Beating around the Bush

Oh my, we Canadians are becoming even less enamoured of our southern cousins' choice of president. A recent Globe and Mail/CTV News survey indicated the number of Canadians who think the election of George W. Bush was a bad thing has increased from 58 to 69 per cent over the last two years. Bush fans in this country will no doubt be playing their tedious "anti-American" card yet again. But of course that isn't what the survey showed, as was illustrated by the fact 70 per cent of the respondents agreed with the statement, "I value and respect the United States and its citizens -- It's just that I disagree fundamentally with their government."

The anti-American label, ironically often applied by people who seem to be anti-Canadian, is for the most part a bum rap. Very few Canadians are anti-American, but many see the Bush Administration as anti-world. Consider the evidence:

On the environment front, the Bush people refuse to sign the Kyoto protocol, even though it's only a baby step toward saving the world from incineration. On the social justice front, they not only refuse to sign on to the International Criminal Court, one of the finest advances in global justice ever, incredibly they work actively to undermine it. On the international security front, they refuse to sign the Mine Ban Treaty even though land mines are a much bigger threat to innocents than terrorists, their preferred nemesis. And on the war front, they continue to lavish money on their military to the point where they spend more money on armaments than the rest of the world combined. The list of maverick behaviour is long and sad.

And tragic. The United States, the most powerful nation on Earth, is in a unique position to be a world leader in all the above areas. But they aren't even followers, simply contrarians who insist only they know the high road to all things bright and beautiful. Perhaps the leadership will eventually come. But not until George W. Bush is history.