This summer, America played host to one of the biggest international events on the planet, the World Cup, drawing millions of foreigners to our cities and towns, our stadiums and our national parks, where many of them had never been before.<\/p>\n
The consensus was, America is awesome \u2014 visitors from Bolivia, Scotland, Uzbekistan, and everywhere in between marveled at the sheer size of our great nation, the diversity of our topography, the deliciousness of our foodstuffs, and, perhaps most importantly, the kindness of our people. (Not to mention, our eighth wonder of the world \u2014 Buc-ee\u2019s.)<\/p>\n
What a difference a month makes.<\/p>\n
Despite our friends in far-flung places singing our praises, now, to hear our closest neighbors tell it, America is nothing but a \u201cbully<\/a>\u201d and a \u201cthug<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n After trade negotiations with Canada collapsed this week, and President Trump announced a whopping 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods \u2014 including Canadian whiskey and hockey sticks \u2014 it\u2019s no surprise our friends to the north are less than pleased with their downstairs neighbors.<\/p>\n In our defense, not all of us are responsible for electing the bully and thug in question \u2014 and if\u00a0polls<\/a>\u00a0are any indication, most Americans agree with Canada that Trump is doing a terrible job. But still, it\u2019s hard to hear.<\/p>\n Especially since we love Canadians, and we very much want them to love us back.<\/p>\n But after spending years threatening to invade Canada and make it the \u201c51st state,\u201d and mocking its leaders with petty nicknames and school yard insults, Trump may have finally put Canadians\u2019 famous politeness to the test.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re at war when you\u2019re attacked, and we got attacked,\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Prime Minister Mark Carney. \u201cWe\u2019re going to hit back.\u201d<\/p>\n Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0Trump \u201cerratic,\u201d \u201cirresponsible,\u201d and \u201ca bad person\u201d who was \u201cnot to be trusted.\u201d<\/p>\n And Ontario Premier Doug Ford wasn\u2019t nearly as nice,\u00a0calling<\/a>\u00a0Trump the \u201cking of bankruptcies,\u201d and telling him to \u201cKiss my ass.\u201d<\/p>\n Again, these are our friends talking!<\/p>\n But their righteous indignation is justified \u2014 we are in the midst of an unpopular war that we can\u2019t seem to end, our economy is in the toilet, we\u2019re banning books, deporting children with cancer, shooting unarmed protesters, spreading measles, and covering up for one of our most notorious sex offenders. And we have the audacity to attack our nice and normal friends?<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just an issue of bad manners. Americans have long been accused of that.<\/p>\n It may be an election issue now.<\/p>\n States like Michigan, Maine, Alaska and Ohio, all of which border Canada and are important trade partners, also have another thing in common: highly competitive Senate races.<\/p>\n And despite all but Maine voting for Trump in the last election,\u00a0Cook Political Report<\/a>\u00a0lists all four as a toss-up.<\/p>\n The Canada trade issue is real these voters; for auto workers in Michigan who rely on Canadian aluminum and steel; for 95% of Mainers who rely on Canada for home heating; for Ohioans who use Canadian metals and machinery; for Alaskans who need Canadian crude.<\/p>\n So Democratic Senate candidates like Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Mary Peltola in Alaska have yet another important talking point to add to their reservoirs \u2014 that Trump\u2019s dumb trade war, much like his dumb actual war, is going to make voters\u2019 lives worse.<\/p>\n