kimmy

People like Pudzer and deVos and Pruitt have track records and well-known agendas. Those track-records and agendas are the reasons the Republicans have selected them for those portfolios. You think people should just ignore their histories and their agendas and pretend we don't know what they were appointed to do yet? Not true. I don't think I've heard anybody complaining about General Mattis, for example. I don't think people have been attacking Rick Perry, aside from pointing out the irony of him being appointed to lead the department he famously forgot, then remembered, that he wanted to eliminate. Clearly Trump supporters in Canada are equally excited about this circus. -k

Both of his ex-wives say that he's childish. Ivanna recounted a story where she beat him on a skiing run, and he was so mad that he took off his skis and went back to the hotel and wouldn't even talk to her. His current wife says that sometimes she has two little boys living in her home-- her son and her husband. Trump himself said he still has the same temperment he had when he was in first grade. "My party was bigger! My party was better! You're lying, my party was the biggest party ever! I had better cake and more presents! Your party was stupid! My party was better than your stupid party! Sean says so! Tell them my party was the best party, Sean! My party was the funnest! Everybody had more fun at my party! My party! Mom! Tell them my party was best!" -first grade temperment. -k

Of course it's unacceptable. And it's actionable as well, if someone can prove they were fired (or not hired) because of their political views. Is there a link to a story? -k

I agree. I think that with the amount of quality original content being created by online streaming services, TV is entering a golden age right now. The question now is where this leaves traditional broadcast networks... -k

Complaining is nothing new. We've just had an 8 year cycle of complaining. People who care about civil rights will undoubtedly get a lot to complain about with Jeff Sessions becoming AG. People who care about education will undoubtedly get a lot to complain about with Betsy deVos becoming Secretary of Education. People who care about the environment will undoubtedly get a lot to complain about with Scott Pruitt becoming head of the EPA. People who care about workers will undoubtedly get a lot to complain about with Andy Pudzer becoming Secretary of Labor. And so on. The one thing all these people have in common is that they hate the departments they're now going to be in charge of. -k

That's a very good question. I've been wondering for a long time what's in these trade agreements for the average person. "A broader export market for Canadian products!" ...but aren't the vast majority of Canadian exports just commodities that other countries desperately need anyway? It's not like China is going to stop buying our oil if we don't get a trade deal in place. "Jobs jobs jobs!" ...but don't these agreements actually just make it easier for large companies to move jobs away? "Access to international products for Canadian consumers!" ...not actually. I can get on the internet and buy things straight from China, and we don't even have a trade partnership with China. They'll ship it right to my door for free. If our government actually cared about giving people like us access to international shopping, they would raise the "de minimis" threshold from the chintzy $20 level, the lowest in the world, up to something more in line with other countries-- like $200. I think the real driver for these agreements is actually big business. Big business wants more ways to offshore jobs or import labor or shift the "value added" portion of their business to places where "adding value" can be done by exploiting cheap labor. Big business wants more international cooperation to protect their patents and copyrights. Big business wants more freedom to structure their businesses internationally to exploit the lowest common denominator when it comes to labor laws and tax laws and financial regulation and environmental regulation... ultimately they'd like to accelerate the "race to the bottom" because that boosts their profits. When some of the contents of the TPP started leaking out last summer, we found out that not much of it is actually about "trade" per se and much of it is actually about protecting business interests. I understand why big business wants those things, but I don't understand why my government should be pushing for those things. The fact that TPP was negotiated in secret with just governments and multinational corporations at the table should be a huge red flag. And while I disagree with just about everything Trump and his Cabinet stand for, pulling America out of TPP is one bright side to all this. -k

Our government has been working hard to increase trade opportunities with partners other than the US. This has been underway since before the protectionists won the US election, and has in fact been underway since long before Mr Trudeau became Prime Minister. Perhaps rising US protectionism will help Canada find more trading partners around the world. -k

Everyone in America has the right to peaceful assembly and free speech. There's nothing undemocratic about it. The duly elected government gets to make laws, and the people get to voice their opinion. -k

Charles is lonely and just wants people to join him. If you've got some time and are interested in hearing some of Charles' fascinating ideas, like how GPS units are actually guided by evil spirits or how dolphins are actually gay sharks, why not jump into the chat room and say hi? He loves company! -k

Guys! knock it off with the personal banter. BC2004's post count and his motives for posting here aren't pertinent. -k

So although Donald tweeted a picture of himself "writing his speech", it turns out it was actually penned by Steve "Breitbart" Bannon. -k

People would like the incoming administration to know that although they have lost the election, they will not sit quietly and accept the Republican agenda without complaint. They'd like the Republicans in the House, the Senate, and the White House to know that incoming efforts to eliminate Planned Parenthood, reduce healthcare access, battle civil rights, gut public schools, and make life worse for workers aren't going to pass without criticism. -k

"Give him a chance"? Just a reminder that for the past 8 years, the Republicans did everything in their power to obstruct everything Obama tried to accomplish. The expectation that Democrats should "give Trump a chance" is hilariously ironic in light of the past 8 years. I fully expect President Trump to receive every bit as much respect and cooperation from Democrats as Republicans showed to President Obama... which is zero. That said, the Democrats don't have the power to stop Trump. The Republicans have majorities in the Senate and the House. So Trump really doesn't have that excuse. If he can't get his agenda passed into law, it's not the Democrats' fault. If his agenda doesn't deliver the magical transformation he's promising, it's not the Democrats' fault. He's in charge now. He has all the levers of power in his control. There are no excuses now. Not "the dishonest media", not private citizen Hillary Clinton, not the House and Senate minorities. "Give him a chance"? For the next two years he has his chance, and if he can't deliver there's nobody to blame but himself. -k

I don't have any say in the matter... but if you can't create around an event like this, then where does it start? Will gay police get to attend? -k

Agreed, any government's first duty is to its own citizens. While I assume you're probably talking about American "regime change" and support of bad-guy regimes like Saudi Arabia, I think we should also mention American philanthropy, which does tremendous good in the world. Bill Gates alone does charitable work that puts entire countries to shame. American money assists whenever there's a crisis around the world. It seems that wherever there is trouble in the world, people point their fingers and blame America... but when people need help, America is the first place they look to. -k

I completely understand that black people, native people, and people in general for that matter, feel a lot of mistrust towards the police. I do. I get it. In my own neighborhood I see how police interact with people who "fit the profile", meaning anybody who doesn't look like the typical middle-class or higher "old stock" Canadian. I fully appreciate that looking softer than a cream-puff affords me a level of security around police that many don't enjoy. I believe that there are more Kwesi Millingtons and Geoff Mantlers in law enforcement than we ever hear about, and that the police will do anything to protect their own, even if their own commit gross miscarriage of justice. I've been one of the more vocal critics of police misconduct on the forum here for a long time. And I still have yet to understand how exclusion and building barriers makes Pride a better event. I thought we were supposed to be building unity and understanding, not division. -k

Have you not been paying any attention to who he picked to run all the government departments? It's almost all billionaires. The bankers and oilmen are back in charge. "the elites" haven't been this happy since before the 2007 crash. -k

I see this as being not too different from when the Vancouver rioters who posted pictures of loot they stole from shops on their Facebook profiles, or people who posted selfies of themselves smashing cars and property. If you're going to tell the tax man how poor you are, don't show off your bling on social media. If you're collecting long term disability, don't show off your epic snowboarding adventures on social media. Pro-tip: don't cheat on your taxes. -k

As if criminals were the only black people who need to worry when cops are around. As the article points out, the Toronto Pride parade began from protests against the mass arrests at Toronto gay establishments in the 1980s. They were the enemy, at the time... the whole reason this thing began. They inadvertently played a foundational role in launching gay rights activism in not just Toronto but across Canada. I think their presence at the event is of symbolic significance. -k

That doesn't look like anything to me. We have to find Arnold. -k

I gather that Sherbrooke is a heavily Francophone community, and so it seems logical that more of the audience would understand the answer if he gives it in French. But as you say, if he's in Edmonton or Vancouver and somebody asks him a question in French, is he going to reply in English only? I personally doubt it. -k

They had 8 years under Bush to make improvements, and did nothing, because they didn't actually give a crap about increasing accessibility to healthcare. When Obama took over and forced the ACA through, they were put in the position of having to at least pretend they care about increasing accessibility to healthcare. "Oh, we DO care about people who can't get insurance! We DO care about people who lose their healthcare coverage through no fault of their own! We care lots about those things! We want to help those people, we just don't think Obamacare is the right plan to do that!" but still never actually articulated this magic plan. Now that they're in charge of Congress, the Senate, and the White House, they're in the position of either conjuring this magic plan out of a hat, or admitting that they never actually gave a crap about protecting peoples' access to healthcare insurance in the first place. -k

Let's check back on the confirmation hearings, with Education nominee who hates public schools, Betsy DeVos. If Rex Tillerson's hearing was the Titanic, then DeVos might have been the Hindenburg! Aside from the knee-slapper that made headlines-- that DeVos supports guns in schools in case of grizzly-bear attack-- more trouble for DeVos arose. -weak non-committal answers on everything from funding of public schools to campus sexual assault to regulation of charter schools to tuition and student loans. (she knew someone who had a Pell Grant, once!) -questioning from Senators Franken, Hassan, Warren, and Kaine revealed that she doesn't actually know anything about education laws and issues. -given some softball questions about anti-gay discrimination, she promised that she feels all students are equal! Which led to questions about why as a board member of her family's charity, The Erik and Elsa Prince Foundation, DeVos has donated millions of dollars to anti-gay groups. DeVos denied that she's a board member of the Prince Foundation, said that she personally has nothing to do with those donations, and asked that she not be held personally responsible for the foundation's charitable donations. Except that the Prince Foundation's tax filings have show that she is the Vice President. DeVos claims that's just a clerical error, but the foundations tax filings have listed her as VP going back to at least 1999. -k

I think there are things that are inherently admirable. Lewis enduring physical violence and literally risking his life while campaigning for voting rights. McCain enduring years of torture rather than betray his country. I think that only a king-sized putz would laugh at those things. It's entirely possible to attack Lewis's opinion on the issue without laughing at his contribution to the civil rights movement. Even Trump himself didn't go that far. After running the most divisive campaign in history, and continuing to attack his opponents even after winning, who's he to ask for unity? And what's he doing about it? Reminder: Trump spent 8 years trying to deligitimize the President. He also called for people to march on Washington in armed revolt after Obama won the 2012 election. Whining that it's "un-American" for people to not rally around him seems pretty funny. -k