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The thing I don't get is that if Canada became part of the US, Republicans would never hold power again. Don't they know that? That makes me think this is all
by echelon 2y ago
The thing I don't get is that if Canada became part of the US, Republicans would never hold power again. Don't they know that?
That makes me think this is all asinine rhetoric to
(1) squeeze Canada, Europe, and other allies of the trade deficit goodwill for a quick buck. That stuff America used to maintain global soft power and hegemony - cashing it in for a quick buck.
(2) run quick and chaotic pump and dumps where donors get to make enormous alpha on the market volatility (this could seriously just be market manipulation games?), and/or
(3) satisfy the geopolitical powers that may or may not be underwriting Trump, Musk, Gabbard, et al. Saudis, Russians, and Chinese. Several of this gang are politically exposed persons, possibly with exposure or debts to all three groups.
- Sanzig 2y agoCanadians are under no illusions that we will ever be a US state. If we ever were to be annexed, we would almost certainly be a territory without voting rights like Puerto Rico.
- bryanlarsen 2y agoUS states are almost always added in pairs so that the number of Republican and Democratic states increase at the same rate. It's why Alaska & Hawaii came in the same year, why we have oddities such as the split between North & South Dakota, et cetera. So if Canada were to join as states, it would be something like a Republican Western Canada and a Democratic Eastern Canada. Or some sort of strange split that gives 2+2. Definitely not the existing boundaries, because that'd likely be an 8/2 Democratic/Republican split.
- robin_reala 2y agoYou’re saying this like it’d be a choice and not an invasion.
- bryanlarsen 2y agoYes, any considerations like this would be part of a post-invasion peace treaty.
- ipaddr 2y ago2 states or 10 the house and the office of the president would never be in republican hands. The largest population in western part is more left than California and nevermind the Canadian right is left of the Democrats believing in universal healthcare and other safety nets.
- scj 2y agoIf annexed and somehow given democratic rights, I suspect Canadians would form a protest party with the goal of budgetary shutdowns in the House of Representatives... Zero support for any legislation other than Canadian Separation. Be a poison pill. And that's the non-violent response.
- Sanzig 2y agoYep, all the US pundits talking about Canada voting mostly Democratic with a few Republican districts have it completely wrong. Canada would vote overwhelmingly for the Bloc Canadien.
- philistine 2y agoAmericans are incapable of thinking that another political party could ever exist.
- pclmulqdq 2y agoThe Quebec separatists would be particularly funny in Congress.
- pclmulqdq 2y agoI think if there were ever any real annexation of Canada, the northern states would be extended about 50 miles (annexing the majority of the population into existing states), and the rest would become "territory."
- cmrdporcupine 2y agoThey would not grant such a state full democratic representation. It's also not a coherent proposal at any level, how the hell does all of Quebec join the US, a country which is unilingual English by policy?
- echelon 2y agoThey might just carve out conservative-leaning and resource rich Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan to keep liberal city voters out.
- ipaddr 2y agoCanadian conservatives are very left compared to Democrats.
- cmrdporcupine 2y agoThat's a pretty broad stroke. I come originally from Alberta, and I have certainly met my share of people whose opinions would not be anywhere close to the centre of American politics. Broadly the conservative right in Canada tolerates socialized medicare. They'd gladly and instantly throw it under the bus the moment it being politically possible to do it. But for now at least it's still poisonous to make those opinions known. Former PM Stephen Harper worked for the National Citizens Coalition for a period of time, and that organization was explicitly founded in the late 70s to oppose and try to stop/end public healthcare and the Canada Health Act. I suspect if you get them in private and off the record, most Conservative leaders would admit to desiring to see change here.
- aithrowawaycomm 2y ago> a country which is unilingual English by policy? To be clear the US only has a unilingual policy because Trump signed an executive order this year (and I believe even this SCOTUS would strike the order down as unconstitutional if anyone had standing to sue over it). The US has always been de facto unilingual, but de jure we don't have an official language since Trump has no legal authority to establish that. The "policy" is political and legally empty.
- mjamesaustin 2y agoYou assume free and democratic elections will exist in a United States that invaded and conquered its closest ally?
- pavlov 2y agoWell, Republicans seem to believe that Russia is a democracy.
- layer8 2y agoThey will claim the same for the US when it stops being the case.
- pclmulqdq 2y agoTotally off-topic, but is the "closest ally" thing a Canadian talking point? I am pretty sure from the way the US has acted in the last 10 years that Israel is its closest ally. I have also pretty much never heard it from a US person about Canada. It's amusing for Trump to have taken 8 weeks to go from "closest ally" in Canada to "no thanks."
- anal_reactor 2y agoWon't find the source, but apparently there was a study showing that about 30% of "best friends" are mutual.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago>The thing I don't get is that if Canada became part of the US, Republicans would never hold power again. That depends, really. All of Canada? In what pieces and shapes? Alberta, for instance, might become a state, and I'm somewhat certain it could end up red. All of Canada as a single state? That's a little different. If Toronto and Ontario in general are carved up correctly, there's little worry of this backfiring. Hell, maybe they even end up offering Quebec independence... which would certainly make Canadian patriotism dry up quickly in those parts.
- briandear 2y agoIs any serious person thinking that the U.S. would or wants to annex Canada. It’s absurd on its face. Trump was just trolling the PM.
- echelon 2y agoImagine how chaotic the world would be if all world leaders behaved like this. President Xi: "we're going to take Hawaii and nuke Texas. JK jk. Or maybe not lol". That's the timeline where everything turns to glass.
- cmrdporcupine 2y agoIt goes further, too. The Canada-annex stuff has been repeated by non-Trump figures, in official diplomatic capacity. Sometimes they try to walk it back in tone, but never in substance. Were it not for the brutal disparity of power, the American ambassador would already be expelled. That's what would happen if this kind of thing were happening between any other two nations.
- SoftTalker 2y agoAnyone here old enough to remember Reagan's "We start bombing in 5 minutes" joke?
- Configure0251 2y ago[flagged]
- vkou 2y agoYou're assuming that a subjugated territory would have voting rights (and that voting rights will matter going forward.) That is an interesting assumption.
- sorenjan 2y ago> The thing I don't get is that if Canada became part of the US, Republicans would never hold power again. Don't they know that? Trump was asked[0] about that and gave a rambling answer about artificial borders, beautiful landmasses, and conservative candidates, without answering the question. I think the truth is that he doesn't know how the world works, and he has gotten away with being a bs artist failing upwards his whole life. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJw9hhnjKI0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJw9hhnjKI0
- seryoiupfurds 2y agoEven if Trump started out saying he wants to annex Canada for those reasons, his mental state is such that by repeating it he will convince himself to support it for its own sake.
- footy 2y agoIf Canada became part of the US, we (Canadians) would not be equal citizens. I am trying to put into words something here, and forgive me if I fail, but this discussion about what internal politics would look like in a hypothetical US that included Canada feels quite disrespectful to me. I think it's because it reads like an attempt to normalize the rhetoric, even when it isn't (based on the rest of your post).
- ipaddr 2y agoMore like the enemy from within.
- yabones 2y agoAmericans don't want states, they want colonies. They already have territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, DC, etc) with no representation, why would they let Canadians vote?
- senderista 2y agoTrump clearly loves bluffing and bullying, but he's also literally crazy. So you can't rule out any of his threats as just a bluff. You must assume the worst.