Canadian editorial


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THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016).

By Spider on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 12:58 pm:

    Someone sent this to me.

    ******************************

    TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES - editorial from a Canadian newspaper

    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!

    *******************


    I thought that was nice.


By Spider on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 01:07 pm:

    Hmmm...people claim it was written in 1973. I was puzzled over the draft-dodger comments but reassured by the San Francisco earthquake. Whatever. It's still nice.


By Spider on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 01:09 pm:

    reassured by the San Francisco earthquake REFERENCE


By Will on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 01:17 pm:

    1906


By Spider on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 01:22 pm:

    Oh. Thank you.


By Czarina on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 01:28 pm:

    Oh shit.I just forwarded that to a BUNCH of people.I thought it was really nice.I apologize for the duplicity.


By droopy on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 01:29 pm:

    "The Americans" - by Gordon Sinclair

    On June 5, 1973, Gordon Sinclair sat up in bed in Toronto and turned on his TV set. The United States had just pulled out of the Vietnamese War which had ended in a stalemate - a war fought daily on TV, over the radio and in the press. The aftermath of that war resulted in a world-wide sell-off of American investments, prices tumbled, the United States economy was in trouble. The war had also divided the American people, and at home and abroad it seemed everyone was lambasting the United States.

    He turned on his radio, twisted the dial and turned it off. He picked up the morning paper. In print, he saw in headlines what he had found on TV and radio - the Americans were taking a verbal beating from nations around the world. Disgusted with what he saw and heard, he was outraged!

    At 10:30, on his arrival at CFRB to prepare his two pre-noon broadcasts, he strode into his office and "dashed-off" two pages in 20 minutes for LET'S BE PERSONAL at 11:45 am, and then turned to writing his 11:50 newscast that was to follow. At 12:01 pm, the script for LET'S BE PERSONAL was dropped on the desk of his secretary who scanned the pages for a suitable heading and then wrote "Americans"" across the top and filed it away. The phones were already ringing.


    the above script has been trimmed a little (references to helping stem floods in the nile, amazon, and ganges) but that's it.


By patrick on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 01:49 pm:

    i was gonna say...Airbus Industries is a prominent aircraft manuf. comprised of a conglomerate of European nations to thwart monopoly by Boeing. They make damn good planes too.


By Humble Spider on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 01:58 pm:

    YEAH, WELL....ok.


By moonit on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 05:01 pm:

    man, you must all think new zealand is a lazy bitch, but we've got peacekeeping forces in countries you've probably never heard of, and we keep those australians in line too ; )


By Hal on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 05:07 pm:

    Of course the kiwi has to bring the aussies into this....
    Damnit when will the anti semitism stop...


    (moonit, just fuckin' with ya.)


By moonit on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 05:11 pm:

    I know.


    Little Old Lady.

    ; )


By The Watcher on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 05:17 pm:

    During the VietNam era we still had a military draft. I still have my Draft Cards.

    Some people not wishing to serve in the Army especially Viet Nam would run to Canada. Especially the son's of the well-to-do.

    Then mom and dad would simply ship their allowences to Canada. So someone elses son could be drafted and sent to Viet Nam.

    I was quite lucky myself. The Draft missed me. They probably would not have taken me anyway - to many health issues. It still worried me - they refused my medical documentation and I was classified 1-A for a year.


By pez on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 05:25 pm:

    my dad missed the draft, his group was one of the first called but his records got mixed up with that of a female college dropout.


By The Watcher on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 05:36 pm:

    That's wierd. Women aren't draftable. Never were.

    However, there have been days when some Womens rights person has made me wish they were.


By pez on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 12:59 am:

    no, his records (like his student body number) got mixed up. his student number was on his draft card (he turned 18 shortly before his first term in college) and they got mixed up and thought a girl filled out the card by mistake or something.

    that's one thing about feminists. we beg for all this equality and that's something that's never come up.


By Spider on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 09:08 am:

    I wouldn't fight anyway. I'd be a nurse or Red Cross worker or something.

    One of my uncles was in the Army during Vietnam but was stationed in Germany. Another uncle was drafted but wasn't sent over because of chronic asthma -- he was instead sent to Fort Bragg in CA and built napalm bombs [I just wrote "balms"]. His brother fought in Vietnam, as a "tunnel rat" in Cu Chi. Another uncle was in med school when he was drafted and stole a diabetic's urine sample to present as his own to get out of service.




By patrick on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 11:48 am:

    i couldnt get college loans until i signed for the selective service. Imagine that pez. Imagine the gov't saying, no education until you make yourself for a warfare playdate.

    i've always held a grudge for that...and the fact most women seem pretty blase about that fact including my wife.


By Antigone on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 11:50 am:

    I know. I was mighty pissed about that myself. But at least we don't have mandatory military service like some countries.


By The Watcher on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 12:19 pm:

    Just wait.

    Some people think it's good for a young man to be forcefully inducted into the Army.

    They've been pushing to have it reinstated since it was ended.

    Remember when it ended in the 70's you didn't even have to register anymore.

    Now, we have registration with no Draft.

    I'd look for a move to reinstate it again soon.


By Hal on Friday, September 14, 2001 - 12:56 pm:

    My father was in the Navy when he got a letter from my grandmother that she had recived from the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Department. The letter said that they had issued a warrant for his arrest for not regsitering for the draft and that if found he would be incarserated. He sent a letter from San Diago on Navy letter head, with his Name Rank and Serial No. with no other words on it then;
    FUCK YOU.
    He never heard about that again. He missed going to Vietnam by two weeks, he was in corpsman school and when he finished he recived his orders to go, he was two weeks from leaving when Nixon gave the "Repealment order" to bring troops back and so no more were sent, inclding him.


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