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A decade ago, I wrote that NATO coalition forces should declare victory in Iraq and Afghanistan and depart forthwith. The situation on the ground didn’t matter as it was only going to be a greater quagmire with each passing day. I didn’t write this suggesting I could see the future, but because we should learn from the past.

This past weekend, we witnessed sobering reports of Taliban forces overtaking Afghan cities and villages. U.S. President Joe Biden subsequently sent in American troops to ensure the safe departure of embassy and NGO officials. Then, just as night follows day, we heard the steady drumbeat of pundits and so-called experts who were calling for troops to return to the battlefield.

Folks, Afghanistan is done. Move on. This is not a surprise. In fact, I’m surprised that you’re surprised.

Eerily reminiscent of the Vietnam War, mission creep and an unwillingness to call an embarrassing end to a tragic episode continued to add to the tragedy. Recall that the invasion of Afghanistan was the result of 9/11 and the U.S. decision to pursue the chief protagonist of that attack, Osama Bin Laden, and the Taliban who protected him.

When it rains, it pours, or so the adage goes, although residents of southwestern Manitoba must wonder if the rains will ever come this year. It may be an agonizing segue to suggest it has been raining for quite some time on Premier Brian Pallister and his government who seem to be careening from public relations disaster to disaster.

The government of Manitoba has rarely appeared to be so much of an escape room as it does these days.

To be fair, (and what am I if not fair?), many of the PR challenges have come as a result of the global battle against COVID. Pallister certainly cannot be blamed for this pandemic, nor can he be blamed for many of the harsh restrictions or how many Manitobans (few but loud) have skeptically responded to vaccines.

While politicians are easy targets for scorn, we elected them and are responsible for who we put into the Premier’s office. To be fair, it’s daunting to consider that Premier Wab Kinew would have done a better job managing this crisis.

It was a convention unlike any other during a time unlike any other. Of all the things I thought could be messed up during this coronavirus crisis, I didn’t anticipate an inability to properly open envelopes as something that would confound the federal Tories.

I was wrong.

Having once suffered a paper cut, I acknowledge opening envelopes can sometimes be a dangerous task, but for it to shut down a Tory convention and create a huge embarrassment for the party … well, I just didn’t see that coming.

As it turns out, when the votes were finally all counted, Erin O’Toole won the day.

What an odd week this has been.

If a year ago I wrote that here we are in mid-August and the NBA and NHL playoffs are in fine form; that the CFL didn’t play a game this year; the federal deficit is 10 times higher than anyone expected; we wear face masks when we go shopping; and our fair city is the Canadian centre of a global pandemic … well, I don’t think anyone would have guessed that. On top of that, big changes are afoot in Ottawa.

This week, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau resigned, apparently arising from friction between him and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. I cannot imagine what the friction would have been — who’s the more profligate spender? Who’s more irresponsible with the public purse? Who was more conflicted over a billion-dollar contract with friends? Hard to say, really.

With Morneau gone, Trudeau made his most important appointment — who could he count on as new finance minister to help guide Canada through the global coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic correction? His choice? Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister and arguably his most capable cabinet minister.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reminds me of the captain of the Titanic, except he’s looking for more icebergs to careen into.

I refer, of course, to the crisis du jour — the incredibly inappropriate and, dare I say, slimy relationship with the Kielburger brothers and their WE empire.

Trudeau, in only five years, has taken a nation with a manageable $3-billion deficit to a fiscal basket case with a deficit closing in on $350 billion. To be fair, a great deal of this current deficit is due to the coronavirus crisis, so let’s just judge him on his unending ethical lapses and the fact our deficit was projected to be more than $30 billion before anyone ever heard of COVID-19. He was a wild spender long before this crisis began.

If you’re not familiar with the latest scandal, here’s a quick sketch: Justin Trudeau and family spoke at youth events organized by the Kielburger brothers. The two brothers came to notoriety for their work at Free the Children, a charity created to end forced child labour globally. It is now known as the WE Charity.

All the world slows down to watch a car wreck, and so the world’s attention (as measured by the media) has turned to the slow-moving car wreck that is Kanye West’s presidential run. This morning, on my drive to work, I suffered through an analysis of West’s chances on the November presidential ballot. Ugh.

Just to be clear, I think West will win about the same number of states as I will this November.

There are several different ways to view this episode – seriously from an electoral approach; humorously; or with a genuine concern for West’s mental health. I don’t think one approach automatically excludes the others.

In the United States, individual states set many of their own electoral conditions while operating under the federal government’s construct. So, while the actual date is set by the feds, determining who is eligible to run is a state matter.

When the world’s largest retailer decided, as Walmart did this week, to require all U.S. employees and customers to wear face coverings, then you know the tide has turned against President Donald Trump and his ilk.

Trump should be nervous — and Wednesday’s firing of his campaign manager underscores his nerves.

Why is Walmart’s policy a big deal, and why should Trump care?

It was once said that General Motors was America, and the same has been said about Disney. That is, both of these iconic companies represent Middle America and their corporate values fit the American ethos.