Donald Trump is a Russian asset. He may not know it and he may not believe it. Nevertheless, he is perhaps the greatest foreign asset that Russia and Vladimir Putin have. Tucker Carlson, a mega-media personality and propagandist (I won’t insult real journalists by calling him one), is not far behind.
This is the same Tucker Carlson who thinks the U.S. should “liberate” Canada and who actually addressed a sellout crowd in Alberta to drive his message home.
And yesterday, while real leaders throughout much of the world were decrying the murder of Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny, what did Carlson say about that when asked? “Every leader kills people. Some kill more than others. Leadership requires killing people.”
Donald Trump did something extraordinary for him when asked about the killing of Navalny. He kept his mouth shut, perhaps the one time he should have opened it. But no, to do that would have insulted Putin, a “strong leader” whom Trump openly admires.
Another former President, Barack Obama, said this about the death of Alexei Navalny. “He was fearless for his beliefs who died unbroken by the tyranny he opposed. He fought corruption, inspired millions and never wavered in his insistence on free expression, the rule of law and a Russia that is accountable to the people and not to a dictator.”
Vladimir is an evil man. To say that the death of Alexei Navalny is merely a coincidence defies reality. How many opponents of Putin have died in recent years from falling out of windows, blown up in airplanes, killed by radiation or poison, or just plain shot? Coincidence? Uh … no.
Putin has been empowered by the dysfunction in the United States, weakening their influence in global affairs and choreographed primarily not by Joe Biden as many would like to think, but by Donald Trump.
Here is a man, without elected office, whose mental stability is clearly in question, who can control the House of Representatives and tell them what to do.
He has instructed the House not to pass a bipartisan bill with the strongest approach to illegal immigration in decades, simply because he does not want to give Joe Biden a win and is quite happy to have the immigration problem escalate so that he can be seen to deal with it a year from now.
He is also blocking legislation to send more crucially needed relief to Ukraine and Israel, a clear gift to Putin. And to all of this, Republicans who control the House of Representatives say, ‘Yes Sir’. What a bunch of puppets.
Trump has made no bones about supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In fact, he has gone much further than that. He has encouraged Putin to do “whatever the hell he wants” with NATO countries who are behind in their financial support to that body.
Canadian political Strategist Warren Kinsella put it this way: “Trump is not only comfortable with Russia launching an attack on Canada or other NATO countries, he encourages it.”
It is no wonder that Putin feels he can act with impunity when it comes to invading other countries and disposing of anyone who dares to oppose him.
And in the event that we in Canada think we can shrug at all of this, we should listen to John Ivison, Ottawa Bureau Chief for the National Post. “Even the Navalny assassination has not woken our political leaders from their slumber. We are sleepwalking to war and our national debate is dominated by trivialities.” Scary that.
On top of all of this, should be a real concern for Donald Trump’s mental health. The Governor of Illinois, J. B. Pritzker, has captured that concern. “Trump’s comments are becoming increasingly unhinged. We must shine a light on his sick talk of revenge, his dehumanizing language and threat to pull from NATO.”
As well, Judge Arthur Engoron, in his decision related to the Civil Fraud trial of Donald Trump in New York noted, “the defendant’s complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on the pathological.”
When all of this is put together, it is very hard for me to understand how a man like this has at least an even chance of becoming the next President of the United States. It is a clear tug-of-war between democracy and authoritarianism.
Liz Cheney, a Republican, a former member of Congress and a fierce critic of Donald Trump, spoke about authoritarianism on CNN’s State of the Union this morning. “When you think for, example, of Donald Trump pledging retribution, what Vladimir did to Navalny is what retribution looks like in a country where the leader is not subject to the rule of Law. You’ve now got a Putin wing in the Republican Party”.
Is that what American’s really want? Is that what a militarily vulnerable Canada wants as their next-door neighbour?
I know that there will be those who say I am fear-mongering, that Donald Trump isn’t really a bad guy and just says what he says to get attention and doesn’t really mean most of it and the legal troubles he is facing are all trumped up charges. (Pun intended) But sometimes you have to say to yourself, if it walks like a duck and if it quacks like a duck, maybe it really is a duck?
I am not a particular supporter of President Joe Biden. He is a little too far to the left for me. But I do believe, as Republican Senator Mitt Romney has said, that Joe Biden is a decent man and one who has committed much of his life to serving America and the wider world. I do not believe that can be said of Donald Trump. I do think it would be better both for America and Canada if both men stepped aside to allow a generational change for their respective parties.
As things stand, however, the presidential race in the United States this year will be between Trump and Biden.
It is well within the margin of error that a wannabe despot, possibly “unhinged” man, who supports Vladimir Putin, who advocates the invasion of NATO countries and has been convicted of sexual assault and financial fraud with more criminal charges ahead, could once again become President of the United States. A shuddering thought for much of the Western world, including Canada.
If this isn’t the time for a wake-up call, I don’t know what is.
Hugh Mackenzie
Publisher
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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