This little editorial circulated around our office today. I think it is worth taking a moment to read it.
> A TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES We should appreciate
> this one. This is from a Canadian newspaper, it's
> worth sharing.
> *******************************************************
> TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES
> 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 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
> attened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall
> Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars
> into damaged 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 5,000 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 seem to be blamed for everything, and don't get a
> thank you for the things we do. I would hope that each
> of you would send this to as many people as you can
> and emphasize that they should send it to as many of
> their friends until this letter is sent to every
> person on the web. I am just a single American that
> has read
> this, I SURE HOPE THAT A LOT MORE READ IT SOON.