FTR I agree with MGibson, also. If the OP felt a snub, then write Bush a letter. Just sounding off on a message board has little or no effect.
There is really no point in saying things like this. It does nothing to advance the debate.
I have two axioms for these boards and as such, are pointless to comment upon.
- We all have a life.
- These boards exist for Bitching, Arguing, Asking Questions, and Sounding Off.
I’m still feeling sorry for the Afghans, myself.
And the Koreans.
And the Vietnamese.
And the Iraqis.
and the (oh RSI strikes…)
A few dead soldiers? Did someone teach you guys that only brown and yellow people die and you lot are immortal…???
Yes, because of course, all Canadians are white.
:rolleyes: But it upped my post count. 
Moderator’s Note: This seems to be more in the nature of a complaint than a debate, so I’m moving it to the Pit.
And I’ll throw in a comma, just in case any other readers are inclined to heart failure at the thread title.
Count me in as another US citizen that is appalled at President Bush’s behavior toward Canada. I might be willing to consider accepting some excuse if this was the first time he had been fucking rude and inconsiderate, but its more like the 4th or 5th time, and this really takes the cake.
How in the hell could anyone who’s managed to reach the highest level of government be so damned *rude and insensitive? I know damned well that his mother taught him better; she must be humiliated and furious because he’s certainly making her look bad.
You know, I can certainly understand that the man has a million zillion equally urgent and important things that need to be taken care of every day. I can see how emergencies might pop up and drive from your mind even something as important as publicly expressing condolences for the deaths and apologizing for our error.
But he’s the PRESIDENT OF THE FUCKING UNITED STATES. The so-called Leader of the Free World. He is supposed to be surrounded by the very best advisors, speech writers, assistants, secretaries, etc. available. And he’s supposed to have enough sense to listen to them and respect their ability to do their jobs.
Holy Fucking Texas Longhorns! Who was the idiot that let him use the word ‘crusade’ in a speech about attacking a Moslem government? Who left Canada off the list of countries he thanked in that speech he made shortly after our allies pledged their support? And why in the hell didn’t someone automatically set up a press conference immediately after they learned about the Canadian deaths? I always thought the President had secretaries and such that automatically took care of things like that so he doesn’t have to worry about them getting done. You know, a guy walks in with a stack of papers, folders, etc. and says “Good Morning, Mr. President. Here are the morning newspapers - I’ve marked any articles of particular interest to you in red. Here is the morning analysis of world news reports. Here is morning stock market/economic report. Here is the professional analysis of Prime Minister So-and-So’s speech from yesterday. Here is your schedule for today: At 8:30 you have a debriefing meeting with the NSA; at 9:00 you’re scheduled for an international conference call with Powell, Rumsfield, and Cheney; you have a press conference scheduled for 9:30 for the purposed of expressing your condolences to Canada on the death of their soldiers - here is copy of the statement we’ve prepared for you if you’d like to glance over it quickly. At 10:00 you’re schedule for . . .”
Is the man surrounded by nothing but total incompetents? Or does he think he can do everything, and do it better, himself?
I’ve never been rabidly anti-Bush; I voted for Gore because I thought he would be a better president and I didn’t like Bush’s fundamentalist attitude. Well, Bush was declared the winner and I thought ‘Well, his daddy ain’t perfect but he ain’t no fool, so maybe the son will do okay.’ And at first I thought he was handling the war-situation pretty well. However, the longer this goes on the more I get the feeling that he is screwing up big-time - I don’t understand exactly how, I guess I’m just losing my faith in his ability to do even a half-way decent job leading the country, much less the ‘free world’.
And when I remember the worldwide outpouring of sympathy after 9/11, the candlelight vigils, the 5 minute silence, God Bless America being played during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the mounds and mounds of flowers outside US embassies all over the world, some of them in little countries that I was embarassed to admit I’d never even heard of . . .
and compare that to Bush’s failure to even make decent public statement of condolence and apology to the Canadians who have been such staunch and willing supporters throughout this whole nightmare, I am ashamed.
I’m just a classless, ignorant, backwoods, white-trash redneck who doesn’t have any idea what piece of silverware to use at a fancy dinner party, but I’ve got more class than that.
It sure isn’t any substitute for Bush’s unforgiveable behavior, but I want our Canadian posters to know that I’m one US citizen that thinks they are the tiptop cream-of-the-crop. I’m sorry that Canadian families lost their loved ones in a stupid accident while they were in a foreign country trying to help us out. No amount of apologizing or sympathizing will bring those young men back, and I wish there was some real way I could lessen the grief of their families and friends.
And I’m sorry that our President seems to have turned out to be an insensitive, inconsiderate boor with the gratitude and manners of a slop-fed hog.
Canadian checking in here…
Yes, I think it would have been nice if Mr. Bush would have offered the same respect to our dead soldiers as he did his own. I also think it would have been nice if he had publicaly thanked Canada for the assistance offered on 9-11 without being goaded into it. Further, I think it would have been nice if he had sent me a cheque on my birthday and perhaps arranged a clown or something. None of these things happened.
These things paint Mr. Bush as a bit of a twit (well, maybe not the clown part). However, I don’t think that they represent the opinions or feelings of the average American citizen any more than Prime Minister Chretien’s screw-ups represent my opinions and feelings.
Bush is one person that kinda suck’s at tact - probably no need to get in a tizzy about it.
Al. (Who’s still pissed about the clown)
Alice, hon, we’re all still pissed about the clown. Unfortunately we can’t vote him out of office until 2004.
I think you have completely missed the point of this thread. Canadians are upset because the leader of the large, powerful country immediately to our south, which our vastly under-populated country helps out whenever we can without waiting to be asked, can’t take time out of his busy schedule to offer the bare minimum of condolences to the grieving families of four dead Canadian soldiers who were killed for no good reason. Those men aren’t “a few dead soldiers” to their wives, girlfriends, children, parents, siblings, and friends.
And just so you know, Canada is small in population, but we’re fiercely proud of our nation; all of Canada celebrated when we won two golds in Olympic hockey, and all of Canada mourns four dead soldiers. It’s the way we are. And I wouldn’t change us for the world.
Wait, wait, wait, lemme see if I got this straight…
-An American pilot makes a greivous error and four people are killed, eight wounded.
-Bush apologizes to the Prime Minister over the accident.
…
So where’s the fucking problem?!? What’d you expect, a personalized apology to every single Canadian? Bush, down on his knees, sobbing, begging forgiveness? Seven days of mourning and self-beating on the part of our Commander-In-Chief?
Yeesh, it’s a tragedy, not a fucking political circus. If I were you, I wouldn’t use my dead citizens as an excuse to score some cheap points on a message board.
It has come to my attention that an accident involving a live bomb dropped on a testing excersize resulted in the deaths of four Canadians and the wounding of eight more. As an American and the leader of our country, I offer my deepest condolences to the families of the soldiers. Canada is one of our greatest and oldest allies, and we feel very deeply about this accident. We will be assisting to our fullest abilities in this investigation to find the cause of this mistake.
The prez coulda said something like that publicly.
And to those saying that it was just four people? Geez, that’s pretty insensitive. Remember the national press when we had our first casualty of this war? That’s four families who won’t have their sons and husbands returning. They knew the risks when they signed up. But that doesn’t make their deaths any less of a tragedy. They were willing to give their lives in the service of freedom and peace, and they instead gave their lives to a stray 500 pounder.
I figure that any good president would and should come out with a public apology to both the Canadians and the Americans. It’s good form.
But that’s the reality of the situation. I’m sorry to say it, but in the grand scheme of things, four people is pretty insignificant.
Do you know what the President’s schedule was like? Do you know how many important appointments he had? It’s not like he’s just playing marbles up in the Oval Office, waiting, just waiting, for a chance to jump up and make a speech.
An accident happened. The President apologized for it. I see no problem here.
Uh, dude - exactly what points are Canadians going to be trying to score? “Your-leader-is-stupider-than-our-leader” points?
Are those collectable? Should I get some sort of card?
Ya know, I think if the guy could have pulled his head out of his ass for 15 seconds and said “Yo- Canada - sorry we fucked up” that would have been nice.
The president didn’t apologize. He condoled.
You condole when your neighbour’s son is killed by a falling piano. You apologize when your niece dropped the piano.
Quite frankly, the possibility for error increases along with the amount of operation.
Here’s another couple statements from that same article previously linked.
"While some Canadian soldiers expressed anger at the U.S. military, others were sad but recognized the fog of war often leads to horrible accidents. "
"Canadian Chief of Staff General Ray Henault, a pilot who has flown jet fighters, said the U.S. pilots were in a war zone and had to make a quick decision. “All of it is done in seconds,” he said.
The same kind of cheap points that you demonstrate when you say…
Yup, those kind of cheap points.
My apologies. He condoled. A difference, yes, but the OP is making out like Bush didn’t even acknowledge the accident. Besides, do you know exactly what was said between Bush and the Prime Minister?
Color me surprised that the President of the United States handles the death of Canadian servicemen differently then he does United States servicemen.
Marc
SPOOFE
Yes, that’s the problem, we don’t know. The families of those soldiers don’t know.