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Memorial: American: The Good Neighbor |
Posted by: webmaster on Sunday, September 16, 2001 - 03:08 PM
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This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing.
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 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!
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