Anti-American Government, NOT Anti-American 4

I would like to clear something up with my American friends. I was reading a CNN article this morning about Bush visiting Canada, and here is a quote from the article:

“President Bush’s trip North of the border will be akin to a polite dance where he’ll try to avoid missteps that could create more anti-Americanism in Canada.”

Link to article: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/11/30/bush.canada.ap/index.html

I think there is a misconception inherent in the US media regarding the attitude of most Canadians towards Americans. In my opinion, a lot of Canadians (including myself) that oppose American policies or wars are not anti-American. I feel I am anti-Bush, anti-Bush Administration, and anti-Iraq war, but not anti-American. I feel that the US Media perceives protesting the Iraq war as anti-Americanism when another country holds protests. When there is a protest by Americans against the war, the media wouldn’t say “Anti-American Americans protesting war”, although they might label the protestors as unpatriotic. But I don’t agree with this either, in my mind, being patriotic in a democracy includes voicing your opposition when you don’t agree with something. The Americans that are protesting the war love their country just as much as Americans that support the war.

So my message to my American friends is that even though a lot of Canadians don’t agree with the Bush Administration attitude or policies, Canada still loves America. And you’ll be seeing a lot more Canadians traveling to the US because of the great exchange rates 😉 New York City rocks!