Wednesday Night #2229

The 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is lit on Wednesday 4 December The story of its origins is touching and, appropriately in our view, the 74-foot tree hails from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts – Norman Rockwell country. Once the holidays are over, the Rockefeller Christmas tree is donated to Habitat for Humanity to provide shelter for those in need.

Notre Dame de Paris reopens on Sunday, 8 December
Notre Dame Cathedral unveils its new interior 5 years after devastating fire
(AP) — After more than five years of frenetic, but sometimes interrupted, reconstruction work, Notre Dame Cathedral showed itself anew to the world Friday, with rebuilt soaring ceilings and creamy good-as-new stonework erasing somber memories of its devastating fire in 2019.
Wonderful photos
Notre Dame (de Paris) is back – but not quite as you knew her
…the numbers behind the reconstruction efforts are striking. Restoring the historic monument to its former state has cost an estimated €700 million ($737 million). … Overall, €846 million ($891 million) were raised in donations from 340,000 donors in 150 countries, with the extra funds used to restore other monuments. Beyond that, there are the materials used in its rebuilding: The tallest oak felled was 27 meters tall (88 feet high), 1,300 cubic meters of stone were replaced, 8,000 organ pipes (belonging to France’s largest instrument) cleaned and re-tuned, 1,500 solid oak pews hewed – all the work of 2,000 dedicated artisans.
Macron lauds artisans for restoring Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris
The workers include members of the elite ‘Compagnons du Devoir’, a centuries-old guild of artisans considered France’s finest.

Unfortunately for M. Macron, the joyful celebration of renovated Notre-Dame will be somewhat marred by the collapse of the French government on Wednesday. The country has been grappling with a ballooning debt and deficit, the result of unbridled government spending by Mr. Macron since pandemic lockdowns. That has fueled the concerns about the country’s creditworthiness by investors who [as John Evdokias has noted] have pushed France’s borrowing costs above those of crisis-scarred Greece.

Romanians vote in a presidential election runoff on Sunday that could see Calin Georgescu, a far-right critic of NATO, defeat pro-European centrist Elena Lasconi, an outcome that might isolate Romania in the West and erode its support for Ukraine.
The vote is the last of three consecutive ballots for both a new parliament and president in the European Union and NATO member state in which the far right has surged amid deepening distrust in state institutions after multiple economic crises and Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

Tensions escalate in Georgia as nightly protests intensify: Opposition members arrested, clashes continue …protests continue to grip the nation for a seventh consecutive night, sparked by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s recent announcement that Georgia would suspend its EU accession negotiations until at least 2028.

Syria
Israel, Lebanon and Gaza have dominated news of the Middle East until Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist militant group, launched a lightning strike from its northwestern redoubt late last week, captured Aleppo and threatens Hama. As Reuters succinctly sums up the situation “Northeastern Syria is crowded battlefield; US, Turkey, Iran, Russia all have interests.” And then, too, there are the Kurds.
Ian Bremmer: Syrian rebel forces take Aleppo

In the All’s-well-that-ends-well department, was the attempted self-coup by South Korea‘s president, Yoon Suk Yeol eloquently described in Heather Cox Richardson’s detailed December 3, 2024 account.
“For an astonishing six hours today, South Korea underwent an attempted self-coup by its unpopular president, Yoon Suk Yeol, only to see the South Korean people force him to back down as they reasserted the strength of their democracy”. He now faces impeachment

Ian Bremmer asks and answers Why is Joe Biden in Angola?
It’s the very first visit of a US president to this former Portuguese colony – now a player in global energy markets. More importantly, Biden was following through on a plan to compete more effectively with China across much of Africa. … There’s also a security angle here. Angola isn’t just oil-rich; it has large reserves of copper and is home to large deposits of critical minerals, like the lithium and cobalt needed to make batteries for electric vehicles.

Canada-U.S. relations
Donald Trump’s call for/threat of a 25% tariff on all products coming in to the U.S. from Canada has generated varied responses from Ottawa. Justin Trudeau flew to Florida for dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, following which he called a meeting with opposition leaders about the Canada-U.S. border plan. He previously had met on 27 November with the premiers virtually in an emergency first ministers’ meeting. Steve Verheul, Canada’s chief trade negotiator from 2017-21, argues that
the Team Canada approach to trade talks will not be so easy this time given that today Ottawa can no longer count on representatives of all political parties in the federal government, all provinces and territories, and industry and labour being solidly united behind Canada’s strategy and approach. That was then. How to overcome the problems? Set up a quasi apolitical Hydra-headed entity? Mark Carney, Naheed Nenshi, who from Quebec? This could be a fun board game if it were not so serious.
Encouraging developments?
According to Politico (see Long reads below) Robert Lighthizer, the former U.S. trade chief, is unlikely to rejoin the Trump administration in an official capacity and has “made clear he was not going into [the administration] at all.” This represents a significant loss for those who support more protectionist policies, which Lighthizer successfully implemented in Trump’s first term, overcoming opposition from more business-friendly, anti-tariff Cabinet secretaries and advisers. His exclusion from Trump’s Cabinet this time around gives the voices from Wall Street in the White House a much stronger hand in the incoming administration. And it throws into doubt the president-elect’s promises to pursue an even more aggressive second term trade policy, including a universal tariff of up to 20 percent on all imports and tariffs at least three times as high on Chinese goods.
Another consideration: Rep. John Duarte’s (R) concession to Rep.-elect Adam Gray (D) in California’s razor-close 13th congressional district race means all 435 House races are now decided, and Republicans have actually lost ground. Trump and the GOP will have a historically tiny House majority. What that means. Republicans actually wound up losing a seat in the 2024 election, potentially imperiling the president-elect’s agenda.

Trump’s Project 2025 May Not Be What It Seemed. It’s Worse.
However, we must all worry about the untrammeled power of Elon Musk, as illustrated by Thomas B. Edsall. Musk [has] demonstrated perhaps the most brutal, if not sadistic, technique for making life in the federal civil service intolerable.
Add to the description of his actions against the adjective misogynistic.
The social media excoriation of public sector employees is just one way that President-elect Donald Trump and his MAGA loyalists are using to destroy what they see as strongholds of the left in government and academia.

Heather Cox Richardson December 1, 2024
“Over the holiday weekend, President-elect Trump continued to name the people he wants in his incoming administration. His picks seem designed to destroy the institutions of the democratic American state and replace those institutions with an authoritarian government whose officials are all loyal to Trump.”
A couple of announcements that caught our eye: Trump taps Lebanon-born Massad Boulos as Arab and Middle East adviser – Boulos is the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany and led campaign outreach to Arab and Muslim Americans. and,
Charles Kushner as Pick for Ambassador to France – The announcement elevated Mr. Kushner, the father of President Donald J. Trump’s son-in-law and the recipient of a presidential pardon at the end of Mr. Trump’s first term.
Earlier, Donald Trump picks former U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada. Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson says “He’s well suited to the posting and I think it’ll be easier to do business with somebody who has his depth of experience.” However, Byron has a less favourable view “He falls in the Tea Party ranks and served as chair of the US House Intelligence committee during the the Bush Jr administration. He’s been part of the “no” to everything Democrats propose policy group. He has voted against most spending and believes in cutting the government down to very little. He’s been an ambassador before to the Netherlands, where he was born. Always a loyal Republican, he was the adult in the room and helped put the Michigan Republican Party back together after it was made into a mockery when the MAGA folks took over in 2016. I think he’s being rewarded for that, but he won’t be an adult in the room Trump needs all the way over in France.”

The riots in Montreal are a sign of growing antisemitism
In this week’s column, Andrew Caddell deplores the over 400 ugly demonstrations on the streets of Montreal since October 7, 2023 against the war in Gaza and in support of Hamas, including the occupation of McGill University’s campus. The culmination was the riot last month at the Palais des Congrès where NATO was holding the 70th annual Parliamentary Assembly.

Varia
CONGRATULATIONS to Julius Grey who celebrates 50 years as a member of the Barreau du Québec on 12 December!

ChatGPT creator faces a billion-dollar lawsuit in Canada for using media content
As AI continues to evolve at lightning speed, concerns about how companies train their models have been growing. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is now facing heat in Canada and has been accused of violating copyright laws by using content from news media outlets for profit.
Five major Canadian news organizations have taken legal action against OpenAI, alleging regular copyright violations and breaches of online terms of use. The lawsuit, filed on November 29, is backed by The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press, CBC/Radio-Canada, Torstar, and Postmedia.

Ian Bremmer answers: Do you expect the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah to last?
Despite reports of some fire from both sides, which is to be expected, I think there’s a good chance that the truce will hold. About 60,000 Israelis evacuated the northern part of the country near the Lebanon border after Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, 2023. So a positive sign to look for would be if the displaced Israelis start heading back home. Israeli forces have pummeled Hezbollah, decimating their capacity to expand the war. Plus, Israel wants to give Donald Trump a win, and the two-month ceasefire will become “permanent” just as he is inaugurated. Coincidence? I think not.

Russian ruble collapse exposes deep problems in the country’s economy
Russia’s currency has been highly volatile since its troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The initial collapse, which saw the ruble lose one-third of its value by March compared with the start of the year, was due to the exodus of capital from the country following the introduction of western sanctions. Capital flowing out of Russia made the ruble more readily available on the foreign exchange market, hence causing its value to depreciate.

Top UN court began hearings on landmark climate change case
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) [began] hearings in a landmark climate change case on Monday, examining what countries worldwide are legally required to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable nations fight its devastating impact.

Cheap shot!
Air Canada’s cheapest tickets on some routes will no longer include carry-on baggage
Airline says basic fare for North American and sun flights will not include carry-on bags

Long reads
collapse of the French government
Already struggling with flat growth and a large debt and deficit, the country faces a new period of instability without a functioning government or a budget.

Max Boot: Aleppo’s sudden fall reveals stark realities in Syria
The United States can’t overthrow Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, but it shouldn’t prop him up.

Trump’s Project 2025 May Not Be What It Seemed. It’s Worse. writes NYT columnist Thomas Edsall
The early coercive pressures applied by Trump loyalists are a taste of what is to come, starting on Jan. 20, 2025. Forces on the right have adopted an extraordinary agenda that, even if it is not a resounding success, is sure to inflict damage on cherished pillars of liberalism and the Democratic Party.

The Sound of Fear on Air
It is an ominous sign that Morning Joe felt it had to apologize for something I said.
By David Frum

Thanks to Terry Jones for Tapped by Trudeau to Steer Foreign Affairs, She’s Now His Possible Successor – Mélanie Joly, Canada’s top diplomat, has already faced off against India and China, with Donald Trump up next. She’s also considered a top contender to replace Justin Trudeau.

‘Frozen out’: Trade hawk Lighthizer unlikely to return for Trump’s second term
Robert Lighthizer was the architect of Trump’s paradigm-shifting first term trade agenda.

A VERY long read – or an hour+ podcast
The Ezra Klein Show
Trump Kicks Down the Guardrails
A long discussion between Ezra Klein and Anne Applebaum follows her opening essay on how to think about autocracy and authoritarianism in a second Trump term.