Dear America,
Yesterday was a bleak July 4th in the United States, as your country slips deeper and deeper into the authoritarian abyss. Each and every day, Donald Trump chips away at fundamental democratic rights. It's very disconcerting that over 70 million Americans voted for him. Some Trump voters claim that they didn't get what they expected when they supported him. The writing was certainly on the wall, but they didn't see what was coming. Some just didn't think Trump actually meant what he said. They soon discovered that he meant every word of it. Some were brainwashed by Fox News and social media. They were fed lie after lie. Despite Trump's record of bankruptcies, they thought he would handle the economy well. Instead, he imposed tariffs that threaten to upset the economic stability of the world. These tariffs are expected to send the economies of some countries into recession, including the United States itself. Make no mistake, Americans are already paying the price for Trump's foolish tariff policy.
Time and time again, spineless Republicans and corporate media have allowed Trump to get away with things that no other politician has dared to say or do. He spews hate. He makes racist remarks and misogynistic statements. He is the worst bully in the world. This man is not fit to lead the most powerful country on the planet. He is ill, mentally and physically. His cognitive decline is obvious.
I am writing this from Toronto, Canadas. Like many of my fellow Canadians, I have no desire to travel to the United States. Nor do I have any desire to buy American products. I do not blame the American people. I blame the Trump administration. I have lived in Canada all my life and I have never seen an American government so hostile to my country. I have never seen an American leader insult Canada and Canadians the way that Trump does. I have always known that there is a difference between Canada and the United States. It pains me to hear that our border is artificial and that Canada should be the 51st state.
On July 1st, Canadians celebrated Canada Day. Here is what our prime minister, Mark Carney, told the crowd in Ottawa that day. "Canada, because Canada is more than a nation. We are, and we always will be, a confederation, a sacred set of ideals and ideas built on practical foundations. That we know we're not always perfect, but we always strive to be good. We do things not because they are easy, but because they're right. That we see kindness as a virtue, not as a weakness. Most importantly, we know that our strength lies in our resolve to work together as a country. It relies on our unity."
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| Prime Minister Mark Carney |
Can you imagine Trump saying anything like that? Never! Not in a million years. Trump thinks that kindness is a weakness. He hates anyone who opposes him politically. He divides Americans in so many ways. He continually polarizes. He builds walls, not bridges. He hates Democrats and Latino immigrants. He objectifies women. He is a malignant narcissist. Deep inside, like every bully, he is psychologically weak.
There is an unverified quote attributed to Erma Bombeck, a popular American humourist that seems quite ironic and very relevant in 2025: "You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who pile by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness/"
Erma passed away in 1996 at the age of 69, after a kidney transplant. She died during the presidency of Barack Obama, so she did not live to witness the Trump era. The beloved author and columnist would have been shocked to know that the current president did indeed preside over a military parade on June 14th of this year. in Washington. It was his 79th birthday and he wanted to appear like the dictators he so admires - Vladimir Putin of Russia and Kim Jong Un of North Korea. The horror is that the United States has the look and feel of Germany in the 1930s.
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| Emma Bombeck |
Erma would have been appalled to see what has happened to America under Trump, especially during his second term in office. She would have been distressed to see immigrants being hauled away by ICE agents behaving like Gestapo. She would have been shocked that the president inspected a migrant detention centre in Florida dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz." Erma would have wanted no part of the hatred that Trump engenders. Erma made people smile and laugh, but I don't think she would have found anything funny about a president who lacks empathy and compassion, a president who can't even laugh at himself.
Do not lose hope. The pendulum swings and all things must pass.
Regards,
Joanne