FOX News

[afransen]

Truly ironic. I am often appalled at the hypocrisy of Canadians. Were it any other country, the stuff we say about Americans would border on racism. However, we make a special exception for the US when it comes to dishing out the vitriol and then get offended when they return in kind. Seriously, would anyone have ever tolerated Carolyn Parrish stepping on a doll of the French or South African President or the German Chancellor?

And this thread shows it…somebody get's all bent out of shape because a Fox newscaster 'off the air' suggests that Canada has lots of wheat and that we don't do much militarily.

If that German chancellor was as reviled as Bush, I think it would have been fine. There was one in the thirties and forties that was none too popular around here.

 

[kEiThZ]

If that German chancellor was as reviled as Bush, I think it would have been fine. There was one in the thirties and forties that was none too popular around here.

It's quite extreme to equate Bush with Hitler. If the standard is going to be any country that's belligerent or has a poor human rights record, how come nobody is stepping on dolls of Kim Jong-il or Hu Jintao? It's quite clear that Canadians think that when it comes to Americans, anything goes. But when it comes the other way, we cry and whine about it.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

I am often appalled at the hypocrisy of Canadians.

You certainly do. However, that does not give you or anybody else the right to slander that nation by painting all Americans with the same brush. That would be racism.

but it's okay to paint all canadians as hypocrites? that's not racism?

 

[afransen]

I didn't equate the two.

As far as no one stomping on Jong-Il or Hu Jintao dolls, who cares if its true? Your point was that people would be outraged if someone did that to those world leaders, while my position is that no one would care.

 

[Whoaccio]

As far as no one stomping on Jong-Il or Hu Jintao dolls, who cares if its true? Your point was that people would be outraged if someone did that to those world leaders, while my position is that no one would care.

We do seem to go to fairly great lengths to accommodate numerous world leaders. I remember around the time of the Beijing Olympics there was the song and dance of whether or not Stephen Harper would attend and how his ultimate decision not to attend constituted a massive diplomatic fumble. I could only imagine the inevitable maelstrom that would have occurred if Harper took Yingying, Jingjing and the other Beijing mascots and stomped them while yelling "Free Tibet!"

 

[afransen]

I must have missed Carolyn Parrish's tenure as Prime Minister and head of government.

 

[kEiThZ]

but it's okay to paint all canadians as hypocrites? that's not racism?

You are right. I should have said the hypocrisy of some Canadians. I stand corrected.

But please don't tell me you are defending jade_lee's views here....have a gander at the rest of JL's posts.

I must have missed Carolyn Parrish's tenure as Prime Minister and head of government.

Would it have been acceptable if a backbencher from the Conservative caucus did it instead?

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

You are right. I should have said the hypocrisy of some Canadians. I stand corrected.

But please don't tell me you are defending jade_lee's views here....have a gander at the rest of JL's posts.

i'm not defending anyone's views and don't associate my criticism of your statements with taking sides. i'm just pointing out that sometimes when people say {group X} followed by {comment about group X} they aren't necessarily talking about the entire group of people or even a majority of that group. we shouldn't be so quick to pass judgment or use the "R" word unless we know with certainty that the person is talking about 100% of the group based on some group attribute.

it's very easy to forget to add that "some" to the sentence. it can happen to anybody.

 

[kEiThZ]

i'm not defending anyone's views and don't associate my criticism of your statements with taking sides. i'm just pointing out that sometimes when people say {group X} followed by {comment about group X} they aren't necessarily talking about the entire group of people or even a majority of that group. we shouldn't be so quick to pass judgment or use the "R" word unless we know with certainty that the person is talking about 100% of the group based on some group attribute.

it's very easy to forget to add that "some" to the sentence. it can happen to anybody.

In the context of this discussion, consider jade_lee's comments directed at me:

You sound American to me but I must admit I rarely read your posts, yawn. It's pretty obvious to me that you did not spend your formative years as a Canadian.

Essentially, this individual asserts that anyone who does not spend their formative years in Canada is not Canadian. To me that's pretty racist.

And a lot of discussion has of course ensued from that post and Whoaccio's subsequent post that this thread has had a lot of yankee bashing while it's ironically complaining about Canada bashing by Fox news.

 

[jade_lee]

In the context of this discussion, consider jade_lee's comments directed at me:



Essentially, this individual asserts that anyone who does not spend their formative years in Canada is not Canadian. To me that's pretty racist.

And a lot of discussion has of course ensued from that post and Whoaccio's subsequent post that this thread has had a lot of yankee bashing while it's ironically complaining about Canada bashing by Fox news.

I assert that you did not spend your years as a child in our educational system. Did you? Your military views sound like American views is what I assert with that comment about you appearing Americanized.

 

[afransen]

Would it have been acceptable if a backbencher from the Conservative caucus did it instead?

I don't think anyone would have cared, certainly not the Chinese. Everyone knows backbenchers are meat puppets.

 

[kEiThZ]

I assert that you did not spend your years as a child in our educational system. Did you?

I don't see how the location of my schooling is relevant to this discussion at all. If my elementary and secondary education was not undertaken in Canada, would you consider my opinion to be worth less than that of any other Canadian who 'spent their formative years in Canada'? Perhaps you can englighten us on how this is relevant to the discussion at hand.

For the record, I did do some of my elementary, all my secondary and post-secondary schooling in Canada. Is that enough to meet your bigoted standard?

You still have not answered my earlier question. Your evasion is noted. Again, I will ask you, do you consider those who have a different world view from you to be un-Canadian? Yes or no.

I am concerned that you persist on this line of thinking about where one spends their 'formative years'. Tell me. Is this what you wonder when you meet other immigrants or people of colour? Are you concerned that they aren't Canadian because they have not spent their 'formative years' in Canada? For all your righteousness on here, we can finally see what kind of a bigot you are. You don't even have the humility to apologize for your comment.

Your military views sound like American views is what I assert with that comment about you appearing Americanized.

Please explain to me how my views on CANADA's foreign and defence policies are 'American'? I have suggested that we should rely less on the United States. That's 'American'? Do you approve of the fact that because our air force only keeps 48 combat coded fighters that we have to routinely allow American fighters to intercept Russian Bears trying to probe Canadian airspace? Or perhaps you like the fact that in the event of another 9/11, it will be fighters from upstate New York protecting Toronto's airspace? Or maybe you are comfortable with the fact that since we have no nuclear submarines, our arctic waters are completely dominated by American, Russian, British and the odd Chinese submarine. I am a fierce defender and promoter of Canadian sovereignty. I don't consider it to be 'American' to suggest that our government fund our armed forces (and other services like CBSA, RCMP, etc.) sufficiently to ensure that we don't have to rely on others to protect our own territory.

 

[jade_lee]

Our police and military are over funded for the work they do......I would rather see a great deal of that cash go towards educating our children. I don't want Canada to turn into a police state but instead I would prefer we get a tight leash on our police and military so we know where our money is going. Perhaps we should cut back on the extravagant spending of the military brass and spend that cash on protecting the kids we send over seas to fight pointless wars. Perhaps instead of allowing our police to interfere in our politics and cover up their incompetence we should have better oversight of their less than stellar behaviours. We really are at a crossroad here in Canada and it's time to evaluate what we want in our future in terms of authority figures who don't always do the right thing.

People who sit on the fence or defend policies that are contrary to the Canada I grew up in and the Canada I love may be Canadian but they are not people with opinions I value and they are people I will certainly pay close attention to in terms of them spreading their views. I will defend this great country with my political voice, vote and against those who want to change Canada into a Canada that is foreign to me.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

jade_lee:

I would be the first to advocate civilian oversight and control of defense and policing, but please explain to me how would funding the police and military lead to Canada turning into a police state. Is there a magic number where this would occur? Since Canada already provides for such, is our nation already a police state?

Quite frankly, I think your contributions in this thread is becoming non-sequitur.

AoD

 

[Tewder]

You sound American to me but I must admit I rarely read your posts, yawn. It's pretty obvious to me that you did not spend your formative years as a Canadian.

So then people who immigrate here from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, France, Great Britain etc, etc, after their schooling are also not 'Canadian' and do not think like Canadians or share Canadian values? Good to know...

I assert that you did not spend your years as a child in our educational system. Did you?

You seem very interested in Keithz's background. How about yours then? Where were you born and educated? I'm assuming we're allowed to follow your suit and draw offensive gratuitous generalizations about you based on this info'? Still, maybe this is not enough info'. Let us know what your religion is too and where your family came from. This'll really be insightful. We can glean all kinds of really useful information without having to actually get to know you or understand your posts...