Never a dull moment in North American politics

By Medicine Hat News Opinon on August 9, 2017.

With the annual Perseid meteor shower set to reach its peak this weekend, and other heavenly phenomena of note such as the first total solar eclipse to be seen in North America since 1979 on Aug. 21, it might be fair to conclude chaos in the heavens reflects the chaos of the North American political and social scene at the moment.

Streaming across the border into Quebec at unprecedented rates, Haitian refugees in the United States, fearful of the Trump administration’s threats to end Haiti’s special refugee status, have filled the massive Olympic Stadium. People thought the trickle of Muslim refugees coming across the border a few months back was a lot, but it in no way compares to what is happening right now in Quebec.

After all the fear-mongering it did about the imminent Muslim refugee threat from the United States, one wonders how Quebec’s Le Meute fascists are going to feel about this one? Haiti is a French-speaking country and Christian? Ahhh… Yes, but they are black!

President Donald Trump took a 17-day vacation last week to soothe his pride and rest his bones after eight months of political turmoil in Washington since he took power. Let’s recap: A stream of paranoid tweets, unprecedented criticism of his own attorney general, ongoing Russia collusion allegations, failed policies on health and immigration, an emboldened North Korea which does not seem to fear reprisals from the United States for launching long range missiles in its general direction, and more weekly firings than on Trump’s former reality show “The Apprentice.” Yeah, it was time for a vacation. One gets the sense the Americans wouldn’t mind if Trump took an even longer vacation. Hopefully President Trump will take this time to reassess his approach, do some much-neglected policy research and get things settled on his White House team. The world needs the United States to return to sanity, and quickly, for all our sakes.

On the homefront, our own Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to opt for photo ops over substantive policy measures. Somebody take that man’s mirror away so he can get past himself and get down to the business of governing. But then again, the Canadian economy appears to be finally getting back on track after years in the doldrums. Maybe the Trudeau do-nothing approach is working.

On second thought, give that man a Speedo and his mirror back to keep him occupied through the NAFTA talks. Better a log than a stork, as Aesop said.