Bill O'Reilly
We stand of guard for thee
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com |
Oh, Canada, what the heck is going on? In a staggering display
of in-your-face defiance, the Canadian government now says it will not turn
over any members of Saddam Hussein's crew should they eventually show up in
Canada to the United States, including the evil dictator himself! Canadian
Minister of Defense John McCallum bluntly told the world that his government
would only give Saddam to the World Court in The Hague.
This non-provoked belligerence comes after Prime Minister Jean Chretien gleefully pilloried the Bush administration over fighting Iraq every chance he got. Chretien and his cohorts have made no secret of their disdain for Mr. Bush, and the Canadian press has generally been brutal to America in portraying the war.
In response, President Bush has canceled his May trip to Ottawa, and it would be wise not to send him an autographed picture of the Montreal Canadian hockey team anytime soon. That's because Montreal fans recently booed the national anthem before a match with the New York Islanders, causing some angst among American hockey fans, who are not generally known for being too accepting of that kind of display.
But it doesn't end there. When a group of Boston kids went up to Montreal to play in a peewee hockey tournament, they were not only taunted by the Canadian kids, but also by the referees. Eh?
My question is this: Do the Canadian people have any idea how close they are to serious pain here?
Canada's economy is utterly dependent on the United States, and Americans pump more than $10 billion directly into it every year. Nine million of us cross the northern border more than 40 million times annually, and we buy lots of stuff. And that stuff is heavily taxed by the tax-and-spend Canadian government. So what happens if we all emulate Mr. Bush and just say no to the land of snow?
Canada's economy melts, that's what happens.
A loosely organized boycott of French goods by some Americans has brought immediate pain to the wine and travel industries in that country, according to business titans in Paris. One analyst told me that French wine consumption in the USA is down 10 percent, and travel to Paris is off by more than 20 percent with almost record low bookings for the upcoming summer. Since the French economy was growing at just 1 percent before Jacques Chirac began his quest to embarrass America, a French recession is now likely.
If the same economic pressure were applied to Canada, the results would be much more intense. Simply put, if Americans cut back doing business with Canadians, that country could go into a depression.
And herein lies the problem. Most Americans are not mean people and don't want to hurt working-class Canadians. It is Chretien who's the problem, and he's out of office in less than a year. But, there comes a point when enough is enough, and Canadians should understand that storm clouds are gathering to the south. Humiliating American kids in a hockey rink is simply not acceptable. Thumbing your nose at 127 dead Americans in Iraq by making defiant statements about where Saddam should be extradited is not a wise policy.
Millions of Americans are beginning to realize that their buying power is not only a democratic choice but can be used as a weapon against people who are hostile to us. No American is under any obligation to buy any product, foreign or domestic. I'm sure the Molson beer people understand that Budweiser fits in the cooler as well.
So I am giving the haughty Jean Chretien one more chance because
I have always liked and respected the Canadian people. I am not going to
travel north this summer, but I'm not boycotting Canadian products as I am
with France. But hear this Mr. Prime Minister: One more cheap shot, one more
unnecessary taunt, one more insult directed at the USA by you or your
minions, and I'll give you a very accurate long-range forecast. It's gonna
get mighty cold mighty fast west of the St. Lawrence.
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JWR contributor Bill O'Reilly is host of the
Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor," and author
of the new book, "The No-Spin Zone: Confrontations with the Powerful and Famous in America" Comments by clicking here.
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