An editorial from our friends in the great north

TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES
America: The Good Neighbor.
Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a
remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian
television commentator. what follows is the full text of his trenchant
remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:

"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most
generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth.
Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of
the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and
forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying
even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France
was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up,
and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I
was there. I saw it. When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United
States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were
flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman
Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers
in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.
I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the
erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any
other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the
Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why
do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes?
Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the
moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk
about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American
technocracy, and you find men on the moon- not once, but several times-and
safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs
right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers
are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them,
unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma
and pa at home to spend here. When the railways of France, Germany and India
were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When
the Pennsylvania
Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old
caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5,000 times when the Americans
raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time
when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was
outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have
faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get
kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And
when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are
gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."

Stand proud, America! This is one of the best editorials that I have ever
read regarding the United States. It is nice that one man realizes it. I
only wish that the rest of the world would realize it. We are seem to be
blamed for everything, and don't get a thank you for the things we do. I
would hope that each of you would send this to as many people as you can and
emphasize that they should send it to as many of their friends until this
letter is sent
to every person on the web. I am just a single American that has read this,
I SURE HOPE THAT A LOT MORE READ IT SOON. Makes you proud to live here
doesn't it??