Eugene Kim's column, "Outclassed at Baggage Claim," brings up some good points about American politics, but before anyone goes bashing Uncle Sam, I encourage them to take a good look at their own country.
There is no doubt that the United States receives an unfair amount of criticism because of its impact on world politics. And because of Americans' limited knowledge and/or interest for anything that goes on outside their borders, the lesson of self-reflection can best be applied by non-Americans. So for those of you who were duped into believing that America's leaders and politics are so terrible, I offer you a crash course in Poli 000 -- Canadian Politics.
If you thought Bush an idiot, don't even start with the prime minister of Canada, Jean Chretien. When asked about a peaceful human rights demonstration that was put down by pepper spray, Jean remarked, "Pepper? That's what I put on my plate." If you want to read more about Jean's delusions and mental lapses, visit: http://www.canadian.oddballs.com/main.htm
When it comes to Americans throwing money around and the U.S. government not taxing the hell out of its citizens for health care, ask the smartest and most talented Canadians what they think. They say, "We like it." That's why Canada is losing all its entertainers, sports stars, beloved hockey teams and smart guys (the Brain Drain Crisis) across their southern border.
We love to throw our money away on useless stuff like homeland defense. Of course homeland defense is not a problem for Canada. According to Prime Minister Chretien, "There are no terrorists in Canada." Oh wait, he changed that to: "perhaps there are some," when he remembered the terrorist from Canada who was planning to blow up LAX. Luckily our wasteful defense spending helped stop his car at the border.
Of course in the face of terrorism, America Junior (as Homer Simpson likes to call Canada) would show its big brother some support. No, not really, they didn't even offer their army's tank to the international coalition. Whose side are these guys on anyways? What were PM Chretien, Saddam Hussein, and Muhammar Ghadaffi, the only major world leaders to miss King Hussein of Jordan's funeral, doing during their absence? Probably on a ski outing while plotting world domination.
So, remember: Americans could make fun of your country too if we knew anything about it, but until then we're limited by our ignorance to just saying, "Our country is better."
Jeff Danford
Senior
Business
Chris Rodermond
Senior
Journalism and Mass Communication
