FW: A tribute to the United States

[Guest guest]

> This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing.

> 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 5000 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!

>