The plot to behead Stephen Harper

Yes, Canadians need to quit the you-vs.-us nonsense for the reasons you cite. Sorry, but it often seems that "little brother syndrome" is very much alive and well north of the 49th. (And this isn't some right-wing BS nor a recent phenomenon; this is something I've noticed for decades, back to the carping and moaning my Canadian cousins did about the U.S. back in the 1970s.)

 

Oh please. How many times have I heard the 'without us south of you, you'd be fucked for protection' argument? Americans who actually do know there's another nation to the north like to hold that one over our heads all the time.

 

Larry, I don't mean to offend you but it's a fact the United States and its politicians have been meddling in the affairs of other sovereign nations for nearly 200 years. They start and/or fund foreign wars as they please in order to get what they want (Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq) and, when it doesn't suit them, ignoring other situations where their help is desperately needed (Rwanda, Kosovo).

The Monroe Doctrine, Manifest Destiny, you can look it all up. Ask the people of Chile, Nicaraugua and other Latin American nations how they liked having their democratically elected governments overthrown in favour of simply because the U.S. government didn't approve of their choices.

Ask yourself why Saddam Hussein and Manuel Noriega were at one time considered "good dictators" by the U.S. government. I'll tell you why -- because they did the Americans' dirty work for them in their own nations. Noriega was even on the CIA's payroll! But once he and Saddam stopped doing what was expected of them, they became bad dictators in the eyes of the United States -- even though nothing had changed as far as their countrymen and women were concerned.

Fidel Castro was initially a good dictator because the U.S. decided it had no further use for Batista. But when Castro aligned himself with the big bad Russkies and nationalized land holdings predominantly controlled by Americans and American companies, he became a bad dictator and remains one to this day. Ask your elected representatives why the U.S. embargo against Cuba continues to exist, long after the Communist threat ended.

Why, because I implied that Goldberg's U.S. fandom stems from the government's history of supporting Israel at the expense of relations with the Arab world?

Not that Israel doesn't deserve support, just that the United States has historically overlooked atrocities committed by that country -- atrocities no Arab country would be permitted to get away with. Big-time double standard, although someone named Goldberg probably isn't likely to see it that way, and isn't likely to be a fan of other countries (like Canada) that call it like they see it.

By the way, the embargo against Cuba that I mentioned above? There's only one other major nation in the world that opposes its end. You guessed it -- Israel, in a clear-cut case of mutual back-scratching.

No, Lyman, you only think it's smug superiority because it isn't acquiescence, which is what you're really looking for.

You know what, gang? I love America as much as I do Canada. I'm as much an American as I am a Canadian. But I'm not blind, I'm not going to ignore the facts and I'm not going to put up with a know-nothing asshole like Jonah Goldberg baselessly trashing the country I live in.

And I'm definitely not going to put up with Lyman posting Goldberg's bullshit here, innocently feigning no opinion on it and then acting like it's the word of Moses coming down from Mount Fucking Sinai. Go play on the freeway, troll.

 

Aside from attacking fishermen, what military power could we realistically protect ourselves from? There are mor police officers in New York City then there are members of the Canadian Military.

 

I have an opinion on it, idiot, which is why I posted it. There's nothing trollish about it.

I have Canadian relatives, have spent a lot of time there and in general like Canada very much. But the anti-American strain in Canadian society is childish and petty far too often. About the only thing Canadians know they are is that they're not Americans. I would think a nation would want to do better than that.

Nobody's asking for acquiesence. Just common sense.

Sorry if that hits a little too close to home for you (which, judging from your reaction, it must), but that's my take on it -- and the take of a lot of other people I know, both in the U.S. and elsewhere. (Just ask Euroopeans about the head-to-toe, red-and-white, maple-leaf festival that passes for how many Canadians in Europe dress, lest they be mistaken for American. They think it's funny.)

 

Not to nitpick JJ but there are a few in accuracies with your above post. The US was involved in Kosovo and still is today. Here is a link to all countries currently involved in Kosovo
http://www.nato.int/kfor/kfor/nations/default.htm

As well Sadam Hussein was ushered in and supported as leader by the US (and – if I remember from past research correctly - the rest of the UN) in Iraq back when the Mid-East, much like today, was about as stable as the Cubs' lineup. A strong leader was needed in the region and Saddam fit the bill. They had no idea he would go on to massacre millions of his own people.

I do agree with you, however, in thinking that their embargo on Cuba is complete bullshit, and I don't really agree with their ability to overthrow a democratically elected government, isn't that afterall a complete reversal of democracy?

 

That's an exaggeration. Right now we probably have 90,000 people in the regular and reserve forces. The NYPD has about 35,000 officers in uniform.

Who could we protect ourselves from? Beef, you should get up to speed on Canadian military history. Queenston Heights. The Northwest Rebellion. Paardeberg. Vimy Ridge. Hill 70. Passchendaele. Juno Beach. Holland. Kapyong. All decisive and legendary victories. The list goes on and on, and it's one to be proud of.

So is the fact that, at the end of World War II, Canada had the fourth largest armed force in the world. A country with only 11 million people had 1.1 million of them in uniform. Think about it. That's 10 per cent of the population. Even the Soviet Union didn't have 10 per cent of its population in active military roles -- they topped out at between six and eight per cent.

If all this translates as smug superiority, so be it. I'm done here.

 

Jamaica? Fuck, who cares where the invasion comes from? If we haven't already figured it out, it's going to happen from within the country anyway. Does that mean we're going to have the army goose-stepping down Yonge Street?

 

Nobody is questioning the history. It's the present that seems to be the problem.

 

Our military past is something I am very proud of and familiar with, however, I am not talking about the distant past. I am talking about today. And Flash I said nothing about the need for soldiers to be fucking goose stepping down yonge street.

 

And they've got a better chance of marching on Yonge Street than the Leafs do...

 

Well, thanks for that morning giggle, she said, wiping coffee off her laptop screen.