CNN and MSNBC report on the connections between U.S. conservatives and the Canadian trucker protests

I ended Canadian trucker convoy spills over into U.S., blocking Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario by telling my readers "There's a lot more to this story, including possible U.S. inspiration, funding, and plans to bring it to major U.S. cities including Washington, D.C., so stay tuned." Both CNN and MSNBC reported on those aspects of the story last night. I begin with CNN's Small group of Canadian protesters get big support from US conservatives.

A small group of truckers protesting vaccine mandates in Canada are getting big support from GOP officials and right-wing media conservatives in the US. Donnie O'Sullivan reports.

I read the Grid News story that CNN mentioned, which is why I wrote about "possible U.S. inspiration, funding, and plans to bring it to major U.S. cities." I was waiting for a larger news outlet to pick up the story before blogging about it. CNN did, so I'm passing it along to show that it's a bigger story than just some long-haul truckers in Canada disgruntled over vaccine mandates.

Follow over the jump for last night's segments on MSNBC and Peacock about the connections between the trucker protests in Canada that have spilled over the border and U.S. conservatives.

Zerlina Maxwell interviewed NBC News reporter Ben Collins in Canada’s Trucker Protests Reach Across The Border.

Canada’s trucker protest is gaining steam with some U.S.-based organizers planning similar demonstrations in Washington. Meanwhile, the January 6th Committee is looking into past event attendance as it probes the extremist groups that coalesced ahead of the insurrection.

Collins also mentioned the hacked Facebook page, although he didn't credit Grid News like CNN did. He also elaborated on the similarities to last year's attempted self-coup and the connections to Operation Gridlock and the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. As I wrote yesterday, "this touches on [a lesson] I teach my students, all of which connect to Commoner's Laws...everything is connected to everything else" this time through ideology instead of the global supply chain.* One of those ideologies is anti-elitism in the form of anti-expertise. As someone who considers himself an expert, although not an actual elite, this displeases me.

Next, Joy Reid Explains American Right-Wing Co-Optation Of Trucker Protest opened with The Former Guy's and Ted Cruz praising the protest.

Protesters are in their second week of demonstrating against Canadian vaccination mandates for truckers crossing the border, with the busiest border crossing between Canada and the United States still partially blocked on Wednesday. Joy Reid explains how the American right-wing has been salivating over these protests.

My first reaction is that with friends like these, the protesters hardly need enemies, but I'm sure they wouldn't agree. I'm sure they think the money, moral support, and possibly even actual people being recruited make the U.S. politicians, media figures, and activists are great friends. Ugh.

I conclude with the perspective of Ali Velshi, a Canadian correspondent at MSNBC, along with his expert interviewee in Canada Afflicted With Right-Wing American Covid Conspiracy Chaos.

Timothy Snyder, author of "On Tyranny," looks at how the U.S. has become a bad actor in the global community as its antigovernment right wing, inflamed by Fox News and social media, is triggering political and economic disruption by fringe extremists in other countries.

Again, everything is connected to everything else, including through bad ideas. I apologize to my non-U.S. readers that other people from my country are spreading them. I'm doing what I can to fight them here.

*The supply chain disruptions are still important and I may have more to say about them if this continues. Stay tuned.