American political news is everybody’s news

It’s not every day, but it’s a regular enough occurrence.

Someone will write and ask why we’re devoting so much time to American politics: that there are plenty of things happening in Winnipeg, in Manitoba, in Canada to cover, and say that coverage of American politics can be left to the American media.

In some ways, they’re not wrong: there is plenty going on in this country, province and city that deserves coverage, and the Free Press does its best to cover all of those bases.

But there’s a reason why American politics garners so much attention, and will continue to do so. The elephant to the south of us has, in significant ways, gone rogue.

And we ignore that at our peril.

A watershed moment is happening in the United States, and it’s not as simple as just the things that affect Canadians directly right now, such as U.S. tariffs and trade.

President Donald Trump has managed to assume the right to rule by decree — he has, through executive orders, done everything from send American soldiers into American cities under false pretenses, has killed people on the open seas by effectively declaring war without the support of Congress, and has upended America’s place in the world through his “Trump First and Always” view of the presidency.

It’s an object lesson in how easily democracy can be undermined — and it’s happening in what, for years, has been the strongest democracy in the world.

Republican Congress members are kowtowing to his every demand, even though Congress has a responsibility as the holder of legislative power, and abrogate their responsibility to their constituents at the mere lift of a Trumpian pinky.

Everything that Trump has accused others of doing — lawfare, fixing elections, profiting from deals while in power, attacking political rivals with all the power of the U.S. federal government — he is doing himself.

But perhaps you think it can’t happen here, so we should just let the Americans go about their business — except for areas such as trade where the impacts on Canada are direct and obvious.

Maybe it can’t happen just right now, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be watching for signs of a similar political ethos growing in this country. Because that kind of change happens in increments, not all at once.

Remember the first iteration of Trump, and the manufactured outrage and chants “Lock her up” chants about Hillary Clinton, without the need for a trial? And who argued that the FBI was being weaponized?

Ask yourself if that’s not similar to the current position of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who’s now saying that former prime minister Justin Trudeau should be jailed, and the leaders of the RCMP dismissed.

“Trudeau broke the Criminal Code… If the RCMP had been doing its job and not covering up for him, then he would have been criminally charged,” Poilievre told a podcast interviewer last week. “The leadership of the RCMP is frankly just despicable when it comes to enforcing laws against the Liberal government. Yeah, I would fire them.”

We keep eyes on what’s happening to the south of us, so that we can see the growing signs of democracy’s demise in America — and judge the risks of whether a similar malaise is heading our way. We have to be aware, and we have to be involved, and we have to be informed — even if it means keeping an eye on the neighbours.

There is no place for complacency. America is showing us that democracy dies an inch at a time, especially if you shrug away the unforgivable.

Watch. Read. And when the time comes, vote. Canada is your country — stay involved.

Saying “it can’t happen here,” may just be more hopeful than it is any sort of guarantee.