When I did something kind of un-American last week by apologizing to Canadians for the Trump administration91裸聊视频檚 hostile imperialism toward them, I knew I was going to get pilloried by some here at home.
On cue, the 91裸聊视频渓ove it or leave it91裸聊视频� types did not disappoint.
91裸聊视频淵ou should move to Canada you traitor, or better idea, we should deport you,91裸聊视频� wrote a reader from Colorado 91裸聊视频� one of several hundred emails I got suggesting that when it comes to me, America might no longer be the land of the free.
More compelling for U.S. readers to grapple with were the many hundreds of responses that poured in from British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and other far-flung parts of our northern neighbour (as they spell it).
It turns out many Canadians aren91裸聊视频檛 really into diplomacy or making nice right now.
Summed up an emailer from Yellowknife, a town way up in the Northwest Territories: 91裸聊视频淵ou can take your sorry and stuff it where the Arctic sun don91裸聊视频檛 shine.91裸聊视频�
The column got reprinted in papers across Canada and shared on Canadian social media. The most, uh, colorful thread about it was on the country91裸聊视频檚 largest subreddit, r/Canada, which has 3.4 million members (10% of the country91裸聊视频檚 adult population).
One Canadian there hinted at the pile-on to come: 91裸聊视频淛ust because we apologize a lot does not mean we forgive easily.91裸聊视频�
Said another: 91裸聊视频淭o quote an American, 91裸聊视频榊ou can stuff your sorries in a sack!91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
Said a third: 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e kind of pros when it comes to sorries, so Yanks telling us sorry is like gifting a loaf of Wonder Bread to a Parisian.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淎pologizing to us is just as useless as 91裸聊视频榯houghts and prayers,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� echoed a fourth.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not our 91裸聊视频� job to make you feel better. This 91裸聊视频榚motional support Canadian91裸聊视频� is done,91裸聊视频� said a fifth.
91裸聊视频淭hey91裸聊视频檒l still be saying sorry when the American 1st Armored rolls into Ottawa,91裸聊视频� said a sixth.
It went on like this for nearly 800 comments. I felt like a Mariners fan at a Toronto Blue Jays game. I have to admit they have a knack for the gentle insertion of the savage barb.
I especially appreciated the many copies of a meme sent to me showing a beaver dragging a tree branch across a road, with the caption 91裸聊视频淐anada begins construction of a wall at US-Canada border.91裸聊视频�
Other Canadians, though, said the oppressive level of threat coming from the U.S. government is no joke.
91裸聊视频淲e are so pissed and anxious right now,91裸聊视频� wrote Tom Levesque of Halifax, Nova Scotia. 91裸聊视频淲e feel forgotten and laughed off. The 51st state stuff is NOT funny up here.91裸聊视频�
Wrote Gord Gilmour, from Manitoba: 91裸聊视频淐ongratulations on your speed run to try to position yourself as a 91裸聊视频榞ood German91裸聊视频� prior to whatever it is that your dear leader gets up to in the next four years 91裸聊视频� But your apology is hollow and meaningless 91裸聊视频� At this point in history, you are a nation of gangsters, thugs and confidence men.91裸聊视频�
The 91裸聊视频済ood German91裸聊视频� slight does sting 91裸聊视频� he91裸聊视频檚 referring to those who claimed not to have supported Hitler or the Nazis, but who stayed silent about it and did nothing to resist.
I91裸聊视频檝e been arguing for years that Donald Trump is an anti-democratic charlatan, to the point that he shouldn91裸聊视频檛 have even been allowed on the ballot, let alone elected. I don91裸聊视频檛 think I qualify as someone who has stayed silent.
But I91裸聊视频檓 also a believer in democracy, and Trump did just win the election. One has to respect that 91裸聊视频� even though he didn91裸聊视频檛 in 2020 when he lost. This means that until there91裸聊视频檚 another chance to vote, resistance is going to be more about lawsuits when Trump strays outside legal bounds (which is frequently), as well as objecting and speaking out.
There were more than a thousand protesting outside Seattle91裸聊视频檚 Federal building Monday, so that91裸聊视频檚 a stirring. Better yet would be Republicans remembering some of their professed conservative principles, instead of genuflecting like cowed supplicants.
Many Canadians reported they are feeling less angry than wistful watching all this.
91裸聊视频淚 appreciate you capturing the feeling of loss that so many of us here feel for what is happening in the U.S.,91裸聊视频� wrote P. Gerry Nixon, of British Columbia. He said he has been listening to Aaron Copland91裸聊视频檚 orchestra work Appalachian Spring 91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频渂orn of the Depression and the hope of a new deal. That is the America I keep in my heart.91裸聊视频�
Wrote Jude Kornelson, also of B.C.: 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 nice to be reminded that the death of the friendship I thought existed between our counties is mourned by you as well, so thank you.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淵ou need a Martin Luther King type person to reinvigorate the people to stand up once again and fight,91裸聊视频� advised Laurel Rousseau of Vancouver Island. 91裸聊视频淵our present Democratic leaders in the House and Senate should be ashamed of themselves.91裸聊视频�
Added Lexie Angelo of Alberta: 91裸聊视频淩eading your article has been the first moment where I have felt as though one single person in America understands the collective sentiment.91裸聊视频�
But: 91裸聊视频淵our apology, while appreciated, can91裸聊视频檛 be accepted in good faith. I hope you know this. Things are about to get worse for both of us. I can only wish that at some dark juncture, Americans with a sense of things-gone-terribly-wrong, admit so much.
91裸聊视频淨uiet and cowardly is no way to live. It91裸聊视频檚 an even worse way to let a nation die.91裸聊视频�
Tough but fair. We need to hear what others think of us, so I91裸聊视频檓 grateful for all these responses. Even the 91裸聊视频渟un don91裸聊视频檛 shine91裸聊视频� ones. That91裸聊视频檚 probably what I would say (or think) if I was them.
What was most unnerving though? Hearing how much more invested Canadians are in the idea and promise of our democracy than we often seem to be ourselves.
