Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Maple Leaf Ragged (Condi sinks her butt-kicking, knee-high leather boot into …)
Tech Central Station ^ | March 7, 2005 | Rachel Marsden

Posted on 03/07/2005 11:06:47 AM PST by quidnunc

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-64 next last
To: quidnunc
Terrific article! Miss Marsden is a very sharp observer.
21 posted on 03/07/2005 12:01:02 PM PST by ishabibble
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: quidnunc; bourbon; Dog Gone; Cold Heat; Dog; Billthedrill; IrishCatholic; Alberta's Child; ...

Ping


22 posted on 03/07/2005 12:14:57 PM PST by Trinity_Tx (Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believin as we already do)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Maple Leaf Ragged

By Rachel Marsden - March 7 2005


Ever since Prime Minister Paul Martin announced Canada's pullout from Ballistic Missile Defense program, Canadians have been on the lookout for a significant reaction from south of the border. It's as if President Bush is expected to respond like a Spiderman cartoon villain whose plans for world domination have just been foiled, shaking his fist in the air and screaming, "I'll get you Paulie Canuckistan!"


Don't expect this kind of low budget cheese from the USA. Instead, get ready for the Mother of All Snubs: a case of passive-aggression well beyond the help of even Dr. Phil. A blockbuster snub so incredibly huge that if it were to star in "Snub: The Movie", it would have J.Lo's makeup and hair people, Paris Hilton's deluxe Airstream trailer, and Steven Spielberg as its director.



US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, initially "rescheduled" her Canadian visit next month to sometime around the 12th of never.



Translation, Paulie: She just ain't that into you.



Condi has just handily taken one of those butt-kicking, knee-high leather boots of hers, sunk it into lil' Paulie Canuckistan's back bacon, and drop-kicked him into a state of irrelevancy. By adopting his position against the missile defense program, the Prime Minister has essentially guaranteed that Canadian business will be his cell mate in passive-aggressive hell.



The Americans aren't going to put up anything that resembles an overt tariff barrier in retaliation against Canada's position. There are rules against that, and eventual prices to be paid for violating those rules, as we've seen recently with the softwood lumber issue.



But as Dr. Jack Granatstein, a Director of the Canadian Defense and Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI) says, "I have no doubt that because of Iraq, and I suspect because of [ballistic missile defense] as well, people who have oversight over contracts will be looking a little more closely at ways to punish Canadian companies. I mean, that's the price you pay. I don't think you need a 'Buy American' Act, or a deliberate, 'let's punish them'. It happens on its own hook."



A spokesman for Senator John Warner (R-VA), Chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee and a huge proponent of missile defense technology, points out: "[Warner] does not support any trade retaliation on Canada. However, I can't predict what ultimately would be an outcome."



Well, let's take a shot at predicting an outcome, based on a little recent history, shall we? In the Fall of 2003, after the Canadian government decided not to participate in US efforts to remove murderous dictator Saddam Hussein from Iraq, a Montreal-based company called Canadian Aviation Electronics Ltd. (CAE) lost a $1 billion US Army contract.



At the time, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer quoted then-CEO, Derek Burney (now himself a fellow with the CDFAI), as saying that "Canadian firms may now have to overcome two handicaps when competing in key American markets -- the long-standing handicap that they are not American and the new handicap in the post-Iraq environment that they are Canadian."



The benefits gained by Canadian research and development through participation in the missile defense program would be at least equally significant as the end result. To argue otherwise is like saying that NASA has only ever been about putting guys on the moon, giving Michael Jackson video-dance fans a hip name for walking backwards, and keeping conspiracy theorists busy.



NASA research has produced more than 1,300 spin-offs used in civilian life, including Velcro, Tang fruit drink, the computer microchip, CAT Scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging technology, 'invisible' braces to fix crooked teeth, heart-pumps, and pacemakers.



Similarly, missile defense isn't just about shooting at stuff in space.



The technological spin-offs resulting specifically from American missile defense program research efforts include the corrective eye surgery laser, the pizza warming trays used by Pizza Hut delivery guys, the laser used to target and obliterate cancer cells while leaving healthy ones intact, the AuraGen VIPER mobile power generator that can be mounted under the hood of a car and is currently being used by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, advanced water purification systems, land mine neutralization technology, medical imaging devices that detect small changes in blood flow associated with disease, cutting-edge mountain rescue equipment, and the Avanza spam email eliminator.



Canada's economy could have used its partnership in the journey towards a successful missile defense venture to stimulate similar innovations. As Granatstein points out, "We have some capabilities in some areas, but we're not big players. There isn't that much research and development in Canada."



Paul Martin just delivered another smack across the face to Quebec and, specifically, to the province's aerospace industry, when he reneged on his missile defense commitment in order to pander to the anti-missile defense crowd in the province. Quebec is home to both CAE and Bombardier -- the third largest civil aviation company in the world. The province is also the home of Marc Garneau -- Canada's first astronaut and a source of great pride for both his province and his country.



It is arrogant and degrading for the Prime Minister to assume that the people of a leading aerospace province do not understand or value the importance of research and development in this field. It is arrogant and degrading to assume that missile defense opponents in this same province would not alter their current position on the issue if it was explained to them how important a role the missile defense program could play with respect to these key aspects of their economy. It is about as arrogant and degrading as this same Liberal government figuring that Quebeckers' votes need to be bought with millions of dollars of their own money, filtered through Liberal-friendly ad firms.



It doesn't matter if a Canadian hails from Quebec City, Winnipeg, Toronto, or Vancouver --everyone wants to be on a winning team. So much so, that we'll proudly own up to pretty much anything out there on the world stage that self-identifies as Canadian: Pamela Anderson baring all in Playboy, Tom Green showing his cancerous testicles on TV, any movie at all that uses a Canadian city as a backdrop, Celine Dion singing at the Grammys, and even that Canadian guy who won an Academy Award last week and basically had it tossed to him in the audience as he thanked Seneca College (while everyone back home was saying, "Oh my God! He said 'Seneca College' in front of Clint Eastwood!"). And when a Canadian sees a shot of that robotic Canadarm hanging off some rig in outer-space, he usually ends up reminding everyone within earshot that Canada made it. Canadians have gotten more mileage out of that damn space arm than Yoko Ono did out of "Yesterday".



But Canada has been coasting way too long on the Canadarm, much like it has with its post-WW II reputation. The time is long overdue to start pitching in again. Focusing solely on the end result of the missile defense program is short-sighted ignorance that will cost Canada opportunities and, ultimately, priceless national pride.



Imagine how much more advanced Canada's aerospace industry would be today if the Diefenbaker government wouldn't have cancelled the Avro Arrow project in the 1950s, putting some of the top aerospace talent in the world out of work and euthanizing the most modern supersonic jet interceptor the world had ever seen.



Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's lack of foresight at the time ultimately became his legacy of embarrassment. Lest Paul Martin forget.



Rachel Marsden is a political strategist, commentator and talk-show host who has worked in the US and Canada. www.rachelmarsden.com


23 posted on 03/07/2005 12:16:05 PM PST by Brian Allen (I fly and can therefore be envious of no man -- Per Ardua ad Astra!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: quidnunc
>It's as if President Bush is expected to respond like a Spiderman cartoon villain whose plans for world domination have just been foiled, shaking his fist in the air and screaming, "I'll get you Paulie Canuckistan!"

"Okay, eh -- So our
topic for today, eh, is
world domination.

So, like, whoever
owns the donut shop, runs things,
right? And I heard Beth --

the night shift girl, eh --
and, like, she said her cousin
owned the shop. So there."

24 posted on 03/07/2005 12:21:30 PM PST by theFIRMbss
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: quidnunc
Translation, Paulie: She just ain't that into you.

Hahaha. Great article.

25 posted on 03/07/2005 12:28:44 PM PST by NeoCaveman (You can look to God, you can look to Fox News, just don't look to SCOTUS)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Trinity_Tx
Hmmmmm.

It appears this directly relates to a conversation we just had a week or so ago. I had no idea the anger would extend into contractual arrangements and private companies voluntarily giving up business with Canadian companies. I did not expect this....

I think we are more angry than appearances indicate.

Canadians should take notes. Your left wingers are hurting you and you must act now to correct this, before it is too late.

It is actions that speak. Take some.

Now.

26 posted on 03/07/2005 12:31:07 PM PST by Cold Heat (This space is being paid not to do anything.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Brian Allen
The cancelled Avro Arrow
27 posted on 03/07/2005 1:11:38 PM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: quidnunc
--snip --Condi has just handily taken one of those butt-kicking, knee-high leather boots of hers, sunk it into lil' Paulie Canuckistan's back bacon, and drop-kicked him into a state of irrelevancy. By adopting his position against the missile defense program, the Prime Minister has essentially guaranteed that Canadian business will be his cell mate in passive-aggressive hell.

Unabashed Condi fawning.

28 posted on 03/07/2005 1:13:32 PM PST by biblewonk (Neither was the man created for woman but the woman for the man.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: quidnunc

Rachel Marsden? Isn't she the same kook who has been TWICE convicted of sexual harrasment in Canada? Seems to me that she's no friend of ours...


29 posted on 03/07/2005 2:12:06 PM PST by Dr. Luv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Brian Allen

Fantastic article. Condi has it right.


30 posted on 03/07/2005 3:17:15 PM PST by Ruth A.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: quidnunc

Atta girl, Condi!


31 posted on 03/07/2005 4:04:22 PM PST by hershey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Brian Allen

That's a great article. If I were Canadian, I'd be pretty angry.


32 posted on 03/07/2005 4:08:46 PM PST by hershey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Southack
Avro was a first rate company.

I guess the Canadians wanted to focus on cutting edge stuff like wood and cattle instead of aerospace.

33 posted on 03/07/2005 4:17:10 PM PST by colorado tanker (The People Have Spoken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: hershey

<< That's a great article. If I was Canadian, I'd be pretty angry. >>

They pretty much all are.

Hesperophobically so.


34 posted on 03/07/2005 4:21:23 PM PST by Brian Allen (I fly and can therefore be envious of no man -- Per Ardua ad Astra!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: colorado tanker
MiG 25 Foxbat in the 1980's.


Avro Arrow in 1959
35 posted on 03/07/2005 4:22:31 PM PST by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: quidnunc

Which would be worse. Having Bush sic Condi on you or having Condi snub you?


36 posted on 03/07/2005 4:23:52 PM PST by WildTurkey (When will CBS Retract and Apologize?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: colorado tanker

<< I guess the Canadians wanted to focus on cutting edge stuff like wood and cattle instead of aerospace. >>

A V Roe rocked!

Until Canada adapted Earth worship/Pantheism as its state religion, emasculated, feminized and homosexualized itself, quit being a country -- and became a covin, instead.


37 posted on 03/07/2005 4:28:06 PM PST by Brian Allen (I fly and can therefore be envious of no man -- Per Ardua ad Astra!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: WildTurkey

President Bush has already set in motion plans to punish Canada. He has prevailed upon his friends in Major League baseball to send the Expos back to Montreal..


38 posted on 03/07/2005 4:34:44 PM PST by ken5050 (The Dem party is as dead as the NHL..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: quidnunc

ping for later read.


39 posted on 03/07/2005 4:35:44 PM PST by planekT
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Brian Allen
Canada frenchified itself to hold onto Quebec. IMHO, they should have cut it loose and stayed in the free anglo-saxon world.
40 posted on 03/07/2005 4:37:23 PM PST by colorado tanker (The People Have Spoken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-64 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson