On the art of being in the right place at the right time.
The 6:25 am flight to Chicago from Ottawa was so empty the flight attendants had to rearrange the few passengers so as to balance the weight on the aircraft. This is typically a full flight. Not anymore, and probably not for a while. Already by mid-March we could tell there were half-a-million fewer cross-border trips by land to the US the previous month. The numbers are bound to be low for some time.
I have been in Huntsville, Alabama for a nine-day visit. I am doing research here for three book projects I have. And I insist on spending time with dear friends I love. Making new ones, too.
My friends, being fine humans, are livid with what’s happening to their country. For sure, many of them would never have voted for Trump. But what’s different this time is the number of people who are registered Republicans and are dismayed by what’s happening and not remaining silent.
The DOGE business is one thing. You can find a fair bit of support for a necessary exercise in fat-trimming. Mostly from people who have very little understanding of how government actually works. But still, you know. You won’t find anyone arguing the federal government is perfect as it is, and 100% efficient.
But like we say where I’m from, pousse mais pousse égal. It’s not so much that people object to cuts. It’s that they object to indiscriminate slashing that will hurt people, in addition to the public servants who are suddenly out of a job.
What’s really getting people out protesting, you’ll be happy to hear, is the trade wars and threats of annexation. Half the time when I introduce myself as a Canadian people apologize.
One woman I met told me she’d scrapped her spring break plans and took her family to Montreal just to show support. This is someone who had never been to Canada, who may not have been certain of its exact location, but who chose to show up and do one thing within her power to help.
“How did people in Montreal treat you?” I wanted to know.
“They were so kind and welcoming,” was the heart-warming answer.
Last week in Huntsville there were rallies every day. I met a reporter from the Washington Post who was there. I asked her why. “Alabama is interesting,” she said. You’ll need a subscription to read her article, which made the front page of the paper edition on March 24.
There was also that Republican townhall meeting in a much different state (I didn’t actually catch exactly where it was) that got shared on Facebook a lot, during which Americans raised — and stood up for — the Canadian flag.
Yes, you’re right. For all these encouraging and heartwarming signs, there are people who would still — today — vote, again, for Donald Trump. They support him unthinkingly. Despite everything. But if you pay attention to the protests you’re starting to see erupting including in heavily Republican areas, you’ll notice a lot of people standing up to say, now hold on a minute there partner, are people who never before got involved in politics.
Like the folks behind the Purple People Resistance Alabama group. Well, actually, it’s not even a group in the sense that there is no membership. It’s mostly a space for anyone and everyone to gather and express their thoughts, regardless of partisan affiliation. (That’s the “purple” part, half-way between Republican red and Democratic blue.)
The two organizers I spoke with wanted to share messages to Canadians and explain what they’re doing and why. I loved hearing about the elderly woman who’d finally had enough and decided to go to a rally — the first one she’d ever been to.
Watching these protests and signs and rallies I am in some ways reminded of the Tea Party gatherings I covered in the early days of the first Obama administration. To be sure, these are not the same people and certainly not the same concerns being expressed. But the anxiety, the energy, the willingness to stand up and be counted are extraordinarily similar.
I remember one rally, in particular, in Scranton, Pennsylvania that I attended with my kids who were very little. There was anxiety, some anger, widespread puzzlement over the direction the country was taking. I remember it was cold and people were milling about. There were impromptu speeches, songs and resistance. I see the same things today. There’s a lot of debate and, crucially, a lot of listening to one another. Whatever anger there is, it’s directed at an administration that is seen as overstepping its bounds.
There’s talk these days about what the Democrats should do. Personally, I think “anything” would be a good answer, because save for a few exceptions, they don’t seem to be doing anything at all. Just like the Republican never-trumpers who are cowering in some dark corner somewhere.
One prominent columnist thinks that’s a bad idea:
A new Tea Party wouldn’t work for the Democrats the way it worked for Republicans, and more important, it would be terrible for the country. The Democrats would fight fire with fire, and we would all get burned.
I’m inclined to agree. And my hope, as a very friendly and loving outsider, is for Americans to fight fire with community.
This past week I saw all kinds of people with all kinds of concerns coming out to support one another and everyone’s right to live their life as they see fit in a republic where the rule of law protects everyone, not some tinpot monarchy. There were Russians supporting Ukrainians. Jesus-loving gun-owning folks supporting trans youth. Public servants standing up for the right of school children to read books.
Alexis de Tocqueville, incomparable observer of the American character who wrote Democracy in America in the 1830s, talked about Americans’ propensity to come together freely and associate around common issues or concerns. That trait is still very much present in the United States nearly 200 years later.
Community is what’s going to get us out of this mess. I choose to be hopeful that this community restores the right balance within America and between our two countries.
