As many of you may know by now I have some very real concerns about the growing anti-American sentiments that I’ve witnessed in Canada and around the world over the past few years. I have heard the “rationale” and I do understand the roots of these sentiments, but no matter how you slice it anti-Americanism, like other forms of racism, bigotry, and discrimination is wrong and hurtful.
I get particularly worked up when I see our own publicly-funded national broadcaster jump on the bandwagon. The CBC has brought us Rick Mercer “Talking to Americans”, a juvenile attempt to portray our neighbors as ignorant; Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish stomping on a George Bush doll; and more recently we have Avi Lewis interviewing Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In addition to some very frank statements about the War on Terror, it offers a “fine” example of how our national broadcaster feels about our neighbour to the south:
When I showed this clip to a friend in California recently he had to leave the room in disgust. That’s how hard it was to watch.
If you have the stomach I suggest you read some of the comments from Lewis’ viewers: http://www.cbc.ca/onthemap/fullpage.php?id=84
Shameful.