Daryl

America never was, really, a 'democratic' country in the sense that so many were always denied the right to vote. It was 'democratic' only in the sense that those who were enfranchised to vote, could exercise that franchise given that they met certain conditions.

The original Constitution only enfranchised white male landowners to vote. If you met that threshold, you had the 'democratic right to vote'. Oh, wait, you also had to meet a list of other requirements, as well. For instance, you could be any religion you wanted, as long as it had God at the top. It was imperative to swear an oath to God. The original Constitution made that clear. No atheists or non-God-fearing need even try to vote. THAT was what they originally meant by 'freedom of religion' - freedom to worship God any way you wanted. It did NOT allow for 'freedom to NOT have a religion'.

You are right in the sense that the Constitution is being ignored. That is all part of Vance and the 2025 Manifesto. Trump will go one step too far, Vance will lead the impeachment procedures against Trump for Treason to the Constitution, Vance becomes President, and gets a totally free hand to implement his own 2025 Manifesto agenda. Incidentally, the splitting up of America leaving only a pure Republican union, ensuring the Democratic states never interfere again, is all part and parcel of the 2025 plan. Vance would rather be President of a 'pure' Republican nation than have to contend with the turmoil and chaos the Democrats would cause. That is why America is as close to civil war as it was before the start of Civil War 1.0 back almost two centuries ago. The fact is, the more the Constitution loses relevance, the more likely succession by states becomes. At some point, the Constitution becomes so irrelevant that individual states will see absolutely no need to follow it in any shape or form. They will fall back on State constitutions for their governance.

I predict, that soon the Republicans will use the turmoil over the existing Constitution, seeing as the existing Constitution is failing so badly, as a reason to completely rewrite the Constitution as they feel it should have been written And every person who points out how badly the current constitution is failing, just feeds into that argument, and America comes all that closer to ensuring a Vance victory.

Here is the thing. Ukraine has, or could easily within weeks have, nuclear capability (they were actually instrumental in developing Russia's nuclear capability, and they still have the infrastructure, knowledge, and skills) and that is actually to their detriment. It only promotes a 'first strike' mentality in the Russians.

The land border between Canada and the US is just too long for either side to defend.

But here is the thing. The only way the American army could have the resources to do it would be through the National Guard. American forces are spread too thin throughout the world. The National Guard is under the control of the individual state.

The biggest states would be well prepared to sign non-aggression treaties with Canada, meaning their National Guard could not be used. The individual States can not directly sign a treaty, but they CAN prevent their National Guard from participating. If Trump tried to take charge of them, it would for sure lead to a Constitutional Crisis. Since the Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard Units is the governor of each state, not the President, the troops are only answerable to the chain of command that ends at the state level. The individual states would have all the reason they need to secede. It would be civil war second inning in America. And some National Guard units have their own fighter jets and air bases.

That chaos is Canada's best bet for defense.

Wow. Just silliness. The only residual discussion after the debate is "Did he say 'gay' or 'gagged'?"

Says a lot about the importance of the debate in the overall election.

Beer that actually has alcohol in it.

We Canadians call American beer 'that non-alcohol stuff'.

Smarties.

And, recently, large eggs.

Oh and hormone free chicken.

And the really important one, a Harvey's Hamburger with grain-fed beef..

It was okay up until they allowed videos of non-consensual sex, child porn, and truly 'hidden camera' video where the other person had no idea their privacy was being violated.

https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/politics/federal-privacy-watchdog-heads-to-court-over-pornhub-operators-consent-practices/article_c7fecdab-908a-5177-affe-b7cb73acf505.html

https://7news.com.au/technology/pornhub-deletes-majority-of-content-in-major-changes-after-child-abuse-claims-c-1772409

To be clear, I didn't say 'publicly available', I said 'stock publicity footage'. It gets distributed to various industry connections, footage that might go into movie trailers, footage that might be used for 'behind the scenes' footage on the DVD. No worries about the "come across as a classic “my uncle works at Nintendo” kind of comment." Classic or not, my daughter actually DID work as a truck costumer on that movie. I believe she is credited in the IMDB for that movie.

The X-files series, shot in Canada.

It is absolutely fascinating to visit the 'circus' - the staging area for all of the set trucks and equipment trucks, if you can get past the security. I remember one set in downtown Hamilton, Ontario back a few years, where they 'blew up' a car after a car chase. On the main street through a few blocks of downtown Hamilton. The thing is, they 'blew up' that car several times, in several takes. They also did the car chase in several 'rehearsal' takes before the actual 'take'. Fascinating seeing the same cars weaving through the same traffic time after time, each one exactly the same. Speed through the scene, stop, back up, and do it all over. Each time increasing the speed. Stunt men hanging out the window. All the street signs changed to American streets. Even the background 'advertising' billboards were changed to American brands. Strange seeing a billboard for an American brand in downtown Hamilton. That was before SFX. The shoot was at night, no traffic, but the lights they brought in made it as bright as day. They needed their own generators to produce enough power for the huge banks of lights. All for a few seconds of actual movie.

Goes back to the early 1900's.

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/marquis-wheat

The primate in that movie was every bit as obnoxious in real life as it was in the movie. The handlers had their hands full with that one. Lots of work for the costumer who had to do the laundry.

But that tennis ball on a stick was actually part of the stock publicity footage. I remember viewing it as well.

Americans will be too busy trying to keep their own country together than to worry about invading Canada. Fact is, the National Guards of the American States are probably more powerful and stronger than the US Army is on American soil. Some Guard units even have advanced fighter jets. The National Guard troops are a substantial component of the strength of the American army. The American army would have to bring all of its own assets back from the rest of the world before they could even contemplate military action on American soil.

And the National Guard units answer to State legislatures, not Washington.

https://www.usamm.com/blogs/news/who-controls-the-national-guard-when

The irony is, that America is most certainly going to split at least in two in the next few decades. California will never submit to the 2025 Manifesto. and New York will also join in. The American Civil War never really dd end, and it is time for the next round. This time, there will not be a clear winner and separation is assured. Margaret Atwood read (wrote about) it correctly.