Democracy fells yet another anti-American government.

[Lyion]

An Act of Hygiene
Democracy fells yet another anti-American government.

BY MARK STEYN
Sunday, January 29, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

QUEBEC--Remember the conventional wisdom of 2004? Back then, you'll recall, it was the many members of George Bush's "unilateral" coalition who were supposed to be in trouble, not least the three doughty warriors of the Anglosphere--the president, Tony Blair and John Howard--who would all be paying a terrible electoral price for lying their way into war in Iraq. The Democrats' position was that Mr. Bush's rinky-dink nickel-and-dime allies didn't count: The president has "alienated almost everyone," said Jimmy Carter, "and now we have just a handful of little tiny countries supposedly helping us in Iraq." (That would be Britain, Australia, Poland, Japan . . .) Instead of those nobodies, John Kerry pledged that, under his leadership, "America will rejoin the community of nations"--by which he meant Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder, the Belgian guy . . .

Two years on, Messrs. Bush, Blair, Howard and Koizumi are all re-elected, while Mr. Chirac is the lamest of lame ducks, and his ingrate citizenry has tossed out his big legacy, the European Constitution; Mr. Schroeder's government was defeated and he's now shilling for Russia's state-owned Gazprom ("It's all about Gaz!"); and the latest member of the coalition of the unwilling to hit the skids is Canada's Liberal Party, which fell from office on Monday. John Kerry may have wanted to "rejoin the community of nations." Instead, "the community of nations" has joined John Kerry, windsurfing off Nantucket in electric-yellow buttock-hugging Lycra, or whatever he's doing these days.

It would be a stretch to argue that Mr. Chirac, Mr. Schroeder and now Paul Martin in Ottawa ran into trouble because of their anti-Americanism. Au contraire, cheap demonization of the Great Satan is almost as popular in the streets of Toronto as in the streets of Islamabad. But these days anti-Americanism is the first refuge of the scoundrel, and it's usually a reliable indicator that you're not up to the challenges of the modern world or of your own country. In the final two weeks of the Canadian election, Mr. Martin's Liberals unleashed a barrage of anti-Conservative attack ads whose ferocity was matched only by their stupidity: They warned that Stephen Harper, the Conservatives' leader, would be "George Bush's new best friend"! They dug up damaging quotes from a shocking 1997 speech in which he'd praised America as "a light and inspiration"! Another week and they'd have had pictures from that summer in the late '80s he spent as Dick Cheney's pool boy.

Mr. Harper, the incoming prime minister, will not be "George Bush's new best friend"--that's a more competitive field than John Kerry and Jimmy Carter think. But at the very least a Harper government won't rely on reflexive anti-Americanism as the defining element of Canadian identity. No cheery right-wingers south of the border should exaggerate what happened on Monday. It was an act of political hygiene: The Liberal Party was mired in a swamp of scandals, the most surreal of which was a racket to shore up the antiseparatist cause in Quebec by handing out millions of free Canadian flags, a project which so overburdened the domestic flag industry the project had to be outsourced to overseas companies, who at a cost of $45 each sent back a gazillion flags that can't fly. That's to say, they had no eyelets, no sleeve, no halyard line for your rope and toggle and whatnot. You have to lean a ladder up against the pole and nail it into position, which on a January morning at Lac St-Jean hardly seems likely to endear nationalist Quebecers to the virtues of the Canadian state. Millions of dollars were transferred to "advertising agencies" and "consultancies" run by the party's pals and in return they came up with a quintessentially Liberal wheeze: Even if you wanted to salute it, you can't run it up the flagpole. As a forlorn emblem of Trudeaupian nationalism, that's hard to beat.

And yet and yet . . . in throwing the bums out, Canadian voters declined to subject them to full-scale humiliation. Even with viable alternatives for all tastes--conservative, socialist and Quebec separatist--it seems one can never underestimate the appeal of a party of floundering discredited kleptocrat incompetents led by a vindictive empty suit who fought one of the most inept campaigns in modern political history. They clung on to over 100 seats and the votes of Canada's three biggest cities. Truly, the Liberals are one of the most amazingly resilient parties this side of Kim Jong-Il's.

Stephen Harper has to live with that political reality, but, as he's done with his party, he'll move the country incrementally. On the environment, his views are compatible with Mr. Bush, John Howard and now Tony Blair: That's to say, if "climate change" is a problem, Kyoto's not the answer to it. On missile defense, the Conservatives will string along with Washington because it's the easy option and we'll be covered by it anyway: Even Canadians aren't prepared to argue that if there's something headed toward Winnipeg or Montreal, we'd rather the Americans minded their own bloody business and didn't tell us about it. But it's a good gauge of the deterioration in U.S.-Canadian relations that a quintessential piece of postmodern, humbug multilateralism--an issue that required Canada to be minimally supportive without being helpful, at no political cost and in return for some lucrative contracts for northern defense contractors--was whooped up by the Liberals into a big scare about Washington's plans for the "weaponization of space." On missile defense, Mr. Harper will be more down to earth in every sense.

But will there be Canadian troops in Iraq or wherever's next? No, not in any meaningful sense. The sad fact is, even if we'd wanted to liberate Baghdad, we have an emaciated military worn to the bone. But it goes beyond the lack of equipment and lack of transport that now afflict what was, 60 years ago, the world's fourth largest military. In April 2002, the Pentagon wished to confer the Bronze Star on five snipers from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Afghanistan for their service in . . . killing the enemy. Ottawa put the request on hold, relenting grudgingly only after the matter was made public. It seems the Canadian government's main objection was a reluctance to let it be known that our military still, er, shoots people, and extremely accurately. The backs of our five-dollar bills celebrate the armed forces, but they're all unarmed--peacekeepers, elderly veterans, etc.

Like much of the European Union, we're so heavily invested in the idea that we've found a kinder, gentler way we can scarcely bear to contemplate the reality. At the Washington state/British Columbia border last week, two guys on the lam were hightailing it through Blaine heading for the 49th parallel with the cops in hot pursuit. Alerted to what was coming their way, Canada's (unarmed) border guards walked off the job. For a country whose national anthem lyrics are mostly endless reprises of the line "we stand on guard for thee," we could at least stand on guard. A few years back, I was chatting with a border guard at the Derby Line, Vt./Rock Island, Quebec, crossing. A beat-up sedan came hurtling northward and we jumped out of the way. She sounded a klaxon. By then the driver was halfway up the Trans-Quebecoise autoroute and, if he ever heard her stern warning, he declined to brake and reverse back to the post to show his papers. "Oh, well," she said to me, "it's probably nothing."

Canadians have been reluctant in the last four years to accept that we no longer live in an "it's probably nothing" world. Many Continentals feel the same way. Unlike his hollow predecessor, Stephen Harper is a thoughtful man who understands the gulf between self-mythologizing and the harder realities. You can't change a free country unless you persuade free people to change their minds, and he will at least start that tough job. He doesn't have to be George Bush's best friend, and he may even be more effective at opposing him on trade and agriculture disputes. But he could try being Tony Blair's and John Howard's best friend and reconnecting us with other traditional pals from whom Canada's become increasingly estranged. He could honor our small but brave contribution to Afghanistan by flying out and meeting them on the ground.

But even if he does nothing else, he'll bring to an end a decade of self-defeating sneering. The ayatollahs at least flatter America as a seducer--the Great Satan--which is a more accurate and sophisticated construct than deriding her as the Great Moron. The difference between sniping at the Taliban and sniping at Washington is that in the latter case we're firing blanks.

[Tikker]

...it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

[brinstar]

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[Eziekial]

Whoa Alex, I've noticed a lot more venom in your posts lately.

[Lyion]

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*sigh* You're a thoughtful guy. It's a shame you revert to hate and immature nastiness. After all that derision towards Mindia, you are very much like him.

Try and actually read the article. Mark Steyn is a very good writer, and his stuff is very concise and well thought out.

I like this paragraph:

cheap demonization of the Great Satan is almost as popular in the streets of Toronto as in the streets of Islamabad. But these days anti-Americanism is the first refuge of the scoundrel, and it's usually a reliable indicator that you're not up to the challenges of the modern world or of your own country.

[baddwin]

Lyion this article is very pro american what ever its well writed. The liberal party might be corrupt and need to be remove, but Harper still need to show what he can do. Previously, when the party of Harper was at the head of the gouverment, they have done some scandal to, i agree the Harper was at the head of the party but the point is, most party have bad element.

Paul Martin have done one think that i was proud of, its to say the Kyoto is needed and is only a small step to try to improve the health of the hearth. This planet is close to so much disaster's, that we will need to change our way soon or loose all we have for our children's.

As long as money will rule, the destruction of Hearth will continue over comment sense.

[Zanchief]

You can tell it was written by someone who doesn't know much about Canadian politics. He's basically going on assumptions and common knowledge. It's no where near accurate, and shouldn't be taken seriously.

[Ouchyfish]

You can tell it was written by someone who doesn't know much about Canadian politics. He's basically going on assumptions and common knowledge. It's no where near accurate, and shouldn't be taken seriously.

Pretty much the same as your opinion on our government. We have been utilizing that strategy on your opinions for years.

[Zanchief]

You can tell it was written by someone who doesn't know much about Canadian politics. He's basically going on assumptions and common knowledge. It's no where near accurate, and shouldn't be taken seriously.

Pretty much the same as your opinion on our government. We have been utilizing that strategy on your opinions for years.

Good to know. I'm from a different country, what's your excuse?

[Ouchyfish]

Did ya consult with Pee-Wee Herman for that retort?

[Lyion]

You can tell it was written by someone who doesn't know much about Canadian politics. He's basically going on assumptions and common knowledge. It's no where near accurate, and shouldn't be taken seriously.

Maybe, but being he's a Canadian journalist who covers politics, I'd say its fair to equate him to any countries writers who likewise cover them.

Baddwin, I agree that the conservatives have a lot to prove, especially after their disaster of being tossed out in the early 90s. I like Steyn as he pretty much calls it as he sees it.

In regards to Kyoto, we need real reform, not pie in the sky environmentalism that is hypocritical. Take a loot at how many countries that signed the Kyoto are actually following it. Almost none.

[Kramer]

millions of free Canadian flags, a project which so overburdened the domestic flag industry the project had to be outsourced to overseas companies, who at a cost of $45 each sent back a gazillion flags that can't fly. That's to say, they had no eyelets, no sleeve, no halyard line for your rope and toggle and whatnot. You have to lean a ladder up against the pole and nail it into position, which on a January morning at Lac St-Jean hardly seems likely to endear nationalist Quebecers to the virtues of the Canadian state. Millions of dollars were transferred to "advertising agencies" and "consultancies" run by the party's pals and in return they came up with a quintessentially Liberal wheeze: Even if you wanted to salute it, you can't run it up the flagpole. As a forlorn emblem of Trudeaupian nationalism, that's hard to beat.

still reading it but this was pretty hysterical....

i enjoy the writing style of the author

[Zanchief]

Did ya consult with Pee-Wee Herman for that retort?

Yes

[Zanchief]

I like Steyn as he pretty much calls it as he sees it.

I wonder if you'd feel the same way if he was a liberal wackjob who called it like he sees it.

[Lyion]

I wonder if you'd feel the same way if he was a liberal wackjob who called it like he sees it.

I watch Jack Cafferty most days.

[brinstar]

hmm, my apologies for being so rude in CA, it was uncalled for and counterproductive

(there, how's that for unmindianess ccc~)

lyion, as far as the article goes, i read it. it was indeed well-written. i just happen to disagree with most of it. partisanship is half of The Problem that this country faces, imho, and i just get irritated when i see those who seem hellbent on driving the wedge deeper by hollering their side's tenets from the mountaintops, as if volume and repetition alone will win over their opponents' constituency.

[Donnel]

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I see the problem here

[Captain Insano]

hmm, my apologies for being so rude in CA, it was uncalled for and counterproductive

(there, how's that for unmindianess ccc~)

lyion, as far as the article goes, i read it. it was indeed well-written. i just happen to disagree with most of it. partisanship is half of The Problem that this country faces, imho, and i just get irritated when i see those who seem hellbent on driving the wedge deeper by hollering their side's tenets from the mountaintops, as if volume and repetition alone will win over their opponents' constituency.

I liked the article and I agree with this post. Too much time is spent watching both sides of the fence posture in front of the media about issues that really mean jack and shit to the quality of life of the American people.

Like debating drugs in baseball and grand theft auto when our schools are a disaster.

We should start issuing report cards on every senator/congressman and the president that outline their accomplishments and failures in simple english then publish them for the masses to read and maybe include contact info on all of our *hardworking* politicians. Maybe people would get involved and force these idiots to change things.


Better idea... Crown me emperor and I will make sure shit gets unfucked ASAP. If i am voted to office I will slap no less than 3 congressmen/women on the floor of the house daily for being stupid and useless!

[Ouchyfish]

Our government is for shit.

There is no fixing it. Anyone you put in the offices (mainly Exec and Leg) is going to corrupt it. Shit, I probably would too if it got me the serious cash and power.

We're just basically fucked. have a fun 100 or so years and leave.