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Canadian flag causes flap in the U.S.
Ottawa Citizen | December 8, 2003 | Jack Aubry

Posted on 12/08/2003 12:40:28 PM PST by albertabound

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To: albertabound
As I've said before, Canada exports its greatest clowns to the world and grooms the mediocre ones for politics and civil service.
21 posted on 12/08/2003 12:56:07 PM PST by RichInOC (...somebody had to say it...why not me?)
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To: albertabound
It' not insecurity ... it's disgust. We don't need your support, but we have more than earned your respect. We tolerate your socialism on our borders, and in turn you put on your 'frenchy french frenchman sidenose elitest face' when you bite the hand that feeds you over and over again. We're just tired of you, and we honestly think that if you believe your frozen wasteland is so superior to our little experiment then you should simply face north, and go home. It really is that simple. (Feel free to leave Shania Twain in place as a potential conduit should communication need to be re-opened .. but you can take Celine.)
22 posted on 12/08/2003 12:59:03 PM PST by BlueNgold (Feed the Tree .....)
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To: albertabound
And another thing - It's bad enough the liberal wacko extremists try to tell us how to run our own country, but now they're even trying to dictate to Canadians.
23 posted on 12/08/2003 1:00:40 PM PST by concerned about politics ( "Satire". It's Just "Satire.".......So it is.)
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To: Michael81Dus
Why should this need a Barf Alert??

Because I BARFED just from reading the first line! What a load of propaganda lies.

This is a propaganda technique designed to instigate HATE against an enemy.

Is this author trying to start a war? Or has the govt of Canada fallen to the Taliban and Islamic TERRORISTS?


24 posted on 12/08/2003 1:00:56 PM PST by steplock (www.FOCUS.GOHOTSPRINGS.com)
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To: albertabound
What a waste of $50,000.00.

But maybe it was only a waste of $35,000 if the $50,000 were in Canadian dollars.

25 posted on 12/08/2003 1:02:13 PM PST by Koblenz (There's usually a free market solution)
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To: albertabound
What a waste of $50,000.00.

That would be $38,218.78 US . . . ; 0 )

I spent a considerable amount of time in Manitoba this year. It was my first visit to Canada in several years. I was struck by the increased number of Canadian flags flying from the businesses and residences. Love of country is alive and well in the Great White North.

BTW, I noticed the Ottowa Citizen is still as Anti-American as ever. Some things never change . . .

26 posted on 12/08/2003 1:02:17 PM PST by BraveMan
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To: ruiner
Any time I visit Europe I wear a Hawaiian shrit with cowboy boots and ask people for ketchup.
27 posted on 12/08/2003 1:02:28 PM PST by Texas Federalist
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To: albertabound
In focus groups held this fall in four U.S. cities where the federal government is opening consulates, Americans acknowledged they don't know much about Canadians.

Here's the key sentence because it undermines the rest of the article. Americans don't know much about Canadians. Know why? Cuz Americans don't think very much about Canadians one way or the other, all that often.

A person who is interested in "Canadians" might be inclined to pick up a book about them or something. Americans, in general, aren't, and don't.

Since this completely-obvious point is what their focus groups told them, I have no idea how they got the rest of this stuff about "insecure cuz of war in Iraq", "rift due to stance on social issues", etc, etc.

How can Americans have these thoughts and feelings about Canadians when we don't know or care much about them? How can Canada's "stance on social issues" cause "rifts" with the U.S. when you'd be hard-pressed to find 1 in 100 Americans who even had an inkling what Canada's "stance on social issues" is? (I'm not even sure that I know, to be honest... then again, I'm not even sure I know what a "social issue" is in the first place....)

Personally, I chalk it all up to projection. Apparently the Canadians who wrote these reports are quite conscious of their "stance on social issues" whatever that is, quite conscious of their different take on the war in Iraq, etc, and so in the face of Americans who don't care one way or the other about them, they think "aha, must be due to these things I've got on my mind". As if Americans care.

Canadian comedian Rick Mercer [...] joking that between gay marriage and pot smoking, "it's a wonder there is not a giant deck of cards out there with all our faces on it."

See, here's an example of what I'm talking about. Apparently Canadian comedian Rick Mercer has the impression that Canada figures more prominently on the radar screen of Americans than it actually does. Apparently Canada has some policy or another regarding gay marriage and/or pot smoking which he thinks would anger Americans. He's surprised that it hasn't.

The explanation is simple: Americans don't care. (I have no real idea what Canada's gay marriage/pot smoking policies are.) But apparently that explanation is not very satisfying to some Canadians, so they have to invent all sorts of crap about "insecurity" etc. Who's the insecure one here? The American who doesn't even notice Canada's social policies, or the Canadian who expects Canada's social policies to cause a "flap", in a vain effort to attract attention and inflate self-importance?

For instance, an American from San Diego is quoted saying: "What bugs me about Canadians, if I may, is that they wear that damn patch on their bags, the Canadian flag patch. That way, they differentiate themselves from us."

What the hell kind of idiotic comment is that. They sure found an idiotic American to interview (and, whose views to extrapolate to the rest of us).

So the whole story is based on the dumb comment of one guy, right?

28 posted on 12/08/2003 1:02:37 PM PST by Dr. Frank fan
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To: Spruce
LOL, sure, for me articles get a barf-alert when the author more openly shows his political views. This here can be tolerated... I thought it was printed by the Vancouver Sun?
29 posted on 12/08/2003 1:03:22 PM PST by Michael81Dus
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To: unread
Canadians really believe there is some sort of rivalry between them and the states. They don't realize that most Americans don't give a cr*p about Canada. It's like the homely kid is school spending every moment mooning over the head cheerleader, without realizing their "rival" doesn't even know they exist.
30 posted on 12/08/2003 1:04:20 PM PST by sharkhawk (I want to go to St. Somewhere)
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To: Michael81Dus
Because it's another attempt by the Canadian press to portray Americans as simple-minded jignostic yahoos.

Believe me-I'm a Canadian citizen currently living in the U.S., and the Canadian left is far more guilty of knee-jerk nationalism and ignorance of the world beyond its national borders than the American right.

31 posted on 12/08/2003 1:04:37 PM PST by RightWingAtheist
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To: albertabound
"This underscores the American sensitivity at feeling rejected by the rest of the world ...."

How John "F"ing Kerry unbelievable. Who's this author taking about? Who feels rejected by the rest of the world? Not real Americans.

32 posted on 12/08/2003 1:05:04 PM PST by concerned about politics ( "Satire". It's Just "Satire.".......So it is.)
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I couldn't care less about a Canadian flag sticker on a luggage.

On the other hand, I'm concerned about the potential new NAFTA (North American Factory of Terrorists and Assassins)

Ahmed Ressam, for example, an Algerian convicted of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport during the millennium celebrations, was caught by Customs Service inspectors entering Port Angeles in December 1999 from Canada, where he lived as a refugee — even receiving a $500 monthly government stipend pending an immigration appeal.

At the time of his arrest, Ressam had a Canadian passport and driver's license that identified him as Montreal resident Benni Antoine Noris.

Since 1995, at least 15 persons identified by federal authorities as known terrorists have been caught crossing the border from Canada, two in Blaine alone.

But about 300,000 immigrants are admitted each year to Canada, some of whom have been identified by law enforcement authorities as terrorists, mostly Islamist extremists, looking for safe haven. Because Canada does not detain refugee claimants, even those with questionable backgrounds, more than 10,000 disappear into Canada's ethnic communities each year.


33 posted on 12/08/2003 1:05:23 PM PST by george wythe
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To: albertabound
It has been standard practice for years and years for Canadians to travel with a maple leaf on their luggage...this is not just in the wake of 9/11.

I got a problem with current Canadian foreign policy, but I have no problem with them putting flags on their luggage.

34 posted on 12/08/2003 1:05:29 PM PST by what's up
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To: albertabound
Millward Brown Goldfarb was paid $49,543 for the October report and focus groups.

Wasted money. They did focus groups in 4 US cities, including San Diego ... Okay, it's not San Francisco, but it's still not even vaguely representative of the U.S. as a whole. Example:

"What bugs me about Canadians, if I may, is that they wear that damn patch on their bags, the Canadian flag patch. That way, they differentiate themselves from us."

It took a lot of effort to find someone with an IQ this low. Most people know that there's nothing wrong with Canadians displaying the Canadian flag.

35 posted on 12/08/2003 1:06:00 PM PST by irv
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To: albertabound
Oh, well, this may be received truth in Ottawa, but frankly nobody I know gives a rip whether Canadians wear the Maple Leaf or not, nor are we especially "insecure" or sensitive that Europeans might not like us. The latter is what's irritating them so.

But I forgot one lady last week - true story - on the ferry who was convinced that a Canadian truck was promoting marijuana usage...yep, he had a Maple Leaf sticker on the rear window...I am not making that up...

36 posted on 12/08/2003 1:07:03 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: steplock
Maybe I´m looking too neutral on this... I just read it and that´s it. As someone from a third party, I don´t feel affected by this. I´m wondering what people think about. Maybe the Canucks put stickers on their luggage to show their pride for their country?
37 posted on 12/08/2003 1:07:12 PM PST by Michael81Dus
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To: Dr. Frank
http://www.lehopictures.com/the_joint/archives/000038.php

Rick Mercer is an idiot from eastern Canada that delights in putting down America and Western Canada. He and his troup are always slagging Alberta.This is a classic example of liberal insecurity emanating out of eastern Canada.
38 posted on 12/08/2003 1:08:42 PM PST by albertabound (q)
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To: RightWingAtheist
Wow, this is a very heavy insult!!! LOL
Coming from a country that doesn´t know the meaning of patriotism nor nationalism, I don´t feel bothered by the article. Mmkey, there´re some hints that the author eventually does not agree with the US foreign policy, but it´s not so openly.
39 posted on 12/08/2003 1:09:52 PM PST by Michael81Dus
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To: ruiner
While I could see their point, I do believe it has something to do with envy.

While I don't want to repeat something that they all know is true about America helping them in their times of need, it is that their learership continues to make fun of the USA.

I do believe that in a time of need, their leadership would change their tune and once again ask for our assistance.

And the "Ugly American" would once again come to their assistance, without any strings attach and without expecting to be repaid.

40 posted on 12/08/2003 1:10:02 PM PST by chiefqc
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