The following is from a reader I have been corresponding with. He's a lawyer based out of Pennsylvania, and we've been trading opinions on Paul Martin and the Blue States, etc etc. Some of what he said might offend, but frankly, I thinks it's what a lot of us (chiefly me) have been thinking, and have been unwilling to say. So suck it up, and read on...

I suspect my opinion of Canadians may not be the average American's. I can safely say most Americans have no idea what Vimy Ridge means; have never heard of either Ypres or Passchendale; have no idea Halifax was leveled in a war-related accident; couldn't find Dieppe with a map; think of Juno only as a Roman goddess, and those the more educated ones; think of NORAD as nothing but a totally American effort, forward-based solely for our convenience; and have no intention of visiting such graceful towns as Toronto, Montreal, or Quebec, as everyone knows it's frozen solid there nine months out of twelve, and lightly snowing the rest. Fewer still have visited Labrador City (not that I recommend it; even in June, its climate is rather inhospitable; and I'll never again order "seal pie"). Virtually none know the sheer size of the place. Until the recent loud disagreements, most Americans thought little more of Canada than as a haven for brawny brawling hockey players, moose, handsome Mounties, gorgeous women, with a fetish for Maple leaves, fairly good beer, and funny coins deceptively similar to ours but too light to work in American vending machines.

That may say too much. The truth is, Americans don't think about Canada much at all. That sounds like an insult. I assure you it is not; it is the greatest hope and promise of improved relations in the future. We're a generous people, and think of Canada more or less as a 51st state. In our bones, Americans think of the Canadians as brothers/sisters, and would no more doubt your kinship and friendship
than I would doubt that of my own sisters. I think at times that may be annoying to Canadians, both for being taken for granted and for not being noticed when they do complain: "Take that, US! You noticing us NOW?! Huh?!" and being all the more frustrated when the US simply doesn't react. Again, it's the inattention of a brother: sure, you annoy me now, but it isn't serious, because I assume without thinking about it that no matter how much my sister is annoyed with me, if I need
her help she'll be there post haste no questions asked.

Now that assumption is coming to be viewed as no longer valid, and I think we can date it to the collapse of Communism in Europe. Up until 1991, and especially in the heyday of Reagan, Mulroney, and Thatcher, there was Anglophone unity against a common threat. When the common threat disappeared, I think Canada (as a nation, on average; I know there is a spectrum of opinion) began to think it had no enemies except those that America annoyed, and if it could distance itself from America, then it would have no enemies at all. Hence the liberal borders policy; hence the emphatic non-cooperation on most overseas commitments; hence the somewhat bizarre experimentation with Sharia law; hence the increasingly public profile of the spats that do arise; and hence the loud and public disrespect to the American President, somewhat inexplicable from a people as generally polite as Canadians. When Hugo
Chavez and Fidel Castro are treated more respectfully by the Canadian elite and the Liberals than is George Bush, that gets noticed down South. And the American moonbat fringe notwithstanding, even Democrats don't much like disrespect to an American president.

I think it's fair to say that now most Americans view Canada as simply not a serious country. Ridiculous and impotent may be overstating the case, but not by much. It's not as if dissing American presidents and policies wins Canada any friends. Sure, the Democrats like to hear their rhetoric echoed, but it isn't as if that would translate into any tangible benefit for Canada if the left were ever to win power; the spineless Democrats don't view France, Germany or Canada as strong, they
just use the words as a helpful stick. Think about it: Did Canada's prestige prosper during Clintonian times?

No, to both left and right here, Canada has simply ensured that it need not be consulted. And that's a shame; Reagan conferred openly and sincerely with Mulroney. But Canada's elite and political powers have intentionally made themselves obnoxious to the American right (in ascendance now, and with long memories), and irrelevant to the American left. What has Canada to offer either side? From a military standpoint, Canada is seen as both unwilling and, worse, unable to project any significant force anywhere. Politically, Canadians can't
vote in American elections (well, sometimes for Democrats, but I digress), and no American politician ever prospered by alleging that foreigners liked him better (ask John Kerry). From a trade standpoint, do the Canadian elites think the Democrats would give them a better deal on anything? They're far more protectionist than the Republicans, and Canada needs American markets far more than Americans need Canadian
markets.

Anti-Americanism has always been a staple of elite, or rather effete, foreign opinion. [You never see muscular anti-Americanism; it's more a form of snobbery, usually loudest among those of inherited wealth or university cocooning.] And we recognize the reality that anti-Americanism may be smart domestic politics for Canadian politicians. But Americans do notice -- and remember -- when foreign
politicians use the US as a foil for partisan domestic advantage. Schroeder did so in Germany; it got him re-elected, barely, but not a single visit or concession from any American politician of stature, left or right, for three years. Chirac is roundly detested, and French imports to the United States have taken a swan dive. Turkey has been abandoned by the US in its pursuit of EU membership.

Rereading the above, it may sound arrogant. Objectively, it probably is. But it's more frustrated. All the more so because of what a force for good and right Canada once was. Canada once recognized true evil when it saw it, and fought it. In the dark days between the blitz on Poland and Pearl Harbor, America sent material to aid the fight against evil. Canada sent men. In the dark days of the First World War, when the Brits were reeling and the French impotent even on their own soil, Canada sent men. Sent men knowing that the Canadian mainland was not threatened, and likely would never be threatened. Men whose ferocious courage was world renowned. Now Canada's most admired characteristic is a health system whose shortcomings are becoming embarassingly obvious. My personal affection for Canada remains strong, but I have not been back since the outbreak of the war in Iraq. I was in Montreal that day, and saw the public anti-American demonstrations. Apparently rape rooms, mass graves, mass gassings, torture, and blatant massive graft have had no effect on Canadian opinion as to the nature of the evil fought. I'm reminded that the Nazi concentration camps didn't come to light until after the occupation in World War 2 either.

I hope the Conservatives get their act together. Setting aside my American myopia, I wonder if it can be good for Canada's soul to define itself as "not America," and to view the United States as a greater problem for the world than Islamic terrorism. I know, more American arrogance. Well, you did ask my opinion. Thank God (can Canadians still do that?) that you don't have to listen to it 24/7.

With affection and respect,