Kinda neat e-mail & questions about it

Today I recieved this e-mail from a friend…

“This following is a re-quote, from a Canadian newspaper no less, worth
sharing. Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a
remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian
television commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant
remarks as printed in the Congressional Record”:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
America: The Good Neighbor.

"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?

Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the
moon? 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 damned 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."
Stand proud, America!

Unquote
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Is this for real? Is this guy who they say he is and did he really say that? Is all of this stuff true? If it is, then it’s the first time I’ve EVER seen anything like this. Impressive.

According to snopes, this is real. But it was written in 1973.

Please see this thread.

This has been discussed so often and so recently that I’m going to close this thread. In addition to the thread linked to above, it was also discussed here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=86782

bibliophage
moderator GQ