Canadian MP: America a Damned Idiot

From Reuters:

Canadian Member of Parliament Carolyn Parrish had said she hated "damned Americans" and called them bastards in the run-up to the Iraq war.

She found a new moniker, idiots, on Wednesday in discussing the planned U.S. missile defense system.

"We are not joining the coalition of the idiots. We are joining the coalition of the wise," the Liberal legislator told a small group of demonstrators.

I know there will be hordes of Americans outraged by this, but we really need to consider that the woman has a point.

Of course, no one likes to be called an idiot. But I think that's actually a kind word for what happened with Iraq. We can't let the American flag turn into a blindfold for its citizens. We need to get back on the road in making America better, rather than simply bullying and going forward with measures to prove our might whether the action is worthy or not. And bullying and big-detonation kick ass have been what the last four years have brought us.

By failing to admit we were very wrong in going into Iraq - not to mention asking hard questions about the people (oh, say, like our president) - who insisted on doing on and then, in the face of reality, have insisted they were right, we're effectively spitting bile into a high-velocity fan. Blowback's a bitch.

Like it or not, too, Canada's proven a very good friend through this period of time. They've jumped into help several times. But, like a very good friend, they've said, "You're making a mistake" when they thought so and refused to be forced into just towing the line when the US tried to force them to do so.

I think we've got a few things to learn from our quiet friend across the border.