Merci, Canada. Let’s keep the lines open.

When governments fail, people-to-people conversations matter most

Canada’s looking on … and not really liking what it’s seeing, if The BellingHammer’s inbox this week was an indication. (Maxime Doré via Unsplash)

From the top

One of the idiosyncratic facts of life about living, learning and, for some of us, regularly posting online is the pop-off phenomenon.

As in, “my feed totally popped off yesterday.” Signifying a huge spurt of what at first seems an inexplicable new online response to something posted weeks ago.

The BellingHammer Substack feed popped off in a big way on Tuesday, and it didn’t take long to find the ignition source: An Aug. 28 column explaining why, from my view, even Americans who detest the Trump regime “own” a bit of the rise to power of the orange would-be king. It got shared on a Canadian site, Guard the Leaf, which has a YouTube audience in the hundreds of thousands and growing audiences across other social platforms, including Substack.

It seems safe to say the piece struck a nerve north of the U.S. border. The wave of comments headed my way all week has crested, but continues to roll, with hundreds or maybe thousands of Canadians chiming in on the premise.

Fortunately, being Canadians, even those who disagreed with me — some suggesting I had gone either too far or not far enough in self-owning the embarrassment many thinking Americans share over the Trump administration — were polite about it.

(A handful of readers picked up on one descriptive phrase in my missive, referring to “… the lesser world,” in a sentence denoting Trump’s bluster. My bad: I had intended that L-word to be one coming from DJT’s mindset of U.S. exceptionalism — which is not my own. But an audience new to my writing took it the other way. I quickly corrected that error and perhaps avoided an additional international incident.)

But the vast majority of responding Canadians shared one emotion: gratitude. They were thankful to hear, rather than “sorry, Canada!” platitudes, someone say the quiet part out loud: Americans all, in our own ways, shaped — neglected might be a better word — the system that gave rise not just to Trump, but authoritarianism and kleptocracy, writ large. And that acknowledging this is the first step to recognizing the trend can’t be simply waited-out.

I ended that piece challenging fellow Americans to accept the gravity of the present moment with the seriousness it deserves: A last-chance call to make fundamental changes that might morph the American system into a modern representative democracy with a chance of stemming global tides battering that very ideal.

It didn’t occur to me, until this week, how that premise might be received in Canada. Now I know: “Sorry,” whether pronounced with a long or short “o,” is not an action plan for the present crisis.

THE POSTING of the piece by Guard the Leaf launched interesting personal dialogues with a number of Canadians who took the time to write eloquently about their ongoing frustrations. And yes, to vent their legitimate, sheer anger — approaching what some said was a point of no-return in what feels like a shattered relationship.

It also created some interesting interchanges on a number of comment threads, which I encourage folks of both nations to read.

The sharing also drew a significant number of Canadian readers to subscribe to this feed. To all of them: Welcome.

As residents of the Upper Left corner, with the peaks and cities of British Columbia literally within our sight, people here have a special interest in the way our current political upchuck has affected Canada, an innocent victim of our own national insanity. We live in a region where the now-hardening border, particularly in islands shared by the Salish Sea, has long been more of a dotted line. (And so you know, this is an ongoing conversation: I’ve been chronicling the importance of this relationship at my previous job, editor of Cascadia Daily News, since Trump’s return to D.C.)

I think most readers here will be particularly happy to have more Canadians in the room. Perhaps it might serve as its own small, open door to the big tent (circus top optional) that is North American political discourse.

The large response to the piece reemphasized how important it is, or should be, for citizens on both sides of the border to hear from one another, directly, with no spin-cycle political messaging layers on either side.

Notably, many Canadians who piled on about flaws in the American system pointed out what they see as similar problems with their own. In that sense, the insanity across the border at least serves as a cautionary tale of how far south (pun intended) things can go, and how fast, in democracies that begin to be taken for granted.

I could go on about the value of all this — and how much or little it ultimately might matter — but I’d rather let Canadian readers speak for themselves. Here’s a sampling of interesting responses to the piece, lightly edited only for length:

Those are my sentiments exactly as a Canadian. We all expect you to DO SOMETHING! Yet still nothing happens. — Rebecca

—

Canadian here, from Toronto. Shout-out to Guard The Leaf for sharing your article - that’s how I found it, and I found myself nodding along with almost everything you wrote.

I still cannot understand how someone as deeply corrupt, dishonest, divisive and utterly lacking in basic decency as Trump could be elected president of the United States…twice. His conduct seems to push the boundaries of what people are willing to tolerate further and further, and every time I think the bar cannot possibly go any lower, somehow it does.

I also have family in the States who are doing their part to educate their friends, neighbours and colleagues. From what they tell me, it’s an uphill battle, and frankly, some of what I’ve seen and heard has been deeply discouraging. It has given me a very different and much less flattering view of US political culture and education system.

As for me, my wallet is going to reflect that loss of trust. I’ll be avoiding US-made products and US travel for the foreseeable future. If the US wants my business again, it has a VERY long way to go to earn it back.

I’ll repeat the author’s closing question — what are you actually going to do about it? Beyond agreeing, posting, or shaking your head at what’s happening, what are you willing to do in your own communities to push back and demand better from your elected representatives?

Silence and resignation are choices too.

But I’m still hopeful that enough folks will choose to speak up, get involved, and demand better. Countries change when ordinary people decide that they won’t simply accept the unacceptable. — Libby

—

Canadian here. I agree with the vast majority of what has been written and the comments. I want to be clear however when it comes to how Canadians feel. I have not met a fellow Canadian who FEELS hurt, wounded or even betrayed. We WERE BETRAYED. there is a difference. I understand the need for some people to play that down to feelings. Because feelings put the onus on Canadians to justify why we feel that way. The other puts the onus on the people who did this to us.

I am an Albertan. I get it. I didn’t vote for what is going on in my province, I also didn’t ask for the US government to interfere in our business. I want them out. No other option. OUT. Never to come back. I will fight tooth and nail to keep you out. Your own propaganda machine is working overtime to convince you this is what Albertans want … we don’t.

Make no mistake. Your country has inflicted a hardship on us that has nothing to do with our feelings and everything to do with a country trying to coerce, extort and outright annex us without a second thought for our feelings.

I am not confused, I am not bewildered, I am not feeling let down. What I am is angry … not feeling angry. I am well past that. I don’t know anyone who isn’t.

Canada wants the US, who is its people, to acknowledge what they have inflicted on us. No apologies, responsibility. Your government took signed agreements and threw them away, inflicted illegal and unjust tariffs on us, threatened to annex us, continue to do so to this day, we have been demeaned, insulted, degraded, belittled, told our border is imaginary, called our PM governor, threaten our airspace if we didn’t buy your jets, tariff our fires while our homes were burning … The list goes on and on and on. This wasn’t one action. These things were thrust upon us by Republicans and Democrats alike, every day for almost two years.

It is my responsibility to make sure you don’t ever forget any of this. Because you have to own it to fix it. You have to understand fully why we are angry. I don’t mean to be rude, but …s top saying you are sorry and acting like it is just my feelings are hurt. They aren’t … it is even more degrading and demeaning to say you know how we feel. You don’t. You don’t understand what it has been like for us, Because no other country has treated you the way yours has treated all of us. We deserve better.

That being said: There are many USers who don’t like their govt actions … You deserve better too. Understand the problem, take action, voting matters. When you see people writing things that aren’t true, call them out. Never let lies lay. The lies are how we all got here. Time to fix it. — Deeogee2026

—

A country speaks to the world through ONE voice. How that voice got there, and stays there, through action or inaction, is the responsibility of the people in that country. Anyone saying “I didn’t vote for him” isn’t suddenly an innocent bystander.

A population of 330M+ people have a tremendous amount of collective power. Easily enough to have stopped this shitshow many months ago. Yet, here we are. And the longer those people sit and try to play innocent, the worse it gets.

There were many people, from around the world (myself included) that started describing what was happening, and what it would turn into. No one lifted a finger.

The destruction isn’t over. Not by a long shot. Is anyone going to do something now, or wait for the next major escalation of disaster? Because there’s a lot more on its way.

War isn’t coming. It’s already here. — TrueCanuck

—

Cdn here ... FINALLY, ONE ARTICLE that comes close to reality.

I heard this “We didn’t vote for him” too many times on our last 2 vacations.

I met 1 French Canadian old guy like me last time on vacation, he told me “when they tell me that I didn’t vote for him, I tell them to F— OFF and leave me alone and get away from me” ... for the reasons you described.

THANK YOU — Long Drink

—

My view is that Trump has declared economic war on us. When at war, we fight the entire country, not just the ‘bad guys’ in that country. There were probably Germans who didn’t support Hitler, but we (the allies, eventually including the US) fought (bombed and shot at) them just the same.

In this war, some small US players (ex: alcohol vendors) will get hurt. Sorry, but that’s war. — Ken

—

You can’t choose to elect a barely literate, deeply unstable sociopath, then clutch your pearls when he behaves exactly as advertised.

Either own it, or put him in jail. Letting him do exactly as he pleases, but pouting about it, impresses precisely no one. — Pierre

—

THANK YOU, MERCI from Canada!!! Thank you for writing an article that so succinctly captures the feelings of many, many Canadians. We are stunned by the apathy of your nation to let the corruption of this Administration *run rampant* while we watch your relationships and reputation being destroyed for generations to come.

Because not only POTUS, but the 77 million who voted him in, and the 90 million who failed to vote at all, CAUSED THIS … I sure hope your fellow Americans read your article and begin to take it very seriously, to step up to the plate and TAKE ACTION to oust this government and mend your torn social fabric. — Kathryn

—

Thank you for seeing the reality that Canadians have been trying to convey.

We’ve been slapped repeatedly by Trump, the regime, MAGA, and the oligarchs, much in service to Putin and the far right authoritarians in the world.

The daily assaults are akin to being in the worst toxic, abusive relationship imaginable, and not being able to physically move our country closer to Australia to counter the blast radius.

There is absolutely no question that abuse is at minimum 10x exponentially far worse against Canada than any other country who is an ally.

For most of last year USians told us not to take it seriously. Don’t listen to it, laughing it off. While we lost 100,000 jobs last year due to the tariffs.

While we wondered if an invasion was imminent. We believe it was gamed out and the answers that came back were they wanted to invade, but didn’t know how to pull it off. Instead they chose economic warfare, which is a form of war, without the bombs.

Canadians understood the threat was real, that they were serious. They wanted our resources, our water. Trump stalled the Columbia River negotiations shortly after taking office. Unfortunately, Biden did not get that wrapped up before he left - these are complex multi-year negotiations.

For almost all of last year, USians complained that our travel was down, we weren’t buying their goods, then launched campaigns to get our money back. Not us. Our money.

And while we were being abused daily, threatened, insulted, they attempted to manipulate us into feeling sorry for them. Asking the victim to feel sorry for the abuser is quite shocking, but that is what many did. Then when we didn’t comply, they got angry. Some even wrote angry letters, posted ugly comments, suggesting Canadians were at fault. It’s quite disgusting.

This was extremely revealing to us. Because what you may not know is that Canadians felt USians were like family. We would have crossed broken glass to help you. We did in fact after 9/11.

To realize that our relationship was purely for the most part a transactional business line in a ledger book, was more hurtful than I can express to you.

But, now we know that we made a major error in this relationship and it’s value. We know that now, and we cannot unknow that.

And so, while most USians could care less, didn’t know, care to know, or for those who were cheerleading Trump on in his abuse (we got that message too) we vowed to never go through this again. Never trust again. Not like we did.

So, we will trade and manage security-related joint concerns, and we will welcome USians who come to visit as we always have, as long as they don’t wear a MAGA hat or do something stupid, with grace and kindness, as that is who we are.

What the US has lost in all of this, and virtually all USians don’t know this yet, is that they lost us. They lost us. And that’s not something you can likely ever get back. — Tracy

—

Thank you for this. I keep waiting for people to take to the streets as they did in Seoul over less than what Trump is doing to America. All I hear is, “Just wait till the midterms.” When I suggested that a general strike was in order, I got, “I could lose my job for that.” I sincerely hope that if anything like this fascist chaos happens in Canada, my compatriots and I will be willing to take that risk to save each other from tyranny. — Karen

—

Canadian here. I am not happy condemning a whole country. But the fact is that the whole country is needed to fix this. Having trump represent you should make you physically ill (and it has, salad anyone?) But the fact still remains that america is a country that has fallen into the sewer because the people have allowed it. Forgiveness will not come easily. If at all. — Lynn

—

I appreciate this and you are correct - the sad thing is that in many many developed (capitalistic) countries including Canada the same dynamic is happening …. the moneyed interests are “successfully flip(ing) the scorecard on public accountability, creating for them a dream situation: the masses clubbing each other about the head so effectively as they fight over scraps on the floor of the Richest Nations on Earth …we need to wake the F up and support younger people and alternative social and economic models that do not rely on hypercapitalism and never ending growth needed to support that model. — Cat

MANY, MANY OTHERS others took the time to write personally (so many that I’m still trying to catch up with responses; thanks to all). But the folks above posted publicly and represent the sentiment of most of the comments.

There’s much there to unpack, a big job ahead, and not loads of time to do it. But the one lesson I take away from the exchange is the critical need for Americans to quiet down for a while and just listen. Reconsider your own role. And recognize the impact it has on others beyond your view, wherever you’re perched.

I’ll be happy to reflect the results here moving forward.

---

More cross-border pollination

Fans of democracy, transparency and accountability on both sides of the border should appreciate another strong voice for all those virtues. Independent journalist Bob Mackin’s energetic coverage of politics in B.C. stands out in many ways, but one hits close to home: He makes a regular effort to seek out American voices to explain American behavior to his largely Canadian audience — something I hope to emulate from our side of the border.

Mackin has been gracious enough to invite me on during times of border-related news and elections, as a guest on his podcast show, TheBreaker.news. I was happy to do so again last week. See that interview at the link below, and if you’re a NW WA resident, there’s a lot of value in following Bob’s work on a regular basis.

thePodcast: The view from Bellingham

Anvil

Small, swift blows for sanity struck here weekly

We Thank the Gods: For the utter stupidity of Trump in trying to ban selected news networks for being Enemies of the People, by revoking their “privilege” of reporting from the grounds of what America used to call the people’s house.

Not For: The most-obvious reasons, such as the predictable spank-down in court two days later. But because of the sheer, utter bliss Americans felt turning on their national news channels for a couple days and not hearing Trump’s daily unedited deranged blather, dutifully served as daily upchuck by every major network.

Seriously: The cutting of the feed from the daily video pool, made in response to Trump’s selective network bans, was a rare blow for sanity. And it had its own comedic punchline: Trump standing on his new helipad, waving his arms like an idiot and spouting off a probable stream of lies — with no audio of any kind provided by news networks. It was like watching the silent-ballet scene in Amadeus. “It is your regulation, Sire. No ballet in your opera!”

The Difference: In the present case, “seeing the scene with the music” is just a big, fat step backward, not forward, as we all learned by week’s end.

By the Way: Does the occurrence of national news networks finally growing a pair sufficient to stand up for one another — and deny the would-be emperor the daily pixels that fuel his entire existence — give Hammer the confidence they’ll finally get it, and make this a permanent thing? No. But it was sweet while it lasted. And it serves as a reminder that the daily lather, rinse, repeat is a choice, not an inevitability.

Meanwhile, in Washington the Greater: Quite the tempest in the ’Ham this week over the Bellingham School District’s ongoing PR struggles, in this case dealing with the still-looming threat of closure of some local elementary schools — in the wake of voters approving additional tax funds to build more.

The Latest: Angry and activated parents caught on that the district was conducting tours of some district elementary schools rumored for closure, including one tour to a notorious fundamentalist Christian nationalist group. The district’s response, posted this week, conceded this.

And Then: The district’s reluctant fact-drip was seized upon by Yet Another Local Faux News Site as a slap at parents’ groups communicating largely through social media, portraying the official statement as a response to “rumors” sowed online, and suggesting that parents stick to official district sources for information(!)

Problem With That Is: Most of the (long-overdue) activism by district parents is A) being conducted, like most everything else in America these days, on social media and B) news of the tours was not, in fact, an internet “rumor,” but a successful act of citizen sleuthing unveiling something that had apparently been missed or not yet reported by local media — both real and imaginary. More power to these folks, Hammer says, because C) the district is historically non-transparent, hiding important public-policy matters in consent agendas meant for minutia.

Having Said All That: It’s extremely clear that, due to what, in my considerable experience, is a top-down, institutional arrogance that permeates the region’s largest school district, local residents are going to have to continue to dig far beyond official district news releases to stay informed about school closures and other important matters.

Hammer Recommends: Follow the work of reporter Charlotte Alden in Cascadia Daily News, and the growing Facebook Group, the Bellingham Neighborhood Schools Coalition, which put out the first news about the school tours that I saw this week.

---

Thanks to fans of Annie Dillard

I’m grateful for all the heartfelt responses from last week’s post about the NW inspirations for some of the most important work of the late writer Annie Dillard. Not included in the many fine tributes to the writer/poet who chronicled human relationships with nature last week was this Yale Review Dillard essay forwarded by a reader who knew Dillard during her time in Bellingham. It’s a fine example of Dillard’s keen eye for detail, observation — and connections, with the wholly local twist of a recurring scene in Red Square on WWU’s campus. And if you can get a friend’s password, this essay in the New Yorker is a fine glimpse at Dillard as a person and professional.

---

Workbench

What’s cluttering the BellingHammer’s countertops this week

The Atlantic: Trump Should Stop Hosting Summits, by Tom Nichols, Sept. 24, 2026 (gift link). On the sad occasion of the president being played, yet again, like a cheap fiddle by yet another world leader hip to the flattery technique, the irascible Nichols lays out the goods:

In the Donald Trump White House, summits are hazardous excursions during which the interests of the United States are shoved aside by a president whose cringe-inducing admiration of dictators makes these meetings into rituals of American humiliation. The country would be better off if Trump just stopped hosting or attending them.

Will anyone in D.C. listen? Nope. But it’s a worthy reminder of what these soirees used to accomplish in more reality-based politics days.

The Conversation: Friendship is built over time, through ordinary moments — I teach lonely college students to notice them, by Justin Vaughn, Coastal Carolina University. We would be remiss in failing to Welcome Back Western this week. And mark the occasion by reminding all year-rounders in our midst to keep an eye out for, and occasionally extend a hand to, thousands of young folks fledging from their comfort zones. The author here addresses what he calls a systemic campus “loneliness crisis,” offering tips on building community, on-campus and off.

New West Records: Buddy Miller (vinyl) The first solo release in 15 years by one of Hammer’s favorite Americana delivery men. Top notch as always, with the accustomed entourage of first-rate collaborators.

---

Thanks for reading The BellingHammer by Ron Judd, a reader-supported publication. This post is public, so feel free to share it. To receive new posts in your inbox and help support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.