Latest news with #RickAtkinson
Edmonton Journal
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Braid: Calgary Stampede Parade was a classic — and a great message to U.S. visitors
Can't help it, sorry, but over three decades of watching the Calgary Stampede Parade I've not just been entertained every year, but often deeply moved. Article content It's so purely, utterly, sweetly, cornily Canadian. Article content That means more than ever in the era of U.S. President Donald Trump. Article content All of Canada was on proud display Friday — First Nations, dozens of ethnic Canadian groups, the Flames, the military, the veterans — together in one long, serpentine display of pride and goodwill. Article content Article content Article content Many of the displays by ethnic groups (if that's even the right word anymore) carried messages of strength in diversity. Article content The real world isn't always like that, obviously. But the Canadian dream endures. We do believe that people of many origins can coexist and thrive in one nation. Article content It's ironic that this Stampede opening fell on July 4, U.S. Independence Day. Article content Americans have always been welcome at Stampede. More than 40,000 came last year. They are almost universally friendly, cheerful folks who are blown away by the Stampede, especially the Grandstand Show. Article content Article content Many Americans are now reading about some of it in Rick Atkinson's book, The Fate of the Day, the second volume in his majestic series on the Revolutionary War, the great conflict with Britain over U.S. Independence. Article content Article content The new American nation and Canada (such as it was in the late 1770s) were bitter enemies. Article content The Americans attacked Quebec and were driven off. The loathed British force plaguing the American rebels from the north was called the Canadian Army. Article content That war was an orgy of slaughter, burned cities and devastated countryside. The ancient guns and cannons may look quaint in this age of military drones, but they were viciously effective. Few wars were more deadly until the Americans' own Civil War in the 1860s. Article content It's admirable, therefore, that we've long since become two great and very large nations sharing a continent in relative harmony, and always in peace.
Ottawa Citizen
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Braid: Calgary Stampede Parade was a classic — and a great message to U.S. visitors
Can't help it, sorry, but over three decades of watching the Calgary Stampede Parade I've not just been entertained every year, but often deeply moved. Article content It's so purely, utterly, sweetly, cornily Canadian. Article content Article content That means more than ever in this first Stampede of the Donald Trump era. Article content All of Canada was on proud display Friday — First Nations, dozens of ethnic Canadian groups, the Flames, the military, the veterans — together in one long, serpentine display of pride and goodwill. Article content Article content Many of the displays by ethnic groups (if that's even the right word anymore) carried messages of strength in diversity. Article content The real world isn't always like that, obviously. But the Canadian dream endures. We do believe that people of many origins can co-exist and thrive in one nation. Article content It's ironic that this Stampede opening fell on July 4, U.S. Independence Day. Article content Americans have always been welcome at Stampede. More than 40,000 came last year. They are almost universally friendly, cheerful folks who are blown away by the Stampede, especially the Grandstand Show. Article content Article content Many Americans are now reading about some of it in Rick Atkinson's book, The Fate of the Day, the second volume in his majestic series on the Revolutionary War, the great conflict with Britain over U.S. Independence. Article content The new American nation and Canada (such as it was in the late 1770s) were bitter enemies. Article content The Americans attacked Quebec and were driven off. The loathed British force plaguing the American rebels from the north was called the Canadian Army. Article content That war was an orgy of slaughter, burned cities and devastated countryside. The ancient guns and cannons may look quaint in this age of military drones, but they were viciously effective. Few wars were more deadly until the Americans' own Civil War in the 1860s. Article content It's very admirable, therefore, that we've long since become two great and very large nations sharing a continent in relative harmony, and always in peace.
Calgary Herald
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Braid: Stampede parade was a classic — and a great message to U.S. visitors
Article content Can't help it, sorry, but over three decades of watching the Calgary Stampede Parade I've not just been entertained every year, but often deeply moved. Article content It's so purely, utterly, sweetly, cornily Canadian. Article content That means more than ever in this first Stampede of the Donald Trump era. Article content All Canada was on proud display Friday — First Nations, dozens of ethnic Canadian groups, the Flames, the military, the veterans — together in one long, serpentine display of pride and goodwill. Article content I loved the Peruvians in their Inca rigs. The Japanese-Canadian kids and their graceful dances were delightful. I was especially tickled by the Heritage Park guy wearing the famous train around his waist, with his hat as the smokestack. Article content Article content Article content Article content Many of the displays by ethnic groups (if that's even the right word anymore) carried messages of strength in diversity. Article content The real world isn't always like that, obviously. But the Canadian dream endures. We do believe that people of many origins can co-exist and thrive in one nation. Article content Many Americans are now reading about some of it in Rick Atkinson's book, The Fate of the Day, the second volume in his majestic series on the Revolutionary War, the great conflict with Britain over U.S. Independence. Article content Article content Article content The new American nation and Canada (such as it was in the late 1770s) were bitter enemies. Article content The Americans attacked Quebec and were driven off. The loathed British force plaguing the American rebels from the north was called the Canadian Army. Article content That war was an orgy of slaughter, burned cities and devastated countryside. The ancient guns and cannons may look quaint in this age of military drones, but they were viciously effective. Few wars were more deadly until the Americans' own Civil War in the 1860s. Article content It's very admirable, therefore, that we've long since become two great and very large nations sharing a continent in relative harmony, and always in peace. Article content I don't believe Donald Trump will ever pose a serious threat to our democracy, however much he talks about the 51st state.
Irish Times
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
This is the moment when we find out just how mad a king Donald is
Maybe the mad king, the other one, wasn't so mad after all. 'George III is Abraham Lincoln compared to Trump,' said Rick Atkinson, who is vivifying the Revolutionary War in his mesmerising histories The British are Coming and The Fate of the Day. The latter, the second book in a planned trilogy, has been on the New York Times bestseller list for six weeks and is being devoured by lawmakers on Capitol Hill. As the 'No Kings' resistance among Democrats bristles, and as President Trump continues to defy limits on executive power, it is instructive to examine comparisons of President Trump to George III. 'George isn't the 'royal brute' that Thomas Paine calls him in Common Sense,' Atkinson told me. 'He's not the 'tyrant' that Jefferson calls him in the Declaration of Independence, and he's not the sinister idiot who runs across the stage in Hamilton every night singing You'll Be Back.' READ MORE ('And when push comes to shove, I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love!') Yes, George III had manic episodes that scared people – depicted in Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III, a play made into a movie with Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren. Palace aides are unnerved when the king's urine turns blue. 'He was in a straitjacket for a while, that's how deranged he was,' Atkinson said. 'His last 10 years were spent at Windsor, basically in a cell. He went blind and deaf. He had long white hair, white beard.' This is a poisonous moment for our country, with Trump unleashing our military on American citizens and letting ICE officers rough up Democratic lawmakers King George was relentless about his runaway child: America. 'He's ruthless,' Atkinson explained, 'because he believes that if the American colonies are permitted to slip away, it will encourage insurrections in Ireland, in Canada, the British Sugar Islands, the West Indies, in India, and it'll be the beginning of the end of the first British empire, which has just been created. And it's not going to happen on his watch.' Unlike Trump, who loves to wallow in gilt and repost king memes and rhapsodise about God's divine plan for him, George III did not flout the rule of law. 'The stereotype of him as an ogre is not historically true,' Atkinson said. 'He's called Farmer George because he's interested in agronomy and writes essays on manure.' The historian added: 'You can dislike him, but he's not a reactionary autocrat. He is very attentive to the requirements imposed on him as a consequence of the reforms in the 17th century, where he must be attentive to both houses of parliament. 'He's a child of the Enlightenment. He is a major supporter of both the arts and the sciences.' He plays the harpsichord and the organ and he's a great patron of the theatre.' (And doesn't try to co-opt it or force people to watch Cats.) Unlike Trump, Atkinson said, George III is not a narcissist: 'He's very committed to the realm, to his family. He marries this obscure, drab German princess, Charlotte, as in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina. They marry six hours after they meet. She learns to play God Save the King on the harpsichord on the voyage from Germany to England. He has the marriage bedroom decorated with 700 yards of blue damask and large basins of goldfish. 'Because, as you know, nothing says 'I love you' like a bowl of goldfish. He's devoted to her through 15 kids.' Atkinson said the only similarity between the pious monarch and the impious monarch manqué is 'the use of the military against their own people to enforce the king's will. There are incidents, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party.' He added: 'This proclivity for using armed forces for domestic suppression of dissent. That's a slippery slope in this country. It led to an eight-year war when George did it, and Lord knows where it's going to lead this time.' This is a poisonous moment for our country, with Trump unleashing our military on American citizens and letting ICE officers rough up Democratic lawmakers. He's still posting, madly, about the 2020 election being 'a total FRAUD,' and now he's calling for a special prosecutor to look into it. With the juvenile delinquent Pete Hegseth leading our military, Trump is recklessly jousting with Iran and threatening to assassinate the Iranian leader. The former opponent of forever wars in the Middle East is debating dropping bombs in the Middle East without military provocation against the United States – which did not work out well for us in the past – and dragging us into another unpredictable, interminable war. We find this truth to be self-evident: this is the moment when we find out just how mad a king Donald Trump is. Atkinson concedes he is as mystified as the rest of us by Trump's affinity for 'those who aren't bound by the rules by which we insist our leaders be bound. The fact that we're looking for a monarch to draw parallels to him is telling in and of itself, because that's not what we do. That's what the whole shooting match was about in the 1770s.' This article originally appeared in The New York Times
New York Times
21-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Who's the Mad King Now?
Maybe the mad king, the other one, wasn't so mad after all. 'George III is Abraham Lincoln compared to Trump,' said Rick Atkinson, who is vivifying the Revolutionary War in his mesmerizing histories 'The British Are Coming' and 'The Fate of the Day.' The latter, the second book in a planned trilogy, has been on the New York Times best-seller list for six weeks and is being devoured by lawmakers on Capitol Hill. As the 'No Kings' resistance among Democrats bristles, and as President Trump continues to defy limits on executive power, it is instructive to examine comparisons of President Trump to George III. 'George isn't the 'royal brute' that Thomas Paine calls him in 'Common Sense,'' Atkinson told me. 'He's not the 'tyrant' that Jefferson calls him in the Declaration of Independence, and he's not the sinister idiot who runs across the stage in 'Hamilton' every night singing 'You'll Be Back.'' ('And when push comes to shove, I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love!') Yes, George III had manic episodes that scared people — depicted in Alan Bennett's 'The Madness of George III,' a play made into a movie with Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren. Palace aides are unnerved when the king's urine turns blue. 'He was in a straitjacket for a while, that's how deranged he was,' Atkinson said. 'His last 10 years were spent at Windsor, basically in a cell. He went blind and deaf. He had long white hair, white beard.' King George was relentless about his runaway child, America. 'He's ruthless,' Atkinson explained, 'because he believes that if the American colonies are permitted to slip away, it will encourage insurrections in Ireland, in Canada, the British Sugar Islands, the West Indies, in India, and it'll be the beginning of the end of the first British Empire, which has just been created. And it's not going to happen on his watch.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
