Today on The Current

[james_davis_nicoll]

Diane Francis argues that it would be best for Canada to abandon our health care system, to adopt a native relations system even more brutal than the one we have, and embrace a sky-rocketing Gini Coefficient while inextricably tying ourselves to an unstable nation forever flirting with government shut-down and default.

On balance, I am against this. Their crazification factor outnumbers Canada more than two to one.

She also advocates policies known have contributed to gendercide in China.

Comments

[mishalak]

Due to my temporary computer problems I cannot actually see the commentary. However, the crazy factor in the us is not terribly high as they only win by a margin of 2.4 percent when they have a flag waving war going on and not much more in off election years.

IF there were a serious move by Canada and America towards closer political ties I think it would shift the long term balance in the United States in the non-crazy direction. For one thing it might mean some meaningful electoral reforms that would prevent the particular brand of crazy from being as effective through gerrymandering.

I think it could also be good for Canada in getting a direct vote in the policies of the nation who's policies have the greatest impact on Canada.

But it would have to be a long term project at both sides coming together rather than just Canada just joining the us or something.

[pperiwinkle.livejournal.com]

Well, if the goal is to reduce the population, reducing the total number of all those pesky wombs will make the regulation of the aforementioned pesky wombs easier to enforce.


Did I say wombs? I meant women, because I totally wouldn't reduce a woman to a mere reproductive unit for sons, no sir, not me.

[sean9090.livejournal.com]

Nope

[david wilford (from livejournal.com)]

Evidently the concept of national sovereignty is lost on Francis. That's why the War of 1812 still matters, because you don't buy and sell nations.

[xinef.livejournal.com]

Well put.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

That's a take on 1812 I haven't seen before.

[andrew barton (from livejournal.com)]

No way in hell.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

It does seem like buying trouble where you don't have to.

[agent-mimi.livejournal.com]

She seems nice.

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

I was quite relieved to find she was not the Diane Francis I used to know.

[connactic.livejournal.com]

We also managed to export at least one brand of our nutjobs:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/02/sovereign-citizen-movement-worrying-officials-as-30000-claim-they-freed-themselves-from-canadas-laws/

What next? Confederate flags on pickup trucks?

[realinterrobang.livejournal.com]

I live just down the road a piece from James toward Detroit, and I see Confederate flags around often enough for me to notice. I'm torn between wondering why people around here do it, and actually not wanting to know.

Also, you know what? I think any of these punditoids and pols who want to turn Canada into US 2: Canadian Boogaloo should just emigrate. I'm sure, being the privileged sorts for whom eliminating Medicare et al wouldn't bother them, they'd be able to sail right through on some sort of waiver visa for the very rich or other...

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I saw a Confederate flag sticker (the "battle flag") on a New Brunswick - licensed car the other day . . .

[pope-guilty.livejournal.com]

Anybody who looks at us and says "Yeah, I gotta get me some of that is so far gone you need to get an exorcist in because they are plainly a corpse being animated by a demonic possessor of some sort.

[doc-lemming.livejournal.com]

But..but...the US outnumbers us 10:1. If what we have is so great, why didn't they all move here? Clearly, theirs is better because there are more of them.

Mind, if population size is the answer, we should all be emigrating to China. Clearly they have managed the correct blend of fascism...er, communism...and capitalism. [/tongueincheek]

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

It's worth noting that "Diane Francis" and "Diana Francis" difrancis are rather different people.

[(Anonymous)]

Diane Francis was the origin of the "we didn't go into Iraq because Chretien's son's father-in-law owns 6.6% of Total SA" story. Mark Steyn picked it up, but she was the origin.

And in so doing she revealed either a total inability to read simple documents, or a willingness to lie. It took me 15 minutes to prove her wrong via internet search. Maybe I should take up investigative journalism.


William Hyde

[(Anonymous)]

in so doing she revealed either a total inability to read simple documents, or a willingness to lie

The second. She's demonstrated it in the past.

[timgueguen.livejournal.com]

The problem with the "Let's join the US!" idea is that it assumes a large majority of American politicians would support the idea, which I find questionable. Certainly some percentage would decide it was a bad idea because Canada is too left wing, and others would likely join them when they looked at Canada and decided it was too left wing. It also seems likely that whoever was in government at the time union might occur would worry about the effect of millions of new voters. Especially since some significant fraction of said voters might be pissed off at annexation, and vote in unpredictable ways as a result. Then there'd be things like state governors not wanting even more competition for federal money, ant the pesky problem of Puerto Rican statehood.

[sanskritabelt.livejournal.com]

Also Texas would no longer be even the second-biggest state.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

The first link is particularly appropriate today.

[maruad.livejournal.com]

Wasn't Diane Francis one of the big fans of Mulroney and NAFTA?

[dewline.livejournal.com]

It would not surprise me to have that as a the result of a memory-refresher history lesson.

[david wilford (from livejournal.com)]

One thing to consider is that if Canada became part of the U.S., there would no longer be hockey, er, Canadian hockey. That could be a deal-breaker right there.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, their chances of making the World Cup look brighter.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

I don't GET people.

[thesaucernews.livejournal.com]

No, it's not time, you're not ripe yet.

[dbdatvic.livejournal.com]

>> Their crazification factor outnumbers Canada more than two to one.

James' dry understatement form of wit continues to amuse us.

>> the US is full of ideas that don't scale to 320 million people and nonetheless have been scaled that way.

And, to complement this, there is a selection of ideas that WOULD scale that high and would improve things, which are being resisted here with various forms of viciousness by loud non-majorities.

--Dave