Attention Required! | Cloudflare
thetyee.ca

Rattled by a horde of MAGA trolls, here’s what I learned about today’s social media miasma.

Last Friday I made a post on Bluesky and X, concerning U.S. President Donald Trump’s description of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “Governor.” It occurred to me that, numb as we are to Trump’s stream of blather, the importance of that remark was being overlooked. It was an overt declaration by the president of the United States that he does not recognize Canadian sovereignty. That’s scary.

So, my post: “For a US president to refer to the Prime Minister of Canada as ‘Governor’ isn’t just rude. It’s a hostile act.”

The post got little attention on Bluesky. On X, for whatever reason, it went berserk. Over the weekend it racked up close to 3,000 reposts, over 29,000 “likes” and more than 5,000 replies. Those replies came almost entirely from Trump-loving trolls, piling scorn and abuse on my concerns. “Yeah but it’s Canada so who gives a fuck?” said one.

Do the responses represent a genuine glimpse of U.S. opinion on Trump’s bully-boy act?

  • funkless_eck
    4·
    3 days ago

    Canada also has an army, navy and airforce. And a border with Alaska. And a massive border that’s hard for both sides to defend.

    It would also likely pit the entire world against the USA, who could do massive damage with trade sanctions without even firing a single bullet

    • Devanismyname@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      3 days ago

      We have 1/10th your population and economy. We have a tiny military in comparison with outdated technology. It would be laughably easy for you to take us over. Yeah, maybe the rest of the world joins in, or maybe they just let it happen. You guys are the preeminent military force on earth. I could see it happening without any resistance from our allies. I bet that it woudl lead to the collapse of nato. In fact, I bet it ends the way that putin had hoped for Ukraine. Even an under ground resistance would be weak since you guys are right next door. The logistics of a full scale invasion would be simple for your guys. Honestly at this point i don’t think there is a lot preventing it from happening. Trump has made it clear he isn’t going to follow the law. He has also made it clear that he is willing to do extreme things. At this point I think it’s a matter of what is easiest for him. Collapse us economically so we join willingly or a military invasion. I think the reason he picked the first is because it’s easier.

      • funkless_eck
        2·
        3 days ago

        I’m not American btw.

        America did lose in Vietnam, and more recently in Niger, though. It’s not easy, especially in the modern day, to subsume a country.

        • Devanismyname@lemmy.caEnglish
          1·
          3 days ago

          That’s different. Not only was the us way less advanced back then, they also had a way bigger logistics problem to solve because it was half way across the world. Niger wasn’t a full scale war. And maybe you’re right, maybe we could do some kinda insurgency or gorilla warfare. But that doesn’t exactly sound like a walk in the park either. Also, canadians are soft. We live in a first world country completely removed from any kind of war or suffering. We aren’t going to fight back unless they give us a reason to. If it’s bloodless and our lives don’t change much, it’s more then likely we will have wounded pride but will just go back to normal. I’m sure some will fight, but I don’t think those types are common here. We are more like Americans than we want to admit. Fat, lazy, complacent, and stupid.