A Happy and Healthy Canada Day to all our readers, commenters, and/or lurkers from the Great White North!
I used to send a different video version of this song to my late, and dearly missed, colleague who was originally from Quebec every year on Canada Day. It is considered to be one of Canada’s unofficial anthems. So this is for you Donna – repose en paix.
Open thread!
Platonailedit
Patricia Kayden
That last drawing is a timely reminder that Nazis need to be taken down by any means necessary. Looking at you, Trump.
Platonailedit
And even him can’t fix this fucking borked blog.
Adam L Silverman
Justin Trudeau had a Canada Day present for the President.
Brachiator
Wait. Isn’t Canada now our official mortal enemy?
Adam L Silverman
Amir Khalid
Another song that says “Canada” to me is Canadian Railroad Trilogy.
Platonailedit
@Brachiator: Wait till you hear the news from the south.
Platonailedit
“Win or gulag, comrade”
Patricia Kayden
@Adam L Silverman: It’s good that Prime Minister Trudeau is targeting Republican interests in regard to retaliatory tariffs. It’s amazing that Republicans are okay with this unnecessary trade war given its real life damage to American business owners.
B.B.A.
@Platonailedit: They’re going to win the whole damn tournament, aren’t they? It’s Sepp Blatter’s parting gift to his benefactor.
Brachiator
Also, allow me to repost this little historical nugget, particularly as we note past US/Canada alliances
Here’s a nasty little footnote to history
For some reason, Ivanka came to mind as I read this obit.
From WaPo
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/gudrun-burwitz-ever-loyal-daughter-of-nazi-mastermind-heinrich-himmler-dies-at-88/2018/06/30/6d57d42a-7c76-11e8-93cc-6d3beccdd7a3_story.html
raven
@B.B.A.: Yea because that was the only upset in the whole tournament.
Platonailedit
@B.B.A.: Yes, if the opposing teams are going to be so obliging. Also, too, fuck Spain and their tiki-taka.
Adam L Silverman
@Patricia Kayden: It isn’t that they’re okay with it, rather they function by three overlapping and reinforcing dynamics:
The first is that the revanchist Freedom Caucus functions as a rump faction within the GOP caucus in the House. While they do not have the numbers to actually move legislation themselves, they do have the ability to stop legislation. As such they have leveraged the cohesion of their faction to achieve an asymmetric advantage, which gives them a functional veto over anything the GOP majority tries to accomplish in the House. The second dynamic is that the far larger group of non Freedom Caucus Republicans in the majority lives in constant fear of attack by the President. Essentially they live in fear of mean tweets that can galvanize the GOP’s base of movement conservatives, and the politicized herrenvolk curious portions of white evangelical Christians to deny them reelection in the Republican primaries. The fear of mean tweets is shared by the actual majority of Republicans in the House of Representative, regardless of whether they are the self described moderates or just the less revanchist members of the exceedingly conservative Republican Study Group. Finally, the Republican leadership in the House, which also lives in fear of mean tweets, has surrendered all the power to the Freedom Caucus and the President that they unconditionally support. They have done this by establishing rules, specifically the Hastert Rule, that only allow legislation to be brought to the floor for debate and a vote if it is determined, before being brought to the floor for debate and a vote, that it has majority support within the Republican majority caucus. This has effectively locked out the Democratic minority completely, except when Speaker Ryan is desperate to pass continuing resolutions to keep the government from shutting down.
Brachiator
Interesting story on Axios that Trump wants to blow up the WTO
Trump advisors tell him this is unrealistic, but supposedly he is hot to get this done. I wonder what agreements might come out of Trump’s meeting with Putin.
Link:
https://www.axios.com/trump-trade-war-leaked-bill-world-trade-organization-united-states-d51278d2-0516-4def-a4d3-ed676f4e0f83.html
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator: I saw that earlier. Perhaps the obliviousness on display is what drove you to make the comparison. Though in Gudrun’s defense, she was only 12. Not in her mid 30s…
chris
Happy Canada Day!
My favorite Stan Rogers tune is Barrett’s Privateers.
“We’d cruise the seas for American gold”
Platonailedit
@Brachiator:
G1+1? +1 being murkkka.
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator: He wants to do it through Congressional action. Even if Ryan could get it through the House, and to be perfectly honest I’m not sure Paul Ryan could get the house to pass legislation renaming a post office for Ronald Reagan at this point, it will never make it through the Senate. But it does provide incredibly insight into the President’s thinking. Also, did you notice the phrasing?
Name of the bill:
White House response to Axios:
Trump Doctrine lingo: check!
SiubhanDuinne
@Brachiator:
Hmmm.
Steve in the ATL
@Brachiator: of course she dies at 88…a Nazi to the end!
ETA: @SiubhanDuinne: get out of my head!
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: I feel like we should be making a toast to “health and welfare”!
Mike G
@Brachiator:
There’s a documentary on Netflix “Hitler’s Children” about the children and grandchildren of the top Nazis. Most of them were horrified by their family past and trying to live it down or make up for it.
I think it was one of Himmler’s granddaughters who married an Israeli. Her meeting the in-laws for the first time must have been interesting.
debbie
@Patricia Kayden:
Didn’t Trump announce he was postponing dealing with NAFTA until after the midterms? That this kind of stuff will be continuing for another four months can only mean chaos which won’t garner him or the GOP more votes.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
The United States FART Act.
’nuff said.
chris
@Brachiator: Our own Cheryl Rofer weighs in:
I snickered but it’s a good question.
ETA Cheers notmax!
HypersphericalCow
That “Get Your Teeth Into Your Job” poster is pretty great. Off to Google Image Search to find more Canadian WWII-era propaganda…
Brachiator
@Steve in the ATL:
Yep. Odd bit of negative serendipity.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: @chris: Its all the Mickey Ds and KFC. That much grease mixed with all the carbonization from the large amount of Diet Coke he drinks is going to cause some horrendous effects!
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
He has no fucking clue how any works, does he?
Adam L Silverman
@HypersphericalCow: Let me save you a few steps. Here’s my search results.
https://www.google.com/search?q=world+war+ii+canadian+beaver+to+victory+poster&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwieo6Gynv_bAhUB9IMKHV8zBoYQ_AUICigB&biw=1280&bih=680&dpr=2
satby
@Steve in the ATL:@SiubhanDuinne: I’ll join you both. Happy Canada Day to our neighbors, and their much beloved former representatives in the US!
debbie
@debbie:
Gah, can’t edit. Anything, not any.
satby
@Adam L Silverman: ohpleaseohpleaseohplease.
Wait, did I type that out loud?
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: Nope. Every biographical article and biography – from Wayne Barrett to David Cay Johnson to the trio of books that came out in the 00s – about how he conducts his business all say the same thing: he doesn’t do details, has no idea how anything actually works, doesn’t care what people are actually hired to do. He just hands out assignments willy nilly to whoever is around. And the only person who actually knows anything about every deal, project, etc is the Trump Org Executive VP and Chief Corporate Counsel. This guy was hired by Fred Trump and has been there from day 1 when the President took over the business. He’s the only one who could provide a proper accounting of everything.
Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog
@chris:
A story I heard was that someone challenged him to come up with a good, singable chorus that starts with “God damn them all!”
Doug R
@Adam L Silverman: Aluminium kegs got hit with tariffs July 1st. So I picked up a Heineken 5l mini keg yesterday.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: I knew what you meant. As is usually obvious and evident, I’m fluent in typo!
Mike in NC
Looking forward to Trump’s imbecilic trade wars against our allies as being what brings him down.
efgoldman
@debbie:
Not politics, not elections, not congress, not trade, not economics, not race….
And he doesn’t know or care to learn. In fact, doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and needs to learn.
Operating strictly by id
Fuckem
Yutsano
Still my favourite version.
This is a good time of year for me. Canadian father and American mother.
Adam L Silverman
@Doug R: Lift with your knees, not with your back!
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
?
Steve in the ATL
@Brachiator: what were her last 14 words?
Amir Khalid
@Brachiator:
@Adam L Silverman:
This is the fast road to getting America cut off from the global economy. (Pardon me for stating the obvious.) As far as I’m concerned it’s prima facie evidence of Trump acting in the service of a hostile foreign interest.
efgoldman
@Steve in the ATL:
What are you going to do for a living now that SCOTUS has destroyed the unions for you?
NotMax
New to me is Impossible Peace, apparently from History Channel – Australia. Wonderfully put together and globally wide ranging, with a pointedly acerbic but not inaccurate narration complementing the astounding array of historical film footage included, covering the years from the end of WW1 to the start of WW2. Stumbled upon it on Amazon Prime. Binge worthy series. A teaser.
chris
@Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog: New to me, thanks. He did a goddamn fine job.
Patrick II
@Adam L Silverman:
That was the Hastert rule. The Ryan rule is that a bill won’t get a vote of it can’t pass with entiere!y Republican votes, not just a majority of Republicans voting for it.
chris
Another favourite, White Collar Holler. Some here can surely relate and like all Stan’s tunes it’ll stay with you.
JAFD
Salutations, Canadians & Canadiens !
As someone, half of whose ancestors came from Poland, I think we USA’ns ought to appreciate having good neighbors ;-)
One is also reminded of the old question;
‘Do they have a Fourth of July in England ?’
‘No, they’ve removed that date from their calendar, and they have a 31st of June to make up for it.’
khead
@Adam L Silverman:
Hmmmm….
8+ year expansion + company stock buybacks ending + 15% oil spike in the last month + rising interest rates + tariffs kicking in this week = ?
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid: No argument here. The butcher’s bill will only really be evident after the Helsinki Summit, but Bolton was telegraphing it this morning. Based on Bolton’s remarks this AM, I expect that even if the President is better behaved at the NATO summit and then his post summit meeting with Theresa May than he was at the G7, and I don’t think that’s a given and I wouldn’t put money on it, he will recognize Russia’s right to have seized Crimea and accept the Russian rigged Crimean referendum that was held to validate Putin’s actions. Once that happens, there’s no reason for the US to impose sanctions on Russia as the sanctions exist to punish Russia for seizing Crimea. So he’ll lift them. I also expect he’ll be announcing a US pullout from Syria. He’s already forced the commanders on the ground to abandon the rebels we were supporting in Daara. They are now being barrel and white phosphorus bombed by the Syrian and Russian Air Forces. Jordan has closed their border. Those folks are desperate and will have to try to get somewhere. Israel, Lebanon, wherever. All this will do is precipitate a new refugee crisis and further destabilize the region. It will also further empower Iran. I expect it to be an ugly July, but we won’t know how ugly until we after he meets with Putin for his annual review.
JanieM
My Stan Rogers fave is The Mary Ellen Carter.
“Rise again, rise again, that her name not be lost to the knowledge of men…..”
Happy Canada Day to our neighbors!
Adam L Silverman
@Patrick II: It is exactly the same rule: if legislation isn’t supported, as in can pass, with only a majority of the GOP caucus supporting it, it isn’t brought to the floor. It’s why even the compromise House immigration bill that failed last week was negotiated solely within the GOP caucus. It wasn’t a compromise with the Democrats, it was, supposedly, a compromise within the GOP caucus.
Adam L Silverman
@JanieM: I almost put this in the original post:
And this:
Steve in the ATL
@efgoldman: HR got an email from a guy that morning saying “pursuant to this morning’s SCOTUS opinion, please stop my dues payments immediately!”. Was heartbroken to tell them that that decision applied to public sector workers only, but please be patient as it’s just a matter of time before they make right to work a national law.
Give these fuckers credit for playing a long game, even if it’s one that is destroying our country.
StringOnAStick
@chris: I learned both those Stan Rogers tunes from a Canadian friend, such fun songs to perform, especially Barrett s Privateers.
wjs
I thought all of Canada’s “unofficial national anthems” were Tragically Hip songs.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman:
Didn’t Congress pass a bill that put more sanctions on Russia? Oh wait, the admin isn’t enforcing those. How can the Republicans be okay with this? The same party that had Ronald “I’ve signed legislation outlawing Russia forever…” Reagan as its leader?
Brachiator
@Steve in the ATL:
Hopefully, no one will never know.
Adam L Silverman
@Steve in the ATL: They’re actually setting themselves up for failure because despite their claims as originalists (or sometimes constitutionalists) they are the preeminent constitutional legal historians, they are actually terrible historians. I know you know this history thought. What they don’t know, because their theory of law is a bullshit justification to just do whatever they happen to politically want anyone, that one of the reasons that even the comparatively weak union laws and rules that the US private sector ultimately accepted, and which ultimately got mirrored in the public sector, was to promote a system of regularity within the workplace, the labor force, and in relations between the labor force and management. What they’re going to ultimately get by doing this is what we saw with what were essentially, because of right to work laws, wildcat teacher strikes in W VA, AZ, OK, and several other states earlier this year. If you take away the regime, in the sense of a predictable, regulated, curated, and managed set of rules covering labor-management relations, then when labor has had enough you have a hard time stopping them from mobilizing. These idiot Federalist Society members, and the deep pocketed ideologues who bankroll them and their efforts and these lawsuits to get these rules over turned, all have this idealized, but factually and historically inaccurate understanding of how things were prior to the creation of what we think of as modern labor laws. The reality was a lot less pleasant and a lot more brutal for everyone involved.
JanieM
Adam L Silverman: Those are great…….
A couple of Schooner Fare songs about loving Canada:
Calgary, My Home Away from Home
My Heart’s in Cape Breton Tonight
MisterForkbeard
In honor of Canada Day, I give you the song we used to sing in High School to honor that great nation, The War of 1812 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7jlFZhprU4
Fair Economist
@NotMax:
Thread won.
B.B.A.
I still think Trudeau needs to address the sexual harassment charges against him and resign. It’s the standard that he’s held other members of his administration to, so it’s hypocritical to say they don’t apply to him too.
And trust me, I’m well aware that charges have been brought in bad faith, that human memory is frail, and that once someone is seen as an abuser, events that seemed innocuous and consensual at the time can easily be reperceived as abuse. But all things being equal, sometimes you have no proof beyond “he said, she said,” and I’d rather live in a world where false allegations are believed than one where true allegations aren’t. No one is indispensable, especially not a straight white man.
Adam L Silverman
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Please see my comment at #15.
Amir Khalid
@wjs:
The song I linked to above is neither Tragically Hip nor tragically hip.
Tokyokie
In honor of Canada Day, I regaled a friend with my rendition of O, Canada. In French. (I also try to make at least one game when the Toronto Blue Jays play the local nine, just so I can get strange looks from everybody sitting in my section.)
Yes, my brain is landfill of useless information.
Steve in the ATL
@B.B.A.: fuck Montesquieu, amirite?
Get a grip, moron.
Fair Economist
@Adam L Silverman: No, the Hastert rule allowed legislation that had majority support in the Republican caucus but needed some Democratic support to pass, like Medicare Part D. The Ryan rule is that it has to be able to pass with no Democratic votes (otherwise they could frequently tell the Freedumb Caucus to pound sand.)
Adam L Silverman
@MisterForkbeard: Not sure why they had Tony Blair in there at the end.
MisterForkbeard
@B.B.A.: I don’t have any details on this, but when you’re 25 and you do something like this at a concert, I don’t want that held against the leader of nation when he’s 45. It doesn’t sound like it was incredibly bad at the time, and it’s not like he was Trump doing this stuff in his 40s and 50s with ample additional evidence of harassment and sexual assault.
Jackie
Just want to say my Mariners are climbing up the Astro’s back. GO MARINERS!!!
efgoldman
@MisterForkbeard:
Seventy comments down, did I miss it or nobody mentioned Gordon Lightfoot?
MisterForkbeard
@Adam L Silverman: I didn’t get a chance to watch that particular youtube video – just had to hope it was the right one.
I’m typing this while letting my kids watch “PJ Masks” on my other monitor, so I couldn’t listen to it without interrupting them. I too am mystified if Tony Blair shows up anywhere in it.
Adam L Silverman
@Fair Economist: Let’s all explain to the guy with the PhD in political science, who actually just looked up the literature on it for an analysis I just completed last week, how things work in Congress. I’ll put this in econ speak for you: assume (<- this was the technical econ term for your convenience) I actually DO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK I'M TALKING ABOUT IN AREAS OF MY ACTUAL FUCKING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION! We now return you to your regularly scheduled comments thread. Please have a nice night.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: That’s my annual 10th of Novemeber post.
TriassicSands
Happy Canada Day my butt. I can see Canada from where I live and they’re up there conspiring to take us over, make us UNgreat again, and generally undermine everything we do. Sure, they seem mild-mannered and easy going, but deep down they’re nothing but American wannabes who are jealous of our supreme fabulousness. Tariffs? We should nuke the bums.!
Oh, wait, Canadians. I was thinking of Kanzanians, you know in the Midwest. Yeah, that’s different. They’re more like us than they want to admit, but also very different in extremely important ways. Back in the late 70s, I was on a road trip from Colorado to Alaska. The US was having gas shortages, which was inconvenient, but Canadian breweries (at least in Alberta and BC) were on strike and there was BEER rationing. Can you imagine? Talk about barbarism. It was the first time I realized that there was something better in the US than in Canada. Beer rationing? The end of civilization.
So, yes, Happy Canada Day and, please, keep on opposing every stupid, cruel, evil thing Trump does. We here in the States have a better chance of surviving Trump if we have the support of those poor beer rationers up north. And if they help us, I promise to send some good microbrewery suds north should they ever have another brewery strike.
Amir Khalid
@B.B.A.:
There are no charges against Trudeau that I am aware of, only largely unsupported accusations. I would expect more than the latter, a lot more, to justify demanding that anyone’s head must roll.
efgoldman
@Jackie:
Meanwhile the Red Sox excuse for a pitching staff (Chris Sale and a bunch of midgets) gave up 19 runs in two losses in a three game series.
David Price served whole platters of meatballs.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Steve in the ATL:
“We must secure the future of our—oh, dear, I’m not feeling very well.”
Steve in the ATL
@Jackie: blue state team over red state team? Hell yeah!
@JAFD:
Great point!
@Adam L Silverman: if it makes you feel better, last week my 21-year old daughter tried to lecture me on employment law. It did not go well for her.
efgoldman
@Steve in the ATL:
By 21 she should know better
Steve in the ATL
@Steeplejack (tablet): ha! Also, I have an unwritten rule (because it doesn’t need to be written) against repeating slogans coined by people with face tattoos. Or talking to people with face tattoos. Or even acknowledging their existence.
Adam L Silverman
@Steve in the ATL: That isn’t it. The informal rule itself hasn’t changed, the dynamics within the GOP caucus have. Hastert never had to deal with the Freedom Caucus and he had Tom Delay doing his enforcing for him. Both Boehner and Ryan have to deal with the Freedom Caucus and their majority leader is Kevin McCarthy, who is not as smart as my socks. So the majority of the majority dynamic has changed so that unless it is must pass to keep the government open/pass a CR, neither Boehner nor Ryan (because Ryan saw what happened to Boehner) have been willing to go to war with Meadows, Jordan, and their merry band of kooks and nuts. Same informal rule, difference in how the GOP caucus functions.
Steve in the ATL
@efgoldman: and she’s not even the blonde daughter!
Well, she is blonde, but not naturally like her sister.
Adam L Silverman
@Steve in the ATL: Speaking of:
NotMax
@Steve in the ATL
Guy with many face tattoos was denied entry into (IIRC) Dubai a couple of years back. Reason given was that he was, from appearance only, a practitioner of witchcraft.
SiubhanDuine
F
Y
W
P
Steeplejack
@Steve in the ATL:
In my fantasy world, H.R. would shoot back an e-mail:
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
It would suit the day!
NotMax
@Steve in the ATL
“I dreamed I made uninhibited love with Adolf Hitler while wearing my Maidenform bra.”
:)
Adam L Silverman
@Fair Economist: I’m very sorry for jumping all over your shit in my response at comment 78. I should have just explained why, after reviewing the literature on it, I understand the current dynamic as the informal Hastert Rule, which I did once I calmed down in comment 87. I’m not going to delete my comment, since I don’t want to gaslight anyone, but I did want to take a moment and apologize for letting you have it with both barrels. It was unnecessary, no matter how frustrated your comment made me, you didn’t deserve it, and I’m sorry that I subjected you to it. I’ll endeavor to do better in the future.
ETA: the “un” to unnecessary. Apparently I can’t even apologize correctly anymore…
B.B.A.
Fine, I get it. This isn’t fertile ground for #MeToo hardliners. I’ll lay off for another few months.
Gillibrand 2020! *runs*
Tokyokie
@Steve in the ATL: What do you have against Maoris?
MobileForkbeard
@Steve in the ATL: I feel like I have to ask- was she a Bernie voter? Because lecturing the experts fits to a T.
Adam L Silverman
@B.B.A.: It may just be that most people haven’t heard about this. I pay attention to Canadian news that deals with national security and foreign policy, so this is the first I’m seeing anything about it. And I haven’t read enough to form an intelligent opinion.
Steve in the ATL
@MobileForkbeard: no, she’s still part of the family!
MobileForkbeard
@B.B.A.: Good for Gillibrand. I like her.
And yes, we agree with MeToo as well. So we’ll see you in a couple months.
MoxieM
@NotMax: @NotMax: Wouldn’t that be something along the lines of “die MädelB-H” ? Apologies for not remembering all (any) the rules for creating compoundwords.
NotMax
@MoxieM
Was going to with Rhinemaidenform bra, but then thought that was twisting an already by now somewhat hazy historical reference into too much of a pretzel.
Matt McIrvin
@TriassicSands:
*cough* doug ford
PPCLI
@efgoldman: Late to the thread, but I had to add for the record that — great as the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is — on Canada Day there is one and only one Lightfoot song:
Canadian Railroad Trilogy
PPCLI
@PPCLI: And since I’m here, I’ll add for those (like me) from Northern Ontario/Northern Québec:
Neil Young Helpless with bonus Joni Mitchell and The Band
KD Lang cover
La Chicane Sôdome et Val d’Or.