask was to be involved in this peace deal. I might have a bit of an idea: hum, Jared got two billion from the Saudis in 2022 and who gets the land and redevelops Gaza to his maximum advantage? Guess who and under what corporate banner…
If the CPC ran on or tried to bring in 3 per cent budget cuts, all the usual suspects would use it as proof that they want to allow people to starve to death without health care in the streets. 7.5% and there would be riots in the streets. Liberals are ridiculous. I am sure there will be a lot of folks in Fanjoy’s riding with lots of questions although their 52 week buyouts should allow them to put food on the table for a little while. You would think Carney would have access to a decent employment lawyer who would explain to him that there is no need to pay that much. Lots of other options. Guess not.
I also would have thought that somewhere along the line, Carney would have learned the lesson that one should always under promise and over deliver. Any half way successful idiot knows that. His educational and business experience would appear to be overrated.
The one interesting thing about this whole peace prize thing is that everyone now knows that the whole thing is a ridiculous political farce. Obama got it in 2009 and the nominations had to be in when he had only been in office 11 days. He likely had not even found the washroom yet. All the usual suspects used this year’s 31/1/25 deadline as one of the excuses why T didn’t get it. Quite funny.
Franky Bubbles does not have to worry about Carney backing him because no one in the cabinet has a say in this government anyway. Although, I am sure he will need to take the blame if necessary.
Home Front great. And the new find of the week(for me) is Glimmer-although I would call it more shoegaze than new wave. Pip Blom has a Nirvana vibe.
I know our host is a fan of Nebraska and this quote in the NYT caught my eye today:
“‘Nebraska’ is the most punk thing Bruce ever did,” Scott Cooper, the film’s director and screenwriter, told me in a recent interview. “Not in sound, but in spirit.””
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/movies/bruce-springsteen-biopic-jeremy-allen-white.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20251012&instance_id=164285&nl=the-morning®i_id=123428113&segment_id=207748&user_id=6e1582f98c51a3108daa21c5fab4cc58
Warren,
Watch this end up like Trump’s other brilliant plan…
From Grok:
“President Trump directed Israeli forces to turn around bombers en route to further strikes on Iran during a ceasefire enforcement on June 24, 2025.
This occurred amid a fragile ceasefire brokered by the U.S. and Qatar after 12 days of open conflict between Israel and Iran, which began on June 13 with Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear targets. The U.S. escalated involvement on June 22 by deploying B-2 stealth bombers to strike three key Iranian nuclear sites (Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan), aiming to degrade Iran’s nuclear program. Iran retaliated with missile barrages on Israel and a U.S. base in Qatar, most of which were intercepted.
Early on June 24 (local time), Iran fired missiles at Israel in what it claimed was pre-ceasefire retaliation, prompting Israel’s Defense Minister to order a “forceful” response, including plans to strike central Tehran. As Israeli jets launched toward targets, Trump publicly intervened via social media posts demanding they abort, writing that the planes should “turn around and head home” while performing a “friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran.” He followed with a phone call to Prime Minister Netanyahu, after which Netanyahu’s office confirmed the Israeli Air Force had conducted a limited strike on a radar station north of Tehran but refrained from additional attacks “pursuant to the conversation.”
Trump later addressed reporters aboard Air Force One, crediting his intervention for the turnaround and lashing out at both nations in a foul-mouthed tirade, saying they “don’t know what the fuck they’re doing” after fighting for so long. The ceasefire held tenuously thereafter, with both sides claiming victory—Israel for neutralizing threats and Iran for its “crushing retaliatory strikes.” U.S. intelligence assessments indicated the strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program BY ONLY MONTHS, [Emphasis added.] not destroying it entirely.
This event highlighted Trump’s leverage over Israel, as noted in contemporaneous commentary, underscoring U.S. influence on Israeli military decisions.”
Oh and to compare Carney to a shrieking teenager at a Taylor Swift concert is offensive to shrieking teenagers at a Taylor Swift concert. I kind of get that. Perhaps Carney should get some advice from Conrad who seems to talk to T regularly without getting starstruck. Probably helping the situation more than our negotiators but I digress. T invested in two Canadian mining companies about two weeks after Conrad was sitting in the Oval(the day Charlie got shot). I am guessing those investments was not a coincidence. And I am sure there will be more.
Martin,
PLEASE. Connie understands the concept of quid pro quo. Let’s leave it at that, given that he is notoriously litigious. He’s seemingly been in the bag for Trump from Day One, you know, 45. Is his column journalistically impartial? To put it in British terms, he knows so well: hardly! He reportedly no longer sits in the Lords. I have that on good authority.
However, he remains Baron Black of Crossharbour, just to be crystal clear.
By the by, he also regained his citizenship in 2023.
Carney must be so proud of the current cohort at Oxford.
https://x.com/jkenney/status/1977463520062324814
Warren,
HOT DAMN!!!
A PC government in Newfoundland and Labrador.
And I remain consistent: because the Liberals were in for ten years there was no way that I would have voted Liberal…if it had been the other way around with the PCs in office for a decade, there would have been no way that I would have voted PC.
A wave of fresh air. Always good for democracy.
Warren,
And here’s a news flash for PP: when we lose the next federal election next May, there will be two reasons why the Carney Liberals were returned: 1) this one you already know: Pierre is not sufficiently likable as a party leader, and 2) he made a huge mistake not having the guts to run in another Ontario riding. When the blue dog won in AB, that made him come off as a coward who couldn’t take the heat in an Ontario campaign. He “HAD” to win, and since that was basically impossible in any Ontario CPC riding, he ran with his tail between his legs to Alberta to guarantee a win. And that, boys and girls, fucked him for sure.
Warren,
Does NL law mandate either an automatic or judicial recount in those incredibly close ridings? Hailing Tim Powers!
One seat majority. They better watch their Ps &Qs…
Over under on when the usual suspects start referring to Wakeham as a fascist?
Warren,
Pierre on SNC Lavalin. For his sake, he better be able to back up his comments with evidence regarding the RCMP’s alleged conduct. Otherwise, it will damage him.
I’m not exactly impartial on SNC. I left the Liberals after ten years because of the way the Trudeau government handled that. It amazes me to this day how no one who was part of the corporate ladder was charged. (Other executives went to jail on the J-C Bridge, Libya and the McGill Super Hospital.)
Warren,
Anyone who reads this will conclude that he knows nothing, has learned nothing and thanks to his personality remains a D-I-C-K…
From Canadian Press:
“Top aide to former PM Harper rips Poilievre’s comments about RCMP and Trudeau.”
https://lethbridgeherald.com/news/national-news/2025/10/17/top-aide-to-former-pm-harper-rips-poilievres-comments-about-rcmp-and-trudeau/
Thank God we’re almost guaranteed to lose in the May election. After that, finally, we can get rid of him as leader once and for all. I live for that day to see him replaced by someone worthy of the big job.
Dimitri Soudas is a former Conservative, who has defected to the Liberals. It’s important to consider the source.
The ethics commissioner concluded that Justin Trudeau committed ethics violations. We know that the RCMP never interviewed Justin Trudeau during its investigation. We also know that many documents weren’t realized because of cabinet confidentiality. That was very convenient.
Ask Jody Wilson-Raybould is she thinks Justin Trudeau is innocent. Compare Canada to South Korea, and it’s clear which country is far more serious about dealing with political corruption.
Gilbert,
Technically, yes, but it’s not my impression that Soudas is active in Liberal circles these days or even before when Trudeau ruled the roost.
Personally, I found that Kory killed it. It’s worth reading just for his perspective.
Ronald-Dimitri wrote his diatribe in the Toronto Daily Star-nothing more to be said.
Warren,
And it would help if Harper wasn’t such a coward. Harper treats this guy as if he was the second coming of Jesus, devoid of any imperfections. What a fucking joke. Even Harper knows we can’t and won’t win with this guy but Harper hasn’t got the guts to say it publicly, much less privately.
I really don’t see the difference between those folks all up in arms about the various and sundry indictments allegedly being done at the behest of T and Trudeau and his peeps trying to influence JWR. Pierre made his comments outside the HOC. No privilege. So the RCMP and that grifter running it that has been used as a prop by Carney should sue him. I’ll wait.
https://x.com/MartinDixon13/status/1979178760474648917
They won’t. How is accepting a free vacation from a guy who got a big donation from the Canadian taxpayer not against the law? Can the RCMP explain that?
Martin,
Our sanctimonious dolt is off target as per usual. You see, the RCMP or CSIS or anyone else doesn’t decide who gets charged. Crowns do that, and who controls Crowns? Provinces.
Ronald-the RCMP can lay a charge. The Crown then must decide whether to proceed with it. But it is like that with any level of law enforcement. We have litigated this three times and the Tru-anons saw no there there. But, of course there was.
Martin,
Now, to the point of RCMP influence, ah, memories:
https://nationalpost.com/news/zaccardelli-told-staff-to-drop-2005-election-bombshell
Going to keep the focus where it should be. Income trusts basically became a scam to feather the pockets of the one per cent. Of course Goodale didn’t cancel it. It took a Conservative like Flaherty to get rid of it. Now those same folks are investing in the Brookfield limited partnerships to pretty well get the same tax treatment. If you can’t beat them join them. Elbows up!
Do you think Zacc voted CPC?
For the record: still a huge fan of Ralph. Doing a great job over at the High Commission. God bless him!
Warren,
I’ve spent the last week trying to come up with a new descriptive nickname that reflects Carney’s strategy and lack of results regarding Trump tariffs. Eureka! I’ve finally got it: from now on, I will refer to the PM as Prime Minister WordSaladTM. Fits like a glove!
I’m not a lawyer, so I apologize for my lack of knowledge in legal matters. The truth is I’m not sure how serious Justin Trudeau’s ethics violations are, or if he was given special treatment. However, it appears that he didn’t fully cooperate with the RCMP investigation, and the NDP and Bloc sided with him to stop further investigation.