When Hillary Clinton postulated in 2016 that half of Donald Trump’s supporters belonged to a “basket of deplorables” and were prone to “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic” views, she unwittingly gave voice to a rallying cry for many millions of feeling aggrieved and marginalized Americans. These Americans were seething at being sneered for being in possession of only a high school diploma and positioned permanently as occupants of the lower perches of the socio-economic ladder.
Clinton’s remark sliced through the remainder of the U.S. 2016 election campaign and proved to be ultimately more responsible for the Democrats’ loss of the White House than any spice former FBI Director James Comey may have added to the goulash of charges and counter-charges.
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Presidential debate: Clinton explains ‘deplorables’ comment, claims it characterized Trump -
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Mike Pence responds to Hillary Clinton’s ‘deplorables’ comment, says Trump campaign has disavowed David Duke -
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Donald Trump on the offensive after Hillary Clinton calls his supporters a ‘basket of deplorables’ -
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Mike Pence denounces Hillary Clinton ‘basket of deplorables’ comment -
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Clinton calls half of Trump supporters ‘the basket of deplorables’ at fundraiser -
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Clinton labels half of Trump supporters as ‘deplorables’
The deplorables are not confined inside the borders of the United States. Proudly self-described deplorable voters in Ontario communicated on and off-air their utter disdain for Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals as the recent provincial election wound its way through a series of dramas, including the virtually last-minute leadership change within the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.
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The deplorables were eager to not only unseat the Ontario provincial Liberals, but they wanted the party destroyed so badly it would be left with fewer remaining seats than the Progressive Conservatives of Canada salvaged following their annihilation federally in 1993. You may recall the PCs entered that election occupying 169 parliamentary seats and emerged with just two.
The Wynne-led Ontario Liberals awoke on the morning of June 8 facing the prospect of being reduced to irrelevance in a province they had led for the past 13 years. The seven seats the party salvaged were not enough to secure even official party status. That meant, unless the Rob Ford PCs extended the olive branch of official status, the Liberals would face a drastic cut in party funding and little or no research capacity.
New Democrats had elected 40 MPPs, but the deplorables dismissed their presence, happily pointing out leader Andrea Horwath had supervised three successive election party defeats.
Doug Ford is “the man” to Ontario’s deplorables.
Quebec and Alberta will be next to chart their courses. The Liberals of Phillippe Couillard in QC are in serious danger of being kicked to the curb by the still relatively new Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), co-founded by former Parti Quebecois cabinet minister Francois Legault. An email from a Montreal audience member giggled “Monsieur Green, nous ne sommes pas Les Deplorables. Nous sommes Les Miserables. Vive la difference.”
Alberta’s Rachel Notley-led New Democrats will be looking to voters on or before May 31, 2019. Warming up his broom is leader of the newly formed United Conservative Party and former Stephen Harper federal Conservative Party cabinet minister Jason Kenney.
The so-called ‘Big One’, Canada’s next federal election will happen Oct. 21 of next year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has stumbled badly and his hold on the PMO is tenuous. Ethics malfeasance, a disturbingly protective attitude toward suspected and convicted terrorists, including the issuance of a $10.5 million cheque to Omar Khadr.
During a town hall meeting with voters, the Prime Minister addressed a military veteran’s question concerning the government’s continued court battle with Canadian veterans. Staring at the veteran, Trudeau replied “Why are we still fighting certain veterans groups in court? Because they are asking for more than we can give right now.” Booing.
The veterans group in question is named Equitas. One of the Equitas members is former Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Major Mark Campbell. Major Campbell lost both legs to an improvised explosive device (IED) while fighting Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents in Afghanistan.
There was Mr. Trudeau’s calamitous trip to India and his wobbly performance concerning the building of pipelines necessary to deliver Canadian oil sands product to ocean-side terminals for international export, while some 700,000 barrels of foreign oil are imported daily to drive otherwise idle Canadian east coast refineries. This will not serve Trudeau well with voters particularly since during another town hall he mused about wanting to see the oil sands phased out.
During their final months in office, the federal Liberals and their challenged leader will be dealing with an unhappy provincial government in Saskatchewan, a fractious counterpart in Ontario and quite possibly an Alberta government led by Kenney who has already described the Prime Minister as an empty suit unable to focus on the most fundamental of tasks.
The deplorables will be heard from nationally, just as they will impact the Quebec and Alberta votes beforehand.
Roy Green is the host of the Roy Green Show on the Global News Radio network.
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