Wednesday Night #2241

U.S.-Ukraine
NEVER, EVER did we expect to see this shameful alignment:
UN general assembly backs resolution condemning Russia for Ukraine war
The United States voted with Russia, North Korea, Iran and 14 other Moscow-friendly countries Monday against a resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine and calling for the return of Ukrainian territory.
Trump says no significant security guarantees in Ukraine minerals deal
President says Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit White House to sign ‘very big agreement’, but details remain unclear
Trump, when asked about the specific guarantees he would provide to Ukraine as part of the deal, said: “Well I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We’re going to have Europe do that.”
He brushed aside Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO, repeating a Russian talking point that the issue triggered the war. “NATO you can forget about,” Trump said. “I think that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”
The Disturbing Question at the Heart of the Trump-Zelensky Drama
Thomas Friedman sums up our dismay/horror that increases with every new bulletin
Are we being led by a dupe for Vladimir Putin — by someone ready to swallow whole the Russian president’s warped view of who started the war in Ukraine and how it must end? Or are we being led by a Mafia godfather, looking to carve up territory with Russia the way the heads of crime families operate? “I’ll take Greenland, and you can take Crimea. I’ll take Panama, and you can have the oil in the Arctic. And we’ll split the rare earths of Ukraine. It’s only fair.”
Either way, my fellow Americans and our friends abroad, for the next four years at least, the America you knew is over. The bedrock values, allies and truths America could always be counted upon to defend are now all in doubt — or for sale. Trump is not just thinking out of the box. He is thinking without a box, without any fidelity to truth or norms that animated America in the past.

Meanwhile, Trudeau visited Ukraine to mark 3rd anniversary of Russian invasionPrime Minister Justin Trudeau paid a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday, along with other Western political leaders, to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Mending a few fences after Melanie Joly’s undiplomatic statement last week?
Canada’s foreign minister says she gave Europe a ‘wake-up call’ on threat Trump poses to Canada

U.S. Media matters
There have been a number of disturbing developments regarding U.S.media independence but Wednesday’s shocking announcement that [Jeff] Bezos Orders Washington Post Opinion Section to Embrace ‘Personal Liberties and Free Markets’ and consequently David Shipley, The Post’s opinion editor, is resigning after trying to persuade Jeff Bezos to reconsider the new direction has topped them all.
White House says it ‘will determine’ which news outlets cover Trump, rotating traditional ones
media experts said the move raised troubling First Amendment issues because the president is choosing who covers him.
White House denies some reporters access to Trump cabinet meeting
White House denies reporters from AP, Reuters and HuffPost access to cabinet meeting

Now for a bit of Schadenfreude
‘We’re clearly heading towards collapse’: why the Murdoch empire is about to go bang
An explosive succession trial and an astonishing interview with one of Rupert’s sons have exposed the paranoia and hatred at the heart of global media’s most powerful family. This could get messy…
Growing Up Murdoch
(The Atlantic) James Murdoch on mind games, sibling rivalry, and the war for the family media empire

Can the U.S. auto industry survive without Canada?
Peter Frise says It was interesting and fun being interviewed by the producer of Andrew Chang’s excellent feature About That on CBC with my friends Dimitry Anastakis and Grieg Mordue.
We talked about the Trump tariffs and how the US could eliminate Canada from the North American auto industry…but only at a huge cost in dollars (which would be paid for by consumers) and only over a very long time. That would cause a huge mess in the economies of all three NAFTA countries

FedLib Leadership race
We and the 4 candidates have now survived the debates and are entering the home stretch.
Advance voting for Liberal party members now begins on Thursday (27 Feb), and the new Liberal leader will be announced on March 9. It has been a notably civil campaign and it is to be hoped that all 4 of the candidates will continue their political careers.
No one rained on Carney’s parade, and now, he’s set to be our next prime minister
The French Liberal leadership debate
Other than the focus on Trump, and the civility of the event, most commentary was about Mark Carney’s [lack of] French fluency. As Allison Hanes writes French fluency at forefront of federal Liberal leadership debate
Meanwhile, let us not forget that Ontario’s elections are tomorrow (Thursday). Not much to get excited about as Doug Ford’s Ontario PCs maintain consistent lead into election day
The Postmedia-Leger poll found 47% intend to vote PC on Thursday, compared to 28% who plan to vote Liberal, 17% for the NDP and 6% for the Greens
The Guardian has a profile: Doug Ford: rightwing populist becomes Canada’s anti-Trump figurehead
The Ontario premier says he’s ready to stand up to Trump over tariffs – will that yield a third straight election win?

As promised, Andrew Caddell, Bill 84
Anglos ‘not the enemy of French in Quebec,’ group tells CAQ
Representatives of the English-speaking community have accused the Legault government of wanting to write the community out of history with its new immigration integration bill. Appearing before the legislative committee examining Bill 84 Tuesday, the Quebec Community Groups Network presented a strongly worded brief that says the legislation appears to not only to establish French as the official language of Quebec, “but in a very real sense the only language Quebecers should use if they are to be considered full participants of society.”

A jarring note amidst the celebration of Team Canada’s spectacular 4 Nations final win is the mounting resentment of Gretzky’s role as Team Canada’s honorary captain given his ties to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Canadian fans irked by Wayne Gretzky’s affiliations with Trump amid tensions
Gretzky and his wife attended Trump’s inauguration in January, and he has been photographed with Trump several times at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Gretzky was also photographed at Trump’s election victory party wearing a Make America Great Again hat.

Much more pleasant news
Canada’s Gilles, Poirier dance to a 2nd-straight gold medal at Four Continents

Trump, Muskrats and DOGE
Although several highly respected media voices continue to opine that the Trump-Musk relationship must blow up any day, it is apparently continuing to maintain an even keel, despite some glaring problems.
Musk’s cost-cutting drive quietly deletes billions in claimed savings from website
‘Wall of receipts’ drops five largest savings claimed by ‘department of government efficiency’ after debunking

US FDA asks fired scientists to return, including some reviewing Musk’s Neuralink
Last week, Michel expressed particular concern over the effects on federally-funded research of the Musk cuts. It seems someone in the Washington hierarchy has similar concerns at least with respect to the FDA.
Kennedy Center reeling from ‘stunning’ ticket sales collapse after Trump takeover: report
With the change, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt boasted, “The Kennedy Center learned the hard way that if you go woke, you will go broke. President Trump and the members of his newly-appointed board are devoted to rebuilding the Kennedy Center into a thriving and highly respected institution where all Americans, and visitors from around the world, can enjoy the arts with respect to America’s great history and traditions.”
Louise Penny: I was supposed to launch THE BLACK WOLF at the Kennedy Center in DC, but in the wake of Trump taking over, I have pulled out. It was, of course, going to be a career highlight. But there are things far more important than that.

Long reads
We are enjoying every edition of Closer to the Edge which combines some good writing and some highly entertaining sarcasm. A recent gem:DOGE: Just when you thought it was safe to vote MAGA
One minute, they’re cheering as Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sets out to gut the so-called “deep state.” The next, they’re bobbing in the bloodied waters of mass layoffs, clutching pink slips, screaming at the sky, “But I voted for you!”
It was always going to happen. That’s what sharks do. They don’t check your voter registration before they rip you to shreds.
Last week, Thomas Friedman: published the encouraging Why Trump’s Bullying Is Going to Backfire
“No country in the world alone can make an iPhone.”
As the Ford Motor chief executive Jim Farley courageously (compared to other chief executives) pointed out, “Let’s be real honest: Long term, a 25 percent tariff across the Mexico and Canada borders would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we’ve never seen.”
A chronicle of media in the days when the nation trusted the towering figures like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Lowell Thomas
Loved the movie, the play may well be even better.
Being George Clooney Is Harder Than It Looks
He is making his Broadway debut with a stage version of his 2005 movie “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Friday-Night Massacre at the Pentagon
Trump’s purge started with his firing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top Navy officer, and the vice chief of the Air Force.
By Tom Nichols
“Now that Trump has captured the intelligence services, the Justice Department, and the FBI, the military is the last piece he needs to establish the foundations for authoritarian control of the U.S. government.”
February 22, 2025
Heather Cox Richardson discusses the Pentagon ‘massacre’, the concerted attacks on a number of US military institutions, and the Republican mythologized version of the western American cowboy.
Robert Reich: Ten reasons for modest optimism
If you are experiencing rage and despair about what is happening in America and the world right now because of the Trump-Vance-Musk regime, you are hardly alone. A groundswell of opposition is growing — not as loud and boisterous as the resistance to Trump 1.0, but just as, if not more, committed to ending the scourge.
… Those of you who want the leaders of the Democratic Party to step up and be heard are right, of course. But political parties do not lead. The anti-war movement and the Civil Rights Movement didn’t depend on the Democratic Party for their successes. They depended on a mass mobilization of all of us who accepted the responsibilities of being American.
We will prevail because we are relearning the basic truth — that we are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.
The Adolescent Style in American Politics
The version of manhood placed on display by Trump and his aides is the one imagined by teenage boys.
MAGA, the story goes, is making masculinity great again. But the version of manhood on display not just from Trump but from many of his closest advisers and appointees isn’t the kind of traditional manhood championed by his vice president, J. D. Vance; it’s a manhood imagined by adolescent boys. (Although of course, plenty of adolescent boys do not look up to Trump.) And at his core, Trump is an adolescent president, surrounded by adolescent flunkies, cheered into office by adolescent men. …