It’s just politics as usual in the U.S.
Re America on the edge, Nov. 9 In 1968, Richard Nixon’s election ads featured scenes of U.S. cities burning during riots. In those early days of colour TV, evocative yellow flames on screen were accompanied by a voice-over saying that voters could either elect Nixon or they could watch cities burn. The murders of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King at that time also encouraged me to come to Canada.
Nothing about Donald Trump is new. Whether it was decades of twice-a-week lynchings of black people, demonizing of leftists by Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, the invasion of smaller countries to set up puppet governments, or self-righteous fundamentalist Christians imposing their beliefs on all, the U.S. has a long history of its democratic, Horatio Alger-infused mythology being at serious odds with reality.
There is a real swamp to be drained in the U.S. but it is giant, multinational corporations who now run the world, and their leaders do not run for office. They now have personhood rights, treaties that allow them to sue governments and us, and the ability to direct jobs to wherever there’s cheapest labour and fewest environmental restrictions. Electing Trump will not help.
It is sad, because there are so many wonderful U.S. citizens who stand for peace and love. Unfortunately, fear works. Hatred works. They infect others, and it takes a long time to recover. If our hope is with younger, inclusive people, then they must be allowed to find hope in a country that’s now declining in wealth and power. Douglas Buck, Toronto
The answer is not to quit America, but to stay and make it better. Trump is not really a nightmare, he is a wakeup call for everything that is wrong within present-day America.
The good news, though, is that America can be fixed, but the patient has to be treated from within. Douglas Cornish, Ottawa
Many Torontonians must be shaking their heads in wonder at the lack of common sense of so many American voters. The same could have been said for the so-called “Ford nation.” And like Ford’s battle cry about the so-called “gravy train,” Trump’s antiestablishment, populist rhetoric appealed to those with a smattering of high school education.
Toronto survived four years with a buffoon at the civic helm. And really, can Trump be any worse than the mediocre actor Ronald Reagan, who viewed the presidency as a 9-to-5 job?
The U.S. is resilient. It will bounce back. Like Ford, Trump will provide much entertainment as head honcho. Political cartoonists must be chomping at the bit. So enjoy the show, folks. Garry Burke, Oro-Medonte, Ont.
Congratulations to Trump in defeating the elitist leftist democrats and the dishonest media in the U.S. This is a vote for true democracy and against the politically correct global socialist agendas of the left and their social engineering objectives.
The success of Brexit and Trump hopefully signals a major defeat of the globalist one-government, open-borders proposals and a vote to support national identity and cultural values.
The Conservative party should take a lesson from these current events and Make Canada Great Again. Earl Hyde, Brantford, Ont.
America would have been served by belief in the artist Goya who warned that the sleep of reason produces monsters. Tony D’Andrea, Toronto
U.S. citizens have been sold a bill of goods by a master huckster. Unfortunately, once they realize the product isn’t as advertised, it will be too late to get a refund, or even exchange it. Too bad they didn’t read the fine print. Carol Libman, Toronto
I hope the superior conciliatory capabilities of Justin Trudeau will be enough to keep the Trudeau-Trump relationship from being as petulant as was the Trudeau-Nixon relationship. Wayne C. Vance, Toronto
Canadian politicians should take heed. Our voters may be a little softer on politicians, but the people now running the province and country have stopped listening to the needs of the people. Energy costs rising, public assets being sold off, looking after other countries’ needs before taking care of the problems at home. One thing that you can be sure of is another election. The same thing can happen in Canada as in the U.S. G. Shannon, Peterborough
The events of 9/11 showed the soft underbelly of democracy. Trump showed that underbelly’s ugliness. He won after a campaign filled with fear mongering, lies, hate, sexism, racism, divisiveness and bullying. Perhaps I am a sore loser, but we shall see what it all means for America and the world. Leslie Chiswell, Toronto
By aligning with Trump, Kellie Leitch has failed the “Canadian Values Test” but I am sure when she emigrates to the U.S. she will be accepted. Jennifer Smith, Mount Forest, Ont.
The silent majority that keeps the U.S. humming has finally woken up. Steve Panchuk, Brampton
Look out, Donald. When your base realizes that you aren’t their saviour, can’t (or won’t) deliver on your promises to them and really are just a snake oiler, they are going to be ticked. Really ticked. And they all have guns, lots of guns. Rod Lovat-Fraser, Burlington