July 4th thoughts from a Canadian

I look at the Queen, and I look at the president, and then back to the Queen… and monarchy just doesn’t seem that bad right now.

But I also reflect on the fact that some worldwide “reputation research” ranked Canada #1 recently, in large part because of Trudeau’s international charm, while the Trumpster has sunk American reputation to recent lows.

And I’m probably not going where you think I’m going with this.

Because I don’t really want our Prime Minister to make us well-liked. I want him to serve our interests and do the right thing. Sometimes, doing the right thing will make him liked; sometimes earning international favour lets him do the right thing. But being nice and liked is not the goal; sometimes it needs to be the opposite.

Americans have a history of not caring too much what others think, which doesn’t help their popularity. But while there’s no guarantee that going against the grain is always the right thing to do, you often can’t do the right thing unless you’re willing to displease others and assert your values.

So today, as American values are being challenged from within, I salute the brave spirit of rebelliousness that birthed today’s American holiday and will hopefully keep the fight for freedom and justice alive for generations to come.