Stop being so smug, McKenna tells Canadians

[CHIMO]

GATINEAU, Que. — Frank McKenna, Canada's tough-talking ambassador to the U.S., has some advice for Canadians dealing with their powerful neighbours to the south — stop being smug and take the chip off your shoulders.

Americans are offended when Canadians attack them and endlessly moralize about what they should be doing differently, McKenna told The Canadian Press annual dinner on Friday night.

"In short, (it's) a self-righteousness that isn't very flattering," McKenna said.

The newly minted ambassador to the United States, fresh from media tours in the U.S. where he tried to correct false American impressions of Canada, turned the table on his Canadian audience, calling on them to have a better understanding of Americans.

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Hey Frank. You have had too much cool aide.
You have been listening to Fox too much. Get out and meet the people.

[neuvocat]

1. Apparently he was born yesterday.

Who thought it was possible?

[DBoon]

2. So the shoe is on the other foot now?

Maybe Americans deserve to have someone else lecture us about how we should be doing things differently

After the years American have been doing this to the rest of the world, a little karma is in order

[Tempest]

3. I'm sure Canadians really care about what the U.S. thinks of them

Canada echoes the rest of the world in their opinion of the U.S.

[Kagemusha]

4. No, he wasn't born yesterday. But the public wasn't his audience

He was talking to politicians, pointing out that loose lips make his job harder. And they do.

It may be selfish and heavy-handed to say so like this, but to that extent it is the truth.

[CHIMO]

5. Then

We might as well have Paul C. as the Canadian ambassador! Now he goes back to DC and says look I understand your position and I am making it known in Canada.

If he can't do the job then get out of there. If he doesn't understand by now that there is one language in the US administration, and that it is power, then he is as useful as a tit on a bull.

[Spazito]

8. Actually, he was talking to the press...

and I hope they resent his version of 'be careful what you say' ala Ari. The only smugness that was apparent to me was on McKenna's face while he was speaking.

[satya]

6. Speaking as a USAmerican who just returned from another trip to the

beautiful Okanagan Valley, I have never encountered a Canadian who attacked me or moralized about ANYTHING.

OTOH, my RW and fundie extremist family and neighbors here in the good ol' U S of A freely share their opinions about my "radical liberal socialist" politics. These discussions nearly always degenerate into personal attacks and suggestions that I should "love it or leave it".

[Spazito]

7. McKenna is supposed to take Canada's views to the US

NOT lecture us regarding the US's position. The US has an ambassador to Canada for that. McKenna's close ties to the Carlyle Group is showing up early. I didn't like him being appointed and still don't. He is a VERY poor choice, imo.

I suggest he spend more time trying to work on the various trade issues outstanding between our two countries instead of lecturing us on how to behave.

[V. Kid]

9. The way he's babbling about moralizing is really quite ironic.

He keeps telling us how we should act, how we should bend over backwards to understand the American position, and realize that our own positions aren't very important because the Americans, according to him, have been gravley wounded by september 11th. It's not as if september 11th wasn't important, the point is that it can only be used so much, otherwise people begin to not care. McKenna really should recognize moralizing sanctamonious pablemmy dribble when he hears it -- cause it's coming from his own mouth. He's draping his own (obviously) political positions in a rant about morals, it's quite tiresome. I thank satya for posting earlier, as I can't recall a time that I as a Canadian started rambling sanctamoniously to an American. Usually if I have a political discussion about the American goverment, with an American, it's the American bringing it up, and they're usually a liberal or progressive and recognize the dangerous position that the American goverment has vis a vis the rest of the world.