And who would they be? Almost every case of homicide involving the police is the result of stupidity on the part of the killed citizen. When you go off script with law enforcement, bad things happen. This should be taught to everyone starting in kindergarten.

The media magnifies and twists these incidents so that even a smart guy like you John starts to believe that our officers are cruising the streets looking for someone minding their own business to whack.

In Canada it appears that you have ranks of authoritarian mini-Trudeaus that are eager to break down doors and arrest families that dare to have too many people at a party. This last bit of tragic comedy that is the Canadian trucker strike shows just how off the rails your government has become.

This has been an exceptional post. I have been disheartened to see the news over the last year showing how weak the people have been in the English-speaking countries of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Only Great Britain has shown some cahones by their citizens standing up against authoritarian rule. I had no idea that hiding behind that veneer of Western luxury and freedom were people who are willing to be herded like sheep and bow down to authority no matter how absurd. It reveals how fragile democracies can be.

I appreciate John Frimm's thoughtful and detailed responses, but Frankly, he has some misconceptions about American culture, and is not aware of a lot of American current events and facts. That's okay. I am just learning things about Canada myself.

It is an opinion piece, nothing more.

Regarding the differences between the US and the other "free democracies" that he says don't have the birthright freedoms of Americans, it really does not matter what the guiding principles are if the implementation leads to the same endpoint. That is the basis behind statements on political ideologies that say even a benevolent dictatorship can be a good system.

The freedoms and rights of Canadians are not in practice much different than in the US. We can object and speak out against our leaders -- we do it every day; and we put our feelings into action every election cycle. The writer of the piece at least acknowledges that the majority of Canadians did not support the truckers, they were pleased that the PM took the action he did, and even admonished him for not acting sooner. That is because that action was in the best interests of the country, not the interests of the vocal minority. And the role of government is to protect the nation as a whole. People are in general apathetic, and the ones who speak out most loudly are usually a small subset of the country. If the government reacted by caving to every outcry, no matter how outlandish or selfish it is, then we would not have a country run by an elected government, but rather a country ruled by mobs.

I always admired Americans for their leadership in, and defence of, democracy... until the system allowed a person like Trump to rise to the top. He undermined democracy while claiming to defend it; he trashed truth and honesty while lying daily to the nation; he thwarted law and order because he believe he is above the law; and Americans fell for the ruse hook, line and sinker.

There are many Americans who are now (in the post-Trump era) speaking out about how fragile your democracy is, and how it could be lost to an autocratic or dictatorial government. The Righteous Right claim that the Demonic Democrats are pushing the country in that direction, while the Dems are saying that the Repubs are undermining democracy. The Repubs fight back saying America is NOT a democracy, but a democratic republic. Nuances and semantics aside, YOU are a Democracy just like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France, Germany... The people of the country get to elect their government by majority vote, and the government is charged with doing what is best for the nation. That means for the majority, not the minority. And the government needs to, and should, act when necessary to protect the country. In the case of the trucker protest, mask and vaccine mandates were seen as a way to curb the spread of COVID; and shutting down the protest was a way of stopping a few thousand individuals from hijacking the economy of not only Canada but also the US by closing the border.

Prior to Trump taking office America WAS "The Greatest Country in the World." If the US can once again become Number 1 in the world for Democracy, Freedom, Economy, Defence, Education, S&T,... then I will once again think more highly of the land beneath mine. All I can say right now is that if Canada is "American Exceptionalism" then I am happy to be Canadian right now.

John you seem to be needing some straightening out every couple of days now.

Yes it is an opinion piece and I personally share that opinion 100%.

While Trump was President he let it be known that America would not tolerate any terrorism and he did well with that point. America had no terror acts since he became President. Trump also quite handily took care of Iranian General Soleimani by blowing him into a million little pieces which he richly deserved. Neither Obama nor Biden would have done that FOR the American people. I doubt Trudeau would have done it either. The General would still be having American and Canadian troops murdered. I am not going to waste my time listing the positives Trump did for the country, MY country. They are listed by other members and are quite lengthy. I am also not going to delve into the negatives Biden has done against America. Nor will I go into Biden's lies and corruption for the past 50 years before and after he settled into politics. That much is known too. But you on the Left excuse his negatives while putting down Trump's positives.

You seem to have this idea any of us give a damn what you think of America, as if it mattered to any of us. It does not. You still have no idea of our political system and especially the rights guaranteed to us by our Constitution. As the OP pointed out your rights can be taken at any time. My rights are absolute though our Left Wingers continue trying to take them away.

IF America is not still the greatest country in the world then perhaps you can explain why 2 Million + illegal aliens have come here in the past year. I don't see illegal aliens flooding into Canada. Do you?

Trump never had any type of dictatorial government though that is the lie you on the Left continue spreading. What did Trump do to force anybody to do anything, what mandates did he issue ordering Americans to do anything. Nothing I know of. Fill us in on those dictator points of Trump if you have a second. No John the dictator BS starts and ends with the Left, the same Left who wants to eliminate the 1st, 2nd and 4th Amendments to the Constitution. Fill us in on your opinions of those things going on John. Tell us how taking those rights away from Americans is not a dictatorial move on the part of you Left Wingers.

Dennis

Dennis, before you shoot your mouth off you should check the facts.

Now, I won't say all of the police killings mentioned by statista.com were indefensible (i.e., some people deserved to be shot, I guess), but your guess of 5 or less per year shows your ignorance of truth. You REALLY need to use Google before you use your mouth.

"People shot to death by U.S. police 2017-2022, by race
Published by Statista Research Department, Feb 1, 2022
Sadly, the trend of fatal police shootings in the United States seems to only be increasing, with a total 995 civilians having been shot, 117 of whom were Black, as of December 2021. In 2020, there were 1,021 fatal police shootings, and in 2019 there were 999 fatal shootings. Additionally, the rate of fatal police shootings among Black Americans was much higher than that for any other ethnicity, standing at 38 fatal shootings per million of the population as of January 2022. "