Tuesday night, I watched the Democratic presidential candidates’ debate — the last debate before the South Carolina primary on Feb. 29 and the Super Tuesday vote March 3, when about 1/3 of Democrats cast their ballots in 15 American states and territories for who they want their presidential candidate to be. For a large part…
Category: US politics
The challenge: A progressive in ultra-nationalist times
I watched President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night and, like me, if you did, too, you probably were turned off big time. It was a typical Trump event — a speech filled full of false facts with a lot of reality TV gimmicks thrown in for good measure. It was anything…
Here’s hoping Iran/US talks resume
I was waiting on tenterhooks for President Trump’s press conference Wednesday morning. In response to the Iranian ballistic missile strike on US airbases in Iraq the day prior, would he order a retaliatory American attack? Were we going to end up with another war in the Middle East? Iran, with a population of 80 million,…
Speak out against Councillor Kirby-Yung’s motion restricting freedom of speech
South of the border, any time high profile politicians such as Bernie Saunders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even gently criticize Israel for breaking international law, they are labelled by President Trump and others as antisemitic. Over the last number of years, the pro-Israel lobby has been very successful at getting governments, both in the US and…
The shadow of Geoff Meggs
Big news on the political front: Geoff Meggs is leaving civic politics and moving to the provincial scene, where he will be working for premier-designate, John Horgan, as chief of staff. While I have been very pleased with all of John Horgan’s other announcements so far, this one leaves a bad taste in my mouth….
Justice can prevail against all odds
In 2004 my partner Penny and I travelled to El Salvador as guests of the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, one of two of the country’s major political parties). We toured this tiny Central American country for two weeks visiting many tiny municipal councils, environmental advocacy organisations, human rights organisations, women’s groups and disability…
Inspiration in the face of oppression
As I have watched with horror over the last week or so south of the border, I am not just outraged — I’m also inspired! There’s no denying the fact that President Trump is a racist, a misogynist and an outright liar. Nor can there be any denying that he is narcissistic. His executive orders…