How about that - a Canadian comment post scores the largest number of recs ever in the NYT

[kevinbgoode1]

The Globe and Mail reported that a Calgary man has scored the highest number of recs for any comment ever posted on an article in the New York Times:

In his comment, Bob praises Canada’s public schools, universal health care and banking system and says his tax bill is only two per cent higher than it would be south of the border.

He also says he doesn’t feel Canadians are in any way less free than their American counterparts.

“My household makes just over $250,000 here in Canada. One of the best bargains I get for my money is living in a place where I and everyone I know sends their kids to public schools because they are really good,” his comment reads.

The Calgary commenter received over 7000 recs for posting on a 2010 column about wealth/privilege penned by Paul Krugman. The comment also said:

“Lastly (there are more, but I have to get back to my work), we get governance. This includes a banking system that is there to support the economy, not end run it to make a few $$,” he says.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/calgary-man-writes-new-york-timess-most-popular-comment-of-all-time/article27954663/?click=sf_globefb

[daleanime]

1. K&R....

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Just what I said in another post.

The banking industry's reckless behavior in the age of deregulation is creating a National Security problem for us. When ordinary people can't sock away enough for retirement or their kid's college education, bad things happen. Many of them move to the dark side to try to make up for the loss. In this age of small government, we have an incredible problem with corrupt community leaders who have learned how to profit from their positions in the community. Their greed and selfishness is destroying the rest of the American dream for the people they are supposed to represent. Trust in the private-public alliances are gone forever. And, when you have a lack of unity among Americans, we end up with the fragmentation problem that we're dealing with today.

THAT's the trickle down effect of having a deregulated banking industry.

[Enthusiast]

23. Huge +1!

[azmom]

26. +1000000

[abelenkpe]

3. K&R

[Duval]

4. K&R

[pampango]

5. Praising Canada's health care, schools and banking systems. Just goes to show

how a diverse, North American country can be governed progressively with FDR style governing. It does not only work in Europe.

Other “bargains” of living in Canada include health care “whenever you need it without worry about not being approved,” modernized infrastructure and public universities “where my children and the children from all types of households can go to and graduate with a big debt, but not a devastating one,” he writes.

Paid maternity and paternity leave also “ensure that parents and kids bond and families have some time to look after one another,” he says.

“Lastly (there are more, but I have to get back to my work), we get governance. This includes a banking system that is there to support the economy, not end run it to make a few $$,” he says.

“With all of that said, I have to say that along with this, I enjoy one of the freest countries on earth. Our business freedoms are as extensive as the USA. We are free to hunt and own guns (aside from assault weapons and who needs those anyways). In fact, I have lived in the U.S.A. and I have to say, I can’t see any freedoms there that we don’t have here.”

[Old Codger]

6. If all

Of those things were true in the US we would still be a true leader in the world rather than a bully nation. The rest of the world would listen to us because we held the moral high ground rather than the most weapons and willingness to use them...

[underpants]

7. ....soooo Bob's yer uncle

[Divernan]

8. "Dad, what's a Canadian?"

"An unarmed North American with health insurance, son."

(Made the rounds of Facebook last week.)

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kevinbgoode.

[Indepatriot]

10. If Hillary gets to the White House she'll FIGHT for Single Payer and CRACK DOWN on those end runs...

her current slide to the right is just a clever "3D" chess move to fool GOPers to vote for her, then BOOM! It'll be time to push her SUPER PROGRESSIVE vision on an unsuspecting public....no, really....

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. Yeah, she'll tell 'em to cut it out.

[Enthusiast]

22. Yes! There will be no more "end runs"!

[NoMoreRepugs]

11. I'm surmising Rash Limpballs and Sean Insanity radio broadcasts

don't have much of a following in Canada...

[Enthusiast]

21. The Fascists have plans for Canada too. They will try their best to ruin it like they did the USA.

[awoke_in_2003]

34. The Canadians pushed back against Harper and his ilk...

in their last election. They can see what those types of people are doing to this country, and they don't want to repeat it there.

[TexasBushwhacker]

36. Any chance Trudeau will stop the tar sands mining?

It's an environmental catastrophe.

[Maynar]

37. The plummeting price of oil took care of that.

My wife got laid off this year because of it. Oil prices have to be above $80 per barrel for oil sands extraction to be profitable. It's what, $38 a barrel these days?

Fort McMurray is a ghost town now. My wife's industry which employed her for 27+ years is a shadow of its former self.

Trudeau doesn't have to lift a finger. OPEC took care of it for him.

[Enthusiast]

40. I hope they can preserve their country.

[jhart3333]

12. I'd like what he's having.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. Me too.

[itcfish]

15. Excuse my ignorance

But what does "receiving recs" mean?

[kevinbgoode1]

16. It's similar to getting "likes" on Facebook or other social media

or, in the context of comments on a media article, a "rec" is a recommendation or a "thumbs up"

[erronis]

17. Yeah, but this was before the 'bots took over the commenting system...

Ah, 2010 - those were the days.

Those days before the right-wing and other rightist-leaning groups within the democrat party figured out how to program bots/spiders/crawlers (they must have hired some cash-strapped intelligent folks.)

Well, congrats Bob from Calgary! Just like Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a true leader in the internet and communications before it became a public cesspool.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

18. "democrat party"??? nt

[erronis]

33. On purpose. To distinguish some pseudos from real Democrats. (nt)

[Dragonfli]

38. Yes, the pseudos even self identify as such ex: "New Democrat Coalition" /nt

[riverbendviewgal]

19. I am so proud to be Canadian

I love my country.

I am a retired widow who did not go bankrupt when my husband and son were diagnosed with terminal cancer.

It is so good to have a new Prime Minister who thinks like me and believes in doing the right things.

I live in Ontario which is a long ways from Calgary. I know all Canadians love our country like this man.

[Doctor_J]

28. a few of your countrymen on du disagree. They encourage us to vote for right wingers who

oppose healthcare for all and public education and banking reform. I'm glad you're one of the sane Canadians.

[riverbendviewgal]

29. Very strange that Rightwingers

from Canada are on DU.


I have Canadian Friends who adore President Obama. One was in Alberta visiting her daughter and they drove to Montana in 2012 to get an Obama coffee cup on a border town. She said it was a hoot because the shops had not a one... It was not Obama fan company. LOL.

Obviously there are Canadian rightwingers as Harper was in so long. So glad he is not our Prime Minister now. He poisoned our country but thankfully we will recover.

[DonCoquixote]

35. and best wishes on that

granted, there are time I think Canada polished it's halo too much, but I think Justin has just the polish to get the stain of Harper out.

[GliderGuider]

46. I'll join you in that enthusiasm.

Despite the election of Obama (or perhaps because of how I felt it turned out) I had written off political leadership of any kind as just enablers of the 0.1%. Then we turned around and elected Justin. I was (still am) completely blown away. That election gave me back a lot of my faith in the ability of human beings to be rational, compassionate and fearless when necessary.

[Enthusiast]

20. Highly recommended and kick this fucker over the moon!

“Lastly (there are more, but I have to get back to my work), we get governance. This includes a banking system that is there to support the economy, not end run it to make a few $$,” he says.

This is why I'm supporting Bernie Sanders. I am tired of this bullshit lawlessness.

[libdem4life]

24. Well, Empire doesn't come on the cheap, you know. Want to know where the Middle Class

went...the great sucking sound coming from 800 or so global military bases, Middle East crusades and profiteering on all of the above along with the necessary killing machines.

But, the Middle Class is so much safer now that it doesn't have silly discretionary income to lead them astray and just waste...things like food, and shelter, and health care, and school expenses, and...

It's Marie Antoinette all over again. Let them eat (with) Food Stamps.

And, Canada elected a Progressive for top office. Maybe it's because they still have a middle class...who knew?

[erronis]

45. Nice post. Unfortunately accurate... (nt)

[libdem4life]

47. Thanks. n/t

[zentrum]

25. Yes, but….

…wait until the FOX-KOCH juggernaut comes for Canadian Democracy too. The RW Oligarchy is extremely patient and methodical. The USA was a good test case and now they know how to do it in any industrialized nation. And they will. The top richest want it all.

Being more educated and the fact that they don't have a history of slavery and Jim Crow may allow them to remain more democratic. Can almost not imagine it---a sane country with regulated capitalism, lack of fear of the word "socialism", and strong unions.

[riverbendviewgal]

31. There was a SUN news channel in Canada

that was the same as FOX News. It dived. They could not keep it financially afloat. One reason is that in Canada it is against the law to put out fake news. It must be real facts with no lies.

Most Canadians I know favour our "socialismm" and unions.

[enid602]

30. oh canada!!!!!!

Canadians love to tout their benefits and progressiveness. But remember it's also the country that has invested bilions in tar sands development, the world's dirtiest energy. Remember that Montreal this month dumped 9 billion litres of RAW sewage into the Saint Lawrence River, despite petitions signed by US citizens, and intense diplomatic pressure by Obama. More recently, the Goverment of Canada sued US food producers to make them unable to put country of origin information on meat products. Our progressive House passed this proposal, and made Obama sign off on it to get a budget deal. So, on 1/1/16, country of origin information will not be on the label of our mystery meats. Oh, Canada!!!!!!

[laundry_queen]

41. Yes we are not without our faults, that's for certain

although currently our tar sands are all but dead. Fort Mac is a ghost town currently. The NDP premier of Alberta is looking into diversifying the economy and investing in alternatives (remember, she was voted in to do just that because people here in Alberta were sick of the tar sands even before the giant dive in oil prices) and now she has a federal Liberal government that is more likely to help her out than the previous group of idiots. As for the whole Montreal thing, that was absolutely horrid, but it is my understanding that it was either a controlled dump now or an uncontrolled disaster later and that they are already taking steps to ensure this never happens again (likely given the PR disaster it was). As for the meat thing, I agree with you. No fucking way do I not want to know where my meat is coming from.

But in the big picture, the things you have picked on are quite tiny compared to America's problems. 3 things you have chosen. How many more can you think of before I get started with a counter argument? No country is going to be perfect and Canada can always do better. Remember, we just emerged from 10 years of Harper. Watch us now. Sunny ways. (lol you thought we were insufferable before)

[enid602]

43. controlled dump

'Controlled dump' just about says it all. I know that proper disposal of the 9 billion liters would have cost Montreal 1 billion USD, but there must be some world infrastructure organization who could have financed it. Could you imagine the reaction of the good citizens of Vancouver had Seattle decided to take such a controlled dump? We'll have to wait for the ecological effects to become fully apparent.

Tar Sands? Only temporarily dead because the low price of crude has made it economically unfeasible. Saudi Arabia, now facing record deficits cannot keep the price of oil artificially low forever. Then the rape of the boreal forest, cancer villages, etc will continue unabated. Google 'dirty oil.' Click on images. It's not pretty. I wonder if the good citizens of Vancouver will let the Keystone Pipeline pass through their fine city. I rather doubt it.

As I understand it, the repeal of the 'COOL' law (country of origin labeling, so heavily lobbied against by Alberta hog farmers who sued the US Government for 3 billion USD) takes effect on January 1, 2016. Country of labeling is a HUGE issue in this country. People want to know if the meat they consume is being processed in China. This was passed under the carpet, and not covered in the press, given the holidays, the situation with ISIS and a fierce primary season here in the US. I don't know what the public reaction here in the US will be if, as I've heard all country of origin labeling disappears from US meat found on the supermarket shelves. There will probably be a huge backlash.

[Rex]

32. Great article and just another reason to love our neighbors.

Good public shools, great healthcare and they didn't waste trillions on a bloated military! Pretty impressive.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

39. And to be completely superficial and frivolous,

their new prime minister is a cutie (check out the January issue of Vogue spread on him), and he immediately ordered the Department of Justice to Legalize Marijuana.

I remember his parents Pierre and Margaret. She was all over the tabloids for her disco nightclubbing.

[dreamnightwind]

42. Check out this comparison of U.S. and Canadian banks, must see! Hilarious!

Jason Jones once did an amazing segment getting the opinions of bankers from U.S. citizens and Canadians. Brilliant. Banking should be safe and boring, and serve the public rather than the financial sector, as it does in Canada.

http://www.thecomedynetwork.ca/blogs/2013/06/dailyshow-june24-jason-jones

Wow, looks to have been scrubbed or anyway it isn't there. Here's an article that talks about it:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100842876

If anyone can come up with the clip, highly relevant to the OP and also very entertaining and enlightening, please post the link.

[pampango]

48. So a country CAN compete in a global economy and still regulate its banks. Who knew!

Certainly not republicans who hate 'restraints' on the financial sector.

[dreamnightwind]

49. Republicans? Who did Summers and Geithner serve under? Our party has no cred here either.

[Live and Learn]

44. K&R nt