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Hmmm, if you blink you might just overlook these striking and very important insects.

Mimicry is a common occurrence in nature. It is a defence mechanism whereby a harmless animal adopts the warning system, such as a colour pattern, of a more dangerous animal and gains protection from predators because it is mistaken for something that might pose a threat to them. In the case of Bee Flies, they mimic Bumblebees but do not sting.

What is so special about Bee Flies?

Bee Flies can hover in midair, move very fast and maneuver with great skill – changing directions in the blink of an eye. They feed on flower nectar but are able to do so by hovering rather than perching on the flower using their long tongue to sip the nectar. Why is this important? Predators, such as crab spiders and ambush bugs, hide in flowers awaiting prey. But Bee Flies remain tantalizingly out of reach.

What do Bee Flies look like?

Like the Bumblebees they mimic, they are often brown and furry and make a buzzing sound when flying. But whereas Bumblebees have four wings, Bee Flies have only two. They also have large eyes, skinny long legs and very short antennae. They vary in size from a fraction of an inch to 1-1/2 inch and can be quite striking as the photos in this post demonstrate.

How long do they live and where?

It is not known definitively how long adult Bee Flies live but experts estimate only a month.

They live in gardens, woodlands, cliffs and grasslands and are often found in sandy or rocky areas. Bee Flies are found in North America, Europe and Asia with over 5,000 species worldwide and roughly 800 species in Canada.

Where do they fit in the quilt of nature?

Bee Flies play a crucial role in pollination. They are equally efficient pollinators of flowers as bees. But they are more frequent visitors and therefore are thought to pollinate more flowers than bees. And as we all know, if there were no pollinators, many plants and flowers – including some that are staple foods for humans – would die.

Bee Flies – one more  fascinating patch in the quilt of nature stitched together by threads of interdependence and natural balance.

~  Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Adorned Bee Fly · Banded Bee Fly · Bee flies · Greater Bee Fly · metaphor · Michael Robert Dtet · Nature · Tiger Bee FlyNo Comments.

Hmmm, maybe we should outright ban the term so it can no longer be used as a weapon.

First a declaration: I did not want to venture into the woke debate. It is so emotionally-charged and divisive that my point of view is guaranteed to offend one or more parties. But I feel obliged to speak up.

In preparation, I did my homework on the issue. Woke, as I understand it, was originally the African-American synonym for the General American word awake as far back as the 1930’s. It was used to refer to awareness of social and political issues affecting African-Americans.

The phrase was popularized by Black Lives Matter activists as they sought to raise awareness of police shootings by white people. Around 2010, it came to be used to refer to a broader awareness of social inequalities including racial injustice, sexism and LGBTQ rights. In 2017, it found its way into the Oxford English Dictionary.

In summary, woke originated as a term for promotion of liberal progressive ideology relating to systemic injustices and prejudices and had a comparatively positive connotation.

But in recent years, the phrase has been widely misappropriated. The political right has seized upon it to denote progressive or left-wing attitudes that conservatives view as self-righteous or pernicious. The connotation is this context is negative.

The end result is that we have arrived at the point where the term woke has become twisted and tortured beyond recognition. On one hand, it is a rally cry by liberals for social justice. On the other hand, a negative buzzword from anything deemed by conservatives to be too progressive.

Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is one of the worst offenders of the misappropriation of the term. He uses it as a flaming arrow in his relentless, often crude and unapologetic criticism of the Trudeau Liberals. It has become in some sense his unofficial campaign anti-slogan alongside Axe the Tax.

As the writer of one incisive CBC article argued, grappling with the use of the word woke is now … like trying to box a shadow. Whatever it originally meant, it has become a way to say something without saying anything.

Experience had demonstrated that language can be a dangerous weapon in the hands of those who twist it to serve their own ends. Sadly, the children’s rhyme sticks ands stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me no longer applies.

From my perspective as a writer, the only solution is to ban the term woke altogether and take the weapon out of the hands of those who willfully and maliciously misappropriate it. If it is to remain in the Oxford English Dictionary at all, the definition should be:

Abused and worn-out term beaten to death by opposing ideologies.

~ Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   awake · metaphor · Michae Robert Dyet · stay woke · woke · wokeismNo Comments.

Dear President-Elect Trump:

Custom dictates that I congratulate you on your decisive win in the U.S. presidential election. Unfortunately, I cannot bring myself to do so. I am not looking forward to your inauguration on January 20. The demands and threats you have made since winning the election do not sit well with me. There are several things in particular which I take issue with.

You should know that Canada has no desire whatsoever in becoming the 51^st state. We are proud to be the true north strong and free and that is not going to change anytime soon.

You have directed many comments and jabs at our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. I must advise you that there really is no mileage to be gained from these remarks. Justin Trudeau has fallen out of favour here and will either step down or be forced out in the near future.

Trudeau’s replacement, once an election happens, will almost certainly be Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. The two of you will no doubt have some lively exchanges as he has a sharp, acidic tongue much like you.

You have threatened punitive tariffs on all Canadian products if we do not do more to stem the migration of immigrants and illegal drugs over our border into the U.S. We will make a deal with you. We will shore up our border security if you take action to stop the flow of illegal guns into Canada from the U.S. Far too many criminals here are armed with weapons from the U.S.

You have expressed a desire to purchase Greenland from Denmark. I believe this desire relates to issues of national security as the country is geographically a part of the North American continent. We have no issue with this idea. But my understanding is that the country is not for sale at any price. Your efforts might be better directed elsewhere. However, we would not object if you decided to move there.

Canada and the U.S. have always been friends and allies albeit uneasy ones at times. We here in Canada are well aware that we are the little brother in this relationship. As former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (yes, he was Justin’s father) once remarked:

Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.

You have a lot of muscle to flex if you choose. But I would argue that Making American Great again does not have to come at the expense of Canada. There is much more to be gained from diplomacy with us than from threats.

If I may be so bold as to suggest it, perhaps try to channel the late Jimmy Carter. Yes, he was a Democrat but you should not hold that against him. Carter aspired to make government competent and compassionate and was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for working to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.

You may believe that might makes right. But that is a double-edged sword that can wound both parties equally.

~ Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Donald Trump · Greenland · Justin Trudeau · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Pierre Trudeau · tariffsNo Comments.

You know how I dread the whole year? Well, this time I’m only going to dread one day at a time. Cartoon Character Charlie Brown

Hmmm, is there a formula for New Year’s Resolutions that we can actually keep?

I have never been a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions. I should view the idea more favourably since the concept is a positive one. The New Year offers a blank slate — an opportunity to get things right. When we set New Year’s resolutions, aspiring to a goal and following through on it, we gain a sense of control over what is happening in our lives.

However, the success rate for keeping New Year’s Resolutions is very low. A quick Google search produced this statistic: Approximately 30 percent of people make New Year’s resolutions, but fewer than 10 percent are successful at keeping them. Twenty-three percent of people quit their resolution by the end of the first week.

To make matters worse, there are some worrisome developments that will unfold in January making it difficult to maintain a positive outlook. Donald Trump will be sworn in as President of the United States once again. He is already rattling cages, making demands and issuing threats indicating that his tenure will be a disruptive one.

Here in Canada, the Liberal federal government is coming apart at the seams. If Justin Trudeau does not step down and/or call an election or prorogue parliament, the opposition parties will topple the government with a non-confidence vote. It is a foregone conclusion that Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who presents himself as our saviour but may just be our next big mistake, will become PM.

For our collective peace of mind, we need to put our focus on what we can control individually. Albert Einstein provided a simple model we can follow: Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

We all have a sizable accumulation of yesterdays behind us. I did the math in my case: 24,000 + yesterdays stacked up behind me. There are a few actions taken I wish I could slip back in time and change. But none of us can turn back the clock. What we can do is extract some wisdom from our missteps and apply them to the days that lie ahead.

Most of us understand the logic of living for today but often struggle to consistently put it into practice. The key may be to simply. What are the small things we can do to make today a pleasure and bring a smile to our face? Focus on these things and reward ourselves by indulging in them.

Most of us do not have much influence over what tomorrow will bring in the big picture lens. But all of us have the capacity to hope for better things. Hope may seem abstract but I believe it can be a powerful force if we all nurture and feed it. Hope can define our tomorrows.

And so, the back-to-basics formula for New Year’s Resolutions can be boiled down to: Learn, Live and Hope. A powerful trilogy that each of us can put into action.

~ Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Albert Einstein · Charlie Brown · Donald Trump · Justin Trudeau · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · New Year's ResolutionsNo Comments.

Hmmm, what if we turn away from the news for a day and embrace the simple things in our life?

It is my custom at this time of year to cast a look back at the year that is ending and weigh the implications of the major events that populated it. But the major news stories of the year are mostly bleak: war and bloodshed, extreme and destructive weather events, the filthy rich getting even more filthy rich while growing numbers of the poor live in encampments, the machinations of politics and the rhetoric of those who inhabit it.

Not topics I can find inspiration in. So I think it would be better to turn away from the news and look to things closer to heart and home. In that spirit, I ask that you:

Fight back against the urge to look the other way when you encounter the destitute panhandling for handouts. Consider that There but for the grace of God go I. Offer them whatever spare change you might have. I keep spare change in the console of my car for this purpose.

Count your blessings and be grateful for them. Count your tribulations too and if they are fewer in number than your blessings, again be grateful. If they outnumber your blessings, fine someone to help you carry the load and do not feel it is a sign of weakness to do so.

When you witness the inconsiderate acts of others, give them the grace to be flawed and human. If the magnitude of these acts is too great to warrant grace, trust that greater forces will hold them to account in due time.

Take pleasure in the simple things that have no dollar value: a walk in the woods, a cloudless blue sky, a smile offered by a stranger as they pass by you, the undying loyalty of a treasured pet. These things are priceless and can never be devalued.

Ask for help if you need it and accept it gratefully when offered. Offer help it if is asked and it is in your means to give it. Give thanks for random acts of kindness that you witness.

My Christmas Wish for you is to find contentment and joy in your little corner of the world, to look no further than that when you lay your head down on the pillow at night and to sleep peacefully in the knowledge that your grace is well earned.

Merry Christmas and the peace of the season to you.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Merry Christmas · metaphor · Michael Robert DyetComments Off on My Christmas Wish 2024

Hmmm, can we find inspiration in a frigid winter day?

It is a wickedly cold winter day as I pen this post. The temperature dropped like a stone as high winds blew in a cold front overnight. A day to hunker down inside and read a good book.

As I take a break from reading and look out the window, I see the scarecrow outline of a tree swaying and pitching in the bitter wind. Withered leaves, which fell after the last fall cleanup, tumble and swirl and cartwheel past the tree paying it little heed.

The scarecrow tree is not dead but rather in its winter slumber. The leaves that cartwheel past it have expired but will in the fullness of time decay and fertilize the spring growth of springs yet to come. They hold life within them as much as the slumbering tree does.

It occurs to me that our lives inevitably pass through seasons of dormancy. Stepping back and withdrawing inward, weary of the trials and tribulations, to rest, recharge and gather strength for another season of growth and renewal.

The scarecrow tree and the cartwheeling leaves – a random act of metaphor for those times when we retreat and live to bloom anew on another day.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   a new day · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · tumbling leaves · winter treeComments Off on Random Act of Metaphor: Scarecrow Tree

I go to nature to be soothed, and to have my senses put in order.

John Burroughs, American Naturalist, 1837 – 1921

Hmmm, in the midst of so much discontent and chaos, where can I seek refuge?

Donald Trump making outrageous demands and threats before he even takes office. Canada Post workers on strike and bickering with management. Doug Ford’s I make or break the rules as I see fit leadership style. War in the Middle East. War between Russia and Ukraine. Monster snowstorms in cottage country. The ever widening gap between the have’s and the have not’s.

Deep sigh. I need to escape from reality for a while for the sake of my sanity. My main avenue of escape is always nature. At this time of year, when I am hibernating indoors, reliving my best insect sightings from the warmer months is the next best thing to being among them.

Pipevine Swallowtail: Usually stays south of the Great Lakes

Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies, lookalike cousins to the more common Black Swallowtail and Spicebush Swallowtail, do not often wander north into Ontario. But last summer they defied the norm. I had to shoot through foliage to capture this beauty in July at the Urquhart Butterfly Garden in Hamilton. It perched perfectly to show off its orange eyespots and white checkered wing border.

Tapered Mason Wasp: Conservation Status – Vulnerable in Canada

I ticked this lifer off my list in July also at the Urquhart Butterfly Garden. It had the good fashion sense to perch on a pinkish flower for effect showing off its yellow stripes, oversized wings and the tapered shape that gives it its’ name. This wasp is quite small (about a ½ inch) and easy to overlook if you are not attuned to miniature creatures like it.

Furrowed Horse Fly: Conservation Status – Imperiled in Canada

As flies go, horseflies are quite large and chunky but also very photogenic. I came across this Furrowed Horse Fly at Dundas Valley Conservation Area in late July. The bluish stripes across the large brown eyes look as though they were painted on by a make-up artist. The intricate veins in the wings also have an artist’s touch.

Arrow Clubtail: Conservation Status – Imperiled in Canada

My late season highlight was this impressive Arrow Clubtail dragonfly found in September on the Rotary Riverside Trail outside of Caledonia. The Grand River is known to be a hotspot for this species in Ontario. At an impressive 2-1/2” with emerald green eyes and arrow shaped markings, it is hard to miss. This one was unusually cooperative and posed for several minutes.

I share John Burroughs’ sentiment. Nature is my enduring metaphor for peace, beauty and all things being in their proper order. At tumultuous times like these, it is my much-needed escape from reality, my refuge and my source of hope for better days ahead.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Arrow Clubtail · Furrowed Horse Fly · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Pipevine Swallwtail · Tapered Mason WaspComments Off on My Virtual Escape from the Chaos

Hmmm, is that thorn really a thorn or is it something much more interesting?

That rather odd looking thorn you notice might actually be a Treehopper – very tiny critters in an insect group related to Cicadas. It is estimated that there are about 3,200 species worldwide with the lion’s share residing in the tropics. However, approximately 260 species can be found in North America. The ones I most often see are Buffalo Treehoppers (the green ones in this post) for which there are 16 species.

What is so special about Treehoppers?

The fascinating thing about Treehoppers is that they are barely recognizable as living creatures let alone as insects. Their body mimics thorns with spikes, horns, crests or other rather bizarre body modifications. These features are a form of camouflage that offers them protection from predators and often hide them from our perception.

What do Treehoppers look like?

As mentioned above, they do not look like insects at all. Their tiny size – from 2 mm to 2 cm – makes them difficult to find and recognize. Unless you are aware of their existence and attuned to their appearance, they look like thorns or parts of vegetation. They do have specialized muscles in their hind legs that unfurl to help them jump although this feature is hard to detect.

How long do they live and where?

Treehoppers only live a few months. Young Treehoppers are found on herbaceous shrubs and grasses. Adults frequent hardwood trees. They have pointy, tube-shaped mouthparts that they use to pierce plant stems and feed on sap.

Where do they fit in the quilt of nature?

Treehoppers engage in the practice of mutualism – two species working together in a manner that benefits both species. Excess sap released from plants when they pierce them attracts ants which come to feed on the sap. The ants in turn provide protection from predators for Treehoppers. Some species have also formed mutualistic relationships with wasps and even geckos.

Tiny Treehoppers: One more fascinating patch in the quilt of nature stitched together by threads of interdependence and natural balance.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · quilt of nature · TreehoppersComments Off on Nature as a Quilt: Tiny Treehoppers

Hmmm, can you put a price tag on your vote?

We have launched into a new era of government’s strategies for currying favour with voters. Greasing the voter’s palm is not new. But now all pretense has been stripped from the process.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford welcomed in this new era with the announcement that his government will be sending a $200 cheque to all Ontario residents early in 2025. No bothersome needs-based calculation involved. All palms are being greased regardless of income to the tune of $3 billion in total.

Ford insists this handout is not tied to an early provincial election. We all know better. He will without question call an election in the spring of 2025 because support for the Conservatives is strong. Ford has pegged the cost of buying a vote at $200 per head.

Now Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is adopting a similar strategy. He announced on Thursday a new suite of measures, to alleviate affordability pressures, under the pseudonyms Working Canadians Rebate and GST Holiday.

Front and center in these measures is a $250 handout to working Canadian residents which, as I understand it, excludes seniors. The going rate for a federal vote is apparently $50 more than for a provincial vote. There is a lip service, needs-based element in this case – an income of less than $150,000 in 2023.

The GST Holiday will be in effect from December 14 through February 15 and will apply to all food as well as booze, children’s clothing and toys, books and newspapers and Christmas trees. But you will need to do your Xmas shopping in a 10 day, door-crasher blitz to reap the benefits.

These measures are also meant to extend an olive branch to the NDP whose support the Liberals need to stay in power. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh’s response: “The NDP will vote for this measure because working people are desperate for relief and we’re proud we delivered for them again.” Translation: We made them bribe you so vote for us.

No one is likely to turn down these handouts and rebates. We all want more money in our pockets and more spending power. But do not be hoodwinked by the rhetoric. The Liberals are lagging 17 percentage points back of the first-place Conservatives and are stinging after two byelection defeats. The handouts are seed money for the next federal election.

This is certainly not the first time a government has dangled incentives to the public in advance of an election or to shore up tumbling support. But the sheer transparency of the efforts now are disconcerting:

Here is a fistful of money and some financial benefits. No strings attached, you understand. We are just trying to do right by you. If it happens to influence you to vote for us – well, that’s just a happy coincidence.

Welcome to the era of transparent, unapologetic vote buying. We finally know what the price tag per head is calculated to be. The question remaining is: Will it actually work for Ford or Trudeau? My vote is not for sale? Is yours?

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week

Tags:   Doug Ford · metaphor · Michae Robert Dyet · Pierre Trudeau · Working Canadians RebateComments Off on Is Your Vote for Sale?

Hmmm, like him or hate him, Trump’s path to victory was well mapped out.

In January 2025, Donald Trump will officially become president of the U.S. again. It is a development many of us north of the border hoped would not happen. It looked to be a close race once Joe Biden stepped aside in favour of Kamala Harris. But in the end it was a decisive victory for Trump and the Republican Party.

Trump is now very publicly handpicking members for the key roles in his administration. These selections, to no one’s surprise, are individuals whose political stripes align with his own often radical views and who tied their wagons to his campaign. A few examples:

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – Health & Human Resources Secretary
• Elon Musk (who donated a whopping $188 million to the Trump campaign) – Department of Government Efficiency
• GOP Rep Matt Goetz – Attorney General

It is safe to say that the next four years will be rocky ones for the U.S. as well as for Canada whose fate and fortune is closely tied to the U.S. Whatever happens south of the border, has an immediate and significant ripple effect up here.

I have been puzzling over Trump’s decisive victory and the factors that came into play in the election. Certainly dissatisfaction with the Biden-led Democrats was one of those factors. The Republicans may have taken over the White House regardless of who their candidate was.

It is tempting to suggest that the Republican’s victory may have been by an even wider margin with a different candidate – someone less divisive than Trump. But this may be too simplistic an interpretation.

Donald Trump’s primary base of support has always been working class whites – a group that has been steadily losing wealth and income in the U.S. Trump’s Make America Great Again platform and the policies that go with it are a rallying cry for this increasingly discontented segment of the population.

Cards on the table: I do not like Donald Trump. The way he conducts himself, the things he says and some of the actions he takes are offensive to me. At times I wonder how those who voted for him can excuse these behaviours. But that is an outsider’s point of view.

Discontent is a powerful force – a grey cloud that hangs over the heads of those who feel pushed aside. Their collective desire to be out from under that cloud is, I believe, what got Trump elected. Trump promised, albeit often in unsavoury terms and with radical actions, to blast that cloud away and bring back sunny conditions for his base of support.

Like him or hate him, Trump’s path to victory was well mapped out from day one. We can argue with his politics but not with his strategy.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week

Tags:   Democrat · Donald Trump · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · RepublicanComments Off on Trump’s Victory: Cloud of Discontent