I went to seminary with at least one classmate from Canada, who somehow managed to take the anti-Canada barbs I'd hurl at her with good humor, sharp wit, and remarkable grace. Surprising, considering that I seriously doubt such virtues are taught in the land of ice hockey and mukluks. She's now a pastor of a church up there, leading weekly worships to a god that I assume is depicted as a giant idol of a caribou.
And most shamefully of all, my grandpa George was born in Toronto, which technically makes me one-quarter Canuck.
I am utterly self-loathing. Like a closeted gay or lesbian Christian who rails against their fellow queer people, I go to great pains to demonstrate my hate for and of Canada in order to compensate for the blood that runs in my very veins.
And I try not to use that word "hate" here very often. This is a Christian blog, after all, and hate is not a trait Christians ought to have.
But man, I hate Canada. What a worthless excuse for a country. What sort of independent state puts another country's monarch on their currency? We Yanks fought a war to make sure that WE got to choose who is put on our currency, and let me tell you, we did a bang-up job, especially with putting the chap responsible for signing the Indian Removal Act (which allowed for the Trail of Tears) on the $20 bill.
And what kind of pitiful Potemkin country takes a sport like curling seriously? I mean, I get it: fake country, meet fake sport. It makes perfect sense. But you maple-leafers sure aren't helping your case for legitimacy with that one.
I may criticize my country's leaders an awful lot, but I still love that I'm an American: this country was the life-saving refuge of my mom's family as they fled a genocide, and nothing gets me more star-spangled righteous than comparing our red, white, and blue awesomeness to Canada's mere red-and-white mediocrity.
Maybe that's the problem with Canada. They're short the blue. Maybe they can get the Brits they still somehow tolerate a viceroy from to loan them the blue from the Union Jack. Maybe the Brits will take Rob Ford in exchange, I'm sure one of the many tabloids across the pond would LOVE to have him closer by. I mean, seriously, Rob effin' Ford. In what country could he be elected mayor? Well, as it turns out, the same Mountie-obeying country that gave us Justin Bieber. Thanks for him too, you musically-challenged chuckleheads.
And if none of this convinces you of Canada's perpetual, raging ineptitude, go onto Google right now and type in the words "Why Canada" and see what the first autofill suggestion is. Seriously, go ahead. I'll wait.
So yeah, Canada basically sucks. And as such, I and every other freedom-loving, moral courage-abiding, proud-to-be-an-American should have expected nothing but suckitude from that cold, barren, North Pole-wannabe wasteland after, tragically, a Canadian soldier, Corporal Nathan Cirillo, was shot and killed in a violent rampage that took place in Parliament in the Canadian capital, Ottawa.
And lo, do the stories that have emerged after this crime confirm Canada's place as a bottom-feeder among the nations.
Parliament's Sergeant-at-arms, Kevin Vickers, who was responsible for bringing down the assailant (and thus is the one to credit for this not turning into a large-scale shooting), turned out to be a thoughtful and sensitive soul who has, in the course of a long, distinguished, and honorable career, mediated with and gone to bat for the rights of many cultural minorities in Canada from the indigenous tribes to the Sikhs. What an almighty loser.
The assailant, whose name deserves no more notoriety than is already being given (and thus I shall not be using his name), is another fundamentalist Muslim terrorist, which has already baited some of the more virulent and vile Islamophobes to begin spewing their poison anew. But then the chief of the Ottawa police, Charles Bordeleau, sent this reassuring letter to the leaders of the Canadian-Muslim community in Ottawa that, said, presumably with lots of long-o sounds, "I want to take this opportunity to reiterate my commitment to ensure the safety of ALL our communities." (emphasis mine)
Where the hell did that Tim Hortons-swilling yahoo learn such thoughtfulness and tolerance? While learning to drive his first ever Zamboni? Ugh.
And what about all of the unnervingly touching messages of sympathy, condolences, and prayer being exchanged by all four and a half people who actually live way up there in the frigid nether-regions of hell? I mean, art like this truly incredible cartoon kicks me right in the feels, and that is something the member of Team America within me simply cannot abide by:
Clearly, this third-rate so-called "country" has nothing to offer my great nation of the United States except its existence as our collective hat. Our collective, funny-shaped, overly apologetic, slightly dopey hat.
And who gives a frozen moose turd about any one hat? Even a hat that has shown that it can bear a national tragedy with as much grace, dignity, and poise as its geographical wearer, if not more? Certainly not a hat whose only relevance to the rest of the world comes two weeks every four years when the Winter Olympics gets played.
What an obviously worthless excuse for an independent state. If the United States isn't going to bother invading and turning this piece of tundra into a giant satellite parking lot for Washington, Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota, then I hope they get invaded by some renegades from Santa's elves and are forced to immediately surrender and live out the remainder of their insipid little lives in the service of their new jingle-belled overlords.
Even just thinking about a state that is made up of such kind-hearted and compassionate citizens remaining sovereign makes me want hurl back up the Kraft dinner I just consumed.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee,
Eric
(Author's Note: The publishing of this post was delayed by a tornado formed over our church building and continued through town. Everyone who is here at the church is fine and there is no immediately visible damage, but a number of trees were brought down, and there appears to be a fair amount of damage throughout our town. Your prayers would be much appreciated. ~E.A.)
Photo credits: inthepen.files.wordpress.com and cbc.ca, respectively.
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