Subject: Re: 51st State
Plus, "jokes" are real. In the sense that they can be a deliberate tool of diplomacy and politics. If Trump is constantly and repeatedly making a joke about Canada that is demeaning to Canada, it is a very real dominance play to emphasize publicly and irrefutably that the U.S. regards Canada as a nation not deserving the baseline respect accorded another sovereign country.

Demeaning other countries has real consequences. And those who say “it’s just a joke”, always seem surprised when those consequences come due.

On an individual level, it’s the guy who picks himself off the floor, having been punched in the mouth after telling a guy that he’d love to screw the guy’s wife.

“What the hell? It was just a joke!”


Some jokes will get you punched in the mouth.


And nobody else in the bar will have an ounce of sympathy.