Independence Day

Don't forget most prosperous, most free and most dedicated to the idea of man having free will and the ability to forge thier own destiny.

Much to the chagrin of the latte/trawna crowd, if not for the americans building their cars here and buying our resources, we would be a third world country much like Brazil and Argentina. Thank goodness for the USA. We could not have a better neighbour, and I for one am proud to call them my friends. Happy July 4th, and may all of you prosper and find happiness.

I'd rather sit down and have an American beer with a Yank than sip a cask ale with a Brit. That alone speaks to how much I like the American people!

As Americans, we have a right to question our government and its actions. However, while there is a time to criticize, there is also a time to follow in complacent silence. And that time is now.

It's one thing to question our leaders in the days leading up to a war. But it is another thing entirely to do it during a war. Once the blood of young men starts to spill, it is our duty as citizens not to challenge those responsible for spilling that blood. We must remove the boxing gloves and put on the kid gloves. That is why, in this moment of crisis, I should not be allowed to say the following things about America:

Why do we purport to be fighting in the name of liberating the Iraqi people when we have no interest in violations of human rights—as evidenced by our habit of looking the other way when they occur in China, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Syria, Burma, Libya, and countless other countries? Why, of all the brutal regimes that regularly violate human rights, do we only intervene militarily in Iraq? Because the violation of human rights is not our true interest here. We just say it is as a convenient means of manipulating world opinion and making our cause seem more just.

That is exactly the sort of thing I should not say right now.

This also is not the time to ask whether diplomacy was ever given a chance. Or why, for the last 10 years, Iraq has been our sworn archenemy, when during the 15 years preceding it we traded freely in armaments and military aircraft with the evil and despotic Saddam Hussein. This is the kind of question that, while utterly valid, should not be posed right now.

And I certainly will not point out our rapid loss of interest in the establishment of democracy in Afghanistan once our fighting in that country was over. We sure got out of that place in a hurry once it became clear that the problems were too complex to solve with cruise missiles.

That sort of remark will simply have to wait until our boys are safely back home.

Here's another question I won't ask right now: Could this entire situation have been avoided in the early 1990s had then-U.S. ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie not been given sub rosa instructions by the Bush Administration to soft-pedal a cruel dictator? Such a question would be tantamount to sedition while our country engages in bloody conflict. Just think how hurtful that would be to our military morale. I know I couldn't fight a war knowing that was the talk back home.

Is this, then, the appropriate time for me to ask if Operation Iraqi Freedom is an elaborate double-blind, sleight-of-hand misdirection ploy to con us out of inconvenient civil rights through Patriot Acts I and II? Should I wonder whether this war is an elaborate means of distracting the country while its economy bucks and lurches toward the brink of a full-blown depression? No and no.

True patriots know that a price of freedom is periodic submission to the will of our leaders—especially when the liberties granted us by the Constitution are at stake. What good is our right to free speech if our soldiers are too demoralized to defend that right, thanks to disparaging remarks made about their commander-in-chief by the Dixie Chicks?

When the Founding Fathers authored the Constitution that sets forth our nation's guiding principles, they made certain to guarantee us individual rights and freedoms. How dare we selfishly lay claim to those liberties at the very moment when our nation is in crisis, when it needs us to be our most selfless? We shame the memory of Thomas Jefferson by daring to mention Bush's outright lies about satellite photos that supposedly prove Iraq is developing nuclear weapons.

At this difficult time, President Bush needs my support. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld needs my support. General Tommy Franks needs my support. It is not my function as a citizen in a participatory democracy to question our leaders. And to exercise my constitutional right—nay, duty—to do so would be un-American.

I work for a U.S. company. The company’s named after one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. In fact the name is synonymous with “signature.”

I had a couple of small Canadian and U.S. flags in my collection, so I put them up on my cubicle wall.

I found out through a friend months later that people were animated to various degrees over what I had done. Many people evidently thought I was American - who else would put up the Stars and Stripes? (one close neighbour is a rabid KOS/Michael Moore type – he must have freaked)

So while the rest of my Canadian colleagues define their Canadian-ness in relation to the U.S., I simply thank my American friends for the paycheque and remind them to max up their 401k plans!

America to me is much more than just a place. It's an idea. A way of being. The best way. Ever.

Agreed - to the most generous, the most forgiving, the most innovative nation that has ever graced this planet - the USA.

To its Declaration of Independence and its First Ten Amendments, which are, together, the basic foundations for the freedom of the individual and a generous and just society.

To its insistence on the distinct role of reason as well as the role of faith which work together in a just society. To its scientific majesty and its commitment to the search for knowledge.

I'm an atheist - but still, god bless the USA on its day, today, of independence.

*
"It's an idea. A way of being."

what? you've got some sort of a
problem with bloody, feudal,
middle ages theocracy?

you liberty-lovers are all the same.

*

To the greatest nation the world has ever known...thank God you are our neighbours, and not the ME..like neo would seem to like. Happy Independance Day(something us Canuckistanians can't say)!!

To all my American friends and relatives, all the best on your Independence Day. Hopefully now and in the future we continue to stand together not fall apart.

To the best of my knowledge never in history has a rich, militarily strong country sat next to a mineral rich country with no discernable military and NOT found an excuse to start a war and plunder the rich under-protected country; with one very notable exception.

Idiots on the left like to cover their insecurity by mocking the US. Sure, our American cousins make mistakes. All best friends make mistakes. But who are we going to call when the Russians move to take our arctic territorial rights? Who are we going to call when Iran puts a dirty bomb in Toronto? God Bless America and Happy Birthday to them! Most Canadians with an IQ over room temperature appreciate the US for the great neighbour it is.

Whoooooppppsss...my bad. Sorry neo. I misread your post and totally missed the sarcasm..:)

Happy birthday America! Many happy returns.

Man bless America. Thank you. Indeed the greatest nation this impefect world has ever known.

Thank God for America. I shudder to think what the world would be without her.

"Most Canadians with an IQ over room temperature appreciate the US for the great neighbour it is.

Posted by: EyesWideShut at July 4, 2007 12:58 PM "

Unfortunately EWS,most Canucks IQ is smaller then their shoe size. Doncha ya now its the in thing to be anti-yank,anti-estabishement,and anti-anything that improves human life,unless it involves you?

Gos bless AMERICA!
I thank them everyday for our freedoms

God bless AMERICA!
I thank them everyday for our freedoms

God Bless & God Speed, Uncle Sam.

I love that most Americans don't believe that government can solve their problems.

If only Canadians felt the same way.

I don't think that Taliban Jack realizes everytime he bashes the U.S., that if it wasn't for them, he would be sending his taxes to Moscow and his jumping the medical line up to have hernia surgery at a private for profit clinic would not have been a possibility.

Love your American Neighbors for their love of freedom, personal liberty and civil justice....but fear their government who occupies much if its time taking it away from them.

Happy birthday to all who celebrate the old constituted US republic.

America rocks. 'Nuff said.

Well said Kate. Thank you and have a great day USA.

I had to leave the U.S. for Canada to truly appreciate it's place in the world and history.

As a result, I became conservative.

God Bless America.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.....

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Though I don't share Kate's beliefs about American history (or Canadian history, for that matter) nonetheless I do wish you a happy holiday.

To the Canadians here who prefer the USA to Canada: why don't you move? (Please!)

God bless America.

BREAKING NEWS

6 Canadian soldiers killed in Af'stan.

A Happy Birthday America. And God Bless You.
Others here today have expressed my feelings far more eloquently than I can so savor their words.

Thanks Kate and all...It's a great day in the US today! We / I appreciate our great neighbors to the north. Orlin from Marquette Michigan USA

To the Canadians here who prefer the USA to Canada: why don't you move? (Please!)

To the Canadians here who prefer North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela to Canada: why don't you move? (Please, asshole!)

That means you, exile.

We still celbrate the 4TH OF JULY we dont celibrate CINO DEMAYO or KWANZAA and THE EAGLE IS FLYING HIGH

Great anthem and great people.

God bless America!

Happy 4th of July!

To the Canadians here who prefer the USA to Canada: why don't you move? (Please!)

What a moron!

One can appreciate their neighbor, and even strive to emulate their better qualities without being envious.

To the Canadians who prefer the taliban to an elected democracy: why don't you go to
Afghanistan and explain to the civilians there why we are leaving them helpless at the hands of their oppressors.

Ellen said: "True patriots know that a price of freedom is periodic submission to the will of our leaders"

That errant sentiment at odds with the duty of citizenship enunciated by the founders. They saw the first duty of a citizen is to question government, never trust it completely and dissent or revolt when it is constitutionally wrong.

Ben franklin said: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority” – ( Ben Franklin)

“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it always to be kept alive. “ (Thomas Jefferson)

“If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it. “ (Thomas Jefferson)

“The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. “.........
“When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object. “ (Patric Henry)

“Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness. “...,,,
“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. “..........“It is our true policy to steer clear of entangling alliances with any portion of the foreign world. “...........“Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. “ (George Washington)

“There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty. “.......“Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide. “....“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. “ (John Adams)

It seems clear that the fathers of the constitutional republic thought that legal limits to constrain government from becoming aggressive, imperialist or corrupt, was not good enough...for the free republic to flourish citizens were to be constantly vigilant in keeping government constitutionally straight and they were armed and empowered to remove governments which stray from the spirit of liberty enunciated in the constitution.

I think Bush and Cheney passing executive orders to make themselves sole dictators in times of crisis, of their determination, rates as one of the most treasonous acts of government ever.

If you feel the governemnt has fabricated public hysteria and foreign entanglements as means to expand imperialism and turn the republic into a quasi-martial law state...it is your duty as a citizen to do something about it....no one gives a damn if this rogue government is embroiled in foreign entanglements at the time ...your duty is to stop it from dismantling the republic (which it has with Patriot acts and consolidating imperial powers in the president and FEMA)

On this July 4th think seriously about a revolution to return the republic.

Doug: "To the Canadians here who prefer the USA to Canada: why don't you move? (Please!)
To the Canadians here who prefer North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela to Canada: why don't you move? (Please, asshole!)

That means you, exile."

I haven't said that I prefer some other country to Canada nor have I expressed contempt for Canada and Canadians, unlike many here. Neither have I addressed anyone here in abusive terms, unlike you.

"To the most generous, forgiving and thick-skinned nation on earth - and the best friend a country ever had: it's an honour to number so many of you among my regular readers."

Well said!

Ellen said: "True patriots know that a price of freedom is periodic submission to the will of our leaders"

Check the link :-) It's a piece of brilliant satire from The Onion.

If I was Kate, I'd say that rightists have poor reading comprehension.

As a canuck who has lived and worked on both sides of the border I can attest to the fact that there is more to unite us than divide us. I am always amazed that the anti American and anti Canadian crowd love to get on the rant but never look at the whole picture. To admire a country and it's people doesn't necessarily mean you want to move there exile. your blinders are on too tight. You define your life in terms of your opinion of America. The fact that some of Canada's views and policies are same or similar to those south of he border has you on an anti-US rant. Kind of like not barbequeing today because your neighbour has his grill on too.

This week of the year is especially festive for me: Canada (Dominion) Day, 4th of July and my wife's birthday in between. There is no excuse for not celibrating around our house. Now if it would only stop raining...

happy 4th

Exile: It may be satire but do you know how many lemmings ( I suppose they call themselves Patriots) would unthinkingly march lockstep behind an American dictatorship?

Thanks, Canadian friends.

I always think of the genius of Thomas Jefferson, who alone wrote our Constitution. Never have so many owed so much to one person in the realm of a civil society model and personal freedom. Marx and Lenin have been relegated to the dustbin of history while the spirit of the great man endures.

"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.".....yep, I just found this quote of his looking for something else, talk about Jeffersonian wisdom enduring through the ages.

wlmr - there aren't as many lemmings, ever, in the USA as there are Canadians marching behind the Trudeau-Chretien legacy of Big Statism Government, the silence of political correctness, the passive acceptance of multicultural balkanization, and the rejection of individual freedom in favour of privileging of group identities. People like exile are examples of that.

Now- can we ignore the petty carpings of such as Ellen and Exile - and get back to praising the US for its strengths - which are its commitment to freedom - of the individual, of reason, of action. And, the results of this commitment - a people both capable of debate and questions, and yet, once the decisions have been made, capable of accepting and working within those decisions.

Again, god bless America - the first nation, ever, founded on the principles of freedom.

Exile and WLMR, please cut it out. This is a post for well wishes, not nattering flamewars.

Americans are more than neighbors, they are family.

Family in the sense that hundreds of thousands of Canadians have American parents, grandparents, children, spouses, cousins, and so on. Family in the sense that we are both children of the best parts of British and European tradition. Family in the sense that we have both left behind the worst of the class consciousness and rigid society of that tradition. On a personal, political, and philisophical level, we are more alike than we are different, and more similar to each other than we are to anyone else.

Unfortunatly, like most extended families, we have scapegraces on both sides of the border who would rather crow about their brother's failings rather than solve their own. I wonder if Jack Layton had a brother or sister that his mother paid more attention to.

A question for exile - how is it that admiring America and Americans, with all of their flaws, means that I have to leave Canada? Them's close to fightin' words.

Hey, exile, why do you have to play the skunk at a garden party? You don't like America, we got the message. Trying to soil the well wishes of others isn't really a class act on this comment thread today. But, then, you knew that.

I do wish the people of the United States a happy holiday and nothing but good in the future.

Considering that I wear a lapel pin with crossed Canadian and U.S. flags, it should probably not surprise anyone that I wish a happy Independence Day to the citizens of the United States of America.

The Declaration of Independence is available here: tinyurl.com/awcem

Todays www.coxandforkum.com/archives/001145.html cartoon is pretty good, it is relevent both to Independence Day and to the nattering nabobs of negativity.

I can't answer the various comments/insults here without violating the rules of the thread, which I am not going to spell out but which I think are sufficiently obvious. I have nothing but fondness for the American people. I'm not going to say anything more.