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When Scary met Patsy

 
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Maurice
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:08 am    Post subject: When Scary met Patsy Reply with quote

When Scary met Patsy

By M. Andre Moore, Journalist

The way the mainstream US and Canadian press corps covered the first official meeting between PM Martin and President Bush at the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico reminded me of parents watching their kids going out on a first date.

No doubt, they were expecting a nervous courtship. A lot of bad blood had been shared over key issues. Mad cow or BSE, softwood lumber, reconstruction contracts in Iraq and the passport debacle weren’t going to be resolved by flowers and chocolates but the Canadian contingent was hoping our Prime Minister would woo the Texan enough to make him reconsider his stance.

Even though the summit was, according to Martin “Canada’s idea”, we were by no means going to get to ride on top if things got sexy.

Bush, still obsessed with the war of terror, wasn’t going to twist on issues that would compromise his country’s security. He wasn’t about to cut the crap between Canada and the rest of the world with one magnanimous karate chop. After spending $18.6 billion of his tax payers money and an election on the horizon—he can’t afford to.

This doesn’t mean the US president was inflexible. He loosened the noose a little, allowing Canada to bid on second round contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq. At the time of writing I heard Nortel had won a successful bid to re-wire Baghdad but I’m still waiting for verification on that one. George also promised to notify Canadian authorities if they planned to send another one of our citizens to a foreign torture chamber. It may not avert another Maher Arar but it’s better than a poke in the eye. Still smitten with the taste for flesh, Bush Jr. claims he hasn’t given up red meat but was vague about a solution for mad cow.

Softwood lumber is still political herpes.

With only limited time to get reacquainted (the two met earlier in the same place about 18 months ago) the breakfast meeting can hardly be touted as a success. Until their words are turned into actions it’s all pillow talk. Missed in this diplomatic grope-fest was the poverty plaguing Mexico and other Latin countries. Now if the press could’ve got their pens out of their zippers maybe they could’ve found something more salient to report.


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