“嗯，很有意思。那為什麼Obama會如此大陣式地廣而告之呢?” 我明知故問道。 “Oh，Don’t be so naive. Obama is runing for re-election next year. 這就是為什麼。” 他接着評說道：“你看，連你的偶像Obama這樣的美國人都這樣，這美國人能不被我鄙視嗎?”
What Americans really think of Canadians: Report Some Congressmen well informed, but others, not so much Mike Lloyd May 10, 2011 08:07:11 AM ----------------------------------- VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - So, how do Americans really feel about Canada? A new report from the Fraser Institute gives us a few hints.
What Congress Thinks of Canada analyzed the last 10 years of debate in US Congress to see how often and why Canada was mentioned.
If you think the Great White North is ignored, author Alexander Moens says think again. "That's not true. We found nearly 2,000 instances of substantial comments about Canada."
Some US Congressmen are very informed about Canada. But others, not so much.
"There's one fellow who said, 'You know, Osama bin Laden could land in any airport in Canada, tell Canadian authorities he's 'Osama the Tent-maker' and wander into the United States undetected.'"
The report found many members of US Congress feel the terrorist threat to the United States from Canada is very high, leading to what Moens calls typical, partisan, simplistic shots at Canada.
Mentions of Canada mostly involved security, trade, foreign policy and energy, especially oil. "Congressmen are actually quite positive about [Canada's] oil sands," says Moens.
The report concludes Canada is now doing a better job at engaging US Congress through an advocacy secretariat based at the Canadian embassy in Washington, enhanced relationships between provincial premiers and state governors, and careful lobbying.
But Moens says Canadian media doesn't have much penetration into the US and, overall, Canada needs to do a better job at informing and showing Americans what is important to us. ========================================================
An American’s View of Canada ----------------------------- (This editorial ran in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August 2003)
It’s not just the weather that’s cooler in Canada: You live next door to a clean-cut, quiet guy. He never plays loud music or throws raucous parties. He doesn’t gossip over the fence, just smiles politely and offers you some tomatoes. His lawn is cared-for, his house is neat as a pin and you get the feeling he doesn’t always lock his front door. He wears Dockers. You hardly know he’s there. And then one day you discover that he has pot in his basement, spends his weekends at peace marches and that guy you’ve seen mowing the yard is his spouse.
Allow me to introduce Canada. The Canadians are so quiet that you may have forgotten they’re up there, but they’ve been busy doing some surprising things. It’s like discovering that the mice you are dimly aware of in your attic have been building an espresso machine.
Did you realize, for example, that our reliable little tag-along brother never joined the Coalition of the Willing? Canada wasn’t willing, as it turns out, to join the fun in Iraq. I can only assume American diner menus weren’t angrily changed to include “freedom bacon,” because nobody here eats the stuff anyway.
And then there’s the wild drug situation: Canadian doctors are authorized to dispense medical marijuana. Parliament is considering legislation that would not exactly legalize marijuana possession, as you may have heard, but would reduce the penalty for possession of under 15 grams to a fine, like a speeding ticket. This is to allow law enforcement to concentrate resources on traffickers; if your garden is full of wasps, it’s smarter to go for the nest rather than trying to swat every individual bug. Or, in the United States, bong.
Now, here’s the part that I, as an American, can’t understand. These poor benighted pinkos are doing everything wrong. They have a drug problem: Marijuana offenses have doubled since 1991. And Canada has strict gun control laws, which means that the criminals must all be heavily armed, the law-abiding civilians helpless and the government on the verge of a massive confiscation campaign. (The laws have been in place since the ’70s, but I’m sure the government will get around to the confiscation eventually.) They don’t even have a death penalty!
And yet … nationally, overall crime in Canada has been declining since 1991. Violent crimes fell 13 percent in 2002. Of course, there are still crimes committed with guns – brought in from the United States, which has become the major illegal weapons supplier for all of North America – but my theory is that the surge in pot-smoking has rendered most criminals too relaxed to commit violent crimes. They’re probably more focused on shoplifting boxes of Ho-Hos from convenience stores.
And then there’s the most reckless move of all: Just last month, Canada decided to allow and recognize same-sex marriages. Merciful moose, what can they be thinking? Will there be married Mounties (they always get their man!)? Dudley Do-Right was sweet on Nell, not Mel! We must be the only ones who really care about families. Not enough to make sure they all have health insurance, of course, but more than those libertines up north.
This sort of behavior is a clear and present danger to all our stereotypes about Canada. It’s supposed to be a cold, wholesome country of polite, beer-drinking hockey players, not founded by freedom-fighters in a bloody revolution but quietly assembled by loyalists and royalists more interested in order and good government than liberty and independence. But if we are the rugged individualists, why do we spend so much of our time trying to get everyone to march in lockstep? And if Canadians are so reserved and moderate, why are they so progressive about letting people do what they want to?
Canadians are, as a nation, less religious than we are, according to polls. As a result, Canada’s government isn’t influenced by large, well-organized religious groups and thus has more in common with those of Scandinavia than those of the United States, or, say, Iran.
Canada signed the Kyoto global warming treaty, lets 19-year-olds drink, has more of its population living in urban areas and accepts more immigrants per capita than the United States. These are all things we’ve been told will wreck our society. But I guess Canadians are different, because theirs seems oddly sound.
Like teenagers, we fiercely idolize individual freedom but really demand that everyone be the same. But the Canadians seem more adult – more secure. They aren’t afraid of foreigners. They aren’t afraid of homosexuality. Most of all, they’re not afraid of each other.
