The World According to Glissando

Tag: politics

  • Courts

    Some new scientific polling results have been published as it relates to Donald Trump and the Courts. The poll was conducted by Reuters/IPSOS. There were some very interesting results.

    82% of American adults say the president should obey court orders.

    68% of Republicans say the president should obey court orders.

    97% of Democrats say the president should obey court orders.

    Here are the specific poll results as it relates to immigration.

    40% of American adults say the president should continue to deport people even after a court order to stop.

    76% of Republicans say the president should continue to deport people even after a court order to stop.

    8% of Democrats say the president should continue to deport people even after a court order to stop.

    When I look at these results, what immediately comes to mind is the effect on the rule of law. You cannot pick and choose which court rulings to obey. True justice in a democracy should and must be blind, not arbitrary. There is a better and more equitable way to address perceived bias in law. Change the law through the democratic legislative process.

    Take immigration, for example. If Congress and the Presidency, both Republicans and Democrats, did their job in the first place a long time ago, the current immigration issues would not even exist. I agree that borders must be secure and that you cannot have large numbers of undocumented immigrants blowing in the wind. This is common sense (if there is such a thing), no matter what country you are talking about. But it’s not the courts that created the chaos. That culpability lies with the Democrats and the Republicans.

    If you allow the erosion of the rule of law by selectively choosing which court rulings you like and which ones you don’t, it will come back to bite you and everyone (excluding the few in the most upper echelon) will lose freedoms.   

  • NATO

    The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military defensive coalition of European countries, Canada and the United States created in 1949. (Note: although mostly located in Asia, Turkey does have a small land mass in Europe and has been a member of NATO since 1952.)

    Maybe the most important Article in the Treaty is Article 5 which basically states that an attack against one NATO member country is considered an attack against all of the countries in NATO, therefore resulting in potential joint military support and action by NATO counties against the invading country or entity.

    Lately, there has been a significant amount of tension between two long time neighbours, allies and good friends, the United States and Canada. American President Donald Trump has been rattling Canada`s cage with tariffs, tariff threats, and the desire to have Canada become the fifty-first state in the US. Canada’s valued and immense resource assets are the target.  

    This poses a bit of a potential conundrum for NATO. Although one might think it is a stretch, history tells us, repeatedly, that that the unimaginable is quite possible. You only have to look back to Nazi Germany to realize this. The question is, what would NATO do if the US invaded Canada? Well, there is Article 5, but would Europe really come and help Canada against a US incursion?

    I just don’t think so for a number of reasons. Canada is just one country, and it’s isolated on the wrong side of “The Pond” (the Atlantic Ocean for those unfamiliar with the term). Add to this the obvious military might of America and the advantages that affords, is any country or group of countries really going to take on the US in defense of Canada? Sadly, the answer is no. I’m sure NATO would want to help defend Canada, but, it is just not feasible. The internal uproars in the NATO countries would be deafening.

    Like anything on paper, a treaty is only as effective as a situation allows. If the United States invades Canada, the situation will not allow NATO to act. Remember, as well, the United States is by far the biggest benefactor of NATO. Sorry, Canada.     

  • Revisionism

    History is a chronicle of human activity since the beginning of the written word. There was history prior to this, but, it was verbal or communicated via symbols. History is written by people, usually particularly intelligent people of the dominating cultures of their time. The pictures created by historians are usually reasonably accurate because of their intelligence and sense of a world much bigger than themselves.

    Revisionist history, which is taking place in Russia, China, and to some degree already, the United States; occurs when powerful authoritarian or authoritarian-minded regimes decide to rewrite history to accomplish two things: exalt and elevate their regime, and create a blinding nationalistic perspective within a country. A key part of creating revisionist history within a country is by creating a school curriculum that teaches this “new” history from a very young age. An example of this might be to say that African Americans in the United States were never suppressed.     

    Not all revisionist history is inaccurate. There are times when existing history is adjusted because of new discoveries of information such as archaeological findings; or, in a case where occasionally the historian turns out to be quite biased.

    Humans learn from accurate history, although they are often unwilling to “learn” from historical insight, usually to the detriment of humankind. Revisionist history is often a dangerous harbinger of things to come in a country with a powerful authoritarian regime, or a group seeking to become an authoritarian regime.        

  • CIA

    Under the cover of US President Donald Trump’s Administration’s size reduction of the federal government strategy of “offering” (demanding) widespread buyouts or face being fired, this “offer” has just been extended to the CIA. What does this really mean as it relates to everyday Americans?

    First of all, there are going to be a significant number of former CIA employees with classified information and an axe to grind against the United States. Not a good situation for the country.

    Secondly, and more importantly, this will allow Trump and his Administration to replace the fired CIA employees with people who are true blue Trump loyalists. They will potentially be spying on EVERY American as Trump continues to march to his coronation as “King of America.” If you’re in his way, you will be dealt with and you won’t like it.

    The erosion of EVERY American’s freedom is at stake. Time to wake up and realize what Trump and his minions, under the cover of cost reduction, are trying to accomplish. Once America loses its freedoms, it’s highly likely you will never get them back in your life time. The CIA will be part of Trump’s “Secret Police.” Only 32% of Americans voted for Trump. If you’re part of the 68% who did not vote for him, are you ready to give up your American freedoms? I’m sure that some of the 32% who voted for him don’t support this either.    

  • Nazis

    If you are a Canadian or Mexican, here is one way to look at the United States versus Canada and Mexico. I ran the numbers. In the 2024 US election, there were 242,300,000 total number of people who could vote. In the election, Kamala Harris got 75,000,000 votes or 31% of total eligible voters. Donald Trump got 77,300,000 votes or 32% of total eligible voters (hardly a landslide victory). Of all eligible voters, 90,000,000 people did not vote which is 37% of total eligible voters.

    One of the first courses of action taken by Canada and Mexico should to be to immediately and aggressively in every way possible tell the American people that they are heading toward Nazism because of less than one third of the population. Canada and Mexico should hammer this point home now in all forms of media, be it social media, television, newspapers etc. around the world, but, in particular to Americans. I believe that clearly delivering this message would be a great start to defending Canada and Mexico. I think a large majority of Americans do not agree with being Nazis, and America being America, would not want to have their freedoms violated in a Nazi controlled country. This is an actual strategy for you, Canada and Mexico, as opposed to just worrying, complaining or screaming in a panic.

  • King

    The man who would be King? No, it’s not Donald Trump, its Elon Musk. Musk has set his sights on ruling the U.S., then Europe, then the world, and then space. Right now, he says he wants to make Europe great again. Ultimately, he wants to make the Universe great again. I would add this means he wants to rule the Universe.

    I think he may get some push back from God, but, nevertheless, this is Elon’s goal. Supporting Donald Trump is just the first step in his ascent to being King. And, unlike Steve Bannon and others who got bigger press than Trump resulting in their downfall, Musk is much smarter. He won’t make the same mistake. This is why he panders to Trump. And, he has patience. He’s only fifty-three.

    Speaking of age, apparently Musk and some other billionaires are looking to science to live forever. They are devoting significant dollars to this undertaking (pun intended). I wonder if they have spent any money feeding starving children. Probably not. Sociopaths are not known for supporting anyone but themselves.

    Musk also talks a lot about freedom of speech. The man doth thee protest too much. He is against the Tik Tok ban in the United States as he says it is a hindrance to freedom of speech. But, then he adds, just like his platform X (formerly Twitter) is banned in China and therefore a hindrance to free speech. You have to understand, he says all this not to further the cause of freedom of speech; he does it for the usual reasons…money and power.

    So, will Elon live forever and become King of the Universe? Time will tell, but, I think not. People have been trying to physically live forever since the beginning of time and God is in charge of living forever, despite humankind’s best efforts. As for King of the Universe, the Universe is far too big to be ruled by one minuscule speck of worldly dust.