Canada... CAN a da... sounds familiar. What is it again?

The pretzel logic you use to prove Saddam is pretty tortured even you you Karol. Do you really think US forces are in Saudi Arabia because of Saddam? Don't you think protecting the assets of Big Oil might have something to do with it?

It must be nice inside the reality-proof bubble you live in---an alternate universe where our leaders are wise and the United States is secure---but out here in the real world things aren't goin' so well.

Jesus...I shouldn't type when I'm angry and haven't finished my coffee. Here's what my first sentence was supposed to say:

"The pretzel logic you use to prove a Saddam-9/11 connection is pretty tortured even for you Karol."

Of course oil has something to do with it. It is the reason that underlies the stratigic importance of the whole Mid-east. However, that said, it was still Saadam"s aggressive behavior that made the presence of US troops prudent. I know it's hard, Don, but try to imagine someone like Sadaam controlling the major sources for oil in the world. What could happen to the economies of the USA, Canada, and Europe. Could such a tyrant grind them to a halt or maybe just blackmail the world to get ultimate power.
Some one country will always be the most influential in the world. Would you have chosen Iraq led by Sadaam. Please remove your head from your posterior and use some logic.

As a Canadian,I deeply resent this posting.It was nowhere near as 'tough' on my fellow citizens as they truly richly deserve.
Smug,superior,shallow,snide,supercillious,you forgot all these perfectly apt descriptive adjectives.
If we didn't have the US to fixate on and attack,we would probably just blow away due to momumental indifference.
Sorry about that.

Dude, saddam used to subsidize terror attacks in Isreal. He literally used to send checks to the families of suicide bombers. He had profesional rapists (Men who were paid to rape women) on the friggin government payroll. It would take me hours to sit here and list all the nasty, evil things that man did. The fact is regardless of his particular involvement in the acts of 9/11, he was openly an advocate and sponser of terror (We are waging war against terror remember?) so we could certainly consider him a valid target in any "WAR ON TERROR". You learned liberal weenies seem to forget, the president was very clear that in the future we will strike before (pre-emptively) an enemy has the ability to harm us. If you don't like that policy FINE, vote Bush out of office (that didn't go so well for you guys, now did it?). Otherwise , shut your cake-hole. Bush did EXACTLY what he said he would do, finally a politician who is honest. Goodness do you liberals ever listen to yourselves?

“Why is it that in depth knowledge of covert American operations, particularly in central America, seems to be the signature education of America-haters?”

Well that could be because whilst you’re beloved Reagan was calling the USSR “the Evil Empire” he was selling guns to Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran to finance ex-Nicaraguan Somoza Civil Guard terrorist operations against farmers and civilians in a “proxy fight “ that resulted in over 30,000 dead. At the same time the US was arming, training and sending “advisors” to the repugnant regimes of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. I’m sure the El Salvadorian woman in the photo I saw who had been gang raped by US funded and trained government troops and murdered by having acid poured over her face, the US nuns murdered by Death Squads or the hundreds of thousands of other dead would share your view that it was right to “kick a little ass” in the fight against fair wages, conditions and independent trade unions.

Now I’m sure USSR sponsored regimes in places like Angola or Ethiopia but it kind of goes without saying that the USSR were right bastards

I wonder how he feels about a team from Tampa Bay winning the Stanley Cup...

Suppose I'll have to ask him when I get around to fielding his questions.

"assault rifle"

all assault rifles are are guns that look like machine guns but are semi automatic like the good ole shotgun your grandpa owns.

my answer would to number five would point out the recent NYT article where it said that the equipment for making WMD's was systematically looted.

my answer to number ten would be that we are protecting more than just america. Right now we are providing defense for two other nations directly, and many others indirectly. In the past we have protecting all of the northern hemisphere and most of westren europe. If you were protecting the world you would spend that much money too.

Secondly, it is more expensive to by a supersonice jet fighter than it is to educate kids.

Karol, you also left out that much of the money that is paid for education and health care is privatly funded by the people theirselves (college and medical bills).

I am a Canadian and I can't put into words how depressing it is to see such drivel from my fellow countrymen. I am old enough to remember when I felt proud to call myself a Canadian. That was before Pierre Trudeau and the complete socialization of our country. So sad; we used to be known as a country with guts and a good friend, fair weather or foul.

Don can be so cute sometimes with his childlike comments... is he Canadian?

Oh, and Canada, feel free to stop using our Philistine hospitals any time now.

Karol, you're my hero. I never in a zillion years could have been that patient with anybody that stupid.

While one of my core political values is that every other country in the world besides our own sucks, Canada is better than almost every other country. Most Canadians are hard working, law abiding, church going people who just like hockey, Bret Hart, Rush, 10 extra yards on the football field, Gordon Lightfoot, Labats and Molsons more than the rest of us. This guy does not speak for all our friends to the north anymore than any of us speak for the United States.

Jake's Questions for Canadians

1. Why do Canadians put up with high unemployment and high taxes?

2. Why do Canadians put up with the worst healthcare in the Western World?

3. Why are there more MRIs in Minneapolis than there is in all of Canada?

4. Why do the Canadians allow the government to stop the free flow of information into their country?

5. Why don't the Canadians celebrate that 50,000,000 people have the right to vote in the Middle East for the first time?

6. Why didn't Canadians object when their government actively worked to stop freedom movements in El Salvador, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Iraq, Iran and Cuba.

7. Why do Canadians allow the French government to have a colony within Canada?

8. Why Canadians can't win at hockey anymore?

9. Why do terrorists believe that there is nothing worth blowing up in Canada?

10. Why did the Canadian government cut and run in Rwanda thereby allowing 800,000 Tutsis to be slaughtered by men armed only with machetes?

Most Canadians are hard working, law abiding, church going people who just like hockey, Bret Hart, Rush, 10 extra yards on the football field, Gordon Lightfoot, Labats and Molsons more than the rest of us

I like all those things, but that's 'cause I'm from Minnesota, which is practically Canada anyway.

Actually, I like both sets of answers. Bad, bad questions though. I had dinner with a Canadian last night, somewhere right after I mocked his accent and mentioned my McGill T-shirt, he pointed out that Canada is the only nation to ever burn down our White House.

Karol,

Outfuckingstanding!!!!!!

Sigh. I am so incredibly sick, tired, and ashamed of the pompous whining of my fellow Canadians... The sad reality is that there is precious little that unifies Canada (hockey and beer notwithstanding) beyond arrogent anti-americanism. Your responses are solid and reasonable. Unfortunately, the original post was not looking for cogent answers--each question was posed rhetorically, with the implicit statement "why are you guys so dumb?". Dialog is not the intent--the questions were posed only to denigrate. I cringe is shame.

My clearly naieve worldview continues to cling to the notion that reason and logical discourse will cause truth to surface. My fellow Canadians are consistently proving me wrong.

While I can not apologize on this dipstick's behalf, rest assured that there is a minority of us here who disagree with him vehemently.

Bindare:

Of course oil has something to do with it.

A breakthrough! At last!

it was still Saadam"s aggressive behavior that made the presence of US troops prudent.

Aggressive as in "ready or likely to attack or confront?" Isolated, disarmed, and surrounded by enemies? Not bloody likely. Actually, attacks from al-qaeda (remember them), North Korea, and homegrown nutcases are far more likely.

I know it's hard, Don, but try to imagine someone like Sadaam controlling the major sources for oil in the world.

I don't have to imagine it, bin---I just have to look out the window. It's just not a single Goldsteinian boogyman like Saddam---it's OPEC, Big Oil, and the White House.

What could happen to the economies of the USA, Canada, and Europe.

What would happen? What WOULD happen? It HAS happened, toots...Oil at $56/barrel, a massive defecit, billions being poured into the coffers of Bush's campaign contributors, tens of thousands slaughtered...

Could such a tyrant grind them to a halt or maybe just blackmail the world to get ultimate power.

Coulda shoulda woulda. I realize that on your planet Oceania has ALWAYS been at war with Eastasia, but here in the real world we remember that the war was sold as a fight against an immediate threat, not a potential threat.

Plus, while Saddam is a bastard and no mistake, he's about tenth on the list of real, ACTUAL dangers.

Please remove your head from your posterior and use some logic

You first

Answering those questions in that manner is just as bad as the questions themselves.

Not to correct your Economic analysis of Canada but there's a reason why the Loonie is doing real, real well vs the $.

On the Saddam front, he's a punk that finally got the smack down that he had coming because the American people finally realized they don't live in a vacuum and world problems are America's problems too. Thank you Globalization.

"Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option. (Applause.)" (Bush SOTU Jan '03)

Do they speak Merican up there in Canadia? Certainly doesn't sound like he called it an imminent threat to me.

Karol--the United States has had a presence in Saudia Arabia and other areas in the Middle East since at least World War I. Our presence is antecedent to Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. Tying bin Laden's actions to Saddam's exploits is a stretch, in the extreme.

Certainly, the presence of troops in Saudia Arabia, poised to defend Kuwait if Saddam invaded again, angered bin Laden. But we were not in Saudia Arabia solely because of Saddam or oil. There's that littel state of Israel, for example, which we have defended. Also, there was the presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

Prudence required the United States to have troops in friendly countries such as Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Turkey, and Egypt. Saddam is incidental to that dynamic.

Not to correct your Economic analysis of Canada but there's a reason why the Loonie is doing real, real well vs the $.

Americans suffer under a crushing deficit, a lack of proper healthcare, a lower literacy rate and a higher infant mortality rate than our northern neighbors, underfunded education, and a gov't OF Big Oil, FOR Big Oil.

But as long as the US dollar can purchase 20% more McDonalds fries than the Canadian dollar, Shogun is all cool with that.

Yee-Haw!

Who is this guy anyways, and where in the world did he find a picture with those horrible swimsuits?

Graeme, I'm sure you're equally worked up about the current rape scandal within the UN, right? On the whole, America did more good than harm in all of those places. Again, are there going to be bad seeds? Of course. But we were there to stop the spread of Communism and we did it successfully. If it wasn't for us, Europe would've been ok to hand over large swaths of the earth to the USSR. Sorry, I tend to not be so cool with that.

Dave, if there is one country in the entire world that we no longer need to protect with our presence, that country is Israel. It seems to be one of the few that takes its security as seriously as we do. We were not in the Middle East to protect Israel. I'll accept that oil was one of the reasons for our being in Saudi Arabia but again, it's just one reason in a list of reasons. Oil alone doesn't make us anyone's friend. I mean, we get more of our oil from Canada than from any other source. You don't see us acting any friendlier to the Canadians.

"Dave, if there is one country in the entire world that we no longer need to protect with our presence, that country is Israel."

Hear, hear ! Time to stop sending 2.5 billion a year for that nation.

Karol, you left a comment in my live journal after I linked to your article taking me to task for portraying you as jingoistic and overly patriotic. Since you're not a regular reader of my journal, you may not have realized that my comments were very tongue-in-cheek. I agree with many of your positions. My regular liberal readers, who gently tease me as being a flag-waving neo-con, know that I was being facetious. You, as a new visitor, did not. I apologize if I gave offense or left you with a bad impression.

Don, I honestly think that you're arguments wouldn't be seen as drivel if you didn't write them in such a smug condescending manner.

You're taking the same tone as the person who wrote the intial list of questions about America. Which basically seems to be, 'can't you people see how stupid you are and how much smarter I am???'

I understand that it's probably really difficult to live in a country that's being led by someone who you feel is so obviously stupid. But we're all americans at the end of the day.

And you have to understand and respect the fact that there are a good many educated Americans who feel the exact opposite way you do.

Heh, my bad, thefrank. It's cool.

Von Bek, I'm with you on that, providing of course that we cut off all the other countries receiving aid as well. Right? (BTW, private to Von Bek: email me)

Generally with the excpetion of ones that can not support themselves facing potential invasions by our enemies. I'm thinking Taiwan (thats really starting to worry me) and South Korea.

I actually feel worse about the Billion dollars a year we send to Egypt.

Don, I honestly think that you're arguments wouldn't be seen as drivel if you didn't write them in such a smug condescending manner.

Must be the font Karol uses. In Book Antiqua my stuff comes of as pleasantly sardonic.

Karol,..

Great response to a great blog (Matt Good). I am a Canadian living on a border city who is planning to marry a gorgeous and smart american girl, we have been together for two years now. In this two years I have befriended many Americans, good people who I trust and would do anything for. I personally believe there is a fine line between ignorance and patriotism and I also believe there is nothing wrong with being patriotic. I know from experience though that there are a lot of biased and ignorant americans to the issues intrusive to both our countries. I in no way stereotype americans in any way to the preceding comment because we as Canadians have a lot of ignorant people as well, and also suffer from a government that is plagued with corruption. I truly feel that you cannot put distinction between two first world countries who share an alliance and free trade for as long as we have. What I'm saying, sadly to some of those ignorant people, is other than an accent and sometimes a difference in demeanor we're all the same. I also feel from reading Matt daily blog that he is a very educated and compassionate man who is intelligent enough not to carry such a bias against the "typical american", and might have been intending his article to those who those misinformed americans that tend to just follow the tail in front of them and not question government action. I personally admire most of the American government structure. I believe that President Bush is one of two conclusions,.. One: He is a very stupid man rich man who has a lot of evil rich groups pulling his strings in order to make money (in most 'republics' around the world 10% of the population own 90% of the countries wealth, the reason why I don't understand why you would be a republican if you are making $15.00/hr.), -or- I believe,.. Two: President Bush is an extremely intelligent leader who truly cares in foreign issues around the world and how they impact of safety America and surround countries. Also a leader who forecasts the future, seeing and understanding the comeuppance of countries such as Indian and China (who do not have as close to as much freedom as our two countries do) and their want to take a foothold of the world's oil consumption; therefore his actions working to ensure America and it alliances the freedom they currently enjoy.

Once again, great article, but don't go too hard on Matt. Read his article again as if it wasn't attacking you.

Geographical ignorance is not entirely one way traffic. Met several Americans recently all of whom were astonished that I knew where in the States they were from. One girl from Oregon looked shocked that i placed it next to California. Must mean Europeans are often ignorant of the States in a geographical sense.

Sorry, Keith, I have to disagree. He hates America and Americans. Here's a typical start to a post:

Over the history of this blog I have made myself very clear about my views regarding the separation between the American public and the United States government.

Except that we elect our government. But, actually, I don't even need to get into that argument because he very quickly reverses himself on the point that we're different from our government. He writes 'To believe that the actions of the United States do not directly affect other nations is naïve. But I don’t expect many Americans to understand that reality.'

Of course not, because we Americans are so stupid. I can't respect someone like that. I mean, I've travelled and I get it. Jealousy is ugly. It was the great thinker Gangstarr who said in 'Take it Personal' that 'you shouldn't let your jealousy show like that'.

Nick Saunders, if you read the CIA entry on the UK you will find the size of our country compared with Oregon. A good-enough reason to not care where it is!
OECD education figures demonstrate that Americans are less intelligent (well educated) that their European cousins, and compared with the big EU nations the US life expectency and birth deaths rates are statistically worse.

Economics is another consideration, since economics are all relative to the dollar it will naturally favour the dollar economy (ie the US), all countries weaken their currency against the dollar - this has been an existent policy since 1967 (? when the US made the dollar fluid).

I don't believe in the blind patriotism many Americans demonstrate. Perhaps Karol as a Russian feels it especially important to defend her adopted homeland? In most countries, the irony is immigrants are more patriotic than many-generational families; yet, it is the many-generationals who wish to keep the immigrants out.

Regarding a few figures: The US gives more than $1bil to Egypt. Israel and Egypt receive equal *aid* from the US and combined take about 70pc of US foreign aid.

The US spends 15pc of her GDP on healthcare vs about 3.5pc on defence. Of this healthcare funding about half is from the State budget (by State I mean government whether on the state or federal level) and about half is private healthcare.
Most EU countries are around 8pc and Japan is about 7pc. Relatively the US spends twice as much as the EU or Japan on health, yet had higher infant mortality rates and a lower life expectency.

I think Bush and Blair are guilty of an illegal war. I do not know the immunity Bush has when he is ex-President. I certainly hope the British public take Blair down. If it were upto me he would be hanged and his quarters sent to the four corners of the realm. His head displayed by Tower Bridge.

I suspect if Karol had ended up in Ottawa instead of New York, she would now be a fiercely proud Canadian - as I say we should avoid blind patriotism / partisanism at all costs; as our gender, race and nationality is all an accident of birth.

Karol, I just wanted to say kudos on an excellent smackdown. It was fun to read.

Monjo - let me take the opportunity, since I'm already here, to point out that the story of higher infant mortality rates in the U.S. is a myth based on differing definitions.

I was speaking to a New Zealander, who, when I told him that I was from Colorado, said he had just learned that Colorado was in America, he had thought it was in Canada. I was speaking to an Englishman, who, telling me about his planned trip in America, said he was going to finish in New Orleans, "on the east coast". I was speaking to another New Zealander who said that most people in America hadn't even heard of New Zealand, which is absurd.

I don't really blame these people, most people really can't have complete knowledge of faraway places. But could we drop this nonsense about Americans are stupid because they don't all know about your, let't be blunt here, crappy little country? I bet far more North Dakotans know who the governor of California is than vice-versa, does that prove North Dakotans are smarter than Californians?

Oh, as for these studies that "prove" Europeans are more "well educated" than Americans, does it explain also why Europeans have those persistent double digit unemployment rates? Is that just the curse of the brilliant? Only stupid people have high productivity and low unemployment? Europe has more people than America, why do they keep having to come up with excuses why America is more powerful and influential than they are, hmmm? Kinda sad, actually.

I agree that your average European is better educated than your average American my point was that it is not just Americans who are guilty of geographic ignorance.

Bill you are ignoring or forgetting one vital fact. America is one integrated country. Europe is a continent and while the EU has made it more integrated than ever (not necesarilly a good thing) it still consists of separate states with differing economies and standards of production, education, healthcare etc. Granted it operates economically under a Free Trade arrangement but that is not the same as the US.

Oh and if my "crappy little country" took its troops out of Iraq i would bet a large sum of money that you would be on here ranting about Britain betraying America and caving to terrorists. Also my "crappy little country" is the only reason yours exists in its current form.

Damn Don get a clue. You are way off base.

My point was Canada's economy is driven by Natural Resources, which I don't equate that to being nonexistant. The Canadian $ has been appreciating vs the US$.. So you can conclude that the Canadian Economy is performing better than the US. Maybe the Simpson's or Southpark will do an episode on it and you'll get it.

But again, I'm not sure what that has to do with you buying french fries (and being a twit), but OK.

Let those who are intelligent debate who is moreso. The wise will watch with great amusement.

All you need to know about Canada is that it was played by Ralph Wiggum in the Simpsons "Model UN" episode.

That pretty muchy says it all.

Don,

There was NO American military presence in Saudi Arabia before 1990. None. I defy you to identify a single deployment of a US military unit to Saudi Arabia before the invasion of Kuwait. You seem to have forgotten all the trouble Bush 41 went to convincing the Saudi's to allow us to enter Saudi Arabia in a military way for the first time since World War II. The only military personnel in Saudi Arabia prior to 1990 were the defense attaches in the embassy, and the trainers for Saudi F-16 purchases, EXACTLY as every other country which had diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia had (including Canada). US F-16s sold to Saudi Arabia, just like sales to any other foreign country, are not American military deployments. Hence the only reason US military personnel were ever in Saudi Arabia was defense exchange programs through the embassy and training for Saudi military personnel in the use of the equipment they bought. No deployments see? Nada, Nein. None.

Personally, I shouldn't spend the time trying to explain this to you, because you wouldn't know a military presence if it hit you in the ass with a laser guided bomb.

Have fun suffering under the Islamic whip. I choose to defend my country.

Subsunk

British troops burned the White House on the night of August 24/25, 1814. This was primarily in retaliation for the torching of the then Canadian capital, York (now Toronto) (no longer the capital). Canada was not at that time a nation.

As a New Yorker, twelve of my friends and neighbors were killed in the Towers on 9/11. On 9/13, still numb, I was channel-surfing and stumbled upon a CBC "Town Hall Meeting" from Toronto, featuring University of Toronto students and various members of "NDP", a leftist Canadian political party, who spent the next twenty minutes telling the audience that "America deserved it."

I've just got off the phone with my Canadian-born father, who told me he cried as he read the historical account of his regiment, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, getting mauled by three German Panzer divisions in Normandy in June, 1944. They took hundreds of casualties for the cause. Dad understands my pain, and I understand his, but a new generation of Canadians has taken sides with the murderers. For shame.

Dear Dawn,
Actually, Canadian troops did not burn down the White House. British troops burned the White House on the night of August 24, 1814. The troops were British Army, Royal Marines, and British sailors that landed in Maryland. They marched innland, defeated American troops at the Battle of Blandinsburg, and made their way to Washington D.C., where they then set fire to the White House. It is true that Canadian troops worked with the British troops during the war of 1812. It is NOT true that Canadian troops burned the White House. The only nation to do that was Great Britan.

Thanks a whole lot Matthew Good, here's another site where I will never admit that I'm Canadian in.

Just remember everyone, there are still millions of Canadians that Love the U.S and will support you through thick or thin. Matthew is an exception, not the rule.

Outstanding patience with the answers, Karol.
Re: question #5. - We did not 'try' to impeach Clinton. Bill Clinton was actually impeached. He was not, however, removed by the Senate under the articles of impeachment.
Your highlight answer fragment is in #8: "But you shouldn't forget that your protection is something you never need to think about because your neighbor to the south has got your back."

That says it all. Game. Set. Match.

A few answers for Matthew Good...

1. How come so many of your citizens thought that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11?
4. How come most of your citizens supported the invasion of Iraq?
5. After the world found out that there weren’t any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and President Bush announced that he was calling off the search for them, why didn’t your citizens demand that President Bush be impeached?

The Four Immutable Laws of Middle Eastern Terrorism:
1. All Middle Eastern terrorism is state sponsored.
2. All Middle Eastern Islamic countries sponsor terrorism.
3. There is no practical distinction between the various named terrorist organizations, therefore the enemy is ALL Islamic terrorist organizations, not just al-Qa'ida or Osama bin Laden.
4. The primary purpose of the GWOT is not to avenge 9-11, but rather to end the grave threat posed by Middle Eastern terrorism.

8) You make more weapons than anyone else in the world. How come America?

To defend Canada.

Just one thing: It's a little ironic ("par for the course", expected, usual, all the same thing...) that the "nice" answers are in some of the worse grammer I have ever seen.

as i peruse your site, i see many views presented, from downright ignorant to half-ways agreeable. that said, i'm not one to judge you americans, heaven forbid i offend one of you and you decide not to save me when the jihad hits canada. someone posted a comment today that stated that the only reason Canada exists is that the US lets us, and if we aren't careful, you'll annex us. now, i'm pretty sure that if you tried to do that, you'd find out how big a role Canada plays when you all of a sudden lose your biggest allies (ie: Great Britain and the Commonwealth, 90% of the EU). just thought i should enlighten you all on what your fellow countryman is threatening.

Angy pencuin. Go nd fuk yoorself you dik cos youspeek shet lots and ar a bad point making.
Bad grammer, and not very nice. Must be the exception that proves the rule !

New Orleans as "east coast". For sure it isnt actually on the East Coast (the Atlantic ocean) but then nor is Philadelphia or Tampa Bay. yet both would be east coast when describing their wherabouts.
Knowing everything about every US state isnt vital, but you can't compare not knowing Ottawa as a capital city is similar to not knowing about Colorado. I couldn't tell you the capitals or names of every UK county, but I can rattle of the capitals of a lot of countries as that's more important.

EU countries may be crappy little countries, but the US is a crappy big country. Better to be a small pile of crap than a large pile of sh*t!

Yaron: it may be a 'myth' by that stupid article's ideas. Switzerland and Italy may cheap a little vs WHO standards. But does Japan, or France or the UK. Why does the US have doctors deliver babies?
It is expensive (doctors are paid four times more than a nurse). It is unspecialised - doctors don't only deliver babies; Midwives do. Doctors do not know best how to prepare a woman for birthing, how best to empathise, or how best to deliver.
Indeed their only advantage is if there's a complicaton. Yet midwifery isn't dangerous here as there's doctors on-hand if needs-be. What is the real issue between France, Japan and the UK against the US, is the state of health of the women and the week term of delivery. US hospitals and doctors are ultimatly top-notch. The fact they dont specialise in giving birth isnt bad from a mortality rate, only from a patient's care PoV. No the reason the US has worse mortality is because it has more complications and more premature births - issues brought about by the fact Americans lead more stressed lives, women working to much later in term, and the fact Americans are more likely to be obese.

Canada used to be a player on the world stage. Hell, one of the beaches at Normandy was taken by Canadians. I think your last glory day was when the commander of the UN troops in Rwanda told the UN to go &%$@ itself when told to pull out.

Sadly those days are past in favor of 'free' health care, restricted speech and anti-American rhetoric. Oh, and I almost forgot legalized dope smoking for all. Yah!!!

PM Martin was ELECTED, Resident Select Chimpy was not!

Don Meyers said "Americans suffer under a crushing deficit, a lack of proper healthcare, a lower literacy rate and a higher infant mortality rate than our northern neighbors, underfunded education, and a gov't OF Big Oil, FOR Big Oil."

First, as a percent of GDP, the deficit is considerably lower than Canada, Germany, France, etc. Do your homework. It is fun to misrepresent this issue, but it makes you look really stupid.

Second - Americans do not lack proper healthcare. Anyone who walks into a hospital must be treated. Period. As an aside, if our healthcare is so "improper" why do people come from all over the world to be treated here?

Third - When compared apples to apples, the infant mortality rate is not higher. The studies you are sighting lack comparability.

Fourth - Under what measure is education under-funded? What is the "proper" level of funding? Public education looks fine to me. The only people who truly believe education is underfunded are the teachers unions. Go figure.

And finally, the BIG OIL mantra is getting old. That is like saying Canada is about moose farts. Also, Elvis is really dead.

I find it interesting that entities such as Matt Good and Don Myers work so hard to pretend that the 1993 World Trade Center attacks never happened. After all, captured cell members referred to an Al-Qaeda agent who had Iraqi ID papers as an Iraqi Intelligence officer. Iraqi Intelligence was selling stolen Kuwaiti ID info seized in the 1991 war to anyone with the cash, primarily people on criminal and terrorist watch lists.

And don't forget, Syria is a major backer of Hizbollah, which is a Shia terroroist group with major finacial support from Iran. The fascist states of the Middle East will work with ANYONE who helps them hurt their eternal foes: Israel and the United States.

Another Jack moment.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself
to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very
freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I
provide it. I'd prefer you just said thank you and went on
your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and
stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you
think you're entitled to.

You can’t handle the truth my friend.

I hate f@@@ing liberals.

The reason the infant mortality rate is so much higher in America is because we have a lot more immigrants with really poor health coming into the country without having received proper prenatal care for themselves or their babies.

I volunteered in a hospital in Texas near the border of Mexico. A lot of women would sneak across the border to have their babies on American soil so their babies would be American citizens. Most of these women were in really bad health, and the babies died quite frequently.

And I ditto saintknowitall. Emergency rooms are not, under ANY circumstances, allowed to turn away patients. So homeless people would come in, obviously unable to pay their bills, and the hospital would have to treat them anyway. When people say so-and-so many Americans don't have health care, they're lying. What they mean is some Americans don't have health INSURANCE, which is a different thing entirely.

I consider myself an American even if I may not agree with many of the things that go on in American society (wars based on economics, cloaked in "democracy", the twistings of Christian-based faith overpowering the promise of a world community, human rights replacement with corporate rights). We cannot place blame on the red states or the blue states. The finger (pick which one you want to use) should instead be turned to every American who chooses to pick sound bites over real facts, who chooses to believe that white men elected into power by white men know what is best for every human, who chooses to remain ignorant in a society where knowledge is relative especially as that knowledge becomes more and more accessible every day. The finger should turn toward those men and women who feel that they should be responsible to their blood families while forgetting that the world--and with that each and every being--is connected and should, therefore, be considered a world family. I am horrified by your lacking ability to question your leaders, your media, even your own self, your own thoughts, your own opinions. Ignorance is bliss, as you have so effortlessly proven, but ignorance, in all forms, is irresponsible and, in the end, a sign of weakness.

Total spending at all levels of government for K-12 education is more than $470 billion this school year.

This doesn't count everything that people spend on their OWN education and the education of their own children.

I found that figure with about 30 seconds of searching.

Another round of answers for our friend to the north.

1)How come so many of your citizens thought that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11?
---How come so many Canadians et al think WMD were the sole reason for the invasion of Iraq? The answer is that ignorance has no borders.
2)How come so many of your citizens know so little about other places? I’ve met a lot of Americans and only three of them knew that Ottawa was the capital of Canada, and most of them had college degrees.
--We expect our college graduates to know more than others. Does it work differently in Canada?
3)How come so many of your citizens know nothing about the history of US foreign and covert policy? Why aren’t they taught about American involvement in places like El Salvador, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Iraq, Iran, and a very long list of other places around the world?
--One of the reasons we know so little about US covert policy is because it’s – uhmm – covert. Again, I must presume it works differently in Canada, which is why so many Americans think of it as a foreign place.
4)How come most of your citizens supported the invasion of Iraq? Is it because they didn’t have all the facts or because they just wanted to see someone pay for 9/11 and were open to suggestions?
--Absolutely correct. As I recall there were some excellent arguments made in favor of attacking France or Canada
5)After the world found out that there weren’t any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and President Bush announced that he was calling off the search for them, why didn’t your citizens demand that President Bush be impeached? After all, they tried to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about getting a blow job – and no one was even killed because of that.
--Are you saying Bush should have been impeached for calling off the search? Besides, we must be careful; I have heard a lot of guys say they would kill for a blow job.
6)How come some Americans think these sorts of questions are bad?
--Most Americans are probably too polite to call them sophomoric which is what first comes to mind. Now tell me why this is question 6? Did you start out with just five sophomoric questions?
7)How come your citizens don’t care that the CIA and the Department of Defense don’t have to disclose information to them, even though the Constitution says that they do?
--OK, it was just a quick scan, but the Constitution does not mention the C.I.A or the Department of Defense. (Are you really smarter than us? If so, what’s the capitol of Kentucky?) A better question would be how come they are disclosing all this information to you and it’s a secret that your capitol is Ottawa?
8)You make more weapons than anyone else in the world. How come America?
--The free market at work. We can do anything if we put our minds to it. You should be glad we ignore Canada.
9)How come it’s legal to own an assault rifle but two men or two women can’t get married?
--Get serious. Did you ever try to kill a burglar with a lesbian? I know some of them are completely qualified, but there are all the ongoing costs associated with posting one in the yard.
10)Why do you spend more money on defense than education and healthcare?
--In reading through your questions my Canadian friend, and similar items from France, Germany, England and the enlightened writings of various Islamic Fundamentalist philosophers, I have to say we have our priorities straight. Also of some note is the fact we do not have a single payer system here; for either healthcare or education. (Quick, what’s the capitol of Vermont?) As a result you do not see how much “we” pay on healthcare or education by looking at a Federal budget line item.

Karol's "answers" were well-written, but dumb. Rick's were just dumb. So what the hell...my turn!

1)How come so many of your citizens thought that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11?

Because the government and the conservative-owned media kept saying so, over and over. The lie is always on page one here in the states, and the truth is after the jump on page 47.

It's embarrassing, but there it is.

2)How come so many of your citizens know so little about other places? I’ve met a lot of Americans and only three of them knew that Ottawa was the capital of Canada, and most of them had college degrees.

The new service economy demands workers that are disposable, mobile, and not too bright---so we spend very little time or money on education.

3)How come so many of your citizens know nothing about the history of US foreign and covert policy? Why aren’t they taught about American involvement in places like El Salvador, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Iraq, Iran, and a very long list of other places around the world?

Americans love stories, and we're some of the best storytellers in the world. But we prefer simple stories, told well---with dasterdly villians, thin plots, and the US as the heroes. Any other story tends to confuse and bore us, so those stories---esp. the true ones---never make it to our teevee screens.

4)How come most of your citizens supported the invasion of Iraq? Is it because they didn’t have all the facts or because they just wanted to see someone pay for 9/11 and were open to suggestions?

After 9/11 we were all scared shitless---and scared animals are easy to manipulate, especially when the herd is pretty dumb to begin with. The oil industry had been planning the Iraq invasion fopr years---that's why they installed Dubya in the first place---but the 9/11 panic made their con job that much easier.

5)After the world found out that there weren’t any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and President Bush announced that he was calling off the search for them, why didn’t your citizens demand that President Bush be impeached? After all, they tried to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about getting a blow job – and no one was even killed because of that.

Apples and oranges. The Clinton impeachment was America being stupid---embarrassing as hell, but no real harm done. The Bush regime is America being violent and dangerous. No one wants to make any sudden moves around Dubya for fear of getting sent to Camp X-ray.

6)How come some Americans think these sorts of questions are bad?

Self-examination isn't our strong suit. On the other hand, our cartoons totally kick ass!

7)How come your citizens don’t care that the CIA and the Department of Defense don’t have to disclose information to them, even though the Constitution says that they do?

Because reading all that would seriously cut into the timeslot for "American Idol."

8)You make more weapons than anyone else in the world. How come America?

We're totally gun nuts, from .22s to ICBMs. It's probably a whole phallic thing.

9)How come it’s legal to own an assault rifle but two men or two women can’t get married?

I have no idea. Our priorities are pretty fucked up and no mistake.

10)Why do you spend more money on defense than education and healthcare?

The wisest political philospher of the 20th Century was named Deep Throat. He said: "Follow the money. Ask who profits?"

The corporate power structure makes a HUGE profit off defense. In two years we've managed to give almost $300 billion to DynCorp, Halliburton, et al, with no end in sight.

Healthcare is profitable but nowhere near as easy, and education is a money loser.

The bottom line, Matt, is that America is a corporate autocracy, concentrating wealth in fewer and fewer hands while building a vast underclass. The masses need to be kept stupid, scared, and distracted---and they are.

It's humiliating but that's the way it is. At least, until the Glorious Workers Revolution!

Don Meyers answers? BWAHAHAHAHAHHA. Dang funny there Don. Dang funny. You. Actually. Believe. The. Crap. You. Wrote. BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA. Stop man, my sides are killing me! You might consider taking a mental health day or two. Get out and see the real world. But, watch out for the Brown Shirts though, they're looking for you. Oh, and you should know that Karl Rove knows who you are...

Seriously, thanks for the laugh.

Not a single one of you has read a book on history and knows what the hell you are talking about.

You're totally right, Brad. We'll just shut up now. So sorry to disturb you.

Not a single one of you has read a book on history and knows what the hell you are talking about.

Oh? Think you can top slave narratives and a book all about the Irish emigration to the United States?

I'm going to ignore most of the trolling nonsense, and this will be the last thing I write here, but I just wanted to make one small point. Most people in America don't know what the capital of Canada is for the same reason most people in the world don't know what the capital of Canada is. Because the capitol is an otherwise unremarkable city(I know, I've been there) in a not very significant country. If it were Toronto or Vancouver, everybody would know it. Ottawa, not so much.

Australia is pretty much the same. Quick, how many Canadians can tell you the capital of Austalia without looking it up? No, it's not Sydney. Or Melbourne. Or Perth or Brisbane. It's not Darwin or Alice Springs or Hobart, either, now you're just getting desperate. I've been there, and it's even drabber than Ottawa. London, England, Paris, France, Berlin, Germany, Rome, Italy, Mexico City, Mexico, these are easy to remember. But nowhere-town that just happens to be the capital is a little harder to remember.

PS- the dude who thinks that an appreciating currency is incontrovertible proof of a better economy stands as a one-man refutation of the theory that foreigners are better educated than Americans, and that's all I'm gonna say on that...

Well done.

I'm impressed...as well as banned from Matt Goods site despite never using profanity, etc. etc.

Keep up the good work!

check out
http://guitarstringgenius.blogspot.com/

Aw, looky who saw Fahrenheit 9/11 and fell for Mikhail Moore's lies hook, line, and sinker. Shame on you Don Meyers.

Well he is in good company as most of you lot swallow White Hosue Press releases as the gospel not to mention the Fox Nonsense Channel.

sorry - i was wonderign if you could go back to some of those questions, b/c while you were quick to point out that matt good was being an asshole and that you were offended and etc, you didn't actually answer the question.

#4 case in point.

and your answers only serve to reinforce the stereotype that exists of americans. i'm sorry, but its true. the "inferiority complex" that matt has b/c he lives in canada and not the US? come on - i came here looking for something to change my mind about the US right wing, because i'm not one of those "matt good has all of the answers" kind of bloggers - i look around for my information so that i can make up my own mind. Unfortunately, you only reinforced the very right wing, conservative, conceited and ignorant stereotype that most of the world already has of your country. And thats a shame, b/c i know that you aren't all like that but that seems to be theimage you like to support.

oh, and we don't have to worry about being attacked not b/c you've 'got our backs', but because there just aren't as many people around the world that hate us as much as they hate you.

anyway, i would just appreciate it if you would actually answer the questions instead of engaging in hateful rhetoric. because as a i look through the questions, i haven't found a single answer yet.

Hey guys...! Let's settle this once and for all...Where ARE the WMD's?

http://americannewsnetwork.com/news1.html

--JFB

Andrea, I've written about the reasons I've supported the Iraq war for months and months before the war and for the two years the war has been going on. Most supporters of the war did the same. I'm not going to sum it up in two sentences for someone that should've heard the opposite side's arguments already. I knew all the anti-war arguments before the war began, and I know all the new ones that came up after the war started. Have you really never heard the pro-war side's positions?

76 comments? Yikes! I don't have the patience to see if I'm being redundant.

Most of your response is great (#9, particularly), Karol, even where we disagree. Two response provoke the everpresent calling of bullshit. (I'm trying to make this my catchphrase; my "Git 'er done," if you will.)

1. Your Saddam-->9/11 answer is nonsense. You might as well blams 9-11 on a butterfly flapping its wings in the Andes.

3. If most of your America knowledge is the history of our South American interventions (and you put on blinders to, say, our interventions in WWI and II), American hating is a rational repsonse. Of course those people need to read some more books.

Billy-Bob,

"incontrovertible"....or just a factor

You are spending too much time on blog's dude.

All right, enough
Karol, your crap answers get us no closer to the truth. I'm going to use a term your obviously not familiar with. It's called reality.

"The Iraqi regime . . . possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas."
George W. Bush, Cincinnati, Ohio Speech 10/7/2002

"We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas."
George W. Bush, Cincinnati, Ohio Speech 10/7/2002

The TRUTH off the matter is, there are NO WMD in Iraq. It was one big whopper of a LIE. That's been proven. Saddam wasn't the threat Bush and his neocan pussies said he was. The only threat Saddam presented to the U.S. is that he might actually start talking and letting the rest of the world know just how cosy him and past administrations(Reagan, Bush Sr.) have been. Donald Rumsfeld can fill you in on these points, being that he was Reagans speacial envoy to Iraq in the early 80's.

So before you start Canada bashing, have some balls, ask the hard questions and then have the balls to actually listen to the answers.
Matt Good, as well as a vast majority of this country - like to think for ourselves. We do what they teach you in University - to gather the information, read it, read it again and come to your own conclusions. We don't need Bill O'Reilly to spoon feed us shit and call it fact. Most of the people in this Blog would last ten seconds in a first year Political Science class.

P.S
France doesn't have a "colony" in Canada, It's called Quebec - a Province.

We don't need the U.S. to "protect" us. We don't go around the world, uninvited, killing thousands, while preaching morality and "spreading" Democracy. Democracy can't be spread, it's not cheez-whiz.

and yes, thousands died in the WTC collapse, my utmost sympathies to the families. Now ask why they died. They didn't fly those planes into those towers just for shits and giggles. They werre pissed about something. What was it? Why? and the answer isn't "cause they hate our freedom"

And i'll end with this:

"The price of democracy is constant vigilance"
Thomas Jefferson

Dude, does Canada even have a Constitution?

Nice way to promote your own stereotype.

"The reason the infant mortality rate is so much higher in America is because we have a lot more immigrants with really poor health coming into the country without having received proper prenatal care for themselves or their babies."

Actually, I read it was because of the higher rate of circumcision amoung male babies than in the U.S. than in other Western countries, and the circumcision often leads to infection.

But if all else fails, blame it on the immigrants. Texas is just one state - of course it accounts for the high infant mortality rate. What other explanation could there be?

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