King Charles’s Shameful Speech
King Charles’s Shameful Speech
King Charles opened Canada’s Parliament yesterday, the first monarch to do so since 1977. The monarchy is riding a surge of support thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump. Before he started talking about Canada as the 51st state, nearly 70 percent of Canadians said the monarch should not play a prominent role in Canadian society. A new poll published yesterday showed that has now fallen to 56 percent.
How did the King use the spotlight? He spread woke, revisionist nonsense. “I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded territory of the Algonquin and the Anishinaabeg people,” he began. “This land acknowledgement is a recognition of shared history as a nation, while continuing to deepen my own understanding. It is my great hope that in each of your communities and collectively as a country, a path is found toward truth and reconciliation in both word and deed.”
Land acknowledged is virtue signaling at its worst. It’s cringey political correctness that spreads a false view of history—and if there were actual injustices, they do nothing to right them. It’s a shame to see the King participate. Worse was his talk of “truth and reconciliation,” a term most commonly associated with the aftermath of apartheid in South Africa. King Charles should have used the trip to remind Canadians of the history they can be proud of—ultimately history that points back to God (something I explored in a Trumpet World episode we filmed in Canada earlier this year). Instead, he used the speech to make the nation feel ashamed.
The same day Mr. Trump posted: “I told Canada, which very much wants to be part of our fabulous Golden Dome system, that it will cost $61 billion if they remain a separate, but unequal, nation, but will cost zero dollars if they become our cherished 51st state.” Meanwhile, Canadians heaped praise on King Charles for saying “The True North is indeed strong and free”—interpreted as a rebuke to Mr. Trump’s ambitions to incorporate Canada.
But if Canada wants to thrive, it needs a better vision than We’re inclusive, tolerant and not America. Sadly, King Charles missed the opportunity to give it that. But our Canadian correspondent Abraham Blondeau won’t. Watch for his coming article on King Charles’s visit.
George Friedman beat me to the punch. Later this week, I plan to write on Germany’s troop deployment to Lithuania, and the Geopolitical Futures founder just put out a great piece on the same subject. “Germany’s decision to deploy a permanent force of 5,000 soldiers to Lithuania is extremely significant because it signals the next phase of a new geopolitical era,” he wrote. Germany’s first foreign military base since the end of World War II is a “critical shift in Europe.”
Germany has long been “first among equals in the EU,” he wrote, though they have “been careful to avoid asserting military power.”
“Germany’s decision to deploy troops in Europe—which has been welcomed by the U.S. as well as other European countries—violates its commitment to modest ambitions for European leadership,” he wrote. “Put simply, the deployment to Lithuania could presage the reemergence of Germany as a geopolitical force.”
Peter Zeihan made similar comments when the base was announced back in December. With America pulling away from global commitments, Germany is stepping up to play the role of Europe’s security guarantor—just like Herbert W. Armstrong warned for decades.
More court cases went against the right in America yesterday. The Supreme Court refused to get involved in a case where a pupil was sent home from school for wearing a T-shirt saying: “There are only two genders.” Coming from the UK, where almost every half-decent high school requires pupils to wear a blazer and tie, America’s lack of dress codes is baffling. But more baffling is the First Circuit Court’s judgment that the T-shirt caused harm and therefore could be banned. Only justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. The Alliance Defending Freedom, which supported the student, pointed out that “the school actively promotes its view about gender through posters and ‘Pride’ events, and it encourages students to wear clothing with messages on the same topic—so long as that clothing expresses the school’s preferred views on the subject.” Now it’s not just one crazy school believing that stating “There are only two genders” is harmful—the court system has backed it.
Also yesterday, a federal judge struck down another of Trump’s executive orders—this one mandating that employees of law firm WilmerHale lose their security clearance and access to government buildings and limiting the firm’s access to government contracts. WilmerHale employed Special Counsel Robert Mueller before and after his attempt to manufacture dirt on President Trump during his Russiagate probe.
Firms like this one and Perkins Coie worked with the Democrats to try to overthrow an elected president. Yet the president, who controls the executive office, has to keep working with these firms, according to U.S. District Judge Richard Leon. Judges were silent during massive abuses of power from former President Barack Obama, only to step up now to tie up President Trump in court cases.
“Radical leftists are trying to pretend that any of the 700 federal district court judges have veto power over the president’s decisions,” wrote Trumpet executive editor Stephen Flurry. “And again, they are contorting the Constitution to their own will to keep Americans weak and under threat!” For more, read his article “A Nation of 700 Presidents.”
IN OTHER NEWS
The Russian military is making territorial gains in Ukraine, capturing four border villages in the northern Sumy region, it announced on Monday. This comes after Russia’s largest drone-and-missile attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war in 2022. Clearly Russian President Vladimir Putin is not seeking a lasting peace. Our In Brief has more.
SpaceX’s Starship experienced another “rapid unscheduled disassembly” after launch yesterday (in everyday English, that means the rocket blew up). It was a test flight, so this is not a massive failure but a step toward much cheaper spaceflight. It’s part of Musk’s goal to colonize Mars—a worthy aim but not one he will achieve.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants to legalize cannabis, he said today after the London Drugs Commission published the findings from a yearlong report on the issue. I find it astonishing that any politician could call for this after seeing how destructive decriminalization has been in cities across the U.S. and Canada. A before-and-after visit to just one of these major cities should be enough to show what a terrible idea it is. Read “How Not to Win the War on Drugs” for more.
Jewish hostages kidnapped by Hamas have spent 600 days in captivity today. Newspapers, pressure groups and families are using the day to draw attention to their suffering and call for their relief. Unfortunately it’s also being used to pressure the Israeli government to negotiate with terrorists to get the hostages out. Negotiating with an organization that just wants to murder Jews is a false hope—it cannot lead to a lasting peace for Israel.
The latest reason to be angry at Israel: They are giving food to Palestinian Arabs in Gaza. After spending months accusing Israel of trying to deliberately starve civilians in Gaza, the UN is angry that Israel is working with a new American-Israeli company to hand out food. The aim is to give free food directly to Gazans and avoid corrupt-UN affiliated organizations that feed only Hamas. Hamas responded by trying to stop its own people from getting food. One checkpoint was overrun, and the situation remains unclear. There are clearly initial problems, but it’s just as clear that Israel is not trying to starve ordinary Gazans.
No more student visa interviews will be granted after President Trump ordered a halt yesterday. He wants much greater scrutiny of applicants’ social media before they’re allowed into the U.S., and he’s asked embassies not to schedule any more student visa interviews until these are in place. With foreign students openly supporting Hamas at American universities, you can understand why. But if sustained, such a move could be very disruptive to our own Herbert W. Armstrong College.
