In 8 Days, Trump Went From Being OK with a Canada-China Trade Deal to Threatening 100% Tariffs Against Canada

 

Yesterday, President Trump turned his ire back against Canada by threatening it with 100% tariffs if it made a trade deal with China.

Yet 8 days earlier, Trump was perfectly fine with such an arrangement telling reporters outside the White House. Trump said, “It’s a good thing for (Carney) to sign a trade deal. If you can get a deal with China, he should do that.”

So, what happened in that 8-day stretch to make Trump do a 180?

Well, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made his Davos speech in which he declared there was a "rupture" in the world order. Although Carney made no mention of the United States, much less Trump, it was clear that it was Trump and his administration which were the cause of said rupture.

In other words, Trump's fragile ego got bruised. Again.

It is this fragile ego which impulsively threatens to impose tariffs against a significant trading partner, threaten a military takeover of land belonging to a NATO ally and send goons into in Minneapolis to execute American citizens. In Canada's case, in addition to threatening yet more tariffs, Trump withdrew his invitation to Canada to join the so-called Gaza Board of Peace.

For his part, Carney has denied that Canada is pursuing a free trade agreement with China. Although one could not blame Carney for seeking closer economic ties to China as long as Trump persists in claiming the United States does not need Canadian products let alone continue the existing free trade relationship with Canada and Mexico.

This isn't to say that pursuing closer economic ties with China doesn't have its own risks. Russian dissident and former chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov pointed out that Canada risks trading one authoritarian entity for another and, in so doing, will encourage China to undermine Canadian sovereignty as it already has done by conducting surveillance operations against Chinese dissidents living in Canada.

Nevertheless, Canada must act in its national interest and if China proves a more stable option than an America run by Trump and/or Trumpism then pursuing deeper economic ties with China is Carney's least bad option despite China's atrocious human rights record. At the rate things are going, American brutality under Trump could match that of China before the decade is out.

It is this arbitrary and capricious behavior by Trump which will help drive Canada (and other countries) into the waiting arms of Beijing.

The Pats Return to the Super Bowl for First Time in 7 Years

Amid a major snowstorm here and in much of the country, New Englanders had good reason to stay indoors as our Patriots just bested the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game 10-7 in a Rocky Mountain Way also full of blowing snow. 

This marks the first time the Patriots have gone to the Super Bowl in 7 years when they bested the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, the last of their six championships during the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era. Of course, the Pats won their first Super Bowl title in 2002 against the Rams when they were based out of St. Louis.

It is quite possible the Pats could face the Rams in Super Bowl LX as the Rams will soon face the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship game. The Pats also faced the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX 11 years ago earning their fourth Super Bowl title.

The Pats had some lean years after Brady finished his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers adding one last Super Bowl title to his resume. Belichick retired before joining the collegiate ranks and acquiring a collegiate age paramour in the process. Jared Mayo was placed in the unenviable position to take over head coaching reigns lasting only a single season. However, it does appear that hiring ex-Tennessee Titans head coach and former Pats linebacker Mike Vrabel has paid off at least for now. Of course, a breakout season from Pats quarterback Drake Maye helped matters considerably.

In a country which is falling apart at the seams, the Patriots being back in the Super Bowl seems like a return to the natural order of things however short-lived.

BU College Republican President Zac Segal Has Only Himself to Blame

A couple of months ago, I commented on Zac Segal, the President of BU's College Republicans, who saw fit to call ICE regarding the employees at Allston Car Wash falsely claiming the employees were in the country illegally.

Now a conservative legal foundation which was co-founded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is demanding the BU bear the costs of moving Segal to its D.C. area campus. America First Legal alleges that Segal has been unable to attend classes, has been required to make his own academic arrangements and has been harassed and threatened online.

For starters, Segal is lucky th at BU did not see fit to suspend or expel him. The fact that Segal would falsely accuse people of being here illegally as a representative of a campus organization and brag about it is an act which warrants disciplinary action. The individuals Segal alleged were here illegally in fact had work permits.

Do I think Segal should be subject to harassment and threats? No, I don't. Yet it does not change the fact that Segal caused great harm against 9 individuals who did nothing wrong and is unrepentant concerning his conduct. That Segal views himself as a victim and that the America First Legal is encouraging this narrative is foolish and irresponsible.

I also question America First's remedy. What makes them think that the student body at BU's D.C. campus would be any less outraged with Segal than here in Boston? What Segal did was reprehensible. As best as I can tell, Segal saw people with brown skin working at a car wash and simply assumed they were here illegally. On this basis, he saw fit to contact ICE.

While no one ought to threaten Zac Segal with violence, his conduct was contemptible. BU is under no obligation to roll out the welcome mat for him to its D.C. campus. Indeed, he ought to have been suspended or expelled for his actions.

At a time when federal agencies see fit to kill American citizens who they believe are getting in the way of enforcing immigration law, Zac Segal's behavior ought not be tolerated.

I remember there was a time when conservative believed in individual responsibility. It's about time that conservatives started believing this again because Zac Segal is responsible for his actions having endangered the safety of the 9 employees of the Allston Car Wash by bearing false witness against them.

For this, Zac Segal has only himself to blame.

Another Execution of an American Citizen in Minneapolis

 

I've now seen the horrific video of DHS goons executing yet another American citizen in Minneapolis and the Trump Administration, true to form, lying about it.

The man who was executed this morning has been identified as a VA nurse named Alex Pretti, an American citizen. Like Renee Good before him, Pretti was also 37 at the time of his death. His execution comes 17 days after an ICE agent executed Good in broad daylight in Minneapolis. 

DHS claims that Pretti approached federal officers with a gun claiming he was intending to massacre them. Both the video only shows Pretti holding a phone and recording their activities.

Like Renee Good, I don't think Alex Pretti had any idea he was down to his last minute on Earth.

It was federal officers who tackled Pretti and shot him at least 10 to 12 times mostly while he was on the ground. While it appears that they have recovered a gun, Pretti was a registered owner and allowed to carry it. Contrary to DHS claims, there is no evidence Pretti brandished his weapon much less had any plans to use it against anyone.

At this point, we cannot trust anything the federal government tell us. Period. 

They are not interested in the facts. They are only interested in parroting propaganda to please President Trump.

For the moment, I have these four questions.

How many more American citizens will be murdered by Trump's goons?

If there are more Renee Goods and Alex Prettis to come, how much longer will we tolerate this state of affairs?

Will we be strong enough to force the Trump Administration to back down?

Or will executing anyone who gets in the Trump Administration's way become a fact of life?

The answer to the first question is yes. It is up to us to answer the remaining three questions.

If Tucker Carlson is Being Isolated by Republicans for His Anti-Semitism, Then Why Is He in The Oval Office with Trump?

In an article written in the Washington Examiner, Edward Blum asks, "How will we treat the cancer of anti-Semitism?"

An important question to ask, but Blum falls short in answering it. As with many conservatives, Blum focuses on left-wing anti-Semitism while minimizing right-wing anti-Semitism though he does acknowledge it. In his acknowledgment, Blum makes a very curious statement:

Critics of this op-ed might point out that the Republican Party is similarly afflicted this cancer. Absolutely true, but Republicans are making a more substantial (though still insufficient) effort at siloing the problem. Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes, who aren't in government, are increasingly viewed in isolation.

Well, tell that to President Trump. Three weeks into January, Carlson has twice had an audience with Trump and other White House officials.

If you're having an audience with the President of the United States in the Oval Office, then you cannot be viewed as being in isolation.

As I have argued previously, JD Vance is not Donald Trump's running mate without Tucker Carlson.

As for Nick Fuentes, Carlson had no trouble platforming him and Trump didn't have a problem with Carlson platforming Fuentes either.

If Edward Blum wants to treat the cancer of anti-Semitism, then he must treat its causes and one of those causes is Donald Trump. 

If Blum cannot recognize Trump as one of the causes of anti-Semitism in this country, then he is not serious about treating it. 

Trump: A Sad Summary of Term 2, Year 1

How can one best sum up the first year of President Trump's second term in office.

Well, there was the time he and JD Vance became two Russian assets and publicly berated Ukrainian President Zelensky. 

Trump had Elon Musk and DOGE decimate USAID causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands from preventable diseases.

Trump took over the Kennedy Center and added his name to it.

Trump unilaterally demolished the East Wing of the White House to turn it into a monument for himself. 

Trump renamed the Department of Defense the Department of War and told generals of an "enemy within" and also sent in the National Guard into several American cities.

There were tariffs, tariffs and more tariffs including to countries with which we already had trade surpluses. He showed special contempt for Canada declaring it the 51st state from which he didn't need anything.

There was the naked corruption of accepting a $400 million bribe from Qatar in the form of a new Air Force One, giving himself a "golden share" in Nippon Steel's purchase of U.S. Steel and various crypto schemes.

Trump intimidated law firms by telling them who they can and cannot represent, abruptly fired the Chair of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for a jobs report he didn't like and appointed inexperienced loyalists to dubious indictments brought against former FBI Director James Comey and current New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump was also cruel for its own sake. Sometimes it was directed at a group of people such withholding citizenship minutes from immigrants minutes before they were to be sworn in and who came here legally and played by the rules. Sometimes it was directed against a single individual such as Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Then there was his cruelty towards Rob Reiner only hours after and his wife were murdered claiming that his death was caused by Trump Derangement Syndrome,    

In a new year less than three weeks old, Trump has removed a head of state of Venezuela only to install his VP as the new president effectively keeping their regime intact while accepting their opposition leader's Nobel Peace medal. In the meantime, he is threatening to invade Greenland unless the Norwegians bequeath Trump with a Nobel with his name on it.

And then there is the madness in Minnesota highlighted by the cold-blooded murder of Renee Good by an ICE officer and Trump's equally cold-blooded efforts to defame her name while investigating her widow instead of her killer. Needless to say, given that Trump is not deterring ICE from its boorish behavior it has no qualms about dragging women out of cars and dragging men out of their homes even if they are U.S. citizens.

I would ask where it all ends, but it has only just begun.

This is what we voted for and there is a lot more of this to come.

And it will only get worse.

Andruw Jones Deserves to be in Cooperstown; Carlos Beltrán Does Not

The BBWAA announced that it elected Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltrán to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026.

I am delighted that Jones will get a plaque in Cooperstown.

However, I am disappointed that the BBWAA saw fit to elect Beltrán.

With that, let's start with Andruw Jones who earned 78.4% of the vote in his ninth (and next to last) year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot.

Of note, Jones is the first player from the Dutch island of Curacao to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He will not be the last.

I have had Jones on my unofficial ballot since his second year of eligibility in 2019. Actually, I came this close to putting him on my unofficial 2018 ballot on the strength of his 10 Gold Gloves, but I was prioritizing other defensive stalwarts like Larry Walker, Scott Rolen and Omar Vizquel (before the allegations of sexual assault against him).

Jones earned all 10 of his Gold Gloves during his days with the Atlanta Braves. He would decline significantly as a player after the age of 30 during brief tenures with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees.

But still 10 Gold Gloves is 10 Gold Gloves. Ken Griffey, Jr, Ichiro Suzuki and Al Kaline had 10 Gold Gloves for their outfield play and they are bonafide Hall of Famers. The only outfielders with more Gold Gloves are Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente who each won 12 Gold Gloves. Also bonafide Hall of Famers. Andruw Jones belongs with this elite group and belongs in Cooperstown.

I wish I could say the same for Carlos Beltrán.

His stats as a player are Hall of Fame worthy. My objection is to Beltrán's character or lack thereof.

Yesterday, I expressed concern about his involvement in the Houston Astros electronic sign-stealing scandal in 2017 and 2018. 

Today, I express disgust. After being hired as an analyst with the New York Yankees' YES Network in 2022, Beltrán claimed:

We all did what we did. Looking back today, we were wrong. I wish I would’ve asked more questions about what we were doing. I wish the organization would’ve said to us, `Hey man, what you guys are doing, we need to stop this.

Nonsense. There would have been no sign stealing scandal without Beltrán. When veteran catcher Brian McCann approached Beltrán about stopping the scheme, he was flatly ignored. In 2019, Beltrán falsely denied any shenanigans were taking place. The idea that it was the responsibility of the Houston Astros to tell him it was wrong to do something he knew to be wrong is preposterous. 

Unfortunately, in our Trumpian age, good character no longer matters. And taking page out of Trump's book, 84.2% of the BBWAA has rewarded Beltrán for his dishonest and duplicitous behavior. Shame on them.