Summer is almost over and I have yet to see a day without Trump at the forefront of any news outlet, newspaper, social media and TV alike. No day goes by without the latest executive order or presidential decree or policy changing Truth Social post. He is bulldozing the political, social and economic landscape at a dizzying pace. None of it is friendly or rewarding, encouraging or supportive. They are all restrictions, cancellations and firings; casting thousands of people and organisations adrift. 

I couldn’t help myself and quoted this outtake to Camp. ‘There is one thing that is not a puzzle as Trump continues to govern by executive order: the failure of the Supreme Court to seriously address the constitutionality of Trump’s actions. The court’s decision to lift the restraining orders of lower courts and to put off conclusive decisions has the effect of allowing Trump to inflict irreparable harm. The victims include the people Trump accuses of criminality, universities going without funds, medical researchers and their patients suffering from vanished grants, law firms unwilling to take on controversial pro bono cases, not to mention the tens of thousands of federal employees thrown out of work and the billions of dollars cut in foreign aid. Trump’s use of the government to condemn adversaries and reward allies will leave an ugly scar, even in the unlikely event that sometime in the future the court reverses course and recognizes the depredation that Trump has left in his wake.’

‘Trump once said he wanted the generals that Hitler had,’ Camp said. He now also wants the science that Hitler and Stalin had; the kind that confirm his views against vaccines, eschews any research on the environment and promotes falsehoods about gender and race and dismisses lower courts as tools of the Democrats who themselves, according to his chief policy adviser, Stephen Miller, are not a political party but a domestic extremist organisation.’ 

‘To quote Paul R. Josephson, a professor of history at Colby College and author of a book on totalitarian science: ‘Despots want science that has practical results – like the tech-wizards of Silicon Valley provide – but they undermine the basic research that thrives on free thought. They’re afraid that basic knowledge will expose their false claims.’

‘It’s exhausting what’s happening in the USA and I keep wondering where all the clear-thinking, tolerant and forgiving people have gone. Into hiding? There is a rising culture of mistrust, misinformation and hate that is destroying not only democracy but trust in institutions and education from primary schools to universities. The next step will be mistrust and suspicion of your neighbours, followed by denunciations. We’ve all seen this movie before.’

‘We are living in the age of superficiality, manifested in navel-gazing body awareness culture, celebrity adulation, coupled with a resurgence of fundamentalist Christianity with a punitive, unforgiving doctrine,’ Camp pontificated, consoling himself by emptying his pint. I had nothing to respond and we both looked out at the timeless natural beauty of our surroundings in Gibsons harbour, suffused by a hazy veil of smoke that turns the sun into a red fire ball and casts eerie shadows.’

‘It’s fire season, once again,’ I said and Camp nodded.

‘Yes, and we’ve been lucky so far in BC, unlike the prairies and Nova Scotia.  As of late August 2025, over 72,000 square kilometers have burned. About the size of Panama or the Czech Republic. This figure surpasses the record from 1989 but is about half the area burned during the record-setting 2023 season.’

‘All that talk about fires makes me thirsty,’ Camp said and just like magic Vicky swept by with two frothing mugs of golden goodness.’

‘How was your summer,’ I wanted to know.

‘Hot and busy. Never seen as many tourists as this year. I guess everybody vacations at home since the US is snubbed by many Canadians.’

‘We’ll drink to that,’ we both raised our glasses along with our elbows.