r/politics • u/Educational_Fun_9001 • 4h ago
Possible Paywall Mark Carney fires back after Pete Hegseth mocks Canadian cadets in online post: ‘Stop doing memes’
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/mark-carney-fires-back-after-pete-hegseth-mocks-canadian-cadets-in-online-post-stop-doing-memes/article_5a3d6869-fdba-4c0e-9580-4ca8052bdae5.html•
u/BobbyBoogarBreath 4h ago
Come on, now. He does other things! He gets his hair and makeup done, he day drinks, he gets nazi tattoos, and he even loses wars!
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u/BombasticSimpleton 4h ago
Yes, nothing like having a upjumped squad leader dictate theater-wide strategy and be shockingly bad at it.
So I guess shitposting is his fallback position.
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u/actuallyapossom Minnesota 3h ago
It's like that at every level. From paid boot camps to the presidency.
The alpha male movement being repped by an obese elderly dude with a combover and fake tan on only his face - it's fucking hilarious. It's so on the nose, it activates the Truman show part of my brain.
Plenty of awful things going on, but that shit never fails to solicit laughter from me.
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u/sweetieblushy 4h ago
Publicly mocking military cadets while holding defense appointments is a bizarre strategy for international diplomacy
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u/Icky-Tree-Branch 1h ago
It’s bizarre. Cadets is kind of like JROTC in high schools, except it starts younger and it’s a community activity instead of a high school class that may have extracurricular components.
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u/Henojojo 3h ago edited 2h ago
"Oh I'm a nazi and I'm OK. I tweet all night and I drink all day"
"I blow up boats to murder folks out on the deep blue sea. I bombed a school for children, and called it victory!"
With apologies to M. Python.
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u/dehydratedrain 4h ago
Don't forget parades as a good Christian husband while knocking up the new girlfriend.
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u/Absolute--Batman 1h ago
Americans love that shit.
Isn't that why they voted Trump twice into Power?
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u/mikeyriot 3h ago
I can not stand by and let you besmirch day drinking. Plenty of upstanding individuals operate on schedules which allow for such wholesome activities.
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u/BobbyBoogarBreath 3h ago
I too enjoy a day drink. The difference being my responsibilities on those days are limited to feeding a small number of people and cats, and he is running the world's largest military (into the ground).
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u/Upstairs-Ad-8593 1h ago
He is also super good at infidelity and embarrassing his kids in press conferences. Beacon of family values.
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u/bigmatt7655 4h ago
He cuts down trees, he skips and jumps, he likes to press wild flowers. He puts on women's clothing and hangs around in bars...?
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u/yarnhoarder6 I voted 4h ago
It’s junior high level antics.
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u/suckyousideways 4h ago
Putin can't stop chuckling. He wakes himself up at night laughing.
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u/Affectionate_Link175 3h ago
Putin has nothing to laugh about with the situation he put himself in.
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u/north_by_nw_to 46m ago
I can’t image him laughing
“The idea that someone like that could operate under my very nose is laughable.” (Gasping, choking) Well, you all know what laughter sounds like.”
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u/Siendra 4h ago edited 1h ago
The Cadets are basically Scouts with a military angle. He's ridiculing a literal child doing an extra curricular mostly focused around wilderness and community engagement.
Edit: You can't claim he's only ridiculing the instructor. He said nothing to the effect and the comments on the post aren't constrained as such. Further even if he was, most of the Cadets instructors and support are civilian contractors or volunteers, not active duty military. The drunkard blatantly just went trolling for CAF recruitment photos and stumbled upon something he didn't understand or else knew he could grift.
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u/Icky-Tree-Branch 1h ago
Ha, I compared it to JROTC, but more community oriented and not a high school class.
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u/Watersandwaves 53m ago
Id call it taxpayer-funded scouts, tbh
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u/Watersandwaves 51m ago
Oh, which I think is a fantastic program, BTW. It is 100% FREE for all kids, teaches so many practical and life skills, and is a viable PAID summer job for some kids as they progress through the "ranks" before they age out.
It gets a bad rap sometimes, but it offers do many opportunities for some kids.
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u/RomanBlue_ Canada 18m ago
I was a cadet for 6 years and that program practically saved my life. I had a really crappy school life at the time, as well as a not so great home life, but having access to that program was a godsend. I don't know who I would be without it.
Cadets is about being a good person, service, character and being an upstanding member of the community. It's obvious why Hegseth wouldn't understand it.
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u/HistoryAndScience 4h ago
Literally no one, not even most MAGA, voted in ‘24 because they wanted the SecDef to troll Canadian military cadets. Get a fucking life losers. Also Canadians died at a higher adjusted rate than Americans in Kandahar during the war. God bless ‘em
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u/shoggoths_away 2h ago
They aren't even "military cadets." They're just Cadets, roughly equivalent to American Boy Scouts. You know... Children.
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u/Boring_and_sons 3h ago
To defend America. They never actually acknowledge that fact. Our troops died for America.
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u/percydaman 4h ago
This is just the kind of emotional and hysterical shenanigans, they keep saying is why we can't have a female president, or one of higher power and responsibility. Forget a woman, they can't even admit, that if the shit they are doing, was done by a democrat, they would fall over themselves in rage and righteous disgust.
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u/suckyousideways 4h ago
I've known very FEW females so obsessed with decorating and makeup as these guys.
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u/DarthRizzo87 2h ago
Someone should really make that supercut, of people giving reasons why women in leadership positions wouldn’t work, and then showing the Donald doing those same activities…
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u/EducationalRock167 2h ago
No Democrat would act like this. No American should. Americans use to be the World's good guys most of the time. Now , under Trump they are even more hated and laughed at all over the World.
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u/jest4fun 4h ago
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
Hegseth, like his boss, love to shit talk about other people.
Small minded indeed they are.
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u/bravosarah Canada 4h ago
At least we know how to win wars.
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u/sharp11flat13 Canada 14m ago
And we know how to stay out of wars that are unjustified and unwinnable. See: Viet Nam, Iraq and Iran.
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u/CobraMurderChicken 4h ago
As a Canadian, I would like to kindly invite Pete Kegsbreath to fuck all the way off back to the shitty Fox TV show he came from.
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u/BrooklynSilverleaf 4h ago
can we just stick him in a reality show where he has to survive on poutine and maple syrup for a month?
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u/roboscorcher 4h ago
Man the US leadership is pathetic. Punching down to dodge smoke from their failed ai regime change in Iran.
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u/MrPloppyHead 4h ago
“Pete. Lost any wars lately?”
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u/Upstairs-Ad-8593 1h ago
Imagine not being able to win wars with the largest and most technologically advanced military (by magnitudes) on the planet. It is like showing up with an NHL team, and managing to coach them to a loss against 4 year olds.
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u/india2wallst 4h ago
I mean do they even appreciate the lives lost by NATO allies when they answered US call? It's the ultimate sacrifice any solider can give and to mock them is beyond the pale. I won't be as composed as Mark Carney.
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u/Dark-Arts 2h ago
158 Canadian soldiers lost their lives in Afghanistan fighting for American interests. Fuck this colossal piece of shit.
Carney, please never send another soldier to help the US again. Stick to our allies.
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u/Hannibal_Spectre 1h ago
In addition to the deaths - many came back and were totally screwed up by the experience.
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u/Beaverdamn328 Canada 1h ago
The youth in the photo isn't even a military member. Cadets here in Canada is a youth program. The closest thing you get to touching a weapon is a daisy air rifle. He's cyberbullying a civilian kid.
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u/Athleticsbaby 4h ago
Bullying teenaged girls. So alpha.
I wonder how long Petey stands in front of the mirror perfecting these very manly scowls?
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u/ArbainHestia 3h ago
I was an army cadet in the 90s. It's an awesome program and I had the best time especially at the summer camps.
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u/the-final-frontiers 3h ago
A right wing relative of mine didn't know Hegseth was a fox news reporter.
This is how tightly controlled the information is that gets fed to them.
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u/DarthLysergis 4h ago
I wouldn't mock the military with 3 of the top 10 longest confirmed sniper shots. Just sayin.
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u/Traditional_Rip_4003 2h ago
Fr kegsbreath doesnt realize how much this hurts the SOF and five eyes relations. Honestly id be happy to see more work being done with norway, germany, poland.
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u/Additional_Good4200 4h ago
The day this piece of shit gets what's coming to him will be a very good day.
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u/Beaverdamn328 Canada 1h ago
There are millions of people around the globe who would jump at the chance to make this happen.
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u/Hay_Fever_at_3_AM Canada 4h ago
Please take American social media seriously as a national security concern, Carney. It's not just memes.
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u/AppleAtrocity Canada 3h ago
He doesn't seem to be doing much about the Alberta separatist/US interference either. I hope they are doing something behind the scenes, but it sure seems like the feds should be taking that way more seriously as the threat it is.
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u/AshKetchumAndFriends 2h ago
If I had to guess, it's because they are going to claim the referendum was rigged if it fails and ask the United States for help, and having the federal government directly intervene feeds directly into that propaganda narrative for their home audience.
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u/shoggoths_away 2h ago
Didn't the Supreme Court rule that secession isn't possible in Canada due to it being illegal? That would've been back in the 1990s after the two Quebec referendum votes.
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u/Scase15 2h ago
Yeah this whole separatism concept is just an absurd waste of time. The entirety of the province was essentially "given" to the Crown, not AB.
The agreements for land use are with Canada, upon AB no longer being part of Canada, they have no treaty for land use.
But we all know these people aren't the brightest lightbulbs in the box.
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u/Vortagaun New York 4h ago
Canadians are the reason the Geneva convention exists Pete. Meanwhile you're worried about your soldiers testosterone levels.
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u/Unhappy-Trouble-9652 4h ago
Not true at all and I’m not sure why I keep seeing this recently
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u/Dodgy_Past 3h ago
It's been a popular way to farm upvotes for a long time. I actually researched it and it's false.
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u/stallionx 2h ago
If you do I dive on Google it basically just wraps around back to Reddit being the originator. Canada was by no means a world war paragon or any other country for that matter. Probably just took off because it felt 'memey'
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u/Canadian_Invader 2h ago
We liked to pull a warcrime every now and then during the wars. To keep the Germans on their toes.
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u/cvirus3333 1h ago
Reddit is not the originator. I heard the same old wives tale when I was a kid in the 80s. My fucking history teacher in HS would say it
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u/cvirus3333 1h ago
People are weirdly prideful at being told our old soldiers were so ruthlessly violent they were inventing war crimes. Really weird thing to cling to as a source of pride.
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u/cvirus3333 4h ago edited 1h ago
"Canadians are the reason the Geneva convention exist"
Nope.
edit: lol @ typical reddit falling for old wives tales
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u/Financial_Screen_351 4h ago
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, because you are actually right.
Canadians aren’t the reason why the Geneva convention exists, the convention was created long before Canada participated in WW1 and WW2 and gained their notorious and fierce reputation. I don’t doubt that several articles may have been added to the Geneva convention because of Canadian actions during their 10+ years fighting in those wars, but saying that Canada is the reason why it was created is just an internet myth!
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u/Present-Meet-4217 4h ago
Yeah well Heggy and all the other deplorables in the Rumpy administration, why don’t you take care of your military and the Iran debacle, instead of mocking your neighbour. Too much time on your hands? Don’t know what to do because you are so incompetent and you’re knee deep in muck?
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u/KittensAndGravy 3h ago
When he’s gone … this won’t go away. We will be shamed for this behavior regardless of who you voted for. Our once allies will never trust us. It will be decades worth of problems for us in the future.
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u/DistanceToEmpty 2h ago
Oh and the post he was making fun of was about a Royal Canadian Army Cadets' event. This is a youth program sponsored by the Canadian Forces. Pete is teasing kids.
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u/ClubSoda 2h ago
Is it more sad than disgusting SecDef did this?
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u/Tricky_Damage5981 Canada 1h ago
Yes it is but he isn't SecDef he is SecWar!
So looking at it that way it's expected he make fun of us Canadians "because we're nasty people" /s
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u/boot2skull 1h ago
Small minded bullies don’t have limits to how far they’ll punch down. Their smaller minded followers love them more for it.
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u/Lothleen 2h ago
It's funny since it's recorded that about 68% of American soldiers are overweight or obese.
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u/I_Like_Coookies 3h ago
American government is an absolute circus, American people are not all that bad, still lota of maga dummies but there are still good people in the US .... I think
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u/ClubSoda 2h ago
SecDef decided it was worth his valuable time to denigrate a female Canadian army cadet volunteer. That he still has his job speaks volumes.
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u/No_Type1123 3h ago
i’m surprised Pete’s wife lets him post attacks on kids.
obviously taking her to work is not working out for Pete.
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u/Responsible_CDN_Duck 2h ago
Way too reserved for a statement.
Quit scrolling through pics of underage Canadian volunteers to find the ones you don't like the looks of you badword badword badword then encouraging hate to be spewed on them.
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u/Taurpion Canada 2h ago
Come on.. the trade war is heated enough and now you expect American politicians to stop looking at photos of kids?! We will never get a trade deal!
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u/EducationalRock167 2h ago
The TRUMP's Administration children are at it again. They are embarrassments to the rest of the World. Except for the World's dictatorships. They are just loving this. 🙄
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u/elijuicyjones Washington 2h ago
Hegseth is so stupid. Anyone who doubts the Canadian military has only to look up the Geneva Conventions and the Korean War.
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u/PrestigiousWait7103 1h ago
That Hegseth post is honestly one of the most embarrassing things I've ever seen someone post on social media, adult or otherwise. And that's saying a lot, given the daily embarrassment that is this whole administration and their sycophant followers/bots on X.
Like, you actually don't have anything better to do than shame cadet volunteers in another country for how they look? Aren't you currently losing an actual war, badly?
He should actually be humiliated for it. But I'm not sure this alcoholic loser has the capacity for shame.
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u/rhino36-dropout 1h ago
If Carney had any balls, he would've replied with "https://imgur.com/a/6nzguzt this is real american soldiers"
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u/JasonVorhehees 1h ago
I wish other leaders would just abandon decorum and call him what he is. A drunken failed loser.
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u/Beaverdamn328 Canada 1h ago
The thing is, it's not memes, it's cyberbullying.
I don't usually have an actual emotional reaction to the garbage these pedophile scum spew every day, but this one has me feeling violent. I was a cadet for 5 years before I joined the CAF, and I just keep imagining how this kid is feeling right now.
I want the people in this administration to suffer before the end.
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u/ZebraImaginary9412 1h ago
How did he graduate from Princeton? Like he never read Thucydides? Maybe he was admitted because he was a pretty good football player but the Secretary of "War" doesn't seem to know much about anything.
It's been well over 1.25 centuries since we've won any kind of military conflict on our own without our French, Canadian, Australian, British, and occasionally Soviet & Chinese allies.
How did we do in Afghanistan, Iraq or even Vietnam? Loser, loser, loser. We literally set trillions of dollars on fire while little kids go hungry in Kentucky.
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u/GoodVibrations77 1h ago
US secretery of defense mocking cadets while the US is having its ass kicked in the middle east
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u/Damnyoudonut 25m ago
Lots of disparaging remarks about Canada’s military coming out of the US. Grooming their population to accept the idea of war with the Canadians?
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u/flyingflail 4h ago
Republicans are in for a rough go after Trump is gone.
Trump at least maintains some air of comedy and authority (somehow).
Vance and the rest of these idiots just come across as mean spirited bullies, and they're not even funny the majority of the time.
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u/Westsider111 4h ago
That is a very generous take on Trump’s shit posting.
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u/flyingflail 4h ago
He's insane, but the insanity of it also makes it more palatable.
Vance/Hegseth just come across as dick heads.
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u/royrocks26 2h ago
Palatable? To who? The dumbass is running your country into the ground and making millions of it. How is that acceptable in any way?
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u/flyingflail 1h ago
I am not American - that's just the reality.
I'm not a Trump supporter by any means but he is charismatic in a very strange way
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