This came out right after 9/11.
Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently [after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the WTC in New York --FvW] 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.A step-by-step rebuttal of the following text can be found here:
http://www.vanwensveen.nl/rants/usa/sinclair_rebuttal.html"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 neighbours 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!This is a tough topic for me. America has become the great scapegoat. The purpose of a scapegoat is to avoid taking any responsibility for what happens, or owning one's own shadow. Sorry to wound the narcissism of some other nations or posters here, but the US is not perfect by a country mile, and never claimed to be - just like everywhere and everyone else. We all need more courage to be real and less 'black and white' i.e. you're baddies, we're goodies etc..... that attitude really belongs in a playground, not on a global stage. The Bush Admin has just made it popular in Europe to express that anti-American sentiment.
I recently heard a speaker on the BBC say “Anti american feeling is caused by western European liberals afraid of Islamic hate, they are siding with those they fear. The average European will say US Foreign Policy is the reason but that’s just bollocks because they do not fail to hold their hand out to Uncle and his Foreign Policy when they need cash or aid.” Sorry if I offend anyone here but I tend to agree with that statement. I have heard people interviewed in the street by the BBC in England, France and German…most expressed affection and great respect for Americans as individuals but no respect what so ever and then actually, some interesting misinformation about America in general.
Ignorance and arrogance is a human problem, not an American one.
