One Canadian's View of Americans

[Parselmouth]

Gordon Sinclair, Canadian television commentator:

"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth.

Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.

The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.

I’d like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the
Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10?

If so, why don’t they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely home again.

You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at
home to spend here.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.

I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don’t think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I’m one Canadian who is d*mned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is
not one of those."

[The Mister]

<font size=2>Not that it changes the message THAT much, but just FYI:

http://www.snopes2.com/quotes/sinclair.htm

It's such a touching note that it makes want to cry...

Canada's debt is, of course, fully repaid with the gift of hockey!

The Concorde was made in France, or jointly with England, I believe.

Otherwise, without being too chauvinistic about it, these comments are greatly appreciated.

In contrast, I have caught several segments of BBC programming on TV and public radio the last two nights. They are giving significant time to Arab Muslim speakers, who are either voicing U.S. lack of innocence (at least), or otherwise building the case for U.S. restraint in responding and retaliating for the attacks.

Although Bush is building a coalition of international political support for U.S. action, I strongly suspect that the unanimity of support will deteriorate rapidly in the next few weeks, and that we will see resistance and criticism when the time comes to take "tough" action.

[anon789]

The US's toughest resistance will come from Arab/Muslim countries.

It's clear to the rest of the Western world (of course I speak for everyone) that this IS in fact a war, not an isolated attack. Further, this is a war on the Western world, not just the US. The US was chosen as a symbol. London or Toronto could just as easily have been chosen, and could be next.

NATO has already come forward as allies behind the US. So have many of the leaders of Western countries. Not just denouncing the attack - but as allies.

The public outside the US expects much the same thing that the US public expects. A swift and strong response. I'd say the attitide might be compared to "they're going to get what's coming to them. They brought it upon themselves". I think if a full scale invasion of Afghanistan was mounted, that you would see greater resistance inside the US than from the rest of the West.

[fallout]

So where is Canada now?

[Aaron Brachowitz]

North of Minnesota.

[Retired Bookworm]

Yeah, I think they are there to stay.

[Triweasel]

Fallout, did you think people were just joking when they said they were worried that GWB would fritter away all the goodwill toward the US in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks? He played his hand very poorly IMO. If he had used a little more tact and/or diplomacy we might still have a strong coalition united against terrorism. I know, hindsight is 20/20, but foresight doesn't have to be completely blind.

[Aaron Brachowitz]

Originally Posted by johnny c

He played his hand very poorly IMO. If he had used a little more tact and/or diplomacy we might still have a strong coalition united against terrorism.

Why should tact and diplomacy be necessary to be united against terrorism? I would think decent governments would see the merits of that without the need to be courted or persuaded. The sad fact is that while the Frances and Germanies of the world were shocked at our losses on 9/11, they are more comfortable with the world that produced that day than with the changes that are necessary to prevent another such day. And they're comfortable with us being the Big Target.