This reminds me of a joke about Canada (which is, indirectly, a backhanded-slap on the US).
Q: What's the real tragedy of Canada?
A: They could have had British culture, French food and American technology. They wound up with British food, French technology and American culture. :mrgreen:
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Seriously, though -- I may be a bit biased since I have family in Toronto, but my impression of Canada has always been more than just our neighbors to the north...maybe like the younger brother that we keep an eye out to make sure they don't get in trouble, yet we also benefit from their perspective and support.
They've always gotten a bad rap since they harbored the US's draft dodgers during the Vietnam era, but the reality is that they were a major player during World War II, they've been supporting the GWOT much more than we hear about, and they've had military personnel permanently stationed at NORAD for quite a while -- I don't think even Mexico has military personnel permanently assigned to NORAD.
Don't believe me? There's a reason I keep the Canadian memorial video on my
MySpace page.