We Could Use A Little Vision, Pride, And Resolve Ourselves
Edmonton - Friday, January 31, 2003 - by: Ron Thornton
yearned	I heard something rather amazing the other day as I listened to George W. Bush present his State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress. As I listened, it dawned on me how different the United States is from Canada, and how I yearned that some the vision and pride of our southern neighbour might somehow be instilled within our own.
"mommy"	I heard George W. Bush offer tax relief, where a "family of four with an income of 40,000 dollars would see their federal income taxes fall from 1,178 dollars to 45 dollars per year." When was the last time we heard such a thing north of the border? I know the Canadian way is to allow our government to be our perpetual "mommy", to kill the incentive and initiative to individuals to better themselves, to rob the disadvantaged of any real hope for self-reliance. However, what we really need are more sustainable jobs and more opportunities for growth, not unearned hand-outs that solve nothing in the long-term.
tax-guzzling	I heard George W. Bush propose ending the double-taxing of corporate dividends, allowing stock holders to take their share untaxed. It may well be a tax-break that will be more enjoyed by those with higher wealth, though that number includes ten million senior citizens, yet it also could provide the incentive to prompt some to provide a much needed stimulus to the US stock market and economy. If it helps provide real jobs, it will help the poor, which is more than we can say for any tax-guzzling, economy-strangling, short-term government program we seem to come up with here in Canada.
cockamany theory	I heard George W. Bush propose spending over a billion dollars toward the development of hydrogen-powered automobiles that would replace the exhaust fumes of combustion engines with the water that would result from the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen generated energy. In Canada, we've taken to our breast a wealth distribution system for the have-nots and will-nots under the guise of a continually disproved cockamamy theory regarding greenhouse gases, one that threatens to undermine our own economy and way of life.
better judgement	I heard, from among the faint-hearted of the world, how George W. Bush is considered a maverick who refuses to be tied to the whims of an United Nations that boasts only 85 democratic societies among its 191 nation membership. Forty-eight of those countries are governed by iron-fisted dictatorships subjecting 35% of the world's population to their domination, while another 58 are one-party states with a government controlled judiciary and media. When George W. Bush says the course of the United States "does not depend of the decisions of others" he shows better judgement than our own leaders who give credence to the views of those we might be prudent to be more wary of.
weapons inspections	I was reminded that U.N. weapons inspectors were not in Iraq on a scavenger hunt, seeking to catch the Iraqi's doing something, but rather to see what they have failed to do. We remain in the dark as to the fate of weapons of mass destruction that nation was to have destroyed. We are left to wonder just where are the materials Saddam Hussein had that could have produced mustard and nerve gases, along with the munitions capable of delivering them over his borders. Where is the evidence that they have been destroyed? Where are the nuclear materials he had? Are they destroyed, stockpiled, or now in the hands of someone waiting for a time to use them on you and yours? Intelligence sources claim Saddam Hussein has ordered that any scientists who cooperate with U.N. inspectors will be killed, along with their families.
civility or weakness	Of course, this could all just be more U.S. propaganda. No, we probably should instead place our trust in those who have already used biological weapons on their own citizenry, threatened them, tortured them and killed them. War is abhorrent, yet so is morale cowardice. While some raise concerns about harming the innocent in Iraq, others fear the specter of reprisals on our own shores should we get involved. This might well explain the caution of such nations as France and Germany, their leaders growing up surrounded by the aftermath of the destruction visited upon their countries by war. Still, are their positions being looked upon as a sign of patience and civility, or as a weakness to be exploited by their enemies?
never suffered	We Canadians live in a nation that enjoys freedoms provided by the political legacy and the military might of Great Britain and the United States. We have never suffered as other nations have. We have never had 3000 souls perish in terrorist attacks in a single day on our very soil. I wonder how we might react under similar circumstances. I wonder if this nation, more an economic union of diverse peoples than a unified civilization sharing a common tradition and history, might survive such a trial as a consequence.
self evident	The United States is not perfect, it is not ruled by perfect people, nor does it have a perfect history. Yet, under their evolving democracy that was founded on freedom and forged on the battlefield, they have produced the most powerful nation with the most technologically advanced civilization ever known on this planet. They have pride in their accomplishments, a confidence in who they are and where they are going. Even those who may disagree with their policies and actions must, to borrow a phrase from Thomas Jefferson, hold these truths to be self-evident.
leadership	We live in a real world with real threats and real problems that require real solutions, not the fantasyland that so many amateur political vaudvillians in Ottawa and elsewhere seem to exist in. George W. Bush, in his State of the Union address, seemed to recognize this. Like Americans, I also would like to have some kind of clue as where my nation is going and what it proposes to do in order to make our childrens' future a secure and promising one. However, that takes leadership, something that seems severely lacking in this country.
	Ron Thornton
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