Posted on 02/02/2017 8:02:46 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Memo from Justin Trudeau to all staff: “If Trump calls, I’M NOT IN!”
And who could blame our plucky PM?
In a dizzying few hours this week, Donald Trump has rewritten the book on American diplomacy. Rewritten? Hell, he’s ripped it up, burned it, spit on it and flung it in the swamp.
There is more Marquis de Sade than Marquess of Queensberry about the Donald’s statesmanship.
First, he reportedly hangs up on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in a spat over refugees. Turnbull insists America take 1,250 folks from Syria and Iraq who are now in Australia’s off-shore island detention camps. Barack Obama agreed to take them, and Turnbull told Trump on the phone that a deal’s a deal, mate.
“Rack off,” Trump responded, or words to that effect, accusing the Aussies of trying to send him “the next Boston bombers.”
The new leader of the free world abruptly ended the phone call early, according to media reports.
Next comes word Trump warned Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto that “you have some pretty tough hombres in Mexico that you may need help with,” then offered up U.S. troops.
Mexico. Australia. Two longtime allies. You can imagine how Trudeau Junior must have felt, hearing all that.
Would Trump call him up and insist we apologize for the War of 1812? Would he demand we take back William Shatner?
How would Junior respond? What could he say? I do not think Donald Trump is keen on “sunny ways.”
Arnold “The Terminator” Schwarzenegger could teach Trudeau a thing or two about taming Trump.
When the president asked National Prayer Breakfast attendees Thursday to pray for Arnold’s slumping ratings on The Apprentice, Schwarzenegger morphed into a sort of Trumpinator and fired back.
He offered to swap jobs with the new president so “people can finally sleep comfortably again.”
Gadzooks! Stephen Spielberg himself could not write this script.
American media gleefully and predictably reported Trumps’ daring do like it was the Day of Infamy.
Turns out the facts may have been a bit “alternative,” as the Trump team would say.
The Australians denied Trump actually slammed the phone. And the offer to send U.S. troops into Mexico was in jest, a White House source insisted. I bet Senor Pena Nieto is still giggling.
So what is Canada’s prime minister to do, other than change his underwear regularly?
“Dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge?” blogs Steve Saideman, a political science prof at my dear old Carleton U, and a noted Trump trasher. “This is what Canada is doing now, and it really might make the most sense.”
Saideman writes, “That Trump is now pissing off Australia is simply bad news. But it has implications ...
“America’s word is now longer good.”
Oh, pig’s arse, as Aussies say. If you don’t know by now that Trump is a disruptor, that he wields bombast like P.T. Barnum, that he knows EXACTLY what he’s doing and saying and why, that the more the effete elites squeal the more they play into his hands, then surely you’ve been in a coma for two years.
Poor Justin doesn’t stand a chance. Two minutes on the phone and he’ll be handing over the Yukon.
Perhaps, Saideman suggests, we could take those 1,250 refugees instead. Make the Aussies AND Trump happy. How very polite and Canadian.
Of course, it’s even easier to be out weeding the garden whenever the guy calls.
Funny, very funny. :-) I enjoyed that - talk about tongue-in-cheek.
Trudeau just shuffled his cabinet with load of Nobs and had his hair done to fight Trump
Trudeau: If Trump calls be with me. Don’t answer, squat and pee.
IIRC, when the Aussie FM was in NYC over the Summer, he didn't consider trying to meet the Republican candidate for president since HRC had it in the bag.
Then, after Trump won the election, the Aussie PM couldn't call Trump to offer even nominal congratulations since their FO didn't have a Trump contact number.
They had to get Trump's number from an Aussie golfer.
Australians shouldn't be surprised at Trump's brusqueness, since their political elite started it.
Justin can’t go to Papa Fidel and ask for advice any more, either.
Well there is the uncle though.
Trudeau deserves what’s coming to him, but Canada does have a lot going for it.
The country that gave us Rachel McAdams, Natasha Henstridge, Jessica Pare, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nina Dobrev, Emily VanCamp, Malin Ackerman, Elisha Cuthbert, Kristin Kreuk, Jessica Lowndes, Evangeline Lily, Laura Vandervoort, and Rachel Roberts can’t be too bad!!
[no, I wasn’t actually familiar with all of these beauties, I merely searched on “Canadian actresses” coz I knew there were some nice ones]
“Two minutes on the phone and he’ll be handing over the Yukon.” Funny!
The Canadian Liberals are very much like the Democrats in that they can oscillate between socialism and neo-conservatism and adapt to their surroundings. This is why we know them as the Natural Governing Party. (I am not a supporter but this is a fact of life up here).
So if Trump pushes Trudeau, he won’t cave, he will adapt. Then he will gradually unravel the agreements reached as he sees political advantage in so doing. Remember, he has opponents on both sides in our political system, he is not as far left as two other alternatives.
Our Conservative Party is also much like your Republican Party in that it can waver between libertarian-conservative and more neo-conservative positions. I could show you almost exact analogues of McCain, Ryan and Paul in that party. There is no exact analogue for Trump although Kevin O’Leary will appear similar to many Canadians (a millionaire businessman who has just entered the leadership and has no political experience).
Think of Trudeau as a sort of younger Bill Clinton who is a bit less of a player with the ladies. He can handle more than his critics think. The last people to underestimate him were the former government here. “He’s not ready” was their campaign slogan in 2015. He was ready for them.
His politics will appear one-dimensional from outside the country but as with all international politics, it is only the appearance within the country that really matters. If every last man, woman and dog in Oklahoma wrote Trudeau off as a light-weight, that would mean nothing up here. Being unpopular with American conservatives is almost a necessary condition for success in Canadian politics.
So Trudeau is probably eager to talk to Trump. It’s win-win for him. If he gets along and appears flexible, he will be hailed as a genius. If he gets chewed up and spat out, he will be rescued by five million admirers and placed back on his horse. He can’t lose unless it can be shown that his decisions re Trump have caved in the economy. Since our economy is very much tied to China now, that seems unlikely too.
I am seeing a bit of a pattern already with Trump — he has a lot of triumphalist advisors around him who assume America will always beat everyone else without effort. But as everyone else has been confronting and adapting to this attitude for, oh, maybe two hundred years, we have a few tricks up our sleeve too. The most usually played trick is to appear unexpectedly friendly. But keep yer stick on the ice.
To hell with Castro’s son.
Great piece - that was fun!
I’d rather pick the hairs in my nostrils than contemplate the impact of Trudeau. It’s the complacency of the Canadians that concerns me — they seem to have no will.
You Canadians are our good old northern cousins. The Chinese are devious and untrustworthy as a rule. Whatever little spats we get into, we both will do better as the long standing friends we have been.
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