"Politeness is a one-way street" (US-Canada relations)

[Minstrel Boy]

Politeness is a one-way street
The ruckus whenever a Canadian says something remotely rude about the United States is overblown and pointless

Michael Harris
Ottawa Sun
December 3

Ever since the days when President Lyndon Johnson hoisted Lester Pearson by the lapels over his criticism of the Vietnam War and told Canada's prime minister, "Don't you come down here and piss on my lawn," there has been a decidedly one-way sense of decorum in Canada-U.S. relations.

...

Finally, the shocked-and-appalled set went into hyperdrive over Jack Layton's little chin-wag with Himself. In a Texas minute, the leader of a national Canadian political party became Lefty Layton, and y'all know what the president thinks of lefties. Never mind that Layton was the only Canadian official who managed to remain on two legs for the entire visit. Never mind that he was able to extract the only real piece of information from President Bush during this unrepentant victory lap -- that the missile defence shield will include putting weapons in space as everyone, including Paul Martin, already knows.

Jack had opened his big, socialist mouth, thereby risking offending the Big Dog. His penalty? No invitation to learn the bug-eyed shoefly down by the fish pond at the Crawford Ranch, I would imagine. And here? All the yahoos in Parliament who were terrified that someone might sneeze in the House of Commons had the president decided to address Parliament shouted down the NDP leader like a lynch mob running for the rope.

I guess they don't remember when presidential candidate Pat Buchanan called us Soviet Canuckistan; or when President Nixon called Pierre Trudeau an asshole; or when Secretary of State Kissinger uttered his low blows against both Pierre and Margaret Trudeau; or when Hillary Clinton declared that the 9/11 terrorists had entered the Homeland via Great White North, or when Jesse Helms called us a bunch of commies because some of us drag our fish-belly white bodies to Cuba when the winds of February blow.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Ottawa/Michael_Harris/2004/12/02/762998.html

[JohnyCanuck]

1. Nicely put.

Harris expresses my sentiments (and I am sure the sentiments of many other "Soviet Canuckistanians") in this column. Thanks for posting MB.