The U.S. President showed the demagogue’s favorite method of holding up part of the population for hatred, including “illegal aliens,” “crazy Democrats,’ and “corrupt” Somalians in the USA.
 
Adolf Hitler did the same thing against Jews in the 1930’s and during World War II.  It was, and is today, a vicious way of achieving support.
 
Still, Trump used his ability as a performer at the podium in his State of the Union address, to play on the heart strings of those attending the joint session of Congress and people watching on television.
 
He welcomed into the galleries members of the gold medal winning men’s hockey
team. The team members had prominent USA initials on their jerseys and Trump had special praise for goalie Connor Hellebuyck who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
 
Answering criticism that the U.S. Women’s hockey team, also recipients of Olympic gold medals, were not invited to the joint congressional session, Trump said the women’s team will soon be coming to the White House.
 
President Trump singled out victims of violence, such as Erika Kirk, the sad widow of the assassinated political advocate Charlie Kirk, or the wounded veteran of the attack to capture Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro, or the 100-year-old Navy Captain, E. Royce Williams who took 263 bullets to his plane during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. At the end of Trump’s speech Capt. Williams was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour.
 
Those introduced by the President no doubt appreciated the gesture, but there was something unsavory about him holding them up for scrutiny. He did much the same thing at the Republican Convention in July 2024, where he again went for the heart strings, singling out rather defenseless “heroes”.
 
Many Democrats sat silent during Trump’s speech, but some did not. Ilhan Omar, of Somali origin, a member of Congress, who Trump had previously mocked for her hijab, heckled the president during his speech. As noted previously in Against the Flow,  Omar is the courageous person who stood her ground after being attacked in Minnesota by a syringe-wielding man spraying her with a foul-smelling substance.
 
Trump had previously said of Omar: “Throw her the hell out! She does nothing but complain.”

As we find ourselves in the depths of a long winter, a young Moncton, N.B. athlete has raised our spirits by winning four Olympic medals thus far, more than any other Canadian at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games. And, she has kept her girl-next-door demeanor and humility.
 
Like other even better-known athletes, such as Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby, Courtney has kept up her superstitions going into her challenges, always wearing the same pair of earrings and the same pink scrunchie.  As one sports enthusiast noted, these rituals “reflect confidence rather than fear, and hers is no different.”
 
Notably in her 500-metre event when Courtney came from behind to win her bronze medal, speed skaters need grit and savvy to succeed. Gutting out a great showing is one thing, but her sport involves a great deal of strategy, when to take the lead, when to stay wide, and when to cut inside; how to avoid injury in what is a highly dangerous sport.
 
Especially winning that bronze was “a dream come true”, she says.
 
This doesn’t come overnight in a tough sport. Now 25 years old, Courtney competed at the age of 14 in the 2015 Canada Games, a wonderful training ground for this country’s young athletes in swimming, hockey, rugby or short track.
 
Courteny had her Olympic debut at the Beijing Games in 2022, as a member of the women’s relay team that finished fourth. Those were the COVID games when no families were able to go as spectators.
 
She says that this time in Milano-Cortina with her family members all in the spectator stands has been wonderful.
 
Courtney’s family has also helped her develop her pursuit of excellence.  Her mother, Rhonda, drove her five days a week (a three-hour return road trip) from Moncton to Fredericton to train and compete.
​
Moncton is known as the “hub” city of the Maritimes, but in short track speed skating Fredericton has become known as New Brunswick’s “hub” for the sport.
 
This is largely because of Derrick MacLeod who was the high-performance coach for the group of skaters in the capital city. MacLeod is now the provincial director and coach for Speed Skate New Brunswick. Three skaters from that group are now competing for Canada at the Milano-Cortina Games.

All of Canada suffered a mortal wound when eight people died in a fatal shooting in a school and residence in the small tight-knit, mining town of Tumbler Ridge in Northeast, British Columbia.
 
The RCMP said the suspect, teenager Jesse Van Rootselaar shot her mother and stepbrother at their residence before killing six others and injuring more than two dozen others and then shooting herself at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School two kilometres away.

The RCMP said the family home of Rootselaar had been the subject of police calls related to mental health and weapons issues in recent years.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner, Dwayne McDonald was strong, dignified and professional in how he handled the announcement to the media and the public. There was none of the grandstanding seen in similar circumstances south of the border, where representatives of every agency seem to feel the need to express their opinion and take credit.

Three girls and two boys, all ages twelve through thirteen, were killed in the Tumbler Ridge shooting, and one educator was also killed. Some of the injured were seriously injured, one had received a bullet wound to the head.

There was a moment of silence in the House of Commons, after which, the leaders of all the parties in the House paid tribute to the people of Tumber Ridge and the grieving families.

Speaking first, Prime Minister Carney was heartfelt in his remarks. “Mr. Speaker, this morning, families in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, woke to a different world. Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters began this day as their first day on earth without someone they loved dearly…

“What happened has left our nation in shock and all of us in mourning. Nine (later corrected to eight) people killed. More than 25 others injured. Some are still in hospital fighting for their lives. The investigation is ongoing, and we must allow law enforcement the time and space to do their work accordingly.”

The same spirit was evident in much of the rest of the world, with King Charles, and the leaders of France, India, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Australia, Norway, Ireland, and Croatia, sending condolences, according to PM Carney.

McAdam, N.B. Mayor Ken Stannix, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force serving in 2007 for NORAD in Colorado Springs, USA, when he learned that his son Chris had died in the Afghanistan war.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in January that the USA “never needed” NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) forces in Afghanistan and that the NATO troops there “stayed a little back from the front lines”.
 
Still grieving the loss of his son, killed along with five other Canadian soldiers in their (LAV III) armored vehicle in a roadside bombing near Kandahar City, Stannix calmly, but forcefully, says Trump’s statement “was made out of ignorance’’.
 
Considering that 158 Canadians lost their lives as part of NATO forces in the Afghan War, Donald Trump’s comments are outrageous.
 
Trump received five military service deferments during the Vietnam War: four for education and one for a medical condition known as bone spurs in his heels (these are allegedly caused by a calcium build-up.)