Land of the free (A positive article about Canada)

The Spectator ^ | ??/??/2003 | Paul Robinson

[Lazamataz]

Yeah, I suppose you're right. Damn, I want to watch some real maritime conflict, maybe we should get England to attack Argentina again. Those were the days when wars were still fun. I want to see ship to ship combat, and aerial dog fights, not anticlimactic conflicts amounting to 80 tanks rolling into Baghdad unhindered, pulling up to the 7-11 and ordering a slurpy.

Still, watching the major-leaguers pummel a minor-leaguer is still fun.

You gotta admit, Gulf War I and Gulf War II were kinda cool in a way. Lots of neat missile-telemetry video.

[Lazamataz]

Dammit man. They substituted my image. It was cool, too.

[IvanT]

Cheeky bugger.

[desertcry]

Thanks for remembering, the frogs have very short memory. I have lost many of my love ones in WWII.

[Snowyman]

This is happening in Toronto . A million dollar dinner with Harper. And they're not coming from the West to chow down at the Royal York. These are the dreaded Easterners. Those Eastern, cowardly, secret closet Liberals with money . The scum bags of Ontario that everyone likes to bash.

Or maybe just Ontario Conservatives putting their money where it counts.

A miracle or a sign of things to come ?

The Canadian Alliance will hold its largest fundraiser in almost three years at a dinner with party leader Stephen Harper on June 16.

All 900 tickets -- at $1,000 each with a few seats at $500 -- have been sold, said Linda Frum, co-chair for the dinner, to be held at the Royal York Hotel.

[IvanT]

I dunno, I'm kinda partial to Gulf War 1, it seemed a lot more interesting. Maybe it's because Canada was actually involved and flew 2700 sorties, I dunno, it just weren't fun not watching Canadian ordinance blow anything up real good.

[desertcry]

Japan and Germany was not tough enough for you?

[IvanT]

That's good news. The right has woken up in Ontario man, at least the English/U.K. Tory voting North Toronto types have.

My friend AmericanSoul and I are regularly in the pub with all our Alliance supporting friends, drinking beer and pissing off the lefties.

That Friends of America rally in April was the beginning. Let's hope all the Ontario Tories that are pissed with Mackay jump to the Alliance as well. Also, as I believe I mentioned to you before, the area in Kitchener/Waterloo and Guelph has become Alliance territory. Last election, all you could see driving through various neighbourhoods were Alliance signs. There's hope for us yet - remember, we voted in Harris twice.

[IvanT]

Japan and Germany was not tough enough for you?

A little before my time....

[gcruse]

enormous pressure to integrate with its gigantic neighbour

              Bull puckey. Enormous pressure from whom?

a society which combines prosperity and opportunity for the individual with socialised medicine, a successful system of public education, and far-sighted subsidies to the arts and cultural groups.

             Socialism, public education, far-sighted subsidies...This article is
             bordering on damnation by faint praise.  So sad.

The fact is that while others sat out the first few years of both world wars...

              All the more reason to be dismayed at the Canada of today.

dismissed the hype about weapons of mass destruction as unjustified by the facts

             Well, no.  Chretien said Canada would go to war if the UNSC voted to do so.
              The author's  unintentional point, then, is that Canada doesn't have
               a sense of right or wrong, but what every one else is doing, she'll do.

[McGavin999]

Alberta OUGHT to be it's own country. I worked up in Canada for 4 years from Calgary to New Brunswick and I found the people of Alberta to be completely different than the Canadians in the east. They're fiercely independent, fun, ethical and, except for buying into the socialized medicine, would all make good conservatives.

[desertcry]

a little before my time... Too bad, you would have enjoyed it. Not one brute, but 2 all at once, lost a few of my relatives though.

[IvanT]

Yep, my family lived in London during the blitz, while my grandfather was fighting in the British Royal Engineers, fortunately my family were lucky enough not lose anyone.

[IvanT]

Yeah, unfortunately, with all the immigration flow into Toronto, we conservatives in the East are being outnumbered deliberately.

I still would lament the day that Alberta left Canada, I would rather see they get the representation they deserve and be given the status that they've earned within the country. I don't know whether voting for the Alliance will help them in that cause, it likely would, and it's one of the reasons they have my vote come the next election. Losing Alberta would be a serious blow.

[IvanT]

You make good points. There is always pressure on Canada to 'integrate' which we have done to a great extent both culturally (we get alot of American products and television up here) and economically, hence the free trade agreement. Of course, the socialism BS I agree with you 100% on. Believe me, I am dismayed with Canada today, especially what the Libs have done to our military, and the behaviour they've exhibited towards America since GWB came to power. As for WMD, let's hope they dig something up, otherwise we'll never hear the end of it. That said, simply deposing Saddam is good enough reason for me, and I'm not quite sure why Bush and Blair felt the need to harp on the WMD issue so much.

[americanSoul]

My condolences. You bet I won't forget.

My post had a small error; my late mom was in the labor camp from 15-19. Prior to this, at 11 (1937) the flip side of the totalitarian coin took away her dad in the Ukraine. This was during Stalin's Great Terror. He perished in the Gulag.

So America wiped out the Axis powers in WWII, and Ronald Reagan gave a mortal blow to the Soviets - I say mortal, since the job is not finished yet. There needs to be a regime change there also, since the same old nomenclatura is still ruling there, e.g., Putin, a former KGB colonel.

I agree will Bill Gertz in viewing Russia and China as dangerous enemies.

[gcruse]

I agree. It would be so good to find the WMDs. If there are none, one is at a complete loss to explain Hussein's behavior during the last ten years of inspections. Yes, I think GWB hyped WMDs and it may come back to destroy our credibility. Pre-emption will be next to impossible next time...which may or may not be a good thing. My biggest regret in all this is for Canadians alone. That they may be having to live under Liberal rule as far as the eye can see is dismaying.

The good thing, of course, is the nature of parliamentary government. Unlike the deadening effects in modern times of a forest of checks and balances, your form of government can turn on a dime, if enough people want it. The means are there if only the desire can be fostered.

[IvanT]

Unless they fill us too full of bloody immigrants - who will invariably vote for the Libs because they'll know nothing about what's going on in the country and will simply vote for whomever was in power upon entering the country. That's what scares me. A good sign? Our Jewish community in Ontario has turned en masse away from the Liberals. Our Italian community, who have also traditionally voted Lib, are starting to turn as well. These are two very important voting blocks lost for the Grits.

[gcruse]

The Italians. The only time in I my life I ever had real Italian barbers was at the shopping center across from Applewood III in Mississauga. And they were every bit the stereotype. You coulda made a movie... LOL