Some Canadian politics for a change.....

 Not ALL conservatives are MAGA types. Though I don't get a vote, I was pleased to see Doug Ford win last night in Ontario.

The leader of Ontario, Doug Ford, is projected to have won a third term in office, with voters in the Canadian province giving him a decisive victory.

In a nutshell, Ford talked tough against Trump and his tariffs:

Ford ran his campaign under the slogan "Protect Canada", reflecting his view that Canada needs to stand firm against US tariff threats.

Apparently, that slogan worked, though I would love to hear from our Canadian friends. 

Doug Ford is a man of things. Things he can see, things he can touch and most importantly, things he can build.

Big things matter to Ford. The Progressive Conservative leader is a self-proclaimed visionary who makes decisions with his gut. When he has swung and missed, like he did with opening up protected Greenbelt land that sparked public furor, he has apologized and walked it back.

Little things are important to him too. He will famously find out about a small problem and try to fix it.

Ford has bet big on building things. Early in the election campaign, he pledged an additional $22 billion in spending for infrastructure projects in the face of American tariffs. But that promise wasn’t contingent upon U.S. President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.

It would bring his grand plan to build more highways, roads, jails, hospitals and a few vanity projects, including a redeveloped Ontario Place, to more than $200 billion.

https://globalnews.ca/news/11049712/doug-ford-how-he-wins/

With Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives seeking re-election on a slogan of "Protect Ontario," it's worth examining whether they made good on their last campaign slogan: "Get It Done." 

The Ontario PC campaign promises in 2022 focused largely on building, in particular housing, hospitals, highways, transit and long-term care homes. 

"Overall I would say it's a relatively good performance," said Geneviève Tellier, a political scientist at the University of Ottawa, in an interview.

Peter Graefe, a political scientist at McMaster University, says while Ford may have acted on many of his specific promises, it's questionable whether those actions actually solved the bigger problems they were supposed to address. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-election-doug-ford-campaign-promises-report-card-1.7447912

OF COURSE................... not everyone is going to be thrilled at Ford winning a third term. Hence.............

 I would love to hear from our Canadian friends. 

For my money, that $200 cheque I got recently from the Ont. government just for being a resident of Ont. was a nice touch. Also, where I live, lithium mining is being heavily invested in which should significantly improve employment. 

February 22, 2025 — Today, Doug Ford outlined the PC plan to speed up approvals, cut red tape and invest in infrastructure to unlock the enormous economic potential of Ontario’s critical minerals in the Ring of Fire and protect northern Ontario’s economy and workers.

BUT...............................his standing up to the bullying of Trump, may have been the winning ticket. Ontario has rendered their verdict. 

The WaPo sinks into MAGA's world of authoritarian demagoguery and lies

Everybody is reporting that Bezos has formally poisoned the WaPo's opinion page. Bezos, the WaPo owner directed the newspaper's opinion section to focus exclusively on advocating for "personal liberties and free markets." This shift in editorial policy was announced in a memo to staff. He said that viewpoints opposing these principles would be left for others to publish. 

David Shipley, the WaPo opinion editor, resigned rather than lead the poisoned opinion section. Bezos offered Shipley the opportunity to continue, but Shipley declined, stating that he could not fully commit to the new direction. 

Bezos shields his abandonment of inconvenient truth, democracy, the rule of law and civil liberties with clever sophistry. Here he intentionally conflates freedom and liberty. Free markets, i.e., unregulated markets, is what allows people like Bezos and Musk to do whatever the hell they want to us and the environment. Personal liberty, i.e., civil liberties, is what protects the rest of us from people like them and authoritarians generally.

News sources:

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5309725/jeff-bezos-washington-post-opinion-section

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y44gw5gpro

https://apnews.com/article/washington-post-bezos-opinion-trump-market-liberty-97a7d8113d670ec6e643525fdf9f06de

A WaPo article comments (not paywalled):

The move was received by some as an indication that Bezos is making decisions for the storied news outlet with an eye toward avoiding retaliation by President Donald Trump. Bezos, though, cast the change as a modernization from the days when newspapers offered opinions on a broad range of topics. Now, he said, “the internet does that job.”

“We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,” Bezos wrote in his post, adding that the new topics “are right for America. I also believe that these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion.” Opinions editor David Shipley resigned rather than lead the shift, Bezos said.

“Bezos argues for personal liberties. But his news organization now will forbid views other than his own in its opinion section,” wrote Marty Baron, Buzbee’s predecessor at the paper, in a statement first reported by The Daily Beast. “There is no doubt in my mind that he is doing this out of fear of the consequences for his other business interests.”

“This is what Oligarch ownership of the media looks like,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., posted on X, Musk’s platform “The second-richest guy in the world, Bezos, owns The Washington Post. He has now declared that the editorial page of that paper is going Trump right-wing. Surprise, Mr. Musk agrees. We must support independent media.”

 So, the WaPo editorial pages have gone the way of the WSJ editorial pages, radical right, authoritarian, demagogic, kleptocratic and shamelessly mendacious. My subscription ends in April. I won't renew it. Years ago I ended my subscription to the WSJ for exactly the same reason.

MAGA bits: We're fat and disgusting!; Medicare & Medicaid cuts; Biblical MAGA politics; Etc.

As always, djt is gracious, caring and and articulate. A USA Today opinion: Trump calls America 'fat and disgusting.' What leadership! -- 'This country has gotten bloated and fat and disgusting.' Inspiring rhetoric that will surely uplift the masses off their bloated, fat and disgusting keisters. I guess.

Un-fracking-believable. Inspiring rhetoric indeed! This insult is brought to you with charm, grace and finesse by our fat, bloated, and far worse than disgusting djt.

Well, actually they aim for 

capitalist, authoritarian kleptocracy

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

The NYT reports (not paywalled): House Passes G.O.P. Budget Teeing Up Enormous Tax and Spending Cuts -- The plan instructs the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, to come up with at least $880 billion in cuts. While some Republicans denied that they would slash programs for the poor, the amount of revenue they are calling to raise would all but certainly necessitate some cuts to at least one of those programs.

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

The Hill: GOP committee chair demands staff call West Bank by biblical name -- The Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee chair instructed GOP staff to refer to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), chair of the committee, wrote in a staff memo that all “formal correspondence, communication, and documentation” would refer to the territory of the West Bank as Judea and Samaria. .... Mast said he was making the change to recognize the “inherent right of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland” and demonstrate the U.S.’s “unbreakable bond with Israel.” 

Welp, ladies ’n germs, there we have it. The end game of the endless, bloody Israel-Palestine war is coming to an end. As expected, Palestine is obliterated and Israel wins it all. Israel is annexing the West Bank, er, Judea and Samaria. Of course Israel does not explicitly declare annexation. However its actions including military operations, settlement expansions, and legislative changes, amount to a de facto annexation of the West Bank. Gaza is slated to become a high-end development project for resorts, gold courses and brothels.

On Aug. 14, 2019 I posted these inspiring thoughts:

When Prime Minister Rabin was murdered by a political extremist with a gun in 1995, it seemed apparent then that the peace process was dead and would never lead to a solution. That turned out to be true from the end of 1995 until today, 23 years later.

Given the fact that there will never be a free and independent Palestinian state, America really should rethink the US-Israel alliance. At present, it looks like the Palestinian people are forever doomed to live in poverty, misery, blinding rage and actual imprisonment. Is that what America stands for? Apparently it is.

Once upon a time, the US stood up to Israel and tried to be a neutral broker. But those days are long gone. It’s ancient history. Palestine is toast. The Palestinians are destined for misery, poverty and tons of righteous oppression, i.e., also toast. 

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

From the depths of the MAGA mortuary, we have these inspiring nuggets of MAGA foresight, grace and charm: Republican Cites Bible To Defend Hitting Disabled Students - A Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma cited a Bible verse as he argued against a bill seeking to ban corporal punishment being used on disabled students in schools. Oklahoma State Senator Shane Jett quoted several verses from the Book of Proverbs on Tuesday as he argued that the bill is in "violation of Scripture."

See, the bible commands corporal punishment of disabled students. I was not aware of that bit of Christian nationalist theology.

Also, there's new poll data:

Source

One GOP pollster commented: “I think what we’re starting to see is the very beginning of buyer’s remorse setting in. And the voters that I was talking to both before the election and after … They voted for Donald Trump for one very specific reason—they thought things were too expensive, and they still think things are too expensive. .... People are experiencing negative personal consequences as a result [of the damage Musk has inflicted]. You can see it in the poll numbers. I can hear it in the focus groups, like it’s already starting to turn. .... [many djt voters were] just mad about the economy.”

Too expensive?? Everyone knew that djt tariff promises would increase costs of lots. Guess those were low information voters. Heck, they’re probably high disinformation voters. After all, they listened to and believed both djt and Faux News. What could possibly go wrong?

MAGA bits: Suing dishonest book authors; Environment updates 1 and 2; MAGA Misogyny?

The Hill reports: Trump threatens lawsuits, ‘NICE NEW LAW’ over anonymous sources in books -- Here, djt threatens lawsuits against authors who use anonymous sources in books about him or his thug MAGA elites. djt calls reporting of inconvenient facts and truths to be defamatory and dishonest. He suggests a new law could be created to ban anonymous sourcing in books. “As a President who is being given credit for having the Best Opening Month of any President in history, quite naturally, here come the Fake books and stories with the so-called ‘anonymous,’ or ‘off the record,’ quotes.” At some point I am going to sue some of these dishonest authors and book publishers, or even media in general, to find out whether or not these ‘anonymous sources’ even exist, which they largely do not. .... They are made up, defamatory fiction, and a big price should be paid for this blatant dishonesty. I’ll do it as a service to our Country.” 

Once again, djt makes allegations that are not supported by one shred of empirical evidence. In other words, he still is the same old pathological liar and slanderer he has been for years. And, it's hypocrisy as usual too.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Update 1: The WaPo reports that the MAGA thug who runs the EPA is gunning to get rid of most or all major air pollution regulations: EPA tells White House to strike down landmark climate finding -- Here MAGA thug Lee Zeldin is telling djt to repeal the EPA's 2009 “endangerment finding.” That finding said that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare. The 2009 finding cleared the way for regulating greenhouse gases. Both Obama and Biden used the finding to set limits on emissions from cars and power plants. 

Climate science denier Lee Zeldin

spewing poison in congress last month

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Update 2: The NYT reports about the effects that MAGA hostility to the concepts of global warming and environmental protection is exerting: BP to Focus More on Oil and Gas in Strategy ‘Reset’ -- BP says it will cut investments in clean energy and redirect that spending toward fossil fuels. The NYT article says that BP's move is just a response to investor pressure for higher returns after a period of lower profits and a realization that transition to clean energy is not moving very fast. 

Of course that begs the question of why clean energy transition is not moving very fast. MAGA is why. Investor pressure is part of it, but MAGA policies that lower political and operational costs of fossil fuels creates a feedback loop that entrenches hydrocarbon dependence. In significant part, BP is virtue signaling to djt and MAGA elites that the company is on the side of pollution for profit, just as djt and MAGA are. 

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

In a wonderfully snarky article, Salon writes about a fascinating but nasty power struggle that's now ongoing in MAGAlandia:

"A woman is like a child": MAGA quickly turns its sights on 

stripping Republican women of power

(well, at least they're not stripping off their clothes)

For decades, the anti-abortion movement has aggressively promoted women into visible leadership roles. It's for cynical reasons, namely, to bat off entirely accurate accusations that the movement is misogynist. Never mind that there have always been women who are eager to police the bodies and behavior of other women. Enough people are credulous or at least disingenuous enough to think that "I'm a woman, which means I can't hate other women" is an actual argument. For ambitious women who wanted to climb the ranks of Republican politics, anti-feminism has long been the steadiest of ladders. The propaganda value of their gender outweighed their party's larger hostility to women in leadership.

But now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned and Donald Trump is back in the White House, many on the right feel they no longer need to hide the naked sexism fueling their movement or put up with the annoyance of women in even token leadership positions. As Kiera Butler at Mother Jones reports, the anti-abortion movement is embroiled in an escalating civil war right now over these issues. Male leaders of the Christian right have been swarming Kristan Hawkins, the 39-year-old head of a "student" anti-abortion group, demanding her ejection from the movement. It started after she objected to Republican legislators introducing bills to charge women who get abortions with murder, an extreme move she fears will backfire on the movement. But mostly it was about growing male anger on the Christian right that women are allowed leadership positions at all.

"Removed [sic] this woman from public service," declared influential Christian nationalist pastor Joel Webbon, part of the "TheoBros" movement that includes the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's church. Soon other TheoBros jumped in, declaring "We need Christian men leading the fight against abortion," arguing that women's suffrage was a mistake, and accusing Hawkins of emasculating her husband by being "busy jet-setting."

Forty-five percent of female voters backed Trump in 2024, despite his overt misogyny. Most, no doubt, believed that complicity would protect them and that the attacks would be centered on other women. But while the GOP certainly wants to strip liberal and feminist women of their rights, male MAGA leaders are showing increasing interest in bringing Republican women to heel, both culturally and through the force of law. After all, they are more likely to live and work with Republican women. If they want to feel the full flowering of male domination, it's Republican women they need to see submitting.

Woof! That is feisty prose, to say the least. Those poor MAGA males, they don't like being emasculated by uppity jet-setting women. Darned women's suffrage, 'twas a huge mistake. And, WTF is the TheoBros? Mother Jones writes: To Understand JD Vance, You Need to Meet the “TheoBros” -- These fine Christian-adjacents are aggressive, angry, young White Christian men. They want to get rid of the 19th Amendment, restore public flogging, and make America white again.

The 19th Amendment: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex".

Mother Jones quotes Joel Webbon, a Texas MAGA pastor and podcaster, who wrote on X: “America is a particular place with a particular people.” He means White Christian men.

Another Christian MAGA freak, former Trump administration official William Wolfe said: “This is one of the most important political questions facing America right now. Answer it wrong, we will go the way of Europe, where the native-born populations are being utterly displaced by third world migrants and Muslims. Answer it right, and we can renew America once more.” One of the most cherished MAGA beliefs is this: America belongs to Christians, specifically White Christian men. 

Geez, not only is MAGA misogynist, it's racist too!! American women, start submitting right now or there will be hell to pay!!