I can’t wait until Trump hears about this. Even more so when the Ottawa City Council decides on the new name for what until now has been Trump Avenue. There’s a list of choices but either of two getting serious consideration (hint in the title picture) will make Trumpty’s head explode.
Let’s start with what has just happened, as reported by the Idaho Public Press. Make no mistake, this is political because Trump has been going out of his way to offend Canada. So much so that the world’s most polite country has been punching back not just diplomatically and economically but also actually responding to Trump’s verbal insults with their own. The powers that be in Ottawa, the Capitol of Canada clearly have had enough of Trump’s nonsense.
His renaming of Lake Ontario apparently was the straw that broke the camel’s back and Canada seems to be joining the club of places that are ripping Trump’s name off of things to make a point of how much he’s detested. The city of Ottawa has a quiet residential neighborhood which has a street named Trump Avenue. That’s going to change:
Ottawa City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to take a first step toward renaming Trump Avenue, a residential street in the capital’s Central Park neighborhood that has carried President Donald Trump’s name for roughly 25 years. Councilor Tim Tierney told CNN that suggestions for a replacement already include Taco Avenue and Obama Avenue.
Councilors took the first formal step toward scrubbing the name after residents and local officials called it an embarrassment amid a deepening trade war between the United States and Canada. The change affects a street with about 65 houses, but symbolically it lands at a fraught moment: Trump has threatened to make Canada the 51st state, imposed sweeping tariffs after trade talks collapsed in August, and signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”
Cool. Anything that gives Trump a dose of his own medicine and caused him major butt-hurt is awesome as far as I’m concerned. This will sting Trump’s ego because while it’s a residential neighborhood and not a main traffic artery when the development opened in the late 1990s the street was actually name for Trump. The development was designed to have a New York City feel to it and there are other streets named to carry that NYC theme.
The irony is that the street was not originally named as a political statement. Trump Avenue was named in the late 1990s, when the Central Park neighborhood was developed with a New York City theme, and The Daily Beast reported it was intended to highlight Trump’s success as a real estate developer.
The neighborhood still carries that Manhattan flavor: it includes Staten Way, Madison Park, and even a Gotham Private. For two decades, the Trump name sat comfortably among the other NYC references. Then Trump entered politics, and eventually the White House, and the street’s meaning changed entirely.
Like most of this country Canadians didn’t know then what New Yorkers knew – that Trump was a puffed up, self-aggrandizing jerk/a-hole. But he had made himself famous with his stupid ghost written book Art of the Deal and a big name NYC developer the folks who created the Central Park, Ottawa development thought it would add a bit of pizazz. It wasn’t some kind of political statement because Trump was still a decade away from worming himself into the political arena when he glommed on to the “Birther Movement” because he’s a stone cold racist who couldn’t tolerate a black guy as our President.
Alas, the Birther crap was only the beginning which would lead to him actually running for (and tragically winning) the Presidency. All of a sudden people on that street didn’t think it was interesting or even kind of cute to be living on Trump Avenue, which others correctly assumed was named after Donald Trump. Now they sheepishly give their address and others have been chuckling at them. Perhaps something stronger given what’s gone on this year. In any case they are probably thrilled the city council voted a couple of days ago to rename their street. I’ll bet you’d be hard pressed to find an Ottawan who lives on Trump Ave. who won’t mind the hassle of changing their address even will all the places they’ll have to go through the process with!
So, we can enjoy Trump having another humiliation deservedly visited upon him. However it gets better. Striking Trump’s name is only the first step. A NEW name must be chosen and there’s a list of alternatives already:
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- Obama Avenue
- Ontario Avenue and Canada Avenue
- Beaver Avenue and Canada Goose Avenue
- Pelosi Avenue
- Taco Avenue — a nod to the acronym “Trump Always Chickens Out” (I suggest if they go with this they should use caps – TACO)
- Rosie O’Donnell Avenue, honoring the comedian and longtime Trump antagonist who moved to Ireland
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Only one of those new street names wouldn’t send Trump into a ketchup bottle throwing rage. However two of them REALLY stand out. Trump’s name didn’t go up for political reasons, but things sure as hell are political now. The linked article says Obama Ave and Taco Ave are under serious consideration. I for one hope the city council decides to proverbially kick Trump in the nuts and deliver an uppercut to his fat orange face when he bends forward in pain. Given how fragile his ego is he might prefer that to the street being named either TACO or Obama Ave./Street!
This might be the start of something up in Canada, and other countries for that matter. As the linked article says Trump Ave. is far from the only place up there that bears the name Trump. I’m sure many if not most got their name for reasons that had nothing to do with Trump. But THIS street was specifically named for him. Also, lest we forget Ottawa is the Capitol of Canada so what they are doing is going to get noticed not just there and in the United States but in plenty of other countries.
For now let’s focus on the fact that I just mentioned – Ottawa is the Capitol and their city council has chosen to quite publicly insult Trump. Good for them. I say to them if you’re gonna be a bear then be a grizzly so go all in and pick a new name that will make Trump go batsh!t insane. If you can think of another name that would make him crazier than Obama or TACO please suggest it in the comments. Given how Pelosi got the better of him so often that too would make Trump empty himself into his Depends, but the nuance might not register around the world. Obama and TACO would signal Ottawa telling Trump to F**k off.
I’d include a poll with this if our writing program offered the means to do so. Alas, I’ll have to simply ask readers to weigh in in the comments about which one they think Ottawa should go with. We might as well have some fun at Trumpty-Dumpty’s expense!
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
I dunno…..Shitzinpants Way has a certain ring to it.
*smirk*
I’d be okay with names that use his name but with an appropriate qualifier/descriptor but they’re too long to fit on the signs. Not to mention I doubt folks who live on that street who despise Trump every bit as much as I do would want to live on a street named:
Trump Sucks Dog’s Balls Ave.
Trump Is A Rapist Ave.
Trump Is a Pedophile Ave.
Trump Loves Epstein Ave.
I could keep going but you get the idea.
Rosie O’Donnell is another New York native, so it would fit with the theme.
How about Obama’s TACO Avenue? That would make him explode. It’s a pity we can’t vote up there. Darn. I am SO glad they went through with this!
But I would guess that Ontario, Canada, knows we aren’t all assholes.