I’ll take that (peace, order etc) as well. Life can be upsetting on its own without outside assistance.
CNN did a report on it tonight. I was amazed at how embarrassed I felt. It suffused me. I lived in Ottawa for some time. Seeing the front of the Parliament look like a dump was horrible.
I’ll take that (peace, order etc) as well. Life can be upsetting on its own without outside assistance.
CNN did a report on it tonight. I was amazed at how embarrassed I felt. It suffused me. I lived in Ottawa for some time. Seeing the front of the Parliament look like a dump was horrible.
I worked on Capitol Hill and was across from the Capitol on 9/11. For weeks the area was patrolled by heavily armed military and police. It was unnerving. During that time I was sent to Ottawa. The Parliament area was so beautiful and bustling but calm. I wanted to look at the Parliament building and asked an officer at the outer perimeter of the park area whether I might enter. He smiled and said 'Of course, this is Canada.' He gave me his card in case I needed help during my visit and a tiny Canadian flag pin as a memento.
So yes.
Your reaction seems to me 'very Canadian'. But an acquaintance who spent a long career in the State Department, serving in some challenging posts and complex situations, wrote of having a similar reaction to Jan 6. He visited Capitol Hill soon after the insurrection. He wrote that he was shaken seeing the physical manifestation of the political turmoil. I visited in the Spring and it was still unsettling.
The radio show I've been listening to is a podcast called As It Happens from CBC radio. Each night they've had a segment on the blockade.
I’m glad you had a reassuring sort of visit to Parliament Hill back in the day. You must have had moments extreme disquiet in the time following 9/11.
I wonder what you felt about the American governmental reaction. It seemed right to me t send a force in to capture bin Laden. But as I remember it, they bungled it and so began the long, long war.
Bush’s imperative of, “You’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists” left us in a shaky position. When he chose to invade Iraq we were deeply scandalized, and refused the pleasure of being part of the “coalition of the willing”. But in a nod to Bush’s binary imperative, we joined in the Afghan war. I remember being indignant at that (as if that mattered to anyone :).
Funny how small things can have an outsize effect. I had been a huge supporter of America all my life. But I lost faith even with 9/11, reasoning that the Middle East had not spun the globe a là Dr. Doolittle and when their finger landed in America, chose it to attack.
Still the grief and tragedy was too overwhelming to not feel pain for the U.S.
Then came the double ears and I was more than ever discomfited. But small thing I mentioned a while back? It was “freedom fries”. When that term became popular and lots of people felt there was poetic justice in it, that did it for me. It seemed that a giant on the world stage, the giant in fact, was contorting itself into a belligerent first grader which thinks that it has come up with the ultimate putdown. After that every mention of America brought the term back to me. Until Obama was elected - a moment of sheer grace.
As for “As it Happens”, what a stellar show. It was part of the rhythm of my days - 6:30 every evening - for years. Barbara Frum hosted it for years with verve and insight. Her son David now writes columns for the Washington Post. Great family.
Like button fail. I have enjoyed your ideas.
I’ll take that (peace, order etc) as well. Life can be upsetting on its own without outside assistance.
CNN did a report on it tonight. I was amazed at how embarrassed I felt. It suffused me. I lived in Ottawa for some time. Seeing the front of the Parliament look like a dump was horrible.
Yes.
I worked on Capitol Hill and was across from the Capitol on 9/11. For weeks the area was patrolled by heavily armed military and police. It was unnerving. During that time I was sent to Ottawa. The Parliament area was so beautiful and bustling but calm. I wanted to look at the Parliament building and asked an officer at the outer perimeter of the park area whether I might enter. He smiled and said 'Of course, this is Canada.' He gave me his card in case I needed help during my visit and a tiny Canadian flag pin as a memento.
So yes.
Your reaction seems to me 'very Canadian'. But an acquaintance who spent a long career in the State Department, serving in some challenging posts and complex situations, wrote of having a similar reaction to Jan 6. He visited Capitol Hill soon after the insurrection. He wrote that he was shaken seeing the physical manifestation of the political turmoil. I visited in the Spring and it was still unsettling.
The radio show I've been listening to is a podcast called As It Happens from CBC radio. Each night they've had a segment on the blockade.
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY2JjLmNhL3BvZGNhc3RpbmcvaW5jbHVkZXMvYXNpdGhhcHBlbnMueG1s?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwjQy9H71Pb1AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQBQ&hl=en
I’m glad you had a reassuring sort of visit to Parliament Hill back in the day. You must have had moments extreme disquiet in the time following 9/11.
I wonder what you felt about the American governmental reaction. It seemed right to me t send a force in to capture bin Laden. But as I remember it, they bungled it and so began the long, long war.
Bush’s imperative of, “You’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists” left us in a shaky position. When he chose to invade Iraq we were deeply scandalized, and refused the pleasure of being part of the “coalition of the willing”. But in a nod to Bush’s binary imperative, we joined in the Afghan war. I remember being indignant at that (as if that mattered to anyone :).
Funny how small things can have an outsize effect. I had been a huge supporter of America all my life. But I lost faith even with 9/11, reasoning that the Middle East had not spun the globe a là Dr. Doolittle and when their finger landed in America, chose it to attack.
Still the grief and tragedy was too overwhelming to not feel pain for the U.S.
Then came the double ears and I was more than ever discomfited. But small thing I mentioned a while back? It was “freedom fries”. When that term became popular and lots of people felt there was poetic justice in it, that did it for me. It seemed that a giant on the world stage, the giant in fact, was contorting itself into a belligerent first grader which thinks that it has come up with the ultimate putdown. After that every mention of America brought the term back to me. Until Obama was elected - a moment of sheer grace.
As for “As it Happens”, what a stellar show. It was part of the rhythm of my days - 6:30 every evening - for years. Barbara Frum hosted it for years with verve and insight. Her son David now writes columns for the Washington Post. Great family.