sIx, my point is that you need to quit blaming everything on "America". The Canadians are being swept away because they choose to be swept away. Same with the Brits. They complain about the overly commercial, the MacDonald's effect and all that. But none of that would happen if the British people didn't want it to happen. In the thread that spawned this one, you said "The problem with Canada is that Bush has taken over our own back yard ... now that he has P.M. Harper setup as his northern toadie". I pointed out there, as here, that the PM of Canada is the result of your political system, and the votes of your people. Canadians, whom I have great respect for, are quick to point out that they are not just a US clone. In fact they react indignantly (righteously so, IMO) when anyone suggests such a thing. So to suggest that somehow this PM was put in place by GWB seems to fly in the face of those arguments. Can't have it both ways, my friend.

I am on record over at least the last three years in this forum as saying that I believe GWB is the most dangerous President we have ever had. I believe that more now than when I first said it. We will be years recovering from the damage he has done to our diplomatic relations. We will be in danger from the terrorists he has spawned with his foolish war predicated on false pretenses. Our civil liberties, the very thing that made much of the world want to emulate us and duplicate in their own societies, have been decimated. His recent actions with regard to the Geneva Conventions will open the door to extremist nations interpreting those same conventions according to their own standards, as opposed to internationally accepted standards, putting our young warriors at even greater risk. As citizens of the US of A, we need to fight to change our leadership now and in two years so we can get on with the business of restoring and repairing our reputation in the community of nations.

I suggest to my northern friends, and my European cousins, that you quit obsessing and blaming what is wrong in your countries on us. Get on with the business of electing officials that will not support the likes of GWB and the right wing supporters of his policies. The American electorate will listen to the criticism from those that have historically been our allies. But not if it is couched in language that continually lays all the woes of the world on "Americanization". It simply isn't true, and ignores all that has been great and good about this country.

All the best,

Mick