Marc, the issue about the statement made by the Canadian about Pres Bush was not the issue I was talking about. It was your general and specific distain for American actions and motives in the international arena. The loop I was talking about is the issue you bring up, that Canada is unable to do much on their own - they are not often truly in the decision making loop. Especially right now when America has been attacked and will do something about it with or without others permission. It is our right and our responsibility to do so. However, you surely realize that your government has acted to support the US in this area.
I apologize for presuming your motives - you are right, I was wrong to do so. It is a lesson we could all learn about other individuals and other nations as well. Perhaps this lesson could also be applied to judging the motives of the United States in the international arena. I am the new guy and perhaps I misunderstood when I read the rules, but I thought that politics was a taboo subject. If not, then this list will be very much more interesting, but nowhere near as uplifting as I was hoping. I really enjoy so many of your comments and appreciate your knowledge and insight into so many aspects of what I am interested in, that I would not want to make anything less than a friend of you. I hope that you can accept and respond to that. And that you might feel the same way about me and my posts, limited as I am in so much of what we discuss. But please do not beat up on your neighbors to the south, because I, for one, will naturally react to your diatribes. Best wishes, George ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marc A. Schindler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 2:27 PM Subject: Re: [ZION] Afghanistan improved? George Cobabe wrote: > Marc, rather than start another political yelling match with you about the > USA and our policies, I will just say you are all screwed up and let it go > at that. > Okay. But I never did any yelling. No one ever proved me wrong on the last issue about the role of spokespeople in the Westminster system. Let's remember that two claims were made by Jim, who started the thread by posting an article from the Toronto Star: 1) the comment about Bush being a "moron" was made publicly. I showed (as did, indeed, the article itself) that it wasn't public. I got a "so what" kind of half-hearted acknowledgement from someone -- either Jim or Stephen, I can't remember which -- but that's all. 2) the comment was made by a politician. As a civil servant in a Westminster-style government, I explained why she wasn't a politician. You will never see a person like Francie Ducros giving a public statement -- it's always the minister who does (we consider this one of the basics of "responsible government" which means the minister is the one who is responsible, and everything in his or her department is always done in his/her name; civil servants never issue statements or hold press conferences like they do in the U.S. I never got an acknowledgement that Jim was wrong in his assumption that the rest of the world acts like the U.S. in this regard). But you're free to express an emotional opinion, as we all are. > > I am reminded of the old story of the Stallion and the horse fly. The fly > kept biting the horse but when it was all over the fly was still an insect, > and the horse was still a stallion. > > So keep biting at the USA if it makes you feel better as a Canadian, but > remember what is true in the end. > You are being presumptuous about my motives, and you're wrong, too. But if helps you feel better to hold this belief about my motives, go for it. > > It is always easy to criticize when you are out of the loop and unable to do > anything about it. > I don't understand this comment. I believe I was *in* the loop on that issue, since I happen to have first-hand experience of the process involved. -- Marc A. Schindler Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland "Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on" - Winston Churchill Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author's employer, nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// / ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
