“Perceptions,” by Gerry Warner

Op-Ed Commentary

Call it an ambush, a set-up, or anything you want. But whatever expression you use, the frightening facts are the same. We’re flying solo now. The tariffs are to kick in and our “best friend” is about to desert us.

Good-bye United States of America. What does Canada do now?

I’m referring of course to events in the Oval Office Friday when US President Donald Trump and his sidekick J.D. Vance conspired to pin Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the mat in a takedown worthy of a phony WWF match. Except wrestlers usually go about things much more professionally.

“You’re gambling with World War Three,” sputtered Trump in a bald attempt to intimidate the brave Ukrainian, who had been invited to discuss a trade deal involving rare earth metals that the US covets for its burgeoning technology industries and Ukraine has one of world’s great undeveloped deposits.

But Trump made it painfully clear that he didn’t expect to pay much for the precious deposits because of the millions in arms the US supplied to Ukraine to fight the war that Trump had the gall to claim had actually been started by Ukraine,  when the entire world watched the Soviet troops and tanks pour across the Ukrainian border three years ago in an unsuccessful attempt to seize Kiev.

Since then, losses have been heavy on both sides with Russia losing 700,000 troops alone (killed and wounded) and Ukraine heavy land losses in its southeast. But no one yet has “won” the war and Trump, the self-described master of the “art of the deal,” is now trying to salvage what he can of the mess by bullying Zelenskyy into submission and making it clear he’s prepared to cozy up to Russian President Vladimir Putin  to do it, the very leader the US has been helping to fight against the past three years.

What kind of hypocrisy is this? Nothing less than the infamous “Peace in our time” deal struck by Hitler and Stalin that quickly drew the world into the maelstrom of the Second World War. That’s how authoritarians behave and make no mistake about it Trump is behaving more like an authoritarian every day pushing our planet towards a new world order and the death of democracy.

This is not fear mongering on my part. If you saw any of this on TV the past week you saw if with your own eyes as Trump callously hustled Zelenskyy out of the Oval Office. We’re all complicit.

Do you seriously think anyone from any country including Canada can sign a “fair deal” with Trump on peace, tariffs, or anything else? If you do, you haven’t been paying attention.

Trump is no fool. He’s beaten two impeachment actions. He’s handily disposed of dozens of criminal charges, civil suits and even a recent rape case. He knows the US justice system is almost helpless against anyone with deep pockets and the willingness to double-down and fight, fight, fight until the other side runs out of money or quits out of exhaustion. And most of all, he has a political base that will always excuse him of anything and would probably die for him if requested.

Trump, in short, is no less than a modern day “Super-Hero.” Bullets bounce off him, ray gun beams do the same and there is no Silver Bullet. Politically he seems invincible.

But in another hysterical time nearly 80 years ago many said the same about right-wing extremist Senator Joe McCarthy. But the mania quickly subsided when a special Senate lawyer asked McCarthy, “Have you no sense of decency sir?” McCarthy stumbled and couldn’t provide an answer saying he was exposing communists.

Fair-minded Americans were outraged by his cringe-worthy response and six months later McCarthy’s “Red Scare” movement was dead in the water.

This could happen again but won’t if Americans learn how to be fair-minded again. Will they ever learn? The whole world is watching.

– Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who believes “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave” means nothing as long as Donald Trump is in power.

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