Part One:
Part One:
OH MY GOD, CANADA!
In Canada’s recent election, Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party lost a great deal of support, finishing with just enough votes to form a minority government. The Party can keep its ministers in power, but it will only control a minority of the Parliament. So it remains to be seen what, if any, legislation they will be able to enact.
Oddly enough, however, all Canadian parties have been spinning the election results to claim that they won. Trudeau perceived the voters having given him a “mandate.” The Conservatives highlighted their control of a plurality in the Parliament. Meanwhile, the voters probably realize that they will be suffering through government gridlock for the foreseeable future.
Part Two:
HAS THE U.S. ALSO DESCENDED INTO ORWELLIAN CHAOS?
We chat again with “Dr. Politics,” Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science at Iowa State University. We discuss the enormous paradigm shift in the Middle East, caused by Pres. Trump’s impulsive surprise decision to unilaterally withdraw American troops from Syria. Without even discussing this change of policy with our allies (or even with his own advisors), Trump abandoned the Kurds — who have shed so much blood helping our coalition to (almost) defeat ISIS — leaving Kurd fighters and civilians vulnerable to a brutal Turkish campaign of ethnic cleansing.
The result is that American power in the Middle East has been replaced by the Russians. Syria, Iran, Turkey and Lebanon all look now to the Russians to set the rules in order to maintain some level of stability in the region. In contrast, the U.S. is no longer trusted as an ally or a leader (moral or otherwise). We’re isolated in the land of “America First.”
Back at home, too, the word of our government cannot be trusted. Trump, Giuliani, McConnell, and most Republicans in Congress say whatever they think will be helpful to themselves, without regard for truth or falsity, without any factual or scientific basis, without concern for whether the American people are helped or harmed.
Yesterday, dozens of House Republican members of Congress broke into the secure room where the impeachment investigation was in progress, and illegally delayed important testimony for 5 hours. Even the politicians (mostly white men) who were sworn to uphold our democracy were, instead, trying to get their way through intimidation – via mob rule – rather than through the courts or other legal process.
WHAT IS OUR WORLD COMING TO?
