The return of the Ugly American

Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau once quipped, in a good natured way, that living next to the US is like sleeping next to an elephant. After hearing this Sunday’s extraordinarily virulent and unfair attacks on his son, by Donald Trump and his White House lap-dogs, Peter Navarro and Larry Kudlow, Canadians are bracing themselves: the elephant has gone rogue, the lap-dogs have become Dobermans, frothing at the mouth.

The emergence of an unpredictable and unprincipled political leadership to the south of the 49th parallel, a bunch of liars and bullies, who are more interested in lending a helping hand to corrupt autocrats and neo-fascist wannabees, like Putin, Viktor Orbán, Erdogan, than to their friends, is a sobering turning point for democrats not only in Canada but the world over.

Most Canadians are not surprised at hearing yet another Trumpian tirade. They had a front row seat up to now onto the circus where emotional language overwhelms rational discourse and common sense, where women are treated like meat in a supermarket. While Canadians have been spared the fire so far, they have seen its destructive path. This is the first time, however, that this destructive fire down South has turned towards the North, directly threatening the way of life, and the values of a gentle and cooperative people living at peace with the world and with their own admirable diversity. America’s best, most trusted neighbor, a country that sacrificed the lives of tens of thousands of its citizens to save the values that are the sacred trust of the North Atlantic Community, are in the cross-hairs of a sharp-shooter hell bent on implementing a game plan that places corporate greed ahead of the planet’s needs, short term profits ahead of civil-rights and human dignity. The affinity fraud represented by Donald Trump has reached Canada’s front door.

Let this be the last warning to conservative and liberal democrats, to those on the Left, the Right and the Center of the democratic political spectrum: Donald Trump’s assault on Canada, his collusion with Russia, China, and the corrupt authoritarian wave sweeping across the world, is the single biggest threat to global peace and security since the Age of the Dictatorships in the early 20th century. The divorce of Capitalism and Democracy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, the neo-fascist renaissance promoted by alt-right advocates like Steve Bannon, Breitbart or Fox News, and the wave of politically controlled networks of communication sweeping the planet, are challenges that only a fool should ignore.

Let there be no mistake: statements by the Potus, and his attack dogs, which promise „a special place in hell” for Canada’s legally elected PM, because he dares to stand up for his country’s dignity, for justice and fair trade, is a threat to democrats the world over. Today, the American President and his Ugly Americans, pose the greatest single threat to the survival of justice, the rule of law and sustainable economic development in the world. It’s time democrats of all political leanings, let them know where to get off.

András Göllner

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