The following blog was posted by Dr. Jane Fritz who is a Canadian citizen. This past week, both my personal experiences talking to Trump supporters and recent polls show a majority of USA voters are supportive of the policies being undertaken by the Trump administration. To many of my ilk, this is beyond comprehension. I hope this blog will make at least a few people realize that we do not live in a bubble. We live in a world that we must share with other people and we must do so with a win-win attitude not an “I win cause I am an American with more guns and money” and “You are a second rate country or people.” Adopting the attitudes we see being fostered today will make us the pariahs of the world and not the “Shining Country” on the hill. Dr. Fritz has posted this on her blog site and given me permission to share it with those of you in the USA.
An Addendum from another Canadian friend in reference to our community of local Arizona Canadians who come down for the winter:
Hi John,
Your friend is lucky to maintain his sense of humour in the current situation. Thanks for the chance to laugh in the middle of this social “Sharknado”. I’ve tried to hold onto both my sense of humour and my composure, but I’m sorry to say, both are melting away like a Calgary snowpack in a Chinook.
There has been a lot of interest around national anthems lately, singing them, booing them, and what it all means. I don’t claim to know the intentions or heart of anyone but myself, so here’s my experience.
For several years I’ve been honoured to sing our Canadian anthem alongside an American friend who sings the American anthem at a large event in our park. Years ago a friend pointed out that Canadians in the crowd sing along with the American anthem, but Americans, by and large, do not join in singing the Canadian anthem. I made a point of observing the crowd over the next few years and asking friends, both American and Canadian about their choices. Americans told me that they do not sing the anthems of other countries, even at an event that celebrates the friendship between our countries. Canadians told me that they chose to sing the American anthem as a “polite gesture to our American hosts”.
This is the last year I will spend in the USA, and I looked forward to singing our anthem at the Hands Across the Border event this year. While waiting for the start of the event I spoke with, and listened to, others in the crowd. I deliberately avoided any mention of politics, but it was the topic “du jour”. Some Americans around me actually apologized for the way your government is treating ours. Some defended the treatment. As the time came to make my way to the front to sing, I reflected on all the years of previous events and how they compared to this year.
The American anthem is sung first. As I opened my mouth to join my American colleague I was stunned to find that my throat closed and no sound emerged. I tried again on the second line of the anthem, same result. Then it hit me, I couldn’t join in singing that anthem, and never would again. I cannot honour the anthem of a nation so openly hostile to my own. I stood, silently, ill at ease, until the microphone was handed to me to sing the Canadian anthem.
In all the years I’ve sung at that event, I have never heard my fellow Canadians sing more loudly or proudly. We sang not only to demonstrate pride in our country, but somewhat sadly, to demonstrate defiance to an American administration and contingent of Americans who disrespect our sovereignty and discount the years of friendship between our nations. And that, I think, says it all.
Thanks for keeping me in the loop on the very interesting emails from your friends, John. I really enjoy them.Hi John,
Everything your friend wrote rings true for me. As you know, this is our last season here in Arizona, and our last visit to the USA. It’s been a bizarre winter. The unease I felt at the time of the election grew as the inauguration passed and the increasingly unhinged presidential orders began. Some of my American friends and neighbours are genuinely dismayed, and some pay lip service to condemning the administration’s actions, but I sense a curious kind of admiration underneath their words. Yes, they admit that Trump is a bully who disrespects his nation’s allies and panders to his nation’s enemies, but Americans have always admired a ruthless strongman, and Trump embodies that archetype. As America’s stature on the world stage diminished, the desire for a leader who would snatch back the mantle of superpower status grew. Now, they surmise, the world will sit up and pay America the respect they feel is due.Unfortunately, history’s lessons are easily forgotten. America has abandoned its democratic principles and mistakes fear for respect. Other nations may acquiesce out of fear of economic or even military reprisal, but as history repeatedly demonstrates, nations that rule through coercion do not hold sway forever. No nation’s people can be oppressed indefinitely.No doubt, there will be short-term gains for America under this administration, but as one of my academic colleagues used to say, today’s solutions breed tomorrow’s problems. In this case, one of the unintended consequences of the current policies will be a generation of the world’s children who will grow up under an umbrella of fear to become revolutionaries and terrorists.I am saddened to see a nation once the beacon of democracy now so loathed by other nations, but more than that, to see a nation so short-sightedly bent on self-destruction. The only ray of hope I see is that so many of my American friends recognize the wrongness of the path their nation is taking, and are, albeit slowly, coming to the realization that they must act. Whether they will or not is the burning question.I feel powerless to help and can only watch this once great nation implode. I do; however, return home with a sense of determination to uphold the principles of democracy and resist the invasion of fascist ideology to Canada. Like many of my fellow Canadians, I am a quiet patriot, but a patriot nonetheless.Hugs to you and Karen.
Aging Capriciously 
Feb 16, 2025 @ 10:48:54
I’ve got more coming, John. We’ve got to keep spreading the truth, the severity of what’s unfolding. Robert Reich’s piece today talks about something I’ve been noticing, how even the mainstream news like the NYTimes and WaPo seem cowed. If freedom of the press dies, watch out.
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Feb 16, 2025 @ 11:09:57
Thanks Jane for the update and information. I have been noticing for some time now that the mainstream news is not only cowed but rampant cowards and cannot be trusted. They are more concerned about selling ads than they are about sharing any truth. I rely more now on sites like “Democracy Now” and other independent podcasts, (for instance Chris Hedges and Jim Hightower) for any real information.
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Feb 16, 2025 @ 15:55:52
Hi John,
Everything your friend wrote rings true for me. As you know, this is our last season here in Arizona, and our last visit to the USA. It’s been a bizarre winter. The unease I felt at the time of the election grew as the inauguration passed and the increasingly unhinged presidential orders began. Some of my American friends and neighbours are genuinely dismayed, and some pay lip service to condemning the administration’s actions, but I sense a curious kind of admiration underneath their words. Yes, they admit that Trump is a bully who disrespects his nation’s allies and panders to his nation’s enemies, but Americans have always admired a ruthless strongman, and Trump embodies that archetype. As America’s stature on the world stage diminished, the desire for a leader who would snatch back the mantle of superpower status grew. Now, they surmise, now the world will sit up and pay America the respect they feel is due.
Unfortunately, history’s lessons are easily forgotten. America has abandoned its democratic principles and mistakes fear for respect. Other nations may acquiesce now out of fear of economic or even military reprisal, but as history repeatedly demonstrates, nations that rule through coercion do not hold sway forever. No nation’s people can be oppressed indefinitely.
No doubt, there will be short-term gains for America under this administration, but as one of my academic colleagues used to say, today’s solutions breed tomorrow’s problems. In this case, one of the unintended consequences of the current policies will be a generation of the world’s children who will grow up under an umbrella of fear to become revolutionaries and terrorists.
I am saddened to see a nation once the beacon of democracy now so loathed by other nations, but more than that, to see a nation so short-sightedly bent on self-destruction. The only ray of hope I see is that so many of my American friends recognize the wrongness of the path their nation is taking, an are, albeit slowly, coming to the realization that they must act. Whether they will or not is the burning question.
I feel powerless to help and can only watch this once great nation implode. I do; however, return home with a sense of determination to uphold the principles of democracy and resist the invasion of fascist ideology to Canada. Like many of my fellow Canadians, I am a quiet patriot, but a patriot nonetheless.
Hugs to you and Karen,
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Feb 16, 2025 @ 15:57:15
John, I just sent out the Canadian story to a small number of friends. I can’t believe the large number of republicans veterans in our unit. By the way I will not capitalize trump or republicans in any respectful manner. Tom
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Feb 17, 2025 @ 03:13:04
Excellent!
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Feb 17, 2025 @ 03:58:28
Thanks Nan, really have to thank Jane Fritz as I reposted this from her site. I read your blog suggesting a new impeachment of trump. I would like to see him behind bars but I think it would be a waste of effort at this point when he is riding so high in the polls. What we need to do is impeach 52 percent of the people who voted in the last election in America for greed and xenophobia. IMHO.
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Feb 17, 2025 @ 07:49:25
I read the Canadian opinion piece and it saddens me because it is so true. Then I reread Sheila’s response. Again, so true. I am left with the frustration of knowing we need to do something. But on a practical level, what are we to do? We are in desperate need of an organizer who can lead not only an anti Trump movement, but who can map out a meaningful course of action.
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Feb 17, 2025 @ 08:24:00
Thanks for the reply Karri. I agree with you. We need more than an anti-movement. We need a movement that has a positive vision for a different and better America. Sheila is very erudite and writes so well. She should start a blog of her own. John
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Feb 18, 2025 @ 10:56:38
👋🏻 Hi John
We need to act but how and in what way? How can we be effective? Even here in the UK it’s scary so our thoughts and concerns are with you Americans who are distraught about current shenanigans and of course the Canadians over the border who along with Panama, Iceland and Mexico are all threatened in one way or another. The question is “who isn’t threatened by this felon?”
I’m unsure of the extent your main news is restricted but Bluesky ( which I recently joined after leaving Musc’s X ) showed many protests taking place yesterday on President’s Day. “Not My President” was the message. I hadn’t heard of President’s Day but I was pleasantly surprised at the number of protests all over the USA. I’m wondering if they were shown on your news or you heard about them? Perhaps news of them was restricted?
I know Jane Fritz will be pleased to know there are many who are raised to action.
Onward and upward 🙌🏽
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Feb 18, 2025 @ 20:25:49
Thanks Margaret for your comments. They are especially appreciated in these strange times. I think the mainstream-for-profit media is totally unreliable. Even PBS and NRP have become shallow in terms of any overt protests or fact finding breakthroughs. We are definitely getting muzzled. I turn to Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, The Midas Touch, Chris Hedges, Jim Hightower and many other independent newscasters for my information. I find these hand picked sites will give me news that the mainstream news channels are not reporting. I have joined a number of resistance groups. One called “Indivisible Tucson Action Alliance” is promising. We need a national movement and it will take time to grow. Like in Norway during WWII, no one was prepared for Hitler taking over and it took a year or more before an effective resistance could be organized. However, even with this resistance, Norway would not have been successful without the help of the Allies. I think here in the USA, we will need your help and the help of every good moral person regardless of which country they are from. In my opinion, we have become the bully of the world John
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Mar 05, 2025 @ 18:17:54
It seems like Trump who preached he was going to end wars has done nothing but start trade wars all around the world
I agree with Europe and China because they are very protectionist ( I lived in China for ten years ) but Canada has been very fair
I am surprised to see so many young Canadians with fire in their grit. I thought it was just us old folks
This will come back to haunt the U.S.A citizens ( not the rich ones mind you ) and will do damage which will takes years to heal
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Mar 08, 2025 @ 07:29:51
Thanks for commenting. Everything you say is right on the mark. It is all very sad. To think years of trying to make a better country to all go down the drain in so short a period of time.
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