I recently rewatched a delightful Aussie movie (The Dish) and got reacquainted with a polite sound term that is anything but in meaning. “Get Stuffed.” I’ll just say it refers to telling a guy like Trump to perform a ‘not nice’ anatomical impossibility, or to shove something somewhere. You get the idea. Anyway as you know, Canada has just effectively told Trump where he can stick his ’51st State’, ‘Annexation’ of their country in their own election. Now it’s Australia’s turn and an eerily similar set of circumstances seems about to repeat. As recently as a few months ago it looked like Canada would hand power back to conservatives there. Thanks to Trump the ruling liberal Party remains in charge. ‘Down Under’ in Australia it seemed a few months ago Conservatives would win their upcoming elections. Now? It looks like, again thanks to Trump that’s not going to happen!
I have conservative once friends now reduced to acquaintances touting the same MAGA b.s. about Trump getting us “respected” again by the rest of the world. I don’t do drugs but sometimes I really wish I could have a dose of what they’re on. To be happily floating in some la-la-land of wonderment that everything is hunky-dory. Of course, the reality is except for a few dictatorships the world is furious with Trump. And frankly the U.S. for a culture which caused so many people to, for whatever reason to support and vote for him. Trump is hell-bent on destroying long-standing alliances that have kept the world from another World War. The thing is, NOW even some of our closest friends in the world have said ‘screw the United States – we’ll figure out how to get by without them.’
It’s not that all ties will be broken. However it’s equally clear we no longer will be largely dictating terms to the free world. We won’t be leading it. IF we are lucky we will keep a seat at the main table. Europe is stepping up to help Ukraine. Canada as I mentioned re-elected Trudeau’s old Party (remember how Trump took credit for Trudeau’s downfall?) earlier this week. As the Washington Post tells us:Â
A few months ago, it seemed a dead certainty that Pierre Poilievre would be Canada’s next prime minister. His Conservatives had a double-digit lead in the polls over the incumbent Liberals and Poilievre channeled the mounting frustrations of an electorate fatigued by then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decade-long tenure. But by Tuesday morning, Poilievre’s hopes for national victory were dashed, and also, perhaps, his political future: Not only had the Conservatives failed to win Monday’s national election, but their leader looked set to lose his own parliamentary seat.
So Trump’s antics wound up with Canadian voters flipping the script. Instead of their country getting a Prime Minister that was on friendlier terms with Trump, they instead remembered some of what they’d liked about Trudeau. As in his having shown up Trump. In addition, they decided they wanted someone who’d flat-out take on Trumpty. Ole Don-OLD surely hasn’t gotten over all THAT, and now he’s looking down the second barrel of a political shotgun. The current government in Australia leans center-left and has been given an injection of ‘screw Trump’ that has turned things around down there! Just like in Canada. Same as with our neighbor to the north, just before Trump took office it seemed like the ruling Party and its leader were on the way out. Not anymore:
Polling conducted by Australian public broadcaster ABC found that more than seven in 10 Australians thought Trump’s actions will leave them worse off financially, while a majority no longer viewed the United States as a reliable security partner. Three months into Trump’s second term, 66 percent of Australians said their country could no longer count on the United States and needed to further develop its own military capacity. That figure last June was under 40 percent.
The shift in attitudes has had a direct effect on the election. One-third of voters in Australia — where voting is mandatory — said they were less likely to vote for the conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton because of their views about Trump, according to a Resolve Political Monitor poll released two weeks ago.
Peter Dutton ran on a Trumpy sounding platform. Talk of “WOKE”, restricting immigration, slashing regulations and general change. Then Trump returned to power and with him Elon Musk. Trump effectively became a third candidate in Australia, with the ruling Labor Party rebranding Dutton as “DOGE-y Dutton.” Now Dutton has a Trump anchor tied to him with a fake-gold chain!
Albanese seems to be playing down comparisons with Canada but he’s also pitching himself (like Canada’s Carney) as a “steady hand’ and well, the polling shows what it shows. Come May 3 it seems Trump will again cause a potential partner in a country that’s been a great ally to go down to defeat. And instead have to deal with someone who has his number. And won’t put up with his (Trump’s) bullshit.
The old Yogi Berra statement about ‘Deja Vu all over again’ comes to mind and if things play out as expected this weekend Trump will have taken a double-barrel dose of political rock-salt in his fat white butt! I for one will enjoy the thought of his suffering. And for those of you who like me know people who still drink the orange Kool Aid it’s something to throw at them. Canada and Australia are big gorillas in the world. Long time allies of the U.S. “Europe” is a place MAGAs can dismiss as a bunch of mostly no-name places and that ‘most of them don’t even speak English’ but Canada? Australia? Not so easily dismissed.
And, in less than a week’s time both will have told Trump in no uncertain terms to “Get Stuffed.” As in ‘go screw yourself”, or ‘stick it where the sun don’t shine’ only in shall we say more ‘colorful’ ways.
***Zoomers, we are always in need of donations. It’s been an especially rough month and my own health has not been great these past few weeks, which just adds to the frustration. Anything you can spare will be immensely appreciated. And thank you to all who have donated generously already. Ursula***
