The Loss of Our Friends By Linda Stowe
There is an old saying about not crying over spilt milk, but what if that is the least of your worries? What if the cow who produced the milk has split for greener pastures? Things might look different then.
This morning, I heard a discussion of our deteriorating relationship with Canada. The difference in this discussion was that it was not from an American viewpoint. It was from a Canadian citizen talking about the choices about the U.S. that he and his countrymen are making on a personal level. It goes beyond the double-digit drop in Canadian tourism to the U.S. Officially Canada is the U.S.’s #1 trading partner but that relationship is being eroded as individual Canadians stop buying our goods, stop purchasing property in the U.S., and turn away from U.S. services such as Amazon and Netflix.
A U.S. audience might think that’s a drastic reaction to the tariffs, but the tariffs are not the main issue. It’s Trump’s threat to make Canada our 51st state. While we in the U.S. might not take his threats to annex Canada seriously, the Canadians do. With that casual comment Trump crossed a line and as far as this morning’s commenter is concerned, there’s no coming back from that. The damage cannot be repaired after Trump leaves office because the 77 million Americans who voted for him will still be here. He has given us all a black eye as far as the world is concerned.
This didn’t happen overnight. We have long been known for our arrogance, but other nations put up with us much like we put up with an overbearing relative or coworker. In his first presidency Trump started the ball rolling downhill when he called Mexicans murderers and rapists and referred to African nations as shithole countries. And who can forget that 2017 NATO group photo when Trump pushed the Prime Minister of Montenegro to the side so that he could stand in the front?
Part of what made this country so great and powerful was our alliances and one by one they are being alienated. Soon we will no longer be the main attraction as other countries form new alliances and trading partnerships. America will no longer be standing tall as it finds itself left clinging to one stilt and the circus has already left town.
…………
(This was from our Wordle Words.) Linda’s Wordle guess words: about, least, split, spilt, stilt)
~~~~~~
Polly here.
What an excellent commentary. Excellent and sad.
This captured the truth about the current “place” of the United States in the worldview. The USA has been forever damaged by Trump’s deeds. Americans worldwide have become a topic of disdain. We have completely lost the trust of our allies, which we have been nurturing since the birth of our good country.
This bothers me to no end. I care so much about the “health” of our world. I think we should be sharing this planet peacefully. All of us. And that is in my heart. To know that people now despise me because I’m an American is so sad to me.
