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Great White North
Our American obsession
2006-07-02
What do we think of Canada? When we think of them at all...
What do they think of us?
Well, neocon or liberal, the truth is -- not much
In all the unabashed self-celebration this Canada Day weekend, thoughts turn easily to our national obsessions: universal health care, bilingualism, the social safety net and of course, the United States.
I went to the Canada Day celebration at the embassy on Saturday. I didn't notice any of those obsessions. I saw lots of very nice people eating pancakes and sausage (the ambassador was one of the cooks), listening to a band called Calgary Stampede, and enjoying a pleasant day. The theme was Alberta, though, so maybe if the theme had been Ottawa I'd have seen the obsessions.
Whether we're worrying about frank-talking Canadian ambassadors "tarnishing" our relations with the U.S., or what some American newspaper or broadcaster has said about us, there are few things more fundamentally Canadian than our abiding fixation with the U.S.A. Few things more genuinely Canuck than our unending preoccupation with the opinions of that elephant across the border. Few things more revealing.
I was very comfortable floating in a sea of Canucks. They reminded me of the Americans of the long lost days of my youth, before it became fashionable to have an attitude...
About both countries.
Posted by:Fred

#11  I hear prozac works for OCD.
Posted by: 2b   2006-07-02 21:10  

#10  Canada? That's the section of Epcot between Imagination and Britain, right?
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2006-07-02 19:37  

#9  Good grief, what a pathetic article. Fred's in-line comments are spot-on and make the whole thing bearable ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK)   2006-07-02 17:08  

#8  Let's stop worrying about what they think.

You know, if those ugly Americans just south of you started to think that way, the rest of the world will start to become very worried, very worried indeed. Particularly since there's nothing that exists that could really stop them if they had the attitude.
Posted by: Snetch Unater1043   2006-07-02 16:34  

#7  A lot of Canadian energy in the late 19th and early 20th century went into defining themselves as "good" vs. the "bad" U.S. If we don't always pay attention, maybe it's because the one-note song is boring.
Posted by: lotp   2006-07-02 16:07  

#6  Okay, we've done with Canada for the year. (puts note in Blackberry for Canada Day '07)
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-07-02 15:28  

#5  And what kind of name is "Canada," anyway?

Most people don't know this, but the name of the country is actually spelled Cnd. The confusion starts when you ask a Canuck to spell it. He'll invariably say "C eh, N eh, D eh.".

This has gone on for so long that people actually think it's spelled "C A N A D A" nowadays.

Hope this clears things up. { ;^)
Posted by: Parabellum   2006-07-02 15:24  

#4  I also liked this bit:

On those rare occasions the U.S. opens its eyes long enough to realize it is not alone on the continent, when it does accidentally notice us...

The US knows very well it's not alone on the continent. We spend a lot of time thinking about Mexico, for example. Ms. Kennedy seems to be unaware that Mexico is in North America. Typical Canadian insularity.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2006-07-02 15:14  

#3  That will surely be the most pointless article I'll read anywhere today. Obsessing about obsessing. I learned one thing: it's Canada Day. In Canada I presume.
Posted by: Glaitch Groting9149   2006-07-02 13:48  

#2  It is painfully apparent that, in George W. Bush's profoundly divided U.S., the population is rigidly split along ideological lines -- Republicans vs. Democrats, neoconservatives vs. liberals, warmongers with me-first sensibilities and all the wrong priorities vs. peace-lovers with social conscience and all the right ones.

Idiot
Posted by: Frank G   2006-07-02 13:21  

#1  I'm instituting a new rule. Whenever I read a foreign article, I'm going to stop at the first use of the word "neocon". No foreigner (and damned few Americans) actually knows what a "neocon" is, but it seems to be code for "people I really hate".

I might miss some insightful articles on Leo Strauss that way, but I'm willing to take the risk.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2006-07-02 13:10  

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