America: The Good Neighbor

[mudbug]

The source for this is unknown and there are numerous copies of this on the internet so I'm not sure if it was really from a newspaper or not and the author is dead. For what it's worth, it's an interesting piece. (The images did not come with the article.)

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.

[ September 14, 2001: Message edited by: cchiu ]

[Jill Reichow]

cchiu, here is the reply my comp sci son sent me from VT when I sent that message to him. No matter what, the message is still the same.

Here's the real story on that quote:

On June 5 1973, Canadian radio commentator Gordon Sinclair decided he'd had
enough of the stream of criticism and negative press recently directed at
the United States of America by foreign journalists (primarily over
America's long military involvement in Vietnam, which had ended with the
signing of the Paris Peace Accords six months earlier). When he arrived at
radio station CFRB in Toronto that morning, he spent twenty minutes dashing
off a two-page editorial defending the USA against its carping critics which
he then delivered in a defiant, indignant tone during his "Let's Be
Personal" spot at 11:45 AM that day.
The unusualness of any foreign correspondent -- even one from a country with
such close ties to the USA as Canada -- delivering such a caustic commentary
about those who would dare to criticize the USA is best demonstrated by the
fact that even thirty years later, many Americans doubt that this piece
(which has been circulating on the Internet in the slightly-altered form
quoted above as something "recently" printed in a Toronto newspaper) is
real. It is real, and it received a great deal of attention in its day.
After Sinclair's editorial was rebroadcast by a few American radio stations,
it spread like wildfire all over the country. It was played again and again
(often superimposed over a piece of inspirational music such as "Battle Hymn
of the Republic" or "Bridge Over Troubled Waters"), read into the Congress
Record multiple times, and finally released on a record (titled "The
Americans"), with all royalties donated to the American Red Cross. (A
Detroit radio broadcaster named Byron MacGregor recorded and released an
unauthorized version of the piece that hit the record stores before
Sinclair's official version; an infringement suit was avoided when MacGregor
agreed to donate his profits to the Red Cross as well).

Sinclair passed away in 1984, but he will long be remembered on both sides
of the U.S.-Canadian border -- both for his contributions to journalism, and
for his loudly proclaiming what no one else at the time would stand up and
say.

eh, why post this patriotic nonsense once again? it has no true or gain nothing more than build up a wall to the rest of the world. what happened is not only americas problem but the also the rest of the world who believes in an open society. i mean it's ridiculous to talk about the solitary and glory america a day when the whole euorope had a 3 minute silent minute to honour the victims and offer all the help they can to find a good solution to this, even mr arafat offered his blood to the victims and only one state of the arabic nation didn't condemend the terrorists action (irak). the worst scenario is a "black and white" america who thinks there are just countries who are either for us or amongst us and start a really disaster from that. there is no equality between countries and terrorism. i hear reports that US will start some kind of repressalia to sudan, irak and pakistan. if so they act in the same matter as the terrorists, it's just "A" or "B", treat all the people in the same manner, as the terrorists did. i've travelled those countries and other mideast countries and can just say they are just like you and me, what they want want is just peace and calm and hopefully a meaningful life. then there are extremists as in the rest of the worlds countries (america more and well included). i'm disappointing about many posts from the chefs around here; a lack of intellectual understanding of the situation.

[m brown]

from my edited post from canada:

thank you mr. sinclair for your article many years ago that seems to have helped some of
the surviors of tuesdays attacks.

please see article posted:
http://www.cheftalkcafe.com/cgi-loca...c&f=9&t=000450

new york was reduced to a hellish hole filled with the souls of the innocent.
I have spoken with an air traffic controller, stock brokers,
firefighters, families of the missing.

i fear we have all lost friends
and family in the most profound way. i cannot imagine what will happen next.
no one, no country, no tribe, no human should have to go through this again.
no one should support policies that cause such things. there are better ways to share the
planet.

nyc has orderd 11,000 body bags, i understand more or less may be needed.
my wish is to require non at all and start tuesday morning all over again.
i have edited this post.

[ September 14, 2001: Message edited by: m brown ]

[Greg]

Babas, yes this does affect the whole world. But, it happened to America. The reaction here, then, is somewhat more emotionally charged, as you might imagine. My hope for the future is that no one has ever to feel this way again. I wouldn't expect any kind of intellectual understanding anytime soon. Or ever, now that I think of it; terrorism defies reason and logic.

BTW, regardless of the tone of that piece of writing, most (if not all) people in my country feel and appreciate the support of the global community.

[KyleW]

I find it interesting that the 2 complaints I have seen, at Cheftalk, about American patriotism have come from England and Sweden. The United States is under attack by Osama Bin Laden. Osama Bin Laden is a madman. This link will take you to excerpts from interviews given by and fatwahs issued by Bin Laden. Please read them carefully. In my reading I did not see any mention of a declaration of war against nor a call for the killing of innocent citizens of either England or Sweden.

[ September 15, 2001: Message edited by: KyleW ]

[cape chef]

Wow Babas,
Have you ever missed the point!!!

[Jim]

Hey Babas,

Let us remember one thing...

When there is a problem ANYWHERE in the world, the US is there! When there is a natural disaster, the US is there. When there is some call for help, the US is there. We do not build walls, pal, we help knock them down.

Stick to your Swedish nuetrality with everything, don't get involved and turn your head while WE do what needs to be done.

Anybody that knows me or read my posts knows that I do not come unglued, but we are talking about people's lives. I don't think there is anything about "a lack of intellectual understanding of the situation. " What's to understand? People died. Alot of people died.

United WE stand!

[Pastachef]

CC, Jim, Greg, beautiful posts, and so true. God has surely blessed America. Your love and patriotism is living proof.