Last night i heard Mark Carney said “We have recognized from the beginning that America has changed, and that we will not return to our old relationship,”. Very disappointing and heartbreaking that one man’s choices affect forever the goodwill and peace between our nations, possibly for generations. I don’t think this is what America voted for.
Let's not pretend that there wasn't COPIOUS amount of data available before the election that Trump is an erratic sociopathic narcissist who would do EXACTLY these kinds of things. America doesn't get to pretend to be surprised this time.
America voted for this, and fixing this issue won't just require *just* ousting a wannabe caudillo, but reeducating the country why trade is desirable AND we shouldn't mess around electing ignorant fools who will jeopardize those relationships.
Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and parts of Maine voted FOR this.* Now they get to experience the scalding hot stove. If civics and economics class isn't a suitable tutor, perhaps economic pain will be.
(* Let me throw in Kentucky as well, as Canada is a major Bourbon and whiskey export market.)
Some of us paid attention and knew what was coming was bad. But others ignored the warnings and are waking up too late or worse remain in complete denial that this jerk is only interested in lining his own pockets at the expense of we the people.
Sure, but it's incumbent on the folks that were paying attention to shore up our civic and educational infrastructure to ensure that this does not happen again.
The Biden administration was an abject failure in the sense that we assumed that Americans would snap back to "normal" (esp. after an armed insurrection on the Capitol). When power changes again, we (folks like you and I) need to smash the long levers of power that a series of imperial presidencies have forged and return the executive branch to one that operates at the direction of the legislature, instead of acting as a legislative body independently.
I did my very best to help educate people that 2025 plan wasn’t a hoax. I did my very best to show that no one who claimed to be a dictator on day one ever relinquished that power. I continue in my quest to educate, including badgering my dipstick reps ( all maga btw) that this is not serving their constituents or our nations! I won’t stop, but it’s very discouraging trying to convince a latin community that claims to have fled their home countries for a better life only to vote for fascism and authoritarianism here. Open to suggestions!
The main suggestion I have is to get your sane friends to vote in the primary elections, so that come November, they don't have to pull the lever for two nutjobs selected by their respective bases, but someone who will actually use their head while governing.
I think you are ignoring the fact that were it not for the U.S., South Korea would not exist. Just like NATO our commitments to South Korea and Japan have cost us trillions over the last 80 years. The costs of basing about 70,000 troops in South Korea and Japan are substantial. So when NATO who keeps getting hysterical while being total deadbeats refuses to help in Iran and in fact refuses the use of their bases and airspace are these alliances only for their benefit? Why do we still have so many troops in both countries?
This article only emphasizes the negative. We are still having military exercises with South Korea. It matters not what the scale is. As far as Carney he is a former Bank of England Governor and a declared globalist. Ask his own Albertans how THEY feel about him. Let’s be honest Canada needs us more than we need them, this too shall pass.
How much would have a fully Communist Korean peninsula have cost us had we let the Chinese and Soviets overrun South Korea (and Japan)? Let's not pretend that we didn't get something out of that as well, and ignore what the alternative would have cost us. (Also, South Korea is NOT in NATO, because - had you paid attention in geography class - they are nowhere near the North Atlantic.)
As for Iran, Trump and Bibi didn't consult South Korea before YOLO'ing that war. Why should anyone whose opinion was not sought - and if sought, disregarded - bail us out of ours and Israel's folly?
As for Canadians needing us more than we need them - let's see. They haven't torched their trading relationships with the rest of the world, and still enjoy solid relationships with other trading partners. What precisely do they need us for when they can trade all around us (and for cheaper, given Trump's tariffs have the effect of making competitive goods from others comparatively *cheaper*).
You make a great point. When you consider the amount of trade between the three countries the ROI is a little complicated but when you consider what LG, Hyundai, Samsung,Toyota, Honda, Panasonic, etc, it has given us access to high quality goods at competitive prices. What people may have forgotten or never known was that after WWII we allowed Japan to borrow all of our TV production technology and it cratered our own television companies.
Between aid and subsidies we saw the potential industrial might of both of these countries, helped them exploit it were happy to consume their goods and they have both been amazing trading partners.
China is getting aggressive in the South China Sea and Japan and South Korea are paying attention. Japan is building their military preparedness. Any troubles between us and South Korea is a nothing burger. If anything these alliances will grow even closer due to the threats of China and North Korea in the region.
Dude: reply to the reply. You keep making new threads.
The US firms licensed tech to Japan - which had pre-WWII developed some of their own TV tech - and JP developed their own solid-state designs that eventually won out. Heck, they had HD for years before we borrowed that tech from them.
No issue just basically agreeing that these alliances are important and will continue. The narrative about troubles because of statements by the President are a distraction. The alliances with South Korea and Japan remain strong.
I never said they were part of NATO I did use the plural ALLIANCES, the economic post war miracles of Japan and South Korea would never have occurred without us. We were instrumental in helping rebuild their economies. South Korea has become an industrial power. I have been to South Korea and it is a common experience. Young people there hate Americans even though they dress and look like Americans. This is what happens when we stay too long as an occupier. We have been in Japan for 80 years, why do we need over 30,000 troops in both countries which costs us a ton of money?
"We were instrumental in helping rebuild their economies."
And do you remember WHY we did that after World War II? (Hint: search for "the Treaty of Versailles and its effects".)
As for South Korean hate, I haven't seen it (so a citation would be appreciated). I do imagine that they're not happy with us, but that may be because our President keeps palling around with the fellow with enough missiles pointed at Seoul to wipe it off the map and is playing with nuclear weapons just north of them. (Where is Trump's resolve that North Korea shouldn't have nuclear weapons?)
I traveled to South Korea many times starting in the late seventies and then again after 2000. Here’s what I have seen up close. At that time shopkeepers of the boomer generation of the Korean War generation that remembered us, appreciated us, loved us, showed that love openly to Americans there. North Korea has been a long time threat to South Korea, long before Trump became President. The border on both sides is the most armed area in the world, the threat is there, has always been there and as long as China keeps supporting the Kim dynasty it will continue. The last time I was there my two American colleagues decided to go out and met these two Canadian male teachers. The Canadians told them to say they were Canadian because they knew the locals would be hostile to them. Walking around a touristy area I was given dirty looks by young people that were openly hostile. I felt it, saw it and went back to my hotel. Our military has been there too long. There have been unfortunate incidents over the years with American military personnel. That does not negate our commitment to their defense and the positive things we have done there.
Perhaps a good way to look at this: what is the ROI we've received from basing 28k troops in South Korea and 58k in Japan? And are we factoring in the cost sharing (SK pays ~$1.1bil annually, JP ~$4bil annually) into the equation?
Trump is the gift that keeps on giving and the American people need to look in the mirror when trying to find who is to blame.
Last night i heard Mark Carney said “We have recognized from the beginning that America has changed, and that we will not return to our old relationship,”. Very disappointing and heartbreaking that one man’s choices affect forever the goodwill and peace between our nations, possibly for generations. I don’t think this is what America voted for.
"I don’t think this is what America voted for."
Let's not pretend that there wasn't COPIOUS amount of data available before the election that Trump is an erratic sociopathic narcissist who would do EXACTLY these kinds of things. America doesn't get to pretend to be surprised this time.
America voted for this, and fixing this issue won't just require *just* ousting a wannabe caudillo, but reeducating the country why trade is desirable AND we shouldn't mess around electing ignorant fools who will jeopardize those relationships.
Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and parts of Maine voted FOR this.* Now they get to experience the scalding hot stove. If civics and economics class isn't a suitable tutor, perhaps economic pain will be.
(* Let me throw in Kentucky as well, as Canada is a major Bourbon and whiskey export market.)
Some of us paid attention and knew what was coming was bad. But others ignored the warnings and are waking up too late or worse remain in complete denial that this jerk is only interested in lining his own pockets at the expense of we the people.
Sure, but it's incumbent on the folks that were paying attention to shore up our civic and educational infrastructure to ensure that this does not happen again.
The Biden administration was an abject failure in the sense that we assumed that Americans would snap back to "normal" (esp. after an armed insurrection on the Capitol). When power changes again, we (folks like you and I) need to smash the long levers of power that a series of imperial presidencies have forged and return the executive branch to one that operates at the direction of the legislature, instead of acting as a legislative body independently.
I did my very best to help educate people that 2025 plan wasn’t a hoax. I did my very best to show that no one who claimed to be a dictator on day one ever relinquished that power. I continue in my quest to educate, including badgering my dipstick reps ( all maga btw) that this is not serving their constituents or our nations! I won’t stop, but it’s very discouraging trying to convince a latin community that claims to have fled their home countries for a better life only to vote for fascism and authoritarianism here. Open to suggestions!
Keep up the good work.
The main suggestion I have is to get your sane friends to vote in the primary elections, so that come November, they don't have to pull the lever for two nutjobs selected by their respective bases, but someone who will actually use their head while governing.
I think you are ignoring the fact that were it not for the U.S., South Korea would not exist. Just like NATO our commitments to South Korea and Japan have cost us trillions over the last 80 years. The costs of basing about 70,000 troops in South Korea and Japan are substantial. So when NATO who keeps getting hysterical while being total deadbeats refuses to help in Iran and in fact refuses the use of their bases and airspace are these alliances only for their benefit? Why do we still have so many troops in both countries?
This article only emphasizes the negative. We are still having military exercises with South Korea. It matters not what the scale is. As far as Carney he is a former Bank of England Governor and a declared globalist. Ask his own Albertans how THEY feel about him. Let’s be honest Canada needs us more than we need them, this too shall pass.
How much would have a fully Communist Korean peninsula have cost us had we let the Chinese and Soviets overrun South Korea (and Japan)? Let's not pretend that we didn't get something out of that as well, and ignore what the alternative would have cost us. (Also, South Korea is NOT in NATO, because - had you paid attention in geography class - they are nowhere near the North Atlantic.)
As for Iran, Trump and Bibi didn't consult South Korea before YOLO'ing that war. Why should anyone whose opinion was not sought - and if sought, disregarded - bail us out of ours and Israel's folly?
As for Canadians needing us more than we need them - let's see. They haven't torched their trading relationships with the rest of the world, and still enjoy solid relationships with other trading partners. What precisely do they need us for when they can trade all around us (and for cheaper, given Trump's tariffs have the effect of making competitive goods from others comparatively *cheaper*).
You make a great point. When you consider the amount of trade between the three countries the ROI is a little complicated but when you consider what LG, Hyundai, Samsung,Toyota, Honda, Panasonic, etc, it has given us access to high quality goods at competitive prices. What people may have forgotten or never known was that after WWII we allowed Japan to borrow all of our TV production technology and it cratered our own television companies.
Between aid and subsidies we saw the potential industrial might of both of these countries, helped them exploit it were happy to consume their goods and they have both been amazing trading partners.
China is getting aggressive in the South China Sea and Japan and South Korea are paying attention. Japan is building their military preparedness. Any troubles between us and South Korea is a nothing burger. If anything these alliances will grow even closer due to the threats of China and North Korea in the region.
Dude: reply to the reply. You keep making new threads.
The US firms licensed tech to Japan - which had pre-WWII developed some of their own TV tech - and JP developed their own solid-state designs that eventually won out. Heck, they had HD for years before we borrowed that tech from them.
Again, what's the big issue here?
No issue just basically agreeing that these alliances are important and will continue. The narrative about troubles because of statements by the President are a distraction. The alliances with South Korea and Japan remain strong.
Sounds like just a massive amount of hubris to me.
I never said they were part of NATO I did use the plural ALLIANCES, the economic post war miracles of Japan and South Korea would never have occurred without us. We were instrumental in helping rebuild their economies. South Korea has become an industrial power. I have been to South Korea and it is a common experience. Young people there hate Americans even though they dress and look like Americans. This is what happens when we stay too long as an occupier. We have been in Japan for 80 years, why do we need over 30,000 troops in both countries which costs us a ton of money?
"We were instrumental in helping rebuild their economies."
And do you remember WHY we did that after World War II? (Hint: search for "the Treaty of Versailles and its effects".)
As for South Korean hate, I haven't seen it (so a citation would be appreciated). I do imagine that they're not happy with us, but that may be because our President keeps palling around with the fellow with enough missiles pointed at Seoul to wipe it off the map and is playing with nuclear weapons just north of them. (Where is Trump's resolve that North Korea shouldn't have nuclear weapons?)
I traveled to South Korea many times starting in the late seventies and then again after 2000. Here’s what I have seen up close. At that time shopkeepers of the boomer generation of the Korean War generation that remembered us, appreciated us, loved us, showed that love openly to Americans there. North Korea has been a long time threat to South Korea, long before Trump became President. The border on both sides is the most armed area in the world, the threat is there, has always been there and as long as China keeps supporting the Kim dynasty it will continue. The last time I was there my two American colleagues decided to go out and met these two Canadian male teachers. The Canadians told them to say they were Canadian because they knew the locals would be hostile to them. Walking around a touristy area I was given dirty looks by young people that were openly hostile. I felt it, saw it and went back to my hotel. Our military has been there too long. There have been unfortunate incidents over the years with American military personnel. That does not negate our commitment to their defense and the positive things we have done there.
Gotta reply to the reply to keep this cohesive.
Perhaps a good way to look at this: what is the ROI we've received from basing 28k troops in South Korea and 58k in Japan? And are we factoring in the cost sharing (SK pays ~$1.1bil annually, JP ~$4bil annually) into the equation?