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| Great White North |
| U.S. pundits bash 'retarded cousin' Canada |
| 2005-12-20 |
| Canada has been described lately by a conservative U.S. television host as "a stalker" and a "retarded cousin." Another pundit recently asked if Canadians weren't getting "a little too big for their britches." There's been a spate of Canada-bashing by right-wing media commentators in the United States ever since Prime Minister Paul Martin's complaints about lumber penalties and U.S. policy on climate change. His remarks prompted an unusual rebuke last week from the American ambassador. The attacks on Canada have had web bloggers typing overtime and a non-profit group that's monitoring the trend, Media Matters for America, says it's disturbing. Yet Paul Waldman, a senior fellow for the group, said Monday the criticism is confined to the usual faction that erupts whenever there's criticism of President George W. Bush's administration and it probably won't last past Canada's Jan. 23 election. "There are always going to be occasions when it pops up. But Canada is never going to occupy an extraordinary amount of American thought," said Waldman. "It's more like: `Who can we beat on today?' It's never going to reach the heights of animosity toward France in the run-up to the Iraq war." Last week, MSNBC host Tucker Carlson, a well-known conservative pundit, let loose with a string of anti-Canada rants. "Anybody with any ambition at all, or intelligence, has left Canada and is now living in New York," he said. "Canada is a sweet country. It is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he's nice but you don't take him seriously. That's Canada." Carlson also said it's pointless to tell Canada to stop criticizing the United States. "It only eggs them on. Canada is essentially a stalker, stalking the United States, right? Canada has little pictures of us in its bedroom, right?" "It's unrequited love between Canada and the United States. We, meanwhile, don't even know Canada's name. We pay no attention at all," he said. The day before, Fox News host Neil Cavuto highlighted Martin's remark at a news conference that the United States is a "reticent nation" lacking a "global conscience" on climate change. "So have the Canadians gotten a little too big for their britches?" Cavuto asked. "Could our neighbours to the north soon be our enemies?" Douglas MacKinnon, a press secretary to former Republican senator Bob Dole, also recently accused Canada of harbouring terrorists. "Can Canada really be considered our friend anymore?" he asked in a recent commentary in the right-wing Washington Times newspaper. "What other question can be asked when the Canadian government not only willingly allows Islamic terrorists into their country but does nothing to stop them from entering our nation?" U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins warned Martin last week to tone down anti-American jabs or risk hurting bilateral relations. But Martin was unrepentant, saying he would "not be dictated to" by the United States and his hard line appears to be resonating with some voters. While the offensive from American pundits isn't widespread, it still has the potential to affect cross-border ties, said Waldman. "On Capitol Hill, the TVs are turned to Fox News. This kind of media environment is what the White House pays attention to," he said. "That hostility is probably shared by a lot of people in the administration." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #15 I guess Soros got tired of trying to buy US elections, so he moved his team up north. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2005-12-20 23:52 |
| #14 MSNBC? Isn't that the next generation of MS Windows XP? Is it a video game for the Xbox 360? |
| Posted by: DMFD 2005-12-20 23:38 |
| #13 Tucker Carlson used to face off against Bill Press, Paul Begala, et al at CNN. Now that he and Bob Novak jumped ship, I think Lou Dobbs is the only one left to hold the conservative fort at CNN. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2005-12-20 22:29 |
| #12 If I had to cut a deal with the Feds and had a choice of The Witness Protection Program or MSNBC, I'd pick MSNBC. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-12-20 18:04 |
| #11 He's that really well-known - oh, you saw it in the article. Nevermind. Heh. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-12-20 18:00 |
| #10 Last week, MSNBC host Tucker Carlson, a well-known conservative pundit, let loose with a string of anti-Canada rants. Who the hell is Tucker Carlson? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-12-20 17:59 |
| #9 So there is a reason they call it Can-uh-duh! Sorry, couldnt help it. |
| Posted by: Gir 2005-12-20 17:19 |
| #8 "What other question can be asked when the Canadian government not only willingly allows Islamic terrorists into their country but does nothing to stop them from entering our nation?" What do you mean? Khadr entered your nation because you've asked us to extradite him. My gut is that there are plenty of folks in the Western part of Canada and in the Maratimes who are a little worried about the blindness of the threat by the mainstream of the Canadian Liberal Party You do know that B.C. has a Liberal provincial government? And both Saskatchewan and Manitoba have NDP governments. I think by "the Western part of Canada" you meant Alberta. Don't forget that Canada has three major political parties. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2005-12-20 13:24 |
| #7 Canada is not a monolith, but the "intellegencia" of Ontario and the French Seperatists in Quebec is all we hear about in the MSM. The former acts like the Democrats in the Senate, and the latter is a wannabe in the mold of their big brothers across the Atlantic. My gut is that there are plenty of folks in the Western part of Canada and in the Maratimes who are a little worried about the blindness of the threat by the mainstream of the Canadian Liberal Party, and the Quebecers acting like the Frenchmen that they are, or as Oil can put it so well: It's our younger brother who we're worried about because he's hanging around the wrong sort of people and going to art films. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-12-20 12:30 |
| #6 LOL, OCSpemble! Art films, indeed. Qanadian politics... Felliniesque, throw in a little Dali, some Kafka, Satre, Ibsen, a touch of Nietzsche nihilism, and a large dollop of French superior culture babble, and top it off with Maurice Strong's Power Corp - aka Tranzi Scam Scum International and voilà! Purrfekt fit. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-12-20 11:52 |
| #5 Canada who? |
| Posted by: BH 2005-12-20 11:47 |
| #4 It's not our Retarded Cousin. It's our younger brother who we're worried about because he's hanging around the wrong sort of people and going to art films. |
| Posted by: Oil Can Spemble1220 2005-12-20 11:22 |
| #3 You hit the nail on the head WT. Media Matters is funded by George Soros and Peter Lewis (Progressive Insurance), the dynamic duo behind America Coming Together and MoveOn. MM is run by the disgraced David Brock. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-12-20 11:20 |
| #2 "There are always going to be occasions when it pops up. But Canada is never going to occupy an extraordinary amount of American thought," said Waldman. This assumes that things are static and couldn't possibly get more intense or widespread. Pretty naive of him. BTW, does MMFA track America-bashing and find it to be "disturbing" as well? Probably only in the sense that we need to change to suit the world. |
| Posted by: Wheart Thavick8548 2005-12-20 10:59 |
| #1 It's never going to reach the heights of animosity toward France in the run-up to the Iraq war. Wrong. Kanuckistan is changing and becoming France's closest ally. If the next terrorist gets into the U. S. from Kanuckistan, a regiment of Sergeant Prestons won't be able to help. |
| Posted by: Sleretle Chuter8510 2005-12-20 10:05 |