Can this tiny MAGA town take on Canada?

Politico

21 hours ago

President Donald Trump's hostility toward Canada has made things awkward along the northern border, but the Northwest Angle in Minnesota might feel the diplomatic fallout more than anywhere else.
The Angle, as the 150 locals call it, is a pocket of Minnesota entirely surrounded by water and Canada. It's only part of the U.S. because of an 18th-century surveying error. Its sixth graders have to pass through four international border checkpoints on a 120-mile round trip to school each day.
The unique geographic position of the Angle means that Canada can block all sorts of imported goods, even if they come from another part of Minnesota — from mattresses and potted plants to livestock and fish bait. If Trump further provokes an already angry Canada during his trip to the G7 summit on Sunday, it could rock this small community.
But when Corbin Hiar visited the Angle in late May, he found much of the 79 percent of its voters who supported Trump in the last election are sticking by their guy, come what may.
'Tariffs temporarily are going to hurt us,' one person told him. 'But in the long run, will it wake some people up?'
Read the story.
'He's not all there.'
Can you guess who questioned the president's mental acuity? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**
Two Generations of Military Parades … The last time Washington hosted a military parade, it was under President George H.W. Bush to celebrate victory in the Gulf War, on the weekend of Capital City columnist Michael Schaffer's high school graduation. Now, as Trump stages a military parade honoring the Army's 250th birthday, Schaffer's daughter is graduating high school. 'That's about where the similarities end,' he writes — which explains a lot about how politics has changed in a generation.
Have a mini-heart attack when you saw tanks in town? Don't let your friends know Trump's parade snuck up on you. Just use these talking points to sound like you were paying attention. (From Associate Editor Dylon Jones)
Michelle Obama vs. MAHA … Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' movement, while not always scientifically sound, has made conservatives enthusiastic about improving the physical health of Americans across the country. Which must be strange for Sam Kass, the former White House chef who led First Lady Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move' initiative to combat diet-related disease, which was panned on the right as nanny-state scolding. How could an anti-vaxxer have successfully coopted messaging around health? 'The Democratic Party has absolutely blundered this issue,' Kass tells Marcia Brown. 'We're getting what we deserve here in some ways.'
Singing the Song of Angry Men … Musical-theater fans on the left see irony in Trump's love of Les Misérables, with its themes of revolution. But according to Megan Messerly, they've missed how Trump — who once aspired to be a Broadway producer — has adopted it into his brand. 'Trump world sees itself in the musical's hardscrabble revolutionaries, and Trump in its unjustly persecuted protagonist, [Jean] Valjean,' she writes.
When Troops Target Americans … Trump's decision to deploy active-duty Marines — not just the National Guard — to Los Angeles drew shock and condemnation from Democrats. But it's not entirely without precedent. Presidents have directed the military to quell domestic unrest on rare occasions. The political reaction to those moments has varied, but nonetheless sticks to a notable pattern, writes historian Joshua Zeitz: 'When presidents intervene to restore public safety during acute civil disorder, they often enjoy public support. But when presidents deploy federal troops to suppress economic or social protest movements, the backlash can be swift and severe.'
From the drafting table of editorial cartoonist Matt Wuerker.
Who Dissed? answer: That would be California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, discussing his clash with Trump over anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.
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