ACCOUNTABILITY IS BACK, BABY

or How to maintain sanity in a mad world by waiting.

I remember he seemed deflated.

We sat at the bar in the hotel in downtown Toronto. He was from the States.

I was there to host an awards show and was in fairly good spirits, but perhaps also a bit of shock.

He was there as a speaker and visiting CEO of a very well known social media platform.

As we sat and chatted on that brisk November night in 2016, he told me that a number of his employees had asked for the day off.

“The day off?!” I replied, “That seems a bit dramatic, no?”

He went on to explain that what seemed to have started as a sideshow worthy of nothing more than a few laughs, had now become… the president.

What had seemed like a tabloid joke and a political impossibility was now in the most powerful office in the world.

My bar companion was deflated. It was like he had lost faith in the natural and agreed order of things. He said his staff felt nauseous and winded. Like they’d been kicked in the gut.

Everybody knew the newly elected president had a reputation of being, um… only lightly scrupled.
There were stories of him not paying his bills, abandoning promises, and much… much worse.

Yet there he was… elected to the highest office in the USA.

It had been ‘ha ha’ but now it was more ‘uh oh’.
Even as a Canadian it was like watching a new neighbour move in next door and saying “Gosh, they sure seem to be taking a lot of meth lab equipment in from the truck.”

“Don’t worry… there are checks and balances,” we were told repeatedly.

Then the ‘checks’ bounced and the scales of justice seemed to stop working.

Accountability seemed to be nothing more than an olde fashioned sentiment.

The most powerful country in the world seemed largely lawless.

Then this week, 34 tiny glimmers of accountability appeared.

“If they can do this to a former president, they can do it to you,” came the warnings from his supporters.

I’d certainly fucking hope so.
Otherwise, the law means nothing and humans become their worst faster than you can tweet covfefe.

I initially thought the reaction from the social media platform’s staff according to my CEO bar friend was laughable.
Then the majority of us stopped laughing and just waited for accountability to become fashionable again.

Thankfully, only 8 short years later… accountability is back, baby.

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If you have any interest, there is a new podcast coming this summer called ‘CANADA WATCHING US NEWS’ featuring myself and the amazing Sandy Garissino. You can sign up to be notified when it starts by visiting CanadaWatchingUSNews.com

(Pictured: Author enjoys pint number redacted at The Ship in St. John’s, Newfoundland and ignores calls for accountability at least until next week)