I guess have the honor of being the first member of the Twain forum to
thank Robert Slotta for posting this masterpiece.  I must admit I'd have
never thought to import jingoism at a moment like this  -- particularly
Vietnam Era Canadian jingoism.  I suppose that's the difference between me
and someone with a trained eye for commodities like Robert.

Again, heartfelt thanks to Mr. Slotta. Without his timely post I would have
had to go all the way down to the laundromat bulletin board to read Gordon
Sinclair's timeless insights and sparkling literary style.

Barry Crimmins


>Dear All,
>
>I received this from a friend and consider it worth sharing. It is said to
>be taken from a Canadian newspaper. Pass it along as you see fit.
>
>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
>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 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!