An open letter to America, from a concerned Canadian.(Political commentary)

The most stunning thing to me is that some right wingers see this outrage some of us have over the directions taken in the USA as being somehow anti-American.

The things that people that feel like I do share is not a hatred for America - but a great appreciation for it, and it's core values. If I hated America, I would not drag my creaking bones up on this soapbox I sometimes rant from.

Instead I'd microwave some popcorn, and sit back and enjoy the show. I'd delight in seeing that great country of yours turning into a disaster. Heck, I'd even ENCOURAGE it.

That's not what I am doing here, nor are almost all of the people that share my opinion.

We remember a time when America was something we all respected. We knew that you would always stand up for the weakest, and you would try to make the world a better place. We knew that we could sometimes disagree, but always shared something special that went beyond any and all our differences. Your great nation, it's long and fascinating history, and the remarkable accomplishments you have achieved proved why our faith in you was not misplaced.

You know how to do something impossible ? Just tell an American it can't be done.

Your nation has produced some of the greatest political minds that have ever walked this earth. The same can be said for your scientists, and for your inventors and businessmen.

Common men did something quite uncommon there in America. They revolted, in an insurgency, and overthrew the strongest nation on earth - with the best political system of it's time. After winning, they made sure that the power they had was fair and applied to all.

It took a while for blacks to be included, and then women followed, but the original intent was to place the power of the state in the hands of it's citizens in away that was breathtaking for it's time. They took the image of the French Revolution, of "liberte, fraternite, et egalite" , and improved it a thousandfold.

You could stand up and speak in America, and you were allowed to - and you were listened to. In fact, you were EXPECTED to. Your history is filled with those who walked away from the crowd, and stood up bravely against the raging mob and spoke their heart.

From Thoreau, to Rosa Parks, these individuals have time and time again come out and inspired not only their fellow citizens - but the world. Common men, doing uncommon things. People who have bravely opposed the state, as well as it's leaders. Those individuals have written your history, and changed the course of it. They were ( and are still today) your very conscience. They are the rudder that keeps the ship running true.

The climate that allowed all that, that fertile garden of democracy, has now sprouted weeds and it's soil has soured.

Your administration no longer tries for concensus, internally or internationally. Democracy requires bringing people together, and not dividing them with fear.

Dissent is to be encouraged in democracy, not crushed. The people that disagree with you keep you honest. Mobs are formed when men all think alike without questioning.

The most un-American slogan I have ever heard is " My country, right or wrong." America was shaped by people that would have cringed had they heard that. America was always about being better, and it was because it allowed leaders to be challenged by any man that had an ability to see a different future,indeed a better future, and who fought for those very principles with words and actions - and not violence.

The men who created your country did so with great thought and foresight. They made sure that religion would be forever protected, but never allowed it to be the main sail under which the ship of state drew it's power.

Now we see a small, but very influential, group of evangelical Christians that are using politics as a means to drag the Heavens down to earth. When Creationism was eliminated, Intelligent Design took it's place.

President's tell us that democracy is "God's gift to the world", yet the Bible has no mention of it. It's rather strange that the Heavenly Father neglected to include any political directives in it. Religion was meant to be a personal way of life, of living your life - and not forcing others to follow your beliefs.

This neo-con vision of America is rooted in a false nostalgia. It's premise is that guns and bombs, and fear, are more powerful than words and ideas. It's dream is of an America that controls the world, not one that participates in it. It's way of obtaining power is to cast doubts on great men, men of valour, men who fought in combat protecting your very country against other men who wanted to destroy it. It will even offer up intelligence assets as a sacrificial lamb if political gain may be the result. It will even gloat over breaking the law.

It's everything that America never was, and it's shadowy hand is reaching out to turn your country into something that it was never meant to be. The worst part is that some believe that these men have your best interests at heart. Their Machavelian intent is to control, and not to inspire by example. As such, their very core is directly opposed to everything that made America the great and respected country that it had been for most of it's history.

We haven't changed, but you have. We still see the things America once taught us, those things that made us proud to have you as our friends, neighbours, and allies.

We still hold those truths to be self-evident.

So I have come to praise America, not to bury it.