The timing couldn’t be more, well, juxtapositional.
Former United States president Barack Obama brings his uplifting speaking tour to Atlantic Canada, just as live impeachment hearings begin for his successor, Donald Trump.
Could two back-to-back presidents be more dissimilar?
In St. John’s and Halifax Tuesday and Wednesday, Obama mesmerized fans in packed arenas, with people hanging on his every word. Admired by many Canadians, Obama has broad appeal, evoking words like “hero,” “inspiration” and “icon” in people of all stripes.
In St. John’s, 15-year-old Sophia Crann came out to see Obama with a placard she’d made and brought along on the nearly 400-kilometre trek from her home in Lewisporte. It bore an Obama quote that she said has changed her life: “When times get tough, we don’t give up, we get up.”
Many were hoping for a brush with the former president, including local businesses.
The Newfoundland Chocolate Company rolled out a Barack Obama Truffle, a milk chocolate confection with blueberry and partridgeberry, while in Halifax, fast-food outlet Five Guys was hoping to tempt him with a burger.
In Halifax, the public was warned to expect traffic jams as crowds turned out for the sold-out show.
Trump, meanwhile, was fanning the flames on Twitter, trying to turn the tide of public opinion ahead of the live impeachment hearings which started Wednesday. He quoted at length from Fox News’ Sean Hannity's rant of the night before, tweeting to his 66.8 million followers:
“The circus is coming to town. The corrupt, compromised, coward & congenital liar Adam Schiff Show on Capital (sic) Hill, brought to you by his raging psychotic Democrats & the top allies in the Media Mob. Everything you’re going to see in the next two weeks is rigged...
“This is a phony showtrial. There is zero due process, none. It is yet another fraudulent hoax conspiracy theory. It is another Witch Hunt.”
In Canada, for many who heard Obama speak, his thoughtful, reasoned remarks were like a balm in a country still smarting from a bitterly divisive federal election.
Back in Canada, Obama’s speech about the importance of positive change, community and democracy brought people to their feet, even as in the U.S. the impeachment hearings had people bracing themselves for a fresh wave of political rhetoric and further dissension in an already fractured nation.
As CNN analyst Stephen Collinson noted, Americans are unlikely to get through the impeachment process unscathed.
“The next few months will scar America for years to come. As the Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson impeachments did before it, this process will reflect and intensify the ideological civil war that is tearing at national unity and threatening the nation’s forward momentum.”
In Canada, for many who heard Obama speak, his thoughtful, reasoned remarks were like a balm in a country still smarting from a bitterly divisive federal election.
In the coming days, as the U.S. is awash in accusation and recrimination, with allegations of political corruption and conspiracy, Obama will still be on the road with his message of inclusion.
Strange days, indeed.
