I’m sure the comment in this article doesn’t represent the sentiment of all Canadians:
:rolleyes: :wally
But dammit… we’re looking more and more like a bunch of petulant fucking children.
Okay, before you accuse me of being a Bush supporter, or worse… appologist… let me assure you I’m neither. I don’t agree with many policies of this administration but surely, there is better rhetoric than insinuating that Bush and Rice are some kind of livestock or demons incarnate.
Fellow Canadians… if we want to maintain our good image, we better start acting like we’ve got some class and some sense of proportion.
When did American- and Bush-bashing become our national hobby? I’m so sick of going into work and hearing people whine and complain about those “stupid Americans” (and yes, I take a trick from the “How to Be a Canadian…” book and ask them what the capital of New Brunswick is, and when they can’t answer, launch into a full-fledged “Yah, those dumb Americans, don’t know anything about us… probably don’t even know our provincial capitals” rant).
I do feel bad for Martin - he’s in a damned if you do - damned if you don’t situation. He can’t get too close to the US, or people will complain about the end of the ‘Canadian identity’ and the annexation of Canada by the US and yadda yadda yadda (though at least Macleans will have something to write about). He can’t back too far away, or he’ll be hearing it from the left, right, and center about beef and lumber imports.
And “little hoofies”? That’s just embarrassing for all of us.
I don’t see what’s wrong with that. All tests of the missle defense system have shown that it’s too wildly flawed to have any pragmatic use, at least in the forseeable future.
As such, we are indeed trying to peddle a system that doesn’t work and being bullies about it. Honestly, Condi opting out of a diplomatic engagement because y’all wouldn’t kowtow to our ridiculous and unnecessary demands? I knew she was going to be much worse than Powel in her role as Sec’ of State, but this is just nuts.
And, as for stamping their little hooves ~shrugs~.
They’re being petulant whining bullies.
If the worst you Canadians do is to make some mild barnyard slurs, ah well.
Y’all should visit Gotham, then you’d at least have better insults to throw at us.
P.S. This ridiculousness about having a chance to ‘restore US/Canadian relations’ strikes me as, well, beyond the pale. So, we’re allowed to bully you and expect you to go along with us even when we’re wrong, and you’re not allowed to stand up to us? This is a very strange situation in international politics, and is, in my mind, much closer to imperium or hegemony than a world of sovereign states.
Seem to me that the entire substance of a Canadian Identity has become the act of bashing America at every turn. Nice. :rolleyes:
BTW: Fredericton… What do I win?
Look it’s not so much that Canada opted in or out - though I think it should have been in. It’s that we’ve got to attach some kind of *Canadian Identity * message to this and make it into a national drama. Fuck! When did we become such huge whining attention whores?
I miss the days of P.E. Trudeau. Now there was a statesman! At least when he told someone to go fuck themselves he made it sound like they’d enjoy the trip.
QuickSilver: Because we have to let the U.S. know that nobody’s the boss of us and they’re being meanies and we’ll tell if they keeps picking on us, right?
This boggles my mind, my should Canada have been in?
The system doesn’t, and won’t, work.
Should Canada also join Finn’s Slingshots For Missle Defense Pact?
Well, with the US trying to steamroll your sovereign decision making process and force you into compliance, wouldn’t identity politics be a natural outgrowth? I mean, even if identity isn’t at issue, from what I understand of the political climate between our two nations, it makes sense to me.
No, it doesn’t work too well. Yet. Hence the TES-TING. I’m pretty certain they’ve got some fairly smart folks tinkering with the bits that need solving.
I don’t see a single steamroller in sight. If you mean the delay of the diplomatic visit by the US, well, it’s diplomacy: the act of saying “Good dog” while you search around for a bigger stick.
Identity politics doesn’t make any sense to me at all. It smacks of extreme nationalism. I grew up and lived in Canada and have spent many years in the US. We’re not so different from one another as some Canadians like to believe.
So, you don’t have a problem with the US exerting pressure on your nation to take a course of action for which there are no forseeable benefits in the near future and which require you to give up sovereignty of your airspace, because we say so?
Identity politics deal less with nationality than ‘group identity’.
Trust me, after close to six years now in the ivory tower, I’m well versed in most modern theoretical frameworks.
Anywho, Canada is right to not want in on this “missile defense” crap. The system is bunk. It has problems passing tests that are essentially rigged on the side of passing iirc, and is very easy to get past on the cheap; i.e. it doesn’t take a whole lot to modify a missile to fool the defense system.
And the phrase “little hoofies” is just to gosh darn adorable to be classless.
The whole missile defence shield thing is one big fucking pork barrel of a dud that hands over hundreds of millions in public money for a system that has not yet even looked like working, and that probably would never have anything to defend against even if it did work.
I thought it was St. John’s. Got a great-grandma from there, and besides it’s the only city I know in NB. Except the one where the Bay of Fundy is. Unless that’s Dt. John’s too.
Anyway, if I had a massive neighbor to the south that was affecting me as much as the US was, I might get a little tetchy too, although I agree the more childish statements don’t help a bit. The only time it bothers me, though, is when Canucks forget there’s more than one big state down here. “America” doesn’t have the death penalty (I’ve lived in two of the biggest states in the country, and they stopped executions decades before Canada was still stringing 'em up). “America”, in some places, has strict gun laws. And so on.
But we are so blessed to have a peaceful, prosperous giant to our north, and it’s shaped so much of our optimistic, can-do, welcoming character, that I’ll never believe things will ever go seriously wrong with the relationship. C’mere, you pot-smokin’ puck shovers! <noogie noogie noogie!>
