Time to Walk the Talk.

[JayB]

Dru's uninviting tone after the election must have had an effect after all....

 

"Americans didn't flock to Canada after Bush win

 

By David Ljunggren Thu Aug 4, 2:55 PM ET

 

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadians can put away those extra welcome mats -- it seems Americans unhappy about the result of last November's presidential election have decided to stay at home after all.

ADVERTISEMENT

 

In the days after

President Bush won a second term, the number of U.S. citizens visiting Canada's main immigration Web site shot up sixfold, prompting speculation that unhappy Democrats would flock north.

 

But official statistics show the number of Americans actually applying to live permanently in Canada fell in the six months after the election.

 

On the face of it this is not good news -- Canada is one of the few major nations seeking to attract immigrants -- but Immigration Minister Joe Volpe was philosophical.

 

"We'll take talent from wherever it is resident in the world. I was absolutely elated to see the number of hits and then my staff said 'You know what? A hit on the Internet is after all just a hit'," he told Reuters on Thursday.

 

"I guess I'm happy Republicans and Democrats have found a way to live together in peace and in harmony," he said.

 

Canada generally tilts more to the social and political left than the United States.

 

Data from the main Canadian processing center in Buffalo, NY shows that in the six months up to the U.S. election there were 16,266 applications from people seeking to live in Canada, a figure that fell to 14,666 for the half year after the vote.

 

A spokeswoman for Canada's federal immigration ministry declined to speculate on the reasons for the drop.

 

Toby Condliffe, who heads the Canadian chapter of Democrats Abroad, did have an explanation of sorts.

 

"I can only assume the Americans who checked out the Web site subsequently checked out our winter temperatures and further took note that the National Hockey League was being locked out and had second thoughts," he told Reuters.

 

Last year, Canada, which has a population of about 32 million, accepted 235,808 immigrants from all over the world. "

[Squid]

I'm walking my talk and tossing my blue bags at every Bush/Cheney bumpersticker I see.

 

Besides, if we left, who'd give your lazy free-riding ass a lift when you're too tired to bike to the put-in?

[JayB]

Must have been karma for all of the truckloads of left-wingers that I hauled up to the top of Loveland Pass in the back of my truck every winter while I was Colorado - just an inference, but I can't imagine the correlation between sporting dreadlocks and/or a snowboard or tele-setup and voting Republican is very high. I might also add that the earlier than expected arrival was a very much appreciated by the two close friends and lifelong Democrats who were awaiting my arrival. Seriously though - I owe you for the lift, and would be happy to provide you with free beers and/or a copy of "The Road to Serfdom" whenever I run into you again.

 

Now, back to the main topic. Those looking to emmigrate could surely do worse than Canada.

[j_b]

Since you brought up walking the talk, when are you signing up for Iraq duty? Or do you really think that membership in the 101st keyboard battalion is good enough?

[JayB]

Nice. One could also inquire when you are going to be airlifted into Sudan to personally take up arms against the Janjaweed - since you presumably supported armed intervention there. Got any souveniers from your Tour of Duty in the Balkans? Drop everything and take your machete to help fend off the Hutus in Rwanda, did you?

 

Anyhow - my best friend just returned from his second tour in Iraq, foot patrols in Baghdad, to be precise - and if a guy who both knows me well and has actually been there wants to accuse me of being a hypocritical pussy for arguing on behalf of an armed intervention that I'm not personally involved I'd actually take it seriously. The "If you haven't volunteered to join the police force you can't be opposed to crime" argument just doesn't have as much force coming from the likes of you. Sorry.

[Squid]

Shouldn't this shit get moved into the NEW JayB vs. j_b FORUM?

 

so the rest of us can get on with our high-quality spray?

 

They never talk about interesting stuff, like boobs or trampolines.

[j_b]

Nice.

 

anytime ...

 

One could also inquire when you are going to be airlifted into Sudan to personally take up arms against the Janjaweed - since you presumably supported armed intervention there. Got any souveniers from your Tour of Duty in the Balkans? Drop everything and take your machete to help fend off the Hutus in Rwanda, did you?

 

well, fuck me! i didn't know the military couldn't meet its recruiting goals during any of the interventions you mentionned, or that they recalled people who got out years ago and didn't want to go, or signed up people in their late 40's, or had personnel doing several tours of duty against their will or even that there was ~10% chance of being dead or seriously injured ... but perhaps you are just fibbing and are well aware you are comparing apples and oranges. they didn't need your help then, but they do now, boy! here is your chance to walk the talk. isn't it what you wanted others to do?

 

Anyhow - my best friend just returned from his second tour in Iraq, foot patrols in Baghdad, to be precise - and if a guy who both knows me well and has actually been there wants to hypocritical pussy for arguing on behalf of an armed intervention that I'm not personally involved I'd actually take it seriously. The "If you haven't volunteered to join the police force you can't be opposed to crime" argument just doesn't have as much force coming from the likes of you. Sorry.

 

unfortunately, you'll have to keep dealing with the commentary and the vote from tax paying individuals like me whether you like it or not, hypocrite!

 

walk the talk truth hurts, doesn't it?

[Dru]

FREE MARC EMERY!!!!!

[slothrop]

Pfft, I thought this was going to be about mandatory military service for Young Republicans: http://operationyellowelephant.blogspot.com/

[j_b]

They never talk about interesting stuff, like boobs or trampolines.

 

i beg to differ, i talk about boobs all the time!

[mec]

well, fuck me! i didn't know the military couldn't meet its recruiting goals during any of the interventions you mentionned, or that they recalled people who got out years ago and didn't want to go, or signed up people in their late 40's, or had personnel doing several tours of duty against their will or even that there was ~10% chance of being dead or seriously injured ...

 

umm, didn't they voluntarily sign up for the armed forces in the first place. Part of that means to follow the Commander in Chief, no matter who it is, and if they agree with him or not... If they don't want to be in a war, they shouldn't sign up.

[j_b]

well, we could argue whether they signed up to fight an illegal, impopular war but it wouldn't change the fact that there are not enough new signer ups to sustain the missions of the military in the short/medium term.

[mec]

I agree that there is not enough new signer uppers. that should reinforce that this war is no longer popular.

 

However, what is illegal about the war? Commander in Chief can direct the armed forces as he wishes, Congress approved = Nothing illegal. I confess that I am not a law expert so I may be mising something, but from where I stand it seems the war is legal by our laws.

[j_b]

the war is illegal under international law because it never got approval from the UN (despite what pundits may say) and i doubt it is legal to use fake intelligence to convince congress to relinquish its powers. but the issue is also much larger than from a lawyerly perspective, i believe that "i was following orders" is widely considered an invalid argument.

[bunglehead]

...what is illegal about the war? Commander in Chief can direct the armed forces as he wishes, Congress approved = Nothing illegal. I confess that I am not a law expert so I may be mising something, but from where I stand it seems the war is legal by our laws.

 

Agreed, but I think it's bullshit that the president has consolidated power enough that he can do whatever the fuck he feels like doing with our troops, and congress sits on its collective worthless ass and green lights everything he wants. I was under the impression that it actually took an act of congress to declare war, which they didn't do. They basically ok'd Bush to do the deed, but I don't recall a vote on the floor of the house or the senate declaring war on Iraq. They're just as culpable in this mess as the president.

But they won't see anything in the form of punsihment for their immorality. It's a beautiful world.

[mec]

the war is illegal under international law because it never got approval from the UN (despite what pundits may say) and i doubt it is legal to use fake intelligence to convince congress to relinquish its powers. but the issue is also much larger than from a lawyerly perspective, i believe that "i was following orders" is widely considered an invalid argument.

 

Does the lack of approval make it illegal? the UN never voted aginst it, they just voted not to support it?

 

And yes I agree out politcal system is f*&ked. president, congress, judges are mainly running around with their heads cut off, each with their own personal agendas patting each other on the backs. saying yes to everything if it can help to further their own cause later on... and to think, we pay for all of that too.

[j_b]

it's not self-defense so it violates UN charter.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/law/2004/0916illegal.htm

 

so, what have we determined? that it's not illegal for warmongers to not walk the talk and sign up? not quite the high moral ground, heh?

[mec]

Can we trust the UN?

 

Oh wait, that is how all governments work in one form or the other...

[willstrickland]

Don't worry, Wilford Brimley Jr, aka John "Batshit Crazy" Bolton, affectionately known by his nick-name The Boss From Hell, is headed to the UN to represent our great nation and to straighten that organization right out.

 

And I do mean "right" out.

 

I'm sure the rest of the world will take him seriously, knowing that he couldn't even get through a GOP controlled Senate approval process and had to be slipped in the back way as a recess appointment (Mehlman probably knows a little something about slipping in the back way...not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you...if that's your thing.)

 

Doesn't it seem a little two-faced to you GOP stalwarts that your party chairman is a gay man that frankly looks like a foreigner, who actively supports and conducts campaigns with homophobia and xenophobia as central themes?

 

Just askin'.

[Peter_Puget]

Alberta - The 51st state! Hell Yea!

[Dechristo]

Is BC looking for master carpenters?