The Americans By Gordon Sinclair

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Missileer

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I searched for this article but didn't find it on the forum. I heard this read on the radio and thought it was inspiring. You can listen to the broadcast on this site.

http://www.canadianaconnection.com/cca/gordonsinclair.htm

"LET'S BE PERSONAL" Broadcast June 5, 1973 CFRB, Toronto, Ontario

Topic: "The Americans"

The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the earth.

As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtze. Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did.

They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Misssissippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help. 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 those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When the franc 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 distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help... Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.

The Marshall Plan .. the Truman Policy .. all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans.

I'd like to see one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes.

Come on... let's hear it! Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 107? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or women 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 everyone to look at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, most of them ... unless they are breaking Canadian laws .. are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here.

When the Americans get out of this bind ... as they will... who could blame them if they said 'the hell with the rest of the world'. Let someone else buy the Israel bonds, Let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won't shake apart in earthquakes.

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 to 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 neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them 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 these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.

This year's disasters .. with the year less than half-over… has taken it all and nobody...but nobody... has helped.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT AND AUDIO
COURTESY STANDARD BROADCASTING CORPORATION LTD.
 
America as a nation cannot believe Dropkick Murphys song "The Gang's All Here." "When the going gets tough I know my friends will still be there." But I doubt that'll change the way we are when others need help, at least not any time soon.
 
:pray: Awesome speech...I for one have already said,"to hell with the rest of the world." I thank at least this particular Canadian for his/her support. I think that if the world had supported us the same ammount that we have supported almost all nations, then we would already be out of this current...bind...
 
*copy and paste my response to every other overly patriot soapbox pro american speech*

you are only one country, the world doesn't revolve around you and there are plenty of things you have screwed up, so get down off the high horse you are on
 
But many crises that other countries have had in the past...who has helped out? America. Who has dropped everything so that we could help another country just to be spat in the face for everything we did? America. We deserve to be on a high horse because we can back it up..What has Austrailia done? To help out america in our time of need?

Edit: By the way..I know we have screwed up but you all Austrailia has done is sat on their fat :cen: es and watched up
 
Locke said:
*copy and paste my response to every other overly patriot soapbox pro american speech*

you are only one country, the world doesn't revolve around you and there are plenty of things you have screwed up, so get down off the high horse you are on

Oh, I think the World depends on America more than you would like to delude yourself that it doesn't. We'll stay on the high horse because we deserve it until some other "do nothings" take the problems of the World seriously. So, if you can't run with the big dogs, stay under the porch where you belong. Copy and paste that where the sun doesn't shine.
 
C/CMSgt Henderson said:
But many crises that other countries have had in the past...who has helped out? America. Who has dropped everything so that we could help another country just to be spat in the face for everything we did? America. We deserve to be on a high horse because we can back it up..What has Austrailia done? To help out america in our time of need?

Edit: By the way..I know we have screwed up but you all Austrailia has done is sat on their fat :cen: es and watched up

You need to review your history, C/CMSgt Henderson. Austrailia has been beside the USA in a lot of different places, like Korea, VietNam, Iraq and Afganistan. I think your comment is very immature and ignorant of the facts.
 
How many times have they helped us during the current disasters? or recent disasters? Please enlighten me O Great All-Knowing Tom Tom I have yet to see a dollar from Aussie world...or troops or relief workers or anything...This guy wasnt talking about wars...this guy was talking about natural disasters. quote:This year's disasters .. with the year less than half-over… has taken it all and nobody...but nobody... has helped. end quote. see, this guy is talking about the billions and billions of dollars that the US has given to other countries in times of need, not times of war.please tell me if Austrailia has paid us anything from previous incidents...I would like to see that money. or lack thereof.
 
Austrailia has pledged direct aid to the US for hurricane Katrina: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1452110.htm

In other disasters throughout the world they have also been busy: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/human/emergencies.cfm

http://www.redcross.org.au/ourservices_aroundtheworld_operationsbycountry_default.htm

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/OCHA-64C9ES?OpenDocument

And the rest of the world has not been sitting on their duffs either: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/world-pledges-aid-to-victims/2005/09/03/1125302774007.html

My previous post was, as you said, related to military involvement, but still proves my point that Austrailians have not been insensitive to what is going on in the rest of the world.
 
Cadet Henderson, if you find yourself unable to address other forum members with respect, do not post. You can make your point without attempting to insult others.
 
Missileer said:
Oh, I think the World depends on America more than you would like to delude yourself that it doesn't. We'll stay on the high horse because we deserve it until some other "do nothings" take the problems of the World seriously. So, if you can't run with the big dogs, stay under the porch where you belong. Copy and paste that where the sun doesn't shine.

i cannot express my disgust with you enough, heres me thinking ..... arg sod it you aren't worth getting stressed about. pull your head in and grow up
 
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