Here's what Bush was referring to re Poutine in his Halifax speech..haha

[glarius]

Remember when, during Bush's scintillating speech in Halifax, he referred to being endorsed by a person by the name of Poutine in Canada?....He was referring to a satire TV show in Canada where Rick Mercer approached Bush in 2000 during his campaign and told him that Prime Minister Poutine of Canada was backing him all the way...Bush turned eagerly to Mercer and said he appreciated the P.M's support....It was so funny, because up until then Mercer had been saying "I'm from the CBC and would like to ask you a question"....Bush ignored him until Mercer mentioned the "endorsement" and then he was all smiles... .We all had a big laugh up here because the Prime Minister at the time was Chretien...and poutine is a Quebec fast food favourite....It's French fries with white cheddar cheese curds and gravy....I've never had it....some love it....I imagine it would not be very good for you arteries though....



--->poutine

[tk2kewl]

1. I had poutine at the Mets/Expos game this summer

mmmmmm good. but that was before the doctor put me on lipitor

[Lisa]

2. well, up until he started going on about "terraism"

... and how it was his duty to follow him, just as we'd followed the British into earlier wars ... it wasn't badly written. (His speechwriters also inserted plenty of Canadian quotes, from people that the Shrub's likely never heard of!)

Bush's delivery is improving -- he didn't snortle to himself as much prior to the punchlines (though he did do his infamous wheezing huh-huh-huh at the press conference the day before).

Now, if only he'd addressed Canadians about 3 years ago -- and cut out the "you'd better do as I tell you -- and I don't care what you've been trying to warn me about" part -- and been a totally different person up there ....

[glarius]

3. I think his thanking us now was completely meaningless, for these reasons

1/ He didn't say a word about our help on 9/11 when he thanked all the other countries 3 years ago. 2/ He left us out of the list of countries he was thanking, on purpose, (I heard David Frum, who was his speech writer at that time admit this) because of pettiness. 3/ He had many occasions since then to acknowledge our contribution and thank us publicly....at press conferences etc., but he never did and therefore I believe most of the American public never thought we had done anything to help them during that awful time....
edit: Frum didn't say it was due to pettiness. That's my own conclusion.

[JNelson6563]

4. We in Michigan knew of Canada's kindness

Because we are so close to your wonderful country many of us get Canadian radio etc. I heard announcers instructing people to help the stranded Americans however possible during this tragedy. I was so touched.

I've always loved Canada, been there many times. Your country is what America tries to convince the world we are.

A heartfelt thank-you from a grateful American--
Julie

[glarius]

6. Thank you for those lovely words.

I live in Southern Ontario with Buffalo N.Y. our closest border point. There is a great deal of back and forth here...especially during the summer....Many Americans have cottages here on the shore of Lake Erie...There has been nothing but friendship and harmony forever here....I have been to Buffalo hundreds of times. (I love the Buffalo wings at the Anchor bar...the original ones)....The thing is, it will take more than a fool like George Bush to spoil the friendship between our two nations....:toast:

[Lisa]

5. in some ways, worse than meaningless ...

He's using those acts of kindness as a shield for his own selfish acts.

I suspect that one reason why he picked Halifax and arranged to speak to that particular crowd was to deflect any sort of criticism. Various Canadian pundits (including Rick Mercer, Rex Murphy, etc.) told us it would be rude to protest Bush when he was coming here to say thanks. Luckily, some of the Maritimers in the audience saw through Bush -- even after he schmoozed it up with the crowd, they didn't fall for the phony "charm". They noted that he seemed to have an ulterior motive, as he steered his speech over to what he really wanted to talk about.

And I don't think I'm being too harsh, calling him a phony. He was well-rehearsed, but it didn't sound like it came from his heart. He enunciated clearly (not like when he's being passionate about things that interest him), and smiled smugly as he read out the in-jokes and Canadian-content quotes.

[glarius]

7. I agree with you that he's a phony

You know when I hear CNN and the others going on about his "charm" or "charisma" I want to throw up....Do you remember in 2000 when he hadn't won his party's nomination yet, the media always referred to him as "sneering" or "hot-headed" or "testy"?....Then once he became the president he was suddenly being described as this friendly, charming guy you would love to sit down and have a beer with....When did this big transformation take place?....It's all so phony!