USA Politics

Flaming Blimp Crash said:
We are heavily dependent on importing fertilizer from Canada. Republican Senators from the plains states where agriculture rules their respective economies were hoping there'd be a carveout for potash in the tariff rollout against Canada, but there was no such exemption. American farmers were screwed over hard by the initial rollout of tariffs in the first Trump term, and it's looking like they'll be hit yet again.
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I've seen the potash trains rolling across the prairies and through the mountains. We supply you guys with so much that you need. Nickel. Uranium. Oil. Gas. All we've asked is your friendship and the ability to mostly trade freely with your companies.

I think...I said this to a friend of mine, but I think the reason this is hitting Canadians so hard is that the generation coming into political and economic power is the 9/11 generation. Everyone knows someone who went overseas. Everyone knows of someone who didn't come back, or came back fucked up. And we did that because America is our friend and ally. We gave more lives per capita than any country in Afghanistan, and this is what we get for our blood? We would have stood by you until the end. Trump or Biden, Obama or Romney, Bush or Kerry or Gore.

I was at a hockey game last night and I saw people shaming others for buying Bud Light at the bar. The barn was almost empty but O! Canada was loud. We're pissed, at a level I've never seen. This isn't how you treat friends.
 
Onhell said:
The US has never had friends, they've always been business partners and only when it benefits them practically unilaterally.
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You know, I simply don't believe that, because while the benefits for partnership have been good for them, it's been great for a lot of countries. The Marshall Plan helped the USA grow, but it also helped France and Italy and West Germany. The reconstruction of Japan led to the country having some of the highest education, health, and happiness rates, etc.
 
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Onhell said:
The US has never had friends, they've always been business partners and only when it benefits them practically unilaterally.
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This is definitely not true on a cultural level. Americans and Canadians have enjoyed a warm and fuzzy cultural relationship for over 100 years at least, we’ve comingled professional sports leagues, and pre-9/11 you only needed your driver’s license to cross the border. We also have special shared national security concerns (e.g. NORAD) that are unique to our countries.

It’s a crying shame that Trump is pissing all over this, but it will eventually pass.
 
LooseCannon said:
You know, I simply don't believe that, because while the benefits for partnership have been good for them, it's been great for a lot of countries. The Marshall Plan helped the USA grow, but it also helped France and Italy and West Germany. The reconstruction of Japan led to the country having some of the highest education, health, and happiness rates, etc.
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In return the U.S has a prescence in Europe to keep an eye on Russia.... it's NOT out of the goodness of their heart only because it happens to benefit someone else too.


Jer said:
. We also have special shared national security concerns (e.g. NORAD) that are unique to our countries.
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And there it is....
 
Onhell said:
In return the U.S has a prescence in Europe to keep an eye on Russia.... it's NOT out of the goodness of their heart only because it happens to benefit someone else too.
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I never said it was only that way. But the policy was to create a rising tide, and lift all boats. To build great cities and great economies together. Now it's just...dollars and cents. It's changed.
 
LooseCannon said:
I never said it was only that way. But the policy was to create a rising tide, and lift all boats. To build great cities and great economies together. Now it's just...dollars and cents. It's changed.
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I can agree with that in theory, not in practice, but we do agree that it's definitely changed.
 
Perun said:
Is it too early for this?
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It is too early, give it a year, Biden's first 100 days were not bad at all. Trump started very dynamic but also a bit confused and not well informed, as usually he looks like a work in progress. We'll start get a feel in 100 days and in a year from now we can assess.
For now, there is no visibility where things will actually go. There are some extremely negative signs such as Riviera of the Middle East, but also some very positive such as where regime-changing industrial complex USAID /NED is seemingly going. Regarding Ukraine it can go either direction but I see as very positive that at least they recognise that they should have some kind of dialogue with Russians or other adversaries.
Rubio's comments about the end of US unipolarity are very promising too, I never thought a "neocon" would say something similar let alone the Secretary of State.
About Canada -Mexico let's see what will happen in the end, it's obviously a bizarre and unnecessary thing to punish Canada. I have some doubts if the tariffs will be applied in the end.

To be frank I didn't expect anything good for Gaza either way, just Trump is blunt as fuck where conventional politicians are careful with optics yet the results are similar.

We need to wait and see.

PS
I think it's delusional to believe that America or any other Empire in the history, for that matter, had friends.
Kissinger has famously said "America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests" and "it may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal"
If America helped other countries it was for their own interest and it paid exponentially with the dominance of dollar and the consequences that it had to their Imperial dominance.
 
USAID will not be dismantled, just being under Secretary of State will be more transparent. Which is a huge win for future regime changing operations, that will be likely less. Politico was taking millions from USAID. What this has to do with starving children? And China is way more respectful when helping others, no lecture and certainly no regime changing attempts. Or sanctions based on policy. Just being transactional.
 
If it was only on Musk, I have no doubt he'd close it. But it isn't.

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@Mosh since you enjoy laughing, let me remind you other times that you laughed, with special attention to dates /timing of my posts -your laugh.

This is precious. Four dates later the debate happened and in a month Biden was gone. Thanks for that, Mosh!


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____no5 said:
It is too early, give it a year, Biden's first 100 days were not bad at all. Trump started very dynamic but also a bit confused and not well informed, as usually he looks like a work in progress. We'll start get a feel in 100 days and in a year from now we can assess.
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Aww. Okay then, 20th January 2026, if we can still post then, deal?
 
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