Long-term, sure. Short term? We’re allowing the Philistines to own the debate in the US.
And they’re using that fact to discredit themselves quite nicely. Let they carry on, it’ll do them far more harm than good.
I’m not sure I value the average American’s common sense that much, but I do keep hoping.
As opposed to you, a melodious songbird chippering words of kindness and goodwill?
Wherefore thy delerium? Wrong about what?
But yours do, if you call losing the White House, the judiciary, and both houses of Congress working.
Your brand tells old poor people they can’t smoke in their own homes. Way to have a heart.
Well, somebody’s got to do it.
Neither does North Korea. Your point?
You mean depending on a neighboring superpower for its defense?
What have we ever defended Canada from?
North Korea has gay marriage? Who knew!
Well, you’re walking down the street of a seedy neighborhood with your 6’8, 350 pound, head-to-toe-muscle bodyguard, armed to the teeth with the most sophisticated weaponry in the world. At the end of your walk, no one has mugged you. And you ask what Guido has ever defended you from?
It doesn’t matter. Everyone there is equal. If you don’t believe it, just ask them. The bureaucrats are more equal than others, but still.
By the same token, in America everyone is free. What’s your point, again? Mockingbird’s point was a valid one - canada doesn’t run itself as though every bad urban legend about “fags” and “junkies” was true. How does that stupid *non sequitur *about NK answer his point?
Bodyguard? A bodyguard has armaments specifically to protect his companion. What armaments would the US military not have to maintain if it weren’t for Canada’s supposed freeloading? The arctic radar sites? They’d still exist, only they’d be in the northern states. And as it stands, they’re mostly manned by Canadians anyway. There’s about as many Americans up here as there are Canadians in Colorado.
How about walking down the street and not threatening passers-by or giving them dirty looks? What about doing that while Guido is walking nearby? Which prevented all those attacks I didn’t receive? Guido, or my behaviour? Put another way, there’s more than one way to avoid dying of a bear attack. A pile of shotguns is one, but a combination of pepper spray, careful food containment, and not antagonizing bears works well, too.
As a member of the Canadian Forces, I resent the idea that Americans feel they are going to unacceptable trouble to make up for our laziness, or, worse, that they are owed some kind of debt for their enormous arms industry and military complex. If you’re feeling put upon, feel free to cut it out anytime. If your taxpayers are straining under the weight of defending Canada from all the missiles and invasions and terrorist plots you’re stopping from coming our way, let us know, and we’ll start taking care of those things ourselves. These days, Canada’s biggest external threat is economic protectionism from the United States. We’ve got army enough to fight the wars we’re expecting.
Frankly, if Guido wants to keep working out and buying shiny new weapons to scare people off, he’s free to do so. If he’s feeling put upon because I’m not doing the same, he can rest assured that I won’t mind if he gets a little less enthusiastic, or walks a little farther back. But this comment is a complete non-sequitur to the discussion at hand, even considering Mockingbird’s comment about hoping the US will grow to adopt a more liberal attitude towards sexuality. It is a hijack and a half, the subject of which has been thoroughly covered in Great Debates. I will not continue it here.
Sorry, but you hit a nerve. You and Mockingbird can insult each other with non sequiturs all you want, but kindly leave us out of it.
The Sandinistas?
How quickly they forget the 80s! 
WTF? Who dropped the damn sound bite wagon into this thread? And what does it have to do with this kid getting through the ordeal he’s going through right now?
Ask Mockingbird. They were responses to him. Meanwhile, you can find my opinion on the boy’s treatment in this post on page 1: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6244761&postcount=25. And here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6245455&postcount=51. And Excalibre’s endorsement of my posts here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6247085&postcount=108. And my explanation to a fellow Christian that Paul cannot be interpreted as advocating celibacy for homosexuals here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6248415&postcount=152.
All great posts, which makes me curious why you went after SteveG1 the way you did. He doesn’t seem to have said anything you haven’t said, only not as eloquently. Wherefore the venom?
Probably because I said he was acting like a gargantuan geriatric baby in another thread and he’s choosing to have his temper tantrum here.
What say we pretend that someone’s NOT trying to hijack the thread with bullshit and stay on topic?
“Well, do you see any tigers around here?”
Parenthetically, I was amused that this coincidentally came down the wire at the same time as this hijack: Two men were married in the chapel at Nova Scotia’s Greenwood air base in May, in what’s being called the Canadian military’s first gay wedding.
MY FATHER FOUGHT AND DIED SO CANADIAN HOMO SOLDIERS COULD GET MARRIED!
Wait, no, there he is in the living room. It’s hard to keep track of where he’s gotten to sometimes.
Lib, I’m not sure you should describe that as an “endorsement.” Wonderful posts, but I think that implies I have some sort of expertise on the Christian scriptures that I don’t have.
You know what the problem with this thread is? It isn’t about Liberal. Can we talk about him more?