Posted on 11/11/2004 9:21:11 AM PST by roadrunner96
"The Americans" - Original Script
The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the world.
As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtse. Well, Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did, that's who.
They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Mississippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help. 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 those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When the franc 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. And I was there. I saw that.
When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help... Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.
The Marshall Plan... the Truman Policy... all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. And now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans.
I'd like to see one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes.
Come on... let's hear it! Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or a women 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 the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are right here on our streets in Toronto, most of them... unless they are breaking Canadian laws... are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here.
When the Americans get out of this bind... as they will... who could blame them if they said 'the hell with the rest of the world'. Let someone else buy the bonds, let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won't shake apart in earthquakes.
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 of them are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.
Can you name to 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 neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their noses at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.
I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.
This year's disasters... with the year less than half-over... has taken it all and nobody... but nobody... has helped.
ORIGINAL SCRIPT AND AUDIO COURTESY STANDARD BROADCASTING CORPORATION LTD.
I think, this spoken essay is probably good to revisit once in a while, especially in this time and in consideration of recent events. For those who do not know, this was released like a record with patriotic music in the background. I believe that music is the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Lovely to read this again.
I remember hearing this on the radio in the early 70s. It was inspirational, to say the least.
Lots of Canadians still feel this way...
Now I know, a station here, plays this on July 4th often; I think in turn, the Duke, John Wayne did something like this eventually. For Veterans Day it is nice to revisit and the monologue holds true today; one could just change some of the incidences if one ever wished to update it. Rush and the other talk show hosts are not like Sinclair much, but this does seem to predate these present day commentators.
Thanks for answering. It just seemed kind of appropriate, post-election, Veterans Day and considering what the big news story is today, I thought a change was needed.
Thanks.
Good to hear, and for all I'm doing, I'm going to stay away from when people step on others ethnic toes as they say, I haven't the Canadians,
But had a real life incident the day happen and then I tried to tell this person "I just know how those people think." But it's too thin of a line to walk. It's like the photo of the Queen and those Scottish soldiers in Kilts that's been in the news, some would think it's a joke and others would take great offense to it, I know how those people think, maybe both kinds, but I'm going to generally just keep qwiet.
This is a bit off topic, but I thought about it all afternoon and I hope it's clear enough.
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