The Lord's Grace
My America
Some Things to Think About
A Tribute to America
12 Apr 2000
This, from a Canadian newspaper,
is worth sharing.
America: The Good Neighbor.
Widespread but only partial news
coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto
by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. What follows
is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional
Record:
This Canadian thinks it is time
to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least
appreciated people on all the earth.
Germany, Japan and, to a lesser
extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans
who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts.
None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining
debts to the United States.
When the France was in danger
of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their
reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I
was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant
cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring,
59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman
Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now
newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering
Americans.
I'd like to see just one of those
countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar
build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have
a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas
DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International
lines except Russia fly American Planes?
Why does no other land on earth
even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about
Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy,
and you get automobiles.
You talk about American technocracy,
and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times - and safely
home again.
You talk about scandals, and
the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look
at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They
are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian
laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.
When the railways of France,
Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans
who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York
Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still
broke.
I can name you 5000 times when
the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you
name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble?
I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone,
and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around.
They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do,
they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over
their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."
Stand proud, America!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is one of the best editorials
that I have ever read regarding the United States. It is nice that
one man realizes it. I only wish that the rest of the world would
realize it. We are always blamed for everything, and never even get
a thank you for the things we do.
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