I Got Helen Thomas to Hang Up on Me

Recently I read this piece “We love and hate 'em” By STEPHEN LAUTENS -- Calgary Sun http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/lautens.html

I decided to write Stephen regarding some Factual errors and Ideological differences.

Here is our correspondence:

Dear STEPHEN LAUTENS

I had a few comments on your Calgary Sun piece "We love and hate 'em"

“We love to point out that Americans get to keep far more of their hard-earned cash than we do as Canadians. Those who complain the loudest here hate to be reminded that a lot of this extra cash gets spent right back out in things like home security, private school, gated communities and health care.“

Yeah, it's called getting to keep your hard-earned money and spending it as you see fit, rather than having the Government waste 25% to 50% of it. Would you have us work hard but rely on the government to take care of our needs? Not unlike the U.S.S.R.?

“We love their devotion to free enterprise and rewarding individuals. We hate
that there are still American states that have no minimum wage and poverty is
still largely looked on as a divine judgment of a person's worth.”

There is a federal minimum wage plus other benefits for low-income wage earners. The cycle of Government redistribution never has worked to bring those less fortunate up. It eliminates the rewards for hard work and creates an apathetic and stale society with no drive or desires towards betterment. This is absolutely clear not only in the socialist nations of past and present but also in the cycle of downtrodden lives associated with the welfare program in the U.S. Those in the program stay in the program for generations, if you always give the fish, you will destroy the desire to fish for ones self.

”We love American generosity. They would literally give you the shirt off their
backs. We hate that they sometimes don't understand that not everyone wants
the same things they want.”

Nobody's forcing you or anyone else to take anything. And yet you all keep on
taking while begging for more. Why not instead emulate that which has brought
us to the position of providing for the world?

”Are they really so naive to believe that they can forcibly plant the seeds of
democracy and have them flourish in the harsh soil of Iraq?”

Ask Germany, Italy & Japan.
Force is only applied to the dictators and madman that in-slave the peoples of the world - all men long to be free. And are Canadians so feckless that they are not willing to even try or so doltish that they would begrudge others the attempt?

"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to
humanity." -George W. Bush

”But come to think of it, the last country that invaded Canada was the U.S.”

I assume the author is referring to actions during the War of 1823, but since
Canada became a nation in 1867, this is not true. I think they were last invaded by a splinter group of Irish rebels called something like the Fenian Brigades, sometime around 1900.

I remember it only vaguely, but I think some New York cops and a Coast Guard
ship saved them.

”One last thing we hate - that sometimes they don't understand that you can love and respect a neighbour and friend without necessarily always seeing eye to eye.”

But you must question that respect when you friend refuses to fight for Liberty, Justice and Security.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

(Paris Sorbonne, 1910)

Keath Huff

His Response:

Hi Keath,

Thanks for writing.

I'm glad to hear there is no government waste in the United States.

I believe the Federal minimum wage law only covers Federal and related
employees. I believe there are still at least five "right to work" states -
a nice way of saying employers can pay however little they can get away
with.

US census data says that one third of Americans are without health care
coverage. I've been in an American hospital - great place to be sick if
you're rich, or your HMO doesn't cut you off for being too sick. US
Statistics also show that the number one cause of personal bankruptcies in
the US is medical bills.

Historically, the only countries where democracy was successfully forcibly
transplanted (Germany, Italy & Japan), the US had to completely destroy the
countries first. The speedbump in the unsuccessful transplantation of German
democracy in 1919 was Hitler, the Holocaust and WWII. Some speedbump. I'd be
hard pressed to describe what Afghanistan has as a democracy - they have a
parliament of sorts protected by an occupying international force, but the
people are still ruled by tribal warlords in every meaningful sense, as they
have been for the past 2000 years - their own version of the Kennedys and
the Bushs.

Usually the US installs a local strongman or puppet (come on down... the
Shah of Iran, among others) before things fall back apart again - often
worse than before. Can anyone say fundamentalist theocracy Iran? The Shah
himself was no picnic, nor was his CIA trained secret police.

Otherwise the US is quite happy to turn a blind eye to "allied" brutal
dictatorships, like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia - and don't forget Kuwait.
There are also dozens of much worse countries in the world where torture,
famine and genocide occur on a daily basis (hello, Congo, Rwanda, Somalia,
Ivory Coast and most of Africa), so if this is about freedom & liberty,
there are much worse cupboards in the world that need cleaning out.

As for Canada, what is now the provinces of Ontario and Quebec were referred
to as Canada during the War of 1812, when the US invaded Canada to "spread
freedom and democracy" north of the 49th parallel. American troops burned my
home town (Toronto - then called York). In retaliation, Canadian, British
and some native troops occupied Washington and burned down the White House.
Check out why it is painted white (hint, it has to do with smoke damage we
caused). The Fenian Raids were in the 1880s, and were supported by some
local American politicians, and not supported by the Federal Government.
Regardless, I'm surprised you remember it - you don't sound that old.

I'm an admirer of Teddy, but he is definitely a 19th century kind of guy. A
true American Munroe Doctrinist, going anywhere and blowing up anything to
protect US interests. He even landed US troops in Morocco. That was the way
we did things back then. I guess we haven't come that far.

The war in Iraq is not a fight for liberty or freedom, or even about weapons
of mass destruction that no one can find. I'm afraid it's about a president
who uses such noble and high minded ideals for the worst purpose - to
deflect criticism about what an otherwise rotten job he is doing running
what should be one of the best countries in the world.

To butcher the great poet Robbie Burns:

"Oh that God the power would give us,
to see ourselves as others see us."

Thanks for writing.

Stephen

My Response:

Hello again

Thank you for the response, it was very telling. I am no writer of any talent so I apologize for the format.

If you really want your nice, intrusive welfare state to wipe your butt and tuck you in every night, rather than realize your full potential as a free individual, go right ahead and enjoy it. Just don't preach to us, our system is proven by history.

"I believe the Federal minimum wage law only covers Federal and related employees."

You believe wrong. The Federal minimum wage applies to all employees in the USA. States may at their discretion pass higher minimum wage laws.

"I believe there are still at least five "right to work" states-a nice way of saying employers can pay however little they can get away with."

Again, incorrect, a right to work law simply means union membership is voluntary, and that an employee cannot be required to belong to a union to hold a job. It in no way obviates the minimum wage.

"US census data says that one third of Americans are without health care
coverage."

I am one (Married with three kids) without health care coverage, so is Rush Limbaugh. Both our families are quite taken care of.

The raw numbers mean nothing.

Regarding Children, most are be covered by the State.

In my state a family with three kids making $41,000 dollars a year (that may not be the maximum either) can qualify for health coverage for the kids. Kids alone mind you, but still health coverage. A little less income and the state will pick up the adults. Do people fall through the cracks? Yep. But you can't redistribute wealth and still expect a vibrant, sustainable world power. History proves this.

"The speedbump in the unsuccessful transplantation of German democracy in 1919 was Hitler, the Holocaust and WWII."

Hitler was democratically elected. The fact he could be raised to power can be laid at the feet of the French, who brought Germany to ruin via Versailles. Still, Hitler is not a score against liberty or the removal of dictators, but one against a world unable to come together to remove a madman before he becomes too powerful. Remember the League of Nations anyone?

"Usually the US installs a local strongman or puppet"

Usually is incorrect, three occasions that did not work that I can think of. And the idea that we cannot do right because we did wrong is asinine. If this basic concept escapes you I do not see how I can enlighten you on the more complex matters of "good intentions gone wrong", "bad ideas" and "bad agenda push by people no longer here". More to the point - the Cold War brought mistakes and failures (though the facts may not support failures where you see them), but it also brought huge victory.

We installed no such person in Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Japan, the former Soviet Socialist Republic of Russia or any of the former Bloc nations.

"Otherwise the US is quite happy to turn a blind eye to "allied" brutal dictatorships..."

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have both been put on notice as has the entire Middle East and China is being dealt with in a ³special² manner (no shoe fits every foot). Africa is in the trouble it is in because the UN refuses to call murders what they are and continues to support madmen. We are and will continue to take a stand (seen the recent news concerning a certain someone¹s assets? A friend of the UN) and when our forces are freed up.....who knows. How many ³rescue² and other similar missions has the U.S. been on in the last 15 years? You see a blind eye? I see an eye not pandering to your agenda.

"....during the War of 1812, when the US invaded Canada to "spread
freedom and democracy" north of the 49th parallel"

Canada became a nation in 1867, so you were factually incorrect. The US never invaded Canada. They invaded British territory while at war with England.

"The Fenian Raids were in the 1880s..."

Not a US action, support by individuals in the US or not. I would however look into how the invasion was thwarted.

"The war in Iraq is not a fight for liberty or freedom, or even about weapons
of mass destruction that no one can find. I'm afraid it's about a president
who uses such noble and high minded ideals for the worst purpose"

Liberty and Freedom are apart of the larger goal. Nobody is claiming that the reasoning for action is solely for liberation or the known location of a nuclear bomb. The idea that we are going to Iraq for one reason alone is either intellectually dishonest or naive. There is a combination of factors that have lead the U.S. to believe that Iraq is the place to start. A short list would include: strategic planning for future moves, concern over current WMD, the effect liberation will have on other nations in the region and ties with terrorist organizations such as HAMAS and Al Qaeda. Hussein¹s support of the Homicide bombers in Israel alone makes Iraq a threat to the region. Even Arafat has condemned the bombers, yet Iraq supports them financially and morally.

The larger goal of Liberty, Justice and Security for all is the motivating factor; Iraq is just the next stage in acquiring the real peace that completing said goal will provide.

”No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence.” - Woodrow Wilson

”War kills men, and men deplore the loss; but war also crushes bad principles and tyrants, and so saves societies.” - Colton

"There are also dozens of much worse countries in the world where torture, famine and genocide occur on a daily basis..."

Do you take the position that because trouble exists in the world outside Iraq, Iraq should be ignored? If Somalia becomes a larger threat because it has within its possession biological weapons, one can be certain Iraq will have had something to do with it! Further to accept your point one must believe that the U.S. has stopped all other actions in all other "hot spots" at this moment, which is complete bunk. There are reasons for the current action plan that anyone can see if they choose to lift the veil of bias. The plan may not be the best, but it is not naive nor is it built upon pure selfish gain.

”what should be one of the best countries in the world.”

Correction Stephen, no “should” about it. We simply are the best country in the world. Could we be better, yes, yet that takes nothing away from what we are.

Again I quote ROOSEVELT "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better."

You sir, are the critic.

We never said we do not stumble or that the deeds could not have been done better. We are however the ones doing the most and the ones with the most to lose. We are the liberators, a title earned by fact. We are the ones arrogant enough to want Liberty, Justice and Security for all and strong enough to make it so.

You and the world owe the U.S. respect for its actions and sacrifice. Anyone who would hate us is ignorant of fact or hates all that is good.

Best Regards,

Keath Huff

His Response:

Glad you like your country and its policies so much. I think mine is the best in the world too, and hearing from our southern neighbours only makes me prouder to be Canadian.

We see the world so differently, I doubt there's much to be gained for carrying on. Let's see how much better the world is a year from now. I'm not holding my breath.

Stephen

My response:

I know we do not agree on the ideology of these matters but facts remain facts and history proves like nothing else.

I hope you will do the right thing with the facts on your errors.

Best Regards,

Keath Huff

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