i'll reiterate that ratifying ceta would largely require making the same concessions to france that we don't want to make to the united states, and the united states would be correct to raise eyebrows over that. however, the reality is that there's next to no chance that's going to happen. ceta is dead.

nor does it matter much. there's no possibility that the eu will replace the united states as a trading partner for canada. as such, poking fingers in the eyes of the americans on this just isn't very smart, which is the general conclusion i'm drawing about mr. carney - he seems to, in truth, be quite the fucking dunce. there are ways to replace the united states that make sense. the eu would play almost no role in this.

so, i'm feeling a little bit turned off and outwardly irritated by watching the prime minister engage in these outward displays of affection with european leaders that i don't agree with on much of anything and would rather keep at an arm's length, but i'm realizing this is mostly for show. it's certainly not going to make me more likely to vote for these guys, that's for sure. but it's not likely to have much of a substantive impact.

it's political theatre, and the demographic that carney is targeting in canada is mostly older white people that lean to the right of the political spectrum. if most young canadians find the display to be somewhere between disturbing and sickening, they should take solace in realizing that he's speaking to his base, which is dying white boomers, and that it won't really mean much at the end of the day.

i would just like to express my opinion that i hope this is over now and that i'm not required to stomach it again any time soon.

if the pmo could stop wasting so much time on this and start focusing on some more serious trade negotiations, that would be encouraging.