BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border

Subject: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 03:35 PM

I got this joke in the email from Nick Apollonio. I know most of you will enjoy it, so I've posted it below...



Canadians: "Build a Damn Fence!"

From The Manitoba Herald, Canada R20; Reported by Clive Runnels

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The recent actions of the Tea Party are prompting an exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and to agree with Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck.Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night. "I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota. The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left before I even got a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?"

In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. He then installed loudspeakers that blared Rush Limbaugh across the fields. "Not real effective," he said. "The liberals still got through and Rush annoyed the cows so much that they wouldn't give any milk."

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons and drive them across the border where they are simply left to fend for themselves." A lot of these people are not prepared for our rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a single bottle of imported drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley Cabernet, though."

When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about plans being made to build re-education camps where liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR races.

In recent days, liberals have turned to ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have been disguised as senior citizens taking a bus trip to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans in powdered wig disguises, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior citizens about Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney to prove that they were alive in the '50s. "If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we become very suspicious about their age." an official said.

Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and are renting all the Michael Moore movies. "I really feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can't support them." an Ottawa resident said. "How many art-history majors does one country need?"

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Bill D
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 03:53 PM

Not a 'joke', but a fairly old 'exaggerated stereotype' which appeals mainly to conservatives.

I'm sure Doug R. will love it.

(I saw essentially the same 'image' in cartoon strip form in "Bloom County" 10+ years ago.)

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 04:00 PM

Yeah, Bill, of course it's an exaggerated stereotype, one that was probably dreamed up by a liberal to make fun of the way some American archconservatives think. Okay then, blame Nick Apollonio for it. He sent it to me. He's an American folkie liberal musician from Maine, a luthier who is adored on this forum, and he thinks it's funny. You can't possibly imagine that it's a seriously meant description of American liberals...

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Charley Noble
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 04:00 PM

Here in Maine we know better than to flee to New Brunswick but Nova Scotia is still an attractive option.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: EBarnacle
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 04:04 PM

Now, Vancouver, maybe.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: akenaton
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 04:05 PM

Isn't it nice to see them get a little of their own medicine, gently administered of course.

Just wish Bill wouldn't put on such a petted lip

Remember how your all laughed at the lovely Sarah?

Ah! the good old days.   :0)

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 04:28 PM

Seems to me that it makes fun of both American liberals and conservatives, but mainly from a liberal's angle of wickedly satirical humour about the conservative viewpoint OF liberals. Bill must have read it with only one eye open or something, and he has totally missed the point.

It is affectionate joshing BY liberals about extreme stereotypes of liberals, joshing done from a liberal perspective. It pokes fun at the utterly skewed and silly view of "liberals" that prevails in conservative America. It also is affectionate joshing at we Canadians...a bit overwhelmed at the sudden flood of Amos-like latte drinkers and Art Majors from Boston into the sleepy environs of the Great White North....eh? ;-) Canada is liberal. Trust me. We're very liberal. We even like socialism here, and the only reason we're in Afghanistan is that our present prime minister is really an android made by the Rand Corporation and he does whatever the Pentagon tells him to.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: akenaton
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 05:01 PM

Oh!.....well us conservatives dont really care about that satire stuff :0)

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: akenaton
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 05:02 PM

and Canadians are too dumb! :0)

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 05:06 PM

I know I've seen this one already, and I'm [retty certain it was in a previous thread.

It seems pretty good natured - and I'd read it probably as being written from what in the USA would be termed a liberal standpoint. Self-mocking rather than satire - not unlike something Garrison Keiller might have written.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 05:06 PM

It's the combination of Canadian beer and Maple Syrup, eh? The Maple Syrup causes the beer to ferment and that causes the synapses to misfire, resulting in incoherency and eventual sleep during daylight hours...but it's okay, cos we just hand the country over to the beavers on the weekends and they mind the dams.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 05:12 PM

Love it, LH. Made my Rog chuckle, eh?

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: maeve
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 05:16 PM

I chuckled back in 2006 when I first saw it. It's just old, now.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: ragdall
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 06:51 PM

It's new to me and I laughed a lot.

Thanks for posting it LH.

rags

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 09:29 PM

2004. 2010.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 16 Nov 10 - 09:52 PM

Little Hawk: "...If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we become very suspicious about their age." an official said...."

Myron Floren..can I stay??...Johnny Kline was the drummer...will that entitle me to a tax break??

GfS

P.S. I actually knew those off the top of my head!

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 01:00 AM

I think we have a place in Canada for you, GfS. ;-) You will even get a stipend: One free bottle of Maple Syrup per month!

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 10:15 AM

>>Myron Floren..can I stay??...Johnny Kline was the drummer...will that entitle me to a tax break??

GfS

P.S. I actually knew those off the top of my head! <<<

And you call yourself sane!!

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Arkie
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 01:15 PM

This is the first time I saw the article and found it amusing. I intend to send it to others who share my disappointment in the outcomes of the recent elections and my shame that fellow countrymen view Sarah Palin as a political savior.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 02:24 PM

Stephen Harper (prime minister) has alerted the Mounties to track them down and ship them back.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 02:33 PM

Is not Sarah Palin, our Saviour, Joan d'Arc, reincarnated?

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Bill D
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 02:36 PM

*grin*...well, I still don't think it's funny ...even in the 3rd or 4th iteration.. Sorta clever, but too far off the mark to be really pointed. Liberals are NOT fleeing. Why not make jokes about the flip-flopping 'independents' who have all the patience of a teen-age boy in lovers lane? Those independents are the ones running in circles.
And jokes about 'our Sarah' varied in their funniness. Sarah led with her chin and begged for parody in some areas.

I can take real 'jokes', but this reminds me of Jay Leno still finding ANY lame excuse to toss off a bad line about Bill Clinton & Monica.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 07:55 PM

Bill, the joke is not even about any actual real situation involving a flight of American liberals to Canada. There is no such flight, aside from a very few individual cases of some Americans deciding for various reasons to move to Canada...which has always been happening.

The primary satirical aim of the joke is to make fun of American paranoia about Hispanics pouring across the border from Mexico and Latin America, by transplanting it into a farcical, completely fictional story of "liberals" pouring across the border into Canada. Is that not funny? Is that not worthwhile satire? I think it's hilarious.

The secondary satirical aim of the joke is to make fun of the gross stereotyping of:

1. "liberals"
2. "conservatives"
and
3. Canadians

....all of whom are depicted in various utterly stereotypical ways in the joke, ways which again, have little to do with reality, but have much to do with the kneejerk prejudices of various quite ignorant and reactive people regarding "liberals", "conservatives", and Canadians.

How can you not get that? Your reaction baffles me. Were you also one of those odd people who thought that the real purpose of "All In The Family" was to glorify racism and sexism? ;-D (That was a rhetorical question, Bill, strictly for satirical purposes. Don't bother answering it, okay? I am quite sure you were not.)

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 08:35 PM

I was just about to post the results of my research about this one a few months ago (I had gotten it via e-mail), but then I found at the end of my notes that I already posted it all here!

BS: the folk processing of funny stuff

Yes, stuff does recycle pretty quickly nowadays. It does show up on both liberal and conservative blogs... it's that "laughing at us" or "laughing with us" thing.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 17 Nov 10 - 08:51 PM

(Sorry Bob the P., skimmed right over yer links.)

~ B in T

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: DougR
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 12:29 AM

Well, L.H., you could always have your parliment craft a Canadian style SB1070 like Arizona did. :>)

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 12:16 PM

Little Hawk, It is NOT funny and it is the reinforcement of Big Money/Talk Radio/Fox New/"conservative" talk radio manufactured stereotypes. As far as I can see, there are only two groups likely to find this funny, adherents to the "conservative" talk radio party line and you.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 12:22 PM

JtS, if you can't laugh at yourself, it's a sad life... and as far as "groups likely to find this funny", I belong to neither of the groups you mention and I find it funny; there's plenty of evidence there are others like me and Little Hawk.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 12:33 PM

Well, Jack, why don't you contact Nikos Apollonio then, and give him a stiff lecture about the tastelessness and unfunniness of the joke? He's the guy who sent it to me, after all. If he hadn't, I'd never have posted it here in the first place or even have known about it, but since he thought it was good and I did too, I thought I'd share the fun with the rest of you.

Nick is a luthier in Rockport, Maine, who makes wonderful 12-strings and citterns that are used by various people on this forum. He made Paul Stookey's and Gordon Bok's 12-string guitars. You'll find threads about Apollonio guitars and other stuff Nick makes up among the music threads.

He's also a very liberal guy who does not wish to reinforce Big Money/Talk Radio/Fox New/"conservative" talk radio manufactured stereotypes, but probably would delight in seeing them all vanish from the Earth. I think it might be a real epiphany for Nick to get a much-needed wakeup call from a friendly, enlightened, constructive, and always helpful guy like you, a man who radiates nothing but goodwill and tolerance to all, advising him how FAR he has strayed from good taste and good political judgement in finding this joke funny at ALL! He would probably be stricken with contrition and send a public apology to the entire forum, possibly even wear a hair shirt for a week or two. I urge you to contact him and straighten him out without delay.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 01:26 PM

I thought it was funny.

An I'm what one would consider a socialist commie Canadian.

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 01:38 PM

Virtually any Canadian would find it funny. Canadians usually thoroughly enjoy laughing at themselves, as well as laughing at the Americans. It's the national pastime here, secondarily to hockey, curling, and binging on Maple Syrup behind the smokehouse while the back bacon cures...

JtS, however, is clearly not just any Canadian! He's different. ;-) I think moving to the USA has had some kind of deleterious effect on his general state of mind or else maybe he got bitten by a rabid gerbil or something awhile back.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 02:15 PM

Premier Stelmack of Alberta is thinking of calling a special session of the Alberta Legislature to deal with the problem.
Rat-free Alberta, the bastion of Conservatism in Canada, must be Liberal-free!

The squads of provincial exterminators, who keep the province rat-free, are to be called upon to deal with the new menace.

(Well, rat-free is an exaggeration. And a few liberals have managed to get into the Alberta Legislature, where they are confined to the colder seats in the hall.)

Yes, Canadians both laugh and worry about that big mess called U. S. of A.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: ollaimh
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 04:31 PM

we have a sort of american liberal as the leader of the canadian liberal party. he made it across the border early using his thirty year old canadian passport. he was in the uk, many there may remembert ignatieff as a bbc documentary producer and interviewer, then landed at harvard as chair of thier human right watch i think. however i wiil probably vote for him in spite of american liberal contamination(he supported the iraq war like all good american liberals).

we are in afghanusatn becuase we are part of nato, chretien went to afghanista along with the rest of nato. we didn't participate with bush's illegal was in iraq. pretty much no liberal in canada will support a war without nato or un aproval--thanks be, but harper made a big stink about us abandoning our allies. he would have gone to iraq as well if he'd been pm then, again thanks be he wasn't.

i will be on the look out here innew brunswick for the hordes of american liberals, but i don't expect them, as they really don't have any any more.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 08:59 PM

Ignatieff might jump ship for China or Doha- I wish the Liberals here had a different leader. I don't trust him. Neither do many non-Conservative Albertans, who are toying with something called the Wild Rose Party.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 10:11 PM

I can hardly think of any Canadian politician I trust, but I trust both Harper and Ignatieff even less than I do most of the rest! ;-D

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Lox
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 06:11 PM

Oh Bugger - I had hoped that Nick Clegg and Vince Cable had done a runner ...

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: LadyJean
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 12:50 AM

In 2005, the last of my mother's family died, and I fell heir to the sampler embroidered by great great grandmother who was captured by the Indians. It's fair sized, in a heavy wooden frame, so it was a bit to carry.
I brought the precious relic to the airport, surrendered it, reluctanlty to security. Took it to the gate, set it down, briefly, when I found a tote bag large enough to hold it, and bought the bag. Then I bagged the sampler, clapped my hand on the handle, and didn't let go of it until I got home, and by home I mean through the front door of my house.

I'm a progressive, but I feel about my country the way I feel about that sampler. The United States has been in my family for more than 200 years. I will be damned if I'll let it go!

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 10:34 AM

Little Hawk... you can 'explain' the point about metaphor & satire till you're blue in the face and tell me how it all 'relates' to various items in the news.....but after you have made sure I get it, I will explain that I GOT it, but just don't see it it as **funny**.

When I was 12, I heard other guys telling 'jokes' that were just excuses to use naughty words in weird contexts..(like the "Johnny Fuckerfaster" classics), but I could not see any HUMOR in inventing a totally unlikely scenario JUST to use those words.

Our debate is not about how well-written the parody is, but about the very foundations of humor...which seem to vary in different cultures and mindsets.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 10:49 AM

I was going to add this to the "Pearls of Wisdom" thread, but I think I'll stick it here instead:

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 11:31 AM

"Ignatieff might jump ship for China or Doha" -- so there's some hope.

The last time I opined about the Liberals on this board it was to say that Ignatieff had Harper on a leash just like Harper had old what's his name on a leash, you know, that professor from Quebec who was too proud to ask Chretien for English lessons. What the heck was the guy's name anyway?

Boy, was I wrong about the leash thing.

Well, they've tried the Liberal who isn't really a Canadian. Why not give the Canadian who isn't really a Liberal a chance. Here goes for "wrong again", but this time, what the hell, give Bob Rae a turn, he can't screw it up any worse than Whatchamacallem or the Igster .

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 12:14 PM

Yeah, why not? ;-) I'd love to see old Bob Rae get a kick at the Prime Ministerial can. It would totally piss off the Conservatives around here. They hate him.

Bill - Okay, fine. ;-) I might mention that I have entertained a whole bunch of your interesting and intriguing thoughts over the past few years....without necessarily accepting them. I must have an educated mind!

*****

Dateline: Blind River

It was reported in the news today that the very first American liberal refugee was seen yesterday entering Blind River, Ontario! This was the first time people in that town had ever even seen an American liberal, so a big crowd gathered to boo, hiss, and throw garbage at him. He was refused a latte grande at the Iron Horse Tavern, and was he unable to find a health food store anywhere in town. "Eat back bacon and eggs over easy or die!" they told him. He became really upset about that and asked where he could find a good analyst. "Analyze THIS!" they yelled, and they ran him out of town on a rail after stripping off all his clothes and painting him white and blue all over (the colours of the Toronto Maple Leafs) with some Canadian Tire auto paint spray cans.

They hate "small ell" liberals in Blind River. They basically don't trust anyone who doesn't think Don Cherry is the greatest man in Canada and that "If ya can't beat 'em in the alleyway, ya can't beat 'em on the ice!" Most "small ell" Canadian liberals know this and they avoid that town like the plague, but the American, unfortunately, did not know it.

Be warned, Yankee liberals! DON'T vacation in Blind River! Or if you do....wear a T-shirt that says "Maple Leafs Forever!" or "I'm with the IDIOT ----->" or "Free Sex - Apply Below". They'll think you're one of them and everything should go okay. NEVER ask for European beer!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 12:56 PM

Oh, I am confident you DO have an educated mind, LH... I suppose we both do, given those condidtions. ;>)

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Sawzaw
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 09:14 PM

Actor Randy Quaid and his wife have been arrested in Vancouver having fled to Canada after missing a court hearing in the United States in a illegal squatting case, local media said on Friday.

Canadian authorities would not confirm the reports, but said in a press release that a man and a woman -- who were not identified -- were detained on Wednesday after it was discovered they were wanted on a U.S. arrest warrant.

CTV also reported the couple was scheduled to appear on Friday at a detention review hearing by Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board in Vancouver. The couple had also requested the hearing be held in private.

Board officials said they were legally prohibited from saying if the hearing involved the Quaids, but a government source who asked not to be identified confirmed they were expected to appear.

A California judge issued an arrest warrant for the Quaids this week after they failed to appear at a mandatory court hearing on charges they had been illegally squatting in a home that they had owned years ago.

Randy Quaid, who starred in the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain" and is the brother of actor Dennis Quaid, was arrested in September on suspicion of burglary and entering a building without consent. Evi Quaid was booked on those charges, as well as resisting arrest.

Earlier this year they were arrested on charges of failing to pay their bill at a California hotel. Evi Quaid was forced to pay $10,500 in restitution in that case and she pleaded no contest to defrauding an innkeeper.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Nov 10 - 10:38 PM

Goodness sakes! Well, there is a long tradition of American ne'er-do-wells slipping across that long border to avoid Ay-murican justice and sew their wild oats in what they deem to be safer Canadian fields. Matter of fact, the Northwest Mounted Police, later called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or just the Mounties, were formed partially to deal with that very problem, and they did a superb job at it, due to beimg well organized, totally consistent in their enforcement of the law, and immune to bribery. It didn't take them long to clean out the American whiskey traders, gamblers, and outlaws from the Canadian West and send 'em packin' back to the good ol' lawless American West where things were much more freewheeling. Matter of fact, in the American territories prior to statehood there was virtually no law enforcement at all, and the murder rate was pretty spectacular. It makes for great movies, but I'm not sure I'd have wanted to live there. ;-)

I'm sorry to hear about the Quaid's misadventures. It sounds like they need firm guidance. Maybe they should be put under Chongo's kindly direction for a few months, because he is very good at the art of persuasion.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 02:39 PM

NWMP really formed to protect the interests of the eastern elite.

"A number of officers of the force came from elite Eastern Canadian backgrounds....... As representatives of the upper strata of Canadian Society, they brought with them fixed ideas of proper cultural and social norms. These ideas influenced not only their social expectations but also their perceptions of crime. Since their predominant duty was to maintain order on the frontier, the police had to differentiate between crimes that were merely a nuisance, and those that were a threat to social stability. The distinctions they made were often based on assumptions about the socia order, in which less was expected of the "lower classes."
"The police were closely linked to another elite group, the cattlemen. ........the police and ranchers were tied to a mutual interest in the cattle business. Protecting ranchers against cattle theft..and related stock crimes was one of their primary duties. .....Close personal relationships developed between the police and ranchers through frequent contact.........
"Finally many members of the force saw the economic opportunities ranching afforded, and became ranchers themselves once they completed their terms of duty."
http://ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/calgary/nwmp.html

(Some of the mounted police combined their duty with building up their ranch at the same time. Some were English; a son of Charles Dickens was a member for a time.)
The whiskey traders were put out of business, but the liquor trade was taken over unhindered by the "lower classes" in the developing towns.

Subject: RE: BS: Liberals flee over Canadian border
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Nov 10 - 01:16 AM

Your point is an excellent one, Q! You say "(the)NWMP (were) really formed to protect the interests of the eastern elite"

Right on! I agree entirely with that. However, even though they were indeed formed to protect the interests of the eastern power elite in Canada, they managed to do an absolutely exceptional job of maintaining law and order in the Canadian West as opposed to the lawlessness and bloodshed in the USA territories to the south...and for that, I respect them.

There is no doubt whatsoever that they were sent out there to protect the interests of the moneyed elite back in Eastern Canada. What I find impressive about them is how well they managed to do it, however, in the sense of maintaining order, discipline, and consistent application of the civil laws. They really were an exceptionally fine police force at the time of their inception, and for a long time afterward. This was, I think, primarily due to the excellence of the officers who led them, and the consistency of British law. Although the British were unabashed imperialists and did EVERYTHING they did primarily for the benefit of a moneyed elite, they did it awfully well. They ran a far better organized empire than anyone else, and they set up a much better body of law and experienced much less corruption than the other empires did.

For that, I respect them, though I do not agree with their imperial ambitions any more than I agree with America's imperial ambitions...or Russia's...or Japan's....or Germany's...or anyone else's. I'm opposed to imperialism on principle, no matter who does it. I favor self-rule for all distinct nations....not rule imposed from abroad....and self-sufficiency...not mercantile/political domination from abroad.