How seriously are Canadians taking Trump? Some are apparently taking him a little too seriously. Most of us on the right are familiar with Trump's swagger, his Queens-style approach to negotiation, and his tendency toward acidic one-liners, nicknames, and insults. We know that he means business, but we don't take him literally. To be honest, most people on the Left know this, too, but it is to their advantage to pretend otherwise.
Some Canucks are taking Trump at his word that he will annex the Great White North. Some are even thinking about possibly taking up arms to repel an invasion by the United States. At The Free Press, Rupa Subramanya profiled several Canadians who said they would be ready to prep for war.
Take, for example, Joe Gosselin, the 68-year-old military vet, who believes that the threat is legit, that we are eyeing Canada's resources as China buys into them, and who even compared the scenario to the war in Ukraine. He said, “We could man tool cribs, teach people to shoot, and, depending on our fitness, we might even want to go to the front. We could mingle amongst them so easily and inflict damage because they look just like us and talk like us for the most part.”
Consider Chris Nunn, 45, a resident of Ontario. He said, “This is my homeland, built by 13 generations of my family going back to the 1500s when they landed in Nicolet, Quebec. I will fight. . . I may lose. . . but I will fight.” (What, no land acknowledgment?)
Then there was the 22-year-old Toronto poli-sci student Noah Jarvis. Noah believes that Trump plans to weaken Canada economically but added that he would be more than willing to enlist in the Canadian Armed Forces if it came down to it.
Perhaps the most bizarre response came from 50-year-old Toronto ER doctor Raghu Venugopal, who commented:
There are many out there who would have no limit to how we would defend this great nation. Many of us would rather have our eyes spooned out, be thrown in acid, be eviscerated, tortured, run over by tanks, have our heart pulled out of our mouth than have anything to do with the United States.
Um... okay. I don't think it's going to come to that, Doc, but, you know, whatever gets you through the night, I guess.
If I were a betting man, I would wager that most Canadians do not take the threat of annexation seriously and chalk it up to Trump's affinity for hyperbole. Those people do not make for interesting news stories, so why talk to them? But among those who do, do they not recall or perhaps did not mind the Trudeau government's draconian tactics during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are they not aware that if left unchecked, Canada's Medical Assistance In Dying program may come knocking at their doors someday, even if they are not quite ready to go?
What I find simultaneously chilling and fascinating is what happens when an outlier comes along and threatens to upend a status quo that is likely corrupt to the core. What we are seeing is governments looking to schools, the media, influencers, the public, and even other governments to create a coalition of the enraged. And, like it or not, it seems to be working.
I did not think I would see the day that people would be mobilized to attack an automotive brand or the people who own the vehicles with such insane levels of violence. Of course, there will be those in the States who tell the Canadians, "Oh, it's not all Americans that are the problem. Only certain people." And we all know who the phrase "certain people" will refer to.
I suspect one of the goals of the anti-Trump/Musk rhetoric and the Torch-A-Tesla-Today efforts is not only to inflame the base but to make conservatives edgy and even scared when they go to the supermarket or sit down in a restaurant. Naming, isolating, and targeting your opponents is an old, diabolical, but effective tactic.
On the flip side, and I know this will anger some, it might behoove Trump to remember that a lighter touch now and then can sometimes work wonders. There are plenty of people in plenty of places willing to use any comment, no matter how vanilla, as propaganda fuel. And it seems there is no shortage of people willing to believe them.
While war with Canada is not imminent, there are plenty of things to keep track of at home and abroad. All of us here at PJ Media are at your service. All we ask is that you keep coming back and, if you have the time, become a VIP member.
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