Are we seriously having a discussion about taking over Canada?
It's Free for All Friday!
It’s Free for ALL Friday! Each week I keep track of some of the off-the-path things I've found, and work extra-hard to make sure you never hit a paywall, using my own subscriptions, gift links, and other (legal) hocus-pocus.
National Anthem Singer Nails Performance, 22 Years Later
Let's start with a nice story. In 2003, a 13-year-old singer named Natalie Gilbert had the chance to perform the National Anthem in front of 20,000 fans and a national TV audience before a Portland Trail Blazers playoff game. It was a dream that turned into a nightmare -- as she had a brain freeze and forgot the words to the anthem in the middle of the song.
Then-Portland coach Maurice Cheeks came to the rescue, rushing to her side and singing the song with her, helping her recover and rallying the crowd to her side. This was a viral and feel-good moment; watch the video below and try not to be moved.
It's 22 years later. Natalie Gilbert Zito is now a grown woman, and she returned to sing the anthem once more before a game between Portland and the New York Knicks, for whom Cheeks is now an assistant coach.
“I owe a lot to this man,” she said after a reunion with Cheeks. “He’s a really stand-up human being. He was like, ‘How long has it been? How are you? How is life? Is this your family? It was so great to see him all these years later, and he’s still just like a great, personable man.”
Hollywood Pivots to Programming for Trump’s America
TV shows like ‘Shifting Gears’ and ‘Duck Dynasty’ resonate with ‘flyover country,’ while fewer shows take on the president.
In a recent episode of the new ABC sitcom “Shifting Gears,” Tim Allen bemoans his grandson’s school dropping its Minutemen mascot because the vice principal says it isn’t “inclusive.”
“What’s more inclusive than a dude wearing a wig, stockings, little high heels, holding on to a rifle. That could bring this country together, checks every damn box,” Allen says to his daughter, who lives in fear of every potentially politically incorrect utterance her father makes.
Such dialogue is the norm for Allen’s character, a classic car restoration shop owner who listens to “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Since its debut in January, “Shifting Gears” has become a hit on Disney’s ABC and Hulu, with episodes drawing an average of 10 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
Call it the Trump effect.
Whether it is a show featuring Tim Allen, who has made no secret of his admiration for the president, Bill Maher interviewing Trump backer Kid Rock on his “Real Time” HBO show, or A&E bringing back “Duck Dynasty,” Hollywood is serving some red meat to the red states.
30 Charts That Show How Covid Changed Everything
Decades from now, the pandemic will be visible in the historical data of nearly anything measurable today: an unmistakable spike, dip or jolt that officially began for Americans five years ago this [month].
Here’s an incomplete collection of charts that capture that break — across the economy, health care, education, work, family life and more.
Richest Americans, Big Businesses Might Welcome IRS Cuts, Officials say
About 7 percent of its workers have been let go, and more cuts are expected.
The Internal Revenue Service’s burgeoning efforts to more closely inspect the taxes of some of the country’s richest people and most powerful companies are stalling because of layoffs imposed by the Trump administration, current and former IRS employees say.
The IRS terminated about 7 percent of its roughly 100,000-person workforce in February, including at least 5,000 in the enforcement and collections divisions. More layoffs are expected. Meanwhile, tax investigators working on drugs and criminal syndicates may be reassigned to help the Department of Homeland Security.
Current and former employees don’t know who will take on pending audits amid these staff cuts. But some say one demographic stands to benefit.
“The wealthy. One hundred percent,” said Anthony Kim, a longtime IRS attorney now in private practice.
It’s a sharp turnaround from 2022, when Congress gave the IRS $80 billion over a decade under the Inflation Reduction Act, including funds to beef up its auditing of the wealthiest Americans.
One Couple in Their 90s Confronts a Stark Reality: Aging at Different Speeds
Lifelong partners grapple with how and whether to stay together when one can’t care for the other.
Fred and Betty Schlissel met on a Halloween blind date, fell in love and got married. The couple bought a house, raised three children and traveled around the world.
More than 70 years later, their love story continues, though not in the way they expected.
Every morning, Fred, 94 years old, wraps a small piece of cake in a napkin, leaves his apartment and walks over to see his wife. Betty, 93, has dementia and lives in an apartment in the same complex, where she receives memory care. With Betty no longer able to feed herself, Fred brings the cake to her lips. When she is done, he reads her an article or something he has written.
“You like it?” he asks one recent morning. She looks at him and nods.
“That fulfills me,” Schlissel says.
Like millions of couples, the Schlissels aged in tandem chronologically, but not physically and mentally. With Americans living longer with chronic conditions, the differences are becoming more pronounced.
What If the U.S. Invaded Canada?
O.K., let's get to the last two stories, which are both implied in today's subject line.
Personally, I cannot believe we are talking about trying to annex Canada. I was born in the U.S. and I've only ever lived here, but I am a dual citizen by descent, so I might pay more attention to how Canadians are viewing this than many Americans do. One example is this episode of a CBC podcast, in which they brought a Canadian military expert on to discuss: If the U.S. launched a military invasion of Canada, what would it look like?
Can you imagine calmly discussing on a U.S. radio show or podcast what it might be like if another country tried to conquer us?
I'm including links to both the podcast and transcript. In short, the expert predicts Canada would quickly crumble, and would wind up a vassal territory of the U.S.
Host: With the caveat that this is a very slim possibility ... if the U.S. invaded Canada, what is the first thing that they would do?
Expert: I think it would actually, in terms of physical movement, their objectives would mirror their, believe it or not, their 1920s war plan. ... Take a look at it on Wikipedia, it's actually a great rendition of the plan.
[A] combined land, air and sea offensive, would capture major Canadian cities ... like Vancouver, Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax, Quebec City ... isolating population centers, taking over communications hubs, transport centers, or major ports ...
You look at the U.S. Army. Just the army, for example. Between their National Guard, Reserve and active-duty forces, they can muster a million under arms.
Host: Right.
Expert: You know, as compared with our all-in of about 60K, maybe, on a good day.
The U.S. Has Covertly Destabilized Nations. With Canada, It's Being Done in Public
Consider this "the U.S. annexing Canada as seen through the eyes of Canadians," Part 2. It's another Canadian examination of how the U.S. might work to annex Canada without firing a shot: mainly by working to damage the economy.
I don't know if this is realistic, but again: Can you imagine Americans soberly debating how an adversary might try to destroy our economy in order to annex us?
Former senior Canadian intelligence officials say Canada needs to be on the lookout for campaigns aimed at destabilizing the country amid U.S. President Donald Trump's escalating 51st state threats.
And they told CBC News that the most potent weapon wielded by the Trump administration to advance the cause of annexation would likely not be the intelligence agencies directed by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
"I would regard Mr. Musk as a problem," said Ward Elcock, who headed CSIS for a decade including during the 9/11 attacks and also served as national security adviser. "I think that's on a number of fronts."
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has worked to destabilize many governments and nations in the past, using methods as mundane as corruption and as drastic as assassination, but the former spy chiefs say a campaign aimed at Canada would likely rely less on cloak-and-dagger tactics and more on social media — such as the Elon Musk-owned X platform.
Neil Bisson is a former CSIS intelligence officer who is now director of the Global Intelligence Knowledge Network and teaches at the University of Ottawa's Professional Development Institute.
He says that in spite of visible signs of Canadian unity in the face of annexation threats, there are those who are vulnerable to the siren call, particularly among the young who feel economically disadvantaged.
"That would be one of the linchpins, one of the cracks in the armour that another country would be looking at trying to exploit," he told CBC News. "If you have individuals who are concerned about where their next meal is coming from or if they're going to get a roof over their head, that supersedes sovereignty."
I’m really curious what our readers think about this whole “annexing Canada” thing. I especially ask since we have about an 80% U.S. audience and maybe another 15% Canadian. (But I also love everyone who reads from every other place in the world!)
Let’s use that for a poll — and you can also weigh in via the comments if you like. Is Trump serious about all of this? And what do you think of the idea? (I wish there were a way to segment replies from U.S. and Canadian readers, but if you’d like to explain in the comments I’d love to read them.)
US citizen here and I’m sorry. Just so, so, so sorry. I’m beyond horrified at the way we are treating our allies. I’m doing everything in my power to fight the dumpster fire our country has turned into. Many of us are fighting with phone calls to congress, protests, and boycotts. We will continue to! I just hope when this is over, Canadians will be able to forgive us.
Every word from trumpers mouth is a lie . Was before election and now after. Threatening Canada is one of his dumbest ideas. Americans will pay for his stupidity and arrogance, out of their pockets and by significant reduction of Americans reputation outside USA. He’s actually an insult to morons. Wake up America. He wants to and is acting like a true dictator! So many executive orders!! He’s enjoying using that loophole! Trumper and muskrat have to go!! The USA aluminum smelters are running at max capacity now so why penalize Americans by adding tariff( ie , a penalty on Americans) on imported aluminum. For steel, well you cant build new steel plants overnight, it takes years , so trumpers billionaire buddies should build new plants instead of hiding income, then add tariff . But then by that time trumps term will have expired and he will get booted out if the old man lives until then. Yes, Canadians are pissed!!