Canada, population 33 million GDP 1.17 trillion
Hell, California has a population of 36! GDP 1.7 trillion
We pay Canada a hell of a lot more attention than we do California, so seriously what’s the big deal. Can you actually give any good reason why the average American should care so much about Canada? I would like to hear. And it better be better than “We’re our own country” because that’s not an argument.
Seriously. Lighten up. The guy lived in Indonesia, and can probably point out more nations on a globe than you.
I say this as a true international. I’ve lived abroad for 4 years, and I gotta say. I wasn’t crazy about Canada. I think it’s a nice place and all, but you guys are way too sensitive about distinguishing your petty differences with us. I know it’s hard, but seriously. I went to London, ON, and when I asked the locals what beer to drink they said Coors Lite! I was the only one drinking Blue in the bar. What the hell?
Canadian insistence on these matters seems awfully immature if you ask me. Like your kid brother who acts out to get attention. Any outside observer can see how the nations are so similar. Yet you insist on getting up in arms all the time anyone gets something wrong. Do you think that people from Louisiana get pissed when someone says “county” instead of “parish?” No. They do not. They probably don’t care. They understand what you mean. Obama simply slipped up.
I think it’s great that you guys in Canada have worked things out in a better way than we have. That’s brilliant. But you know people would really start to wonder about the place if you didn’t have to hear that shit every time you met a fucking Canadian.
The reason why I mentioned California? Because that’s how much we have on our plates inside our own borders. Don’t get upset that we aren’t aware of your pet peeves more than we are of any other region on the US.
Well that could be. After all, President Schwartznegger is not that well known.
Because we are your No 1 customer. If we wanted too, we could stop buying from you and your economy would be toast.
Or, we could shut the oil tap. That’s 4 million barrels of crude and petroleum per day, way more than any other country. And as far as the future is concerned, we’ve got way more reserves than Saudi Arabia.
Do the math buddy. You guys NEED us. Ignore us at your peril.
There is a wall. It’s a secret underwater wall at the bottom of Lake Michigan. At least we’re pretty sure it’s there. Those guys in Chicago assured us that if we paid them that million dollars, they’d build our wall for us. And they seemed trustworthy.
Great, if you’re so secure in your importance to us, then why are you so insecure about stupid things like this? Again…Canada wouldn’t get so much shit from us if you weren’t so insistent on being taken more seriously.
As far as the economy? Big deal. California is important too, only they cut us off. I’m sure it would be the same effect. Except you are dependent on us too. As far as oil is concerned. I imagine this is true.
But for a nation so secure in its individuality you sure do seem to care a shit-load about what we think of you. Why care if someone doesn’t know? I don’t go flying off the hook when people get shit wrong about the US when I’m abroad.
ETA: Bush is an idiot because he thought Poutine was the premiere. Obama made a verbal slip-up. I’m sure he knows. Bush never left the country before he was president. Obama went to Africa. I think that’s enough already to disprove your claim.
Holy shit, since when does Wisconsin border Canada? It borders Lake Superior, Minnesota, and the UP of Michigan, but doesn’t border Canada. Even it’s Lake Superior territory doesn’t even border Canadian waters.
Oh, whatever. Just a momentary slip. You, he and everyone else with an IQ in double digits knows what he meant. It would be a gaffe worth talking about if he were clearly talking about something that someone other than the PM would have jurisdiction over (which may well be the case, for all I know). What worries me more is his repetitiveness:
The whole quote has a “Do you think they’ll figure out that I’m not ready for international politics?” ring to it, which has nothing to do with the terms he uses for neighboring nations’ leaders.
Probably that Poutine character. He’s a sneaky little bastard!
I nominate California. We already produce more and better dairy anyway.
Hey Backpedal Man, where’d you get that sweet new bike?
…Maybe it matters to you or maybe it doesn’t but it sounds as if Obama is discussing using targetted airstrikes and/or Special Ops style troops to take out high value targets, if we (a) know where they are and (b) Musharraf won’t act on that information for whatever reason. Which is a whole lot different from an “invasion” of tens or hundreds of thousands of troops and an occupation and the whole shebang.
For as much as Obama caught flack for it at the time, I have yet to hear a single candidate state that if we knew where bin Laden was in Pakistan and Musharraf wouldn’t act on it, then we’d just kick the dirt and go home. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to vote for a guy who’d just say “Wow, that kinda sucks, sure wish we could go get him” under those circumstances.
Oh, stop it. You could not. You buy shit from the US because you need shit from the US. 60% of your economy is based on trade, and that’s overwhelmingly with the US. On our end, we export $206 Billion in goods to Canada each year. That’s not chump change, but our GDP annually is about $14 and a half trillion. If I’m crunching numbers correctly, our exports to Canada account for less than 2% of our economy.
Yeah, you could shut that oil tap. And you’re gonna buy American goods using what money, now?
Says the pinkie to the heart.
If Canada cut off trade with the US, it’d hurt the US economy. It would end the Canadian economy.
I like Canada. If I were to leave the US, it’d be my second choice of places to go. It’s got a lot of great, wonderful things going for it. One of those great, wonderful things is that it’s not a major player on the world powers stage. It hardly even has a bit part.
Of course, what actually happened is that Mercer jabbered a question at Bush as fast as he could in a crowded, loud environment, where Bush presumably wouldn’t be able to catch the first consonant, and Bush responded with a generic, throw-off answer. And even if he did hear it, campaigning politicians don’t go out of their way to correct the public on pronounciation, since that would make you look like an asshole. So in fact, there’s not a shred of evidence Bush really thought the Prime Minister of Canada was named “Poutine.”
As for Obama, it’s obviously just a slip of the tongue and no rational person would be concerned about such a meaningless error. And while I’m not an Obama supporter, you have misrepresented his comment about Pakistan to the point of dishonesty. On top of all that, one would think that if you were going to criticize an American for cross-border ignorance you’d at least look at a map to remember which one is Illinois. It’s the one with Chicago in it, by the way. Capital is Springfield. Pronounced “Ill-ih-noy.”
And this “if we refuse to buy from you we could wreck you” bullshit is embarrassing to your fellow Canadians. Yes, that’s it, we’re going to destroy our own economy to mildly harm the USA’s because Barack Obama accidentally misnamed the position of the head of Canada’s government. What kind of stupid shit is that? “You’d better watch out and not mispronounce Saskatchewan or we’ll stop buying oranges and X-boxes!”
Jesus Christ, the ol’ nationalist inferiority complex really kicked in today, huh? Get a grip. We have a nice country here and don’t need to piss and moan like a teenaged girl being ignored by an older boy. Nationalism should at least be accompanied by some dignity and self-respect.
