How can it be that after all these years of making fun of Canada for all of the right reasons (its anti-Americanism, its social democratic welfare state, its ludicrous Steyn-hunting “human rights” commissions, its export of Michael J. Fox and William Shatner, etc.), it can now be held up as a superior model to Obama’s America? Everyone knows the joke about the world’s most boring headline competition being won by “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative,” or Charles Krauthammer’s famous dismissal of peacekeeping missions by U.S. armed forces back in the 1990s under Clinton (who viewed our military as an adjunct social work brigade)—“Peacekeeping isn’t a job for America; it is a job for Canada.” Yes, entirely unfair in the post-9/11 decade, as Canadians, though few in number, have actually fought alongside us overseas, instead of having a tiny non-combat “presence” in theater.
Today Canada has a superior tax regime to that of the United States, and a much sounder fiscal situation. They are actually developing their energy resources, which they are happy to sell to us rather than the Chinese, just as soon as we approve the Keystone pipeline. And lately Canada has upset Saudi Arabia with an ad campaign about “ethical oil,” pointing out the unsavory nature of Middle Eastern regimes that oppress women. Seems the Saudis are not too happy about this, and are threatening lawsuits. Thought experiment: imagine how CAIR and Keith Ellison would react if such ads aired in the U.S.
And then there’s this (hat tip: Glenn E):
Way back in 2002, Jonah Goldberg wrote “Bomb Canada” in National Review (apparently unavailable online). [WRONG! There is a version available online, courtesy of the Freepers. Hat tip to Ed Driscoll!] Now it looks like we may want to have it as our backup country if Obama gets any further down the field. I used to joke that Alberta—the Texas of Canada—ought to secede from Canada and join the United States. Maybe we’ve got it backwards.
UPDATE: A couple of people object to my dissing Shatner and Fox, but say Celine Dion is okay to tee off on. Puts me in a frame of mind to direct people to Al Yankovic’s very effective “Canadian Idiot” parody:
UPDATE 2: Here’s the ad that has “our friends the Saudis” so upset.
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