Posted on 03/18/2009 4:03:20 PM PDT by Checkers
Greg Gutfeld takes the challenge: Can Fox produce a show that anticipates a SNL parody of Fox? The panel discusses the question: should the US invade Canada… and produces something almost as hilarious as the old Half Hour News Hour.
UPDATE:
The clip in question is a sequence of goofs about the feebleness, uselessness and absurdity of the Canadian Armed Forces. Why would I call that dumb? Here's why, courtesy of CanWest News. Sorry I disrespected your show, RedEye fans - but you disrespected the dead. --David Frum
(Excerpt) Read more at newmajority.com ...
They are not “shutting down” they military-—it is an “operational break” after 2011—obviously they entire army is not going on leave to some tropical paradise at the same time. Leslie was just trying to warn the government that our army should not immediately be sent to another far off war torn country (Darfur, for example)upon exiting Afghanistan.
I am also fully aware of what past governments did to our military, and the Canadian public’s indifference to such—and believe me, it has taken me years to begin to forgive my fellow Canadians for that. My better half has been in for 23 years—was in the artillery airborne—if you were around during that time, you may remember them—they no longer exist—my better half is, though, still in the military, and did a combat tour of Afghanistan last year, and will soon be preparing for another. We have many friends who have been to, or are currently in, or going to, Afghanistan.
It is bad enough the way my fellow Canadians treated my husband and our friends, and countless other service members throughout the years without getting absolutely ridiculed and disrespected by those whose aid we came to in the first place.
I have spent the last seven years defending, to fellow Canadians, our participation in this war, and our need to live up to our NATO and international commitments, even though it has meant much pain and heartache for me personally—and the video in question makes me wonder why I bothered.
> So you don’t even know what the thread is about, what a waste of time.
Steady on, pal: I do not need watch TV in order to take exception to you bad-mouthing my country in a public forum. You don’t get to wiggle out of it that easily.
(BIG GRIN!) Thanks!
I’m a little shocked to find out so many people didn’t even bother to watch the show in question, it seems wiggly to me.
It sounds like you guys are still beating this in the ground over here.
If you read my posts regarding France and Canada I defend the soldiers and mock the countries.
I defend the soldiers so much that I became a member of the Canadian Airborne Forces Association as an ally paratrooper, to show solidarity when your nation was disbanding the Airborne Regiment, your husband should appreciate that.
I defend the French soldier so much that twice I lived with and trained with their Special Forces.
With my French and Canadian GIs we have all mocked their weak, liberal nations and the disdain that their countries show their few ballsy men that serve in the military, it is kind of a conservative guy thing.
But why the Devil would I watch the show in question? As I said I almost never watch TV because my life is much more exciting. So I can either be thoroughly bored watching a TV show that I wouldn’t find funny, or I can go out and do a Patrol or maybe some Recruiting or something. Or even spend a while on FRee Republic.
For me that’s an easy choice: nearly anything trumps TV.
I don’t watch TV either, I would have to have to buy a service to do that, but I never thought of watching the 3 or 5 minute linked videos here as watching TV.
For instance this 25 second video of “shopping in Texas”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt7FDTpzGvo&feature=player_embedded
The video WAS insulting our military, and our Country, and it is the video that I was responding to.
It is just as insulting to put down the country for which the soldier stands. It is one thing for a soldier to belittle their own government, but entirely different for someone in another country to do so, for the soldier of said country understands the political/social situation in his/her own country better then someone from another country, and does not judge their entire country as one.
The reason the video is insulting:
The comments in the video are like a kick in the stomach to a country who has paid a high butcher’s bill -in Afghanistan, we have suffered the highest casualties per capita. (four more KIA today) Our population is 10 times smaller than yours. Roughly speaking, 100 of ours =1000 of yours,and we’ve lost 118.
Our soldiers are either in Afghanistan, getting ready to go, or just returned, or training others; most soldiers have 2 or more tours there, the operational pace is extremely high.
Our currently Prime Minister is the only one in my time, to increase the military budget. Our military is still recovering from years of gutting, and yes, it was my fellow Canadians that allowed it to happen—but the tide has turned. Canadians are now appreciating the sacrifices made by their military members and families; it is this that allows me to begin to forgive them for years of neglect.
We cannot turn back the clock, we are in the here and now, and in the here and now, the people in that video have put down our country and our soldiers, who are doing everything they can.They have put down citizens who stand on the highway of heroes to welcome home our fallen as they travel along that highway in hearses. We are, as is the United States, a country who is “at war” and suffering. We hear the fallen soldier’s families make statements telling Canada that their loved one died doing what they believed in, and that they, despite their loss, believe we need to be in Afghanistan. We have fallen soldier’s families pleading with the Prime Minister to carry on with our mission so that their loved one has not died in vain. We, overall, as a people are being quite steadfast.
That is the Canada that those in the video do not see.
Again, I have continually defended our participation in this war, but it is difficult to do so when being kicked in the stomach by the very country we are assisting in this endeavour—and being personally affected by it. We endured years of our fellow Canadians calling their own military “A joke”, even though it was Canadians themselves who allowed the gutting to occur—therefore, to hear someone from another country with little understanding for our sacrifice call our military “a joke” (I know it wasnt you), again, a kick in the gut, and a lack of understanding of the toll that this has taken.
Our current Prime Minister has extended our involvement in Afghanistan, twice. Our commitment was originally intended to end in 2007, the Prime Minister (who has a minority government by the way) fought in parlaiment to have it extended to 2009, then again to 2011.
I think the misunderstanding is this:
I think the commentators understood that we are leaving in 2011 to “take a break”. Not so.
All Leslie was saying is that after leaving in 2011,(as previously scheduled) we need a break, to rest and refit. He was, in fact, in my opinion, warning the government, and future governments not to cut the military budget (remember, we are in an economic downturn as well, as this is usually when governments begin slashing military budgets, also with a minority government, we could face an election at any time which, heaven forbid, may return the Liberals to power), and as I previously stated, not to expect to bring our guys home from Afghanistan and immediately ship them off to some other war torn country.
As an aside: my husband also has American jump wings as well. I don’t know if you still do this there, but they were “blood wings”.
Just wanted to show this:
Canadian casualties
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/afghanistan/casualties/list.html
God I hate that kind of civilian flag waving, do you really think that I would have joined the CAFA to show solidarity with the Canadian military without already knowing Canadian military history.
One thing I don’t need is every country that we make fun of to start waving the old military flags in a solemn manner.
I get it, Canada participates in some military operations, why do you think that we are mocking the idea that the country so little respects the only decent thing about themselves that they might pull them off line for a year.
Which is it, are you annoyed with the rest of us conservatives or do you want to go into the heart string stuff and gloss over the subject of the show?
We want more from Canada not less, we want Canada to become more like the good guys in the military that they have, what is it, about 23,000 army troops, maybe 64,000 in the entire active force?
For crying out loud! The “Red Eye” video was tongue in cheek satire of real world events. They were not making fun of Canada’s war dead! To the Canadian posters, do you show as much outrage at your own country’s media that never misses a beat to disparage the United States and its military? Have you not heard of Rick Mercer? You have entire TV shows dedicated to how stupid “Murricans” are for the delight of insecure Canadians everywhere. So please spare me the righteous indignation over a 10 min segment aired at 3:00am that never once mention the war dead.
Yes, and I doubt that they waste all this self righteous indignity on threads about France, in fact I think that there is even some French Canadian bashing up thread here.
I don’t like David Frum. Red Eye is a funny conservative show.
We didn't know that! We only saw a youtube of a Fox Commentator disparaging our troops.
They were not making fun of Canada’s war dead!
No? They said our troops needed to take a one year break to run around in Capri pants, after they had a manicure and pedicure.
Unfortunately for Greg, this story went mainstream while we were repatriating 4 soldiers, and tending to the wounds of another 8.
Americans sometimes joke about how we don't have a 'patriotic spirit', and yet when we show our patriotism, we are accused of being thin skinned.
To the Canadian posters, do you show as much outrage at your own country’s media that never misses a beat to disparage the United States and its military?
Absolutely. Our newspapers and television stations are struggling because we are not buying their BS anymore. I have written emails to media "personalities", and argued with a radio news reader on the phone one time.
I had to call, after yelling at my radio for the third time in a 2 minute news broadcast.
I attended the rally on Parliament Hill to support the war in Iraq. (Stephen Harper spoke, and my son and I were lucky enough to meet him.)
Have you not heard of Rick Mercer? You have entire TV shows dedicated to how stupid “Murricans” are for the delight of insecure Canadians everywhere.
Rick Mercer may be more like your Red Eye host than you know. He has visited the troops in Afghanistan twice that I know of.
I could also point out that Sean Hannity (You're a great American!) had a talking to Americans segment leading up to the 2004 election.
Greg Gutfeld apologized, and we accepted; no harm, no foul.
Canadian FReepers don't expect special treatment, but we don't expect our military to be trashed here either.
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