Cindy, Rachel has a different approach to her shows and I have a great appreciation of the fact that she avoids tweet talk. IMO, that’s a purposeful distraction, a trap that much of the media sadly falls for. The only problem that I have with Maddow is it can often take 15 minutes for her to get to the point of a story because she repeats herself way too much.

I like All In w/Chris Hayes because he is drawn to doing town hall meetings with guests. Last one was in Michigan, Ann Arbor and Flint. Michael Moore was on the show talking about the water crisis and how so many of the voters voted for everything but the president, leaving that part of the ballot blank. The numbers were so high that it was a huge factor for the way Michigan’s vote (sadly) landed. That’s a big deal and no one else is talking about it.

Elmer, this isn’t Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood for pete’s sake, traitor trump deserves all the flack he’s catching regardless of where it’s coming from.

Such comments insult me and you, whether you know it or care at all. It doesn't matter beyond that and no, I don't have an insular or naive attitude about such things. Perhaps just the opposite, a more worldly and informed one than some others who have been in the conversation.

I am not interested in American politics or who is running your country, but when he talks about how he could cause the "ruination of Canada" I have lots to say, I just don't share my opinions on here. Lukkiirish my sister in law is getting the book and wants me to read it first. I don't know if I can stomach it. We also have a friend who just wrote a book called the Trumping of America. She is buying that one as well. https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000038498031/Pamela-Hines-The-Trumping-of-America

I think it's rude and disrespectful to criticize a neighbor, no matter what it issue is. It has nothing to do with what my opinion is or isn't about what the foreigner is criticizing.

That makes no sense. Criticism is criticism no matter who's delivering it. You're willing to accept it from an American, but not a Canadian.

Maddow is it can often take 15 minutes for her to get to the point of a story because she repeats herself way too much.

I think that's part of the reason why I like her. My brain has a chance to absorb what she's saying. ;)

cindymac, you don't agree or, more likely, you don't get it. No problem for me either way.

Enjoy what remains of your weekend.

if you read a list of Trump complaints from Americans and Canadians without knowing the poster's nationality how would you know who to diss? Sounds like discrimination to me.

Elmer, those comments might insult you, but please, don’t speak for others. Did you ever consider, that just this once, you might have it wrong? Because it would seem that the majority of posters feel differently.

The whole purpose of talking about this stuff is to see things from a different perspective, I’ve had an aha moment more than once by reading the commentary and seeing how the majority feels.

Cherryfizz, I don’t blame you for hesitating to read it, I did as well. It’s like going to see a scary movie, you want to, but you’re scared to. I just finished the first chapter, so far so good.

I think I’ve heard of that book, but then again there are so many out there I may have it confused with another. I will check it out though, thanks!

Moonie, that I think is in part why it is of interest to me. I don’t get CNN, we only have MSN and that’s fine but all branches in the media are biased. Bob Woodward is said to be the exception and I really want to understand all of this in a more factual way. Frumpy is the last person I ever thought I’d be reading about. I couldn’t stand the photo of his ugly mug on the cover. The first thing I did was take it off and stick it in the bottom of our junk drawer. Bleh....

I have no problem with people of other nations criticizing our country...esp if we can learn from them how to do it better, such as education and infant mortality and healthcare. But I do find it embarrassing when they know more about our country than our own citizens. (I'm used to the fact that they know more about my country than I know about theirs!)

I was getting my hair cut and mentioned to the hairdresser that we planned a vacation to New Mexico. She replied that the only thing she knows about that is "don't drink the water." I had to explain to her that NM was in the US and is not Mexico! SMH

OT comment here :

Annie - My mother is from New Mexico and I still remember when I was growing up that that I often had to explain that NM is a state and that she wasn't from a foreign country.

As for the book - I don't plan on reading it. I just don't think I can absorb any more details on this topic.

So...I don't need a visa for New Mexico? Or Hawaii? lol

Don't need one for Alaska either, chisue!

I intend to read Fear - and I am Canadian. We are greatly affected by what happens in the U.S. I am most definitely NOT a Trump supporter.

I read it, loved it. Wonderfully write by a true journalist. Most of the things I knew but there were some surprises. I will say this.: 45 is as stupid and more so than I ever thought. And his kids are right up there.

"that’s fine but all branches in the media are biased. Bob Woodward is said to be the exception and I really want to understand all of this in a more factual way. "

It's important to distinguish between news operations and opinion/editorial operations at print and TV media companies. News and opinion departments are supposed to be completely separate with a wall between them. Fox News being a notable exception with consistently biased "news" reporting. And opinion shows that viewers think ARE news.

Among the others, even those with with a more conservative editorial and management slant (like the Wall Street Journal) try to keep news reporting neutral. Same is true of print media with a less conservative editorial bias. Be careful to know whether you're watching or reading a news piece, or an opinion (column or TV personality/non- news anchor) piece. Responsible media outlets also try to be careful to present all sides of opinion - both the more editorially liberal NY Times and Washington Post, for example, have walls separating news from editorial departments and have very conservative columnists along with less conservative ones producing regular opinion pieces. On CNN opinion shows, for example, they'll have individuals representing both sides of an issue.

Bob Woodward has a mixed reputation among his peers. He has an outsized ego and a "this is right because I say so" attitude. He's done a lot of important investigative reporting but he doesn't always get it right and rarely or never admits to missing the boat when he flubs things.

From what I read about his methodology for this book, he presented the incidents as told by the witnesses and didn't add his own commentary. He lets the reader draw their own conclusions.

I've just finished it. It's soberly written, very detailed, and much of the book concerns foreign policy. It's also, in a low-key way, terrifying.

I don't intend to read it. I already know more than enough. As a Canadian, I have every right to criticize, especially since he says (as cherryfizz mentioned), he could ruin Canada if he wanted. If we don't capitulate, he threatens yet even more tariffs (than he has already applied) on our auto industry. Yeah, I think I have the right to criticize a bully.

I’ve never heard one negative thing said about Bob Woodward ever so I guess my perception is different. When it comes to the political climate that we’re currently in, even the news agencies who try to stay unbiased and show all sides are failing to accomplish that goal, again just my perspective.

Dee, CherryFizz, Debbie and any other Canadian I’ve missed, feel free, we need all the voices we can get!

Now that I think about it, I think I will read it. I don't expect to be more surprised than I already am, but you never know!

"even the news agencies who try to stay unbiased and show all sides are failing to accomplish that goal, again just my perspective."

You said you don't get CNN so you must not have an impression of it from watching regularly.

What newspapers do you read regularly, to form this opinion?

I lived thru Watergate too and Bernstein and Woodward were my idols then and now. Bernstein is a liberal, Woodward is not. He's neutral and leans more conservative. He's won Pulitzer prizes for his work and tRump praised him before he realized what the book was about. tRump IS as dumb as a box of rocks.

I record Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace and Rachel Maddow. I think they’ve covered the book enough that I won’t bother reading it.

I know someone who instead of watching shows, is following a broad scope of reporters and people involved through the twitter feed. She was telling me over a year ago that the news shows only show minute fraction of what is going on and it was going to get much worse before it gets better. I tried following twitter for a while but it was way too intense.

I won't follow him on Twitter either. Too much drama. All.the.time. lol He never stops creating havoc and misery which seems to deflect from most of the other havoc and misery he's causing. I like CNN. At least they seem to report the news for what it is, and not make it into something they want it to be. I get a kick out of Anderson Cooper's incredulous facial expressions that he can't seem to hide at times. ha ha

No. sick of everything about him. I don't have to buy a book to know this president is corrupt.

Another NM.

back in the days of fax.

Wanted to fax to Dh in NM.

lady in copy store in TX said she didn’t know how to fax to a foreign country.

This book is more about his incompetence than his corruption. The corruption was a given based on his history, but his incompetence wasn't quite so obvious until he got into the WH. I suspect Woodward had a lot of interviews with Reince.

Hey, I didn't get a flag on my post. Somebody must like me.

mayflowers, thanks for clearing that up. That said, I don't need to buy a book to know that he is incompetent.

I like you pk, haven’t seen you much lately, glad you joined.

How many millions on both sides of the border, drink water daily from the Great Lakes?

I was flummoxed and flabbergasted when we heard a report, early in his tenure, that the U.S. was cutting its support of the cross-border agency that's charged with keeping the Great Lakes in good shape by something like 97%.

Does anyone know whether this is accurate? I surely hope not!

ole joyfuelled ... sometimes (more or less) "fuelled" by water from the Great Lakes

I believe that is true joyful, I’ve seen commercials where Senator Debbie Stabinow (D) Michigan talks about it. Hey, the state’s republican govenor poisoned a whole community with bad water, now it’s the republican president’s turn. I can’t wait until these *ss *oles are voted out.

What did the governor do to poison a community's water?

You haven’t heard or read about Govenor Snyder and the mess in Flint, Michigan? They were cut off of clean water and put on Flint River water instead to save money. It was contaminated and has poisoned thousands of residents. They knew about it and did nothing. It’s a poor community. People including kids have gotten lesionaires disease and lead poisoning. They were being provided bottled water by the state, but Snyder cut it off almost a year ago saying it was no longer the states responsibility, mean while their pipes are still laced with lead and they are still either unable to drink the water, or unable to trust that the state hasn’t lied to them again.

Google it.

As the poster boy for years of the value of freedom and democracy, as the U.S. has been, imagine the consternation raised in the minds of many of the people who have yearned for those ways and hoped one day to emulate them in various parts of the world where those values are rare to non-existent, as they contemplate the present situation in the U.S.

And I can assure you that were some freedom and democracy to appear in their area ... way more than 50% of the population would be voting.

Until, maybe, after a few hundred years and the population had taken such luxuries more or less for granted ...

... they didn't bother to vote, either.

Vigilance is the price of freedom. Of democracy, as well.

ole joyful

lukki, it may be that the governor responded poorly politically and otherwise to this problem but to accuse him of poisoning a water supply managed by a variety of agencies not under his direct control is a bit dramatic.

joyful, if the US is such a miserable place with so many show stopping problems, why do so many Canadians want to emigrate and do emigrate to the US in large numbers but Americans in comparable numbers (percentage wise) aren't interested in moving north? Doesn't that say something about Canada?

We aren't very vigilant in caring for our freedom and democracy, either, as something like 50% of eligible voters vote here, as well.

I didn't mean to be critical of the U.S. only - we're pretty well both in the same boat ... but our political situation may be some less in divided silos, perhaps.

Various other largely free and democratic societies have varying levels of vigilance with regard to preserving them, as well, I think.

ole joyful

Elmer....I thought you were inquiring with a genuinly interested question but obviously it was bait so you could once again try to correct or dispute another’s (as in my) perspective. It won’t happen again, I can guarantee you that, I’m no longer going to give you the time of day, life is just too short to deal with the frustrations you like to impose.

What’s wrong with you anyways? Why do you want to converse with a bunch of women when you obviously have no respect for the majority of their opinions?

Joyful, you owe no one an apology for speaking your own perspective. someone here just feels he has the right to correct and sensor that’s all.

lukki, I wasn't egging you on. I was looking for more info, because to say that a governor poisoned a water supply administered by perhaps hundreds or thousands of workers is political and not thoughtful to me. It's about as unthoughtful as giving a US President credit, or blame, for what the economy does during their term, when they really have little or no control over what happens. If you have nothing further to say, you're just confirming my suspicion that your comment is vapid.

Many of my best personal friends are women. Friends of mine and not of my wife's, and that's been a lifelong phenomenon for me. And yes, if you put me into a Senate confirmation, the women coming forward would speak to my support and respect for them as individuals, not any of the nonsense we're hearing about our third rate Supreme Court nominee.

Edit to add PS

"What’s wrong with you anyways? "

Yeah, you always so rude? Try being a bit more polite.

I sure can't figure out why you hold such a grudge against Canadians, Elmer. This is certainly how it appears to me. Canadians are delightful people and I've never met one I didn't like!

I have no grudge against Canadians or anyone else. Except perhaps against closed minded people anywhere or those who think how things are in their areas and in their world are how things are or ought to be everywhere else.

My thoughts about the rudeness and inappropriateness of criticizing a neighbor were previously explained.

The tRump disaster concerns (and negatively impacts) the entire world, not just the USA. We should not blame anyone else, whether they are US residents or not, for criticizing this awful administration.

If anyone believes that what is happening in the US with Trump doesn't affect other countries in the world, then you might be living in a bubble.

Living in a bubble seems to be the phrase of the week. I'll match my global experiences, knowledge, attitudes and exposure to anyone and am unlikely to come up short. Including compared to an awful lot of insular people who participate in this forum whose shortsightedness and limited grasp of the broad world around them is so very obvious with the comments they make.