posted on September 12, 2001 12:57:16 PM new
This, from a Canadian newspaper, no less, is worth sharing.
>
> America: The Good Neighbor.
>
> Widespread but only partial news coverage was given
> recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from
> Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television
> commentator. What follows is the full text of his
> trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional
> Record:
>
> "This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the
> Americans as the most generous and possibly the least
> appreciated people on all the earth.
>
> 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 these
> countries is today paying even the interest on its
> remaining debts to the United States.
>
> When France 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. I was there. I saw it.
>
> When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United
> States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59
> American communities were flattened by tornadoes.
> Nobody helped.
>
> The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped
> billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now
> newspapers in those countries are writing about the
> decadent, warmongering Americans.
>
> I'd like to see just one of those countries that is
> gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar
> build its own airplane. Does any other country in the
> world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the
> Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why
> don't they fly them? Why do all the International
> lines except Russia fly American Planes?
>
> Why does no other land on earth even consider putting
> a man or woman 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 their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded.
> They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless
> they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American
> dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.
>
> 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 are still broke.
>
> I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to
> the help of other people in trouble. Can you name 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 neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one
> Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get
> kicked around. They will come out of this thing with
> their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled
> to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating
> over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one
> of those."
>
> Stand proud, America!
>
posted on September 12, 2001 01:39:40 PM new
REAMOND, thanks for that. We owe a great deal to the U.S. As I said earlier, Canadians are in shock. People here and in other peace keeping countries are crying over this tragedy, and although our military isn't a huge one, we're on total alert for you guys. You are still the strongest nation on the planet and we won't let you down.
posted on September 12, 2001 02:24:13 PM new
Remarkable. Who would have thought that an article written about the fall of the dollar in 1973 would find such an application to what has happened ?
