11 Jun 2004 Note from a Neighbor

Something nice in the mailbag today:

When Ronald Regan visited Canada when he was President, my wife and I made up a large, very neat poster welcoming him (“Friends in Freedom” with the U.S. and Canadians flags, etc. – very nice, we still have it). We strategically positioned ourselves so that both he (in a limousine) and the TV crews could see us very well and my wife, then a young, very photogenic woman, held up the sign for all to see. There were a few hundred well-wishers in our place on the sidewalk as well. Just down the road were some scruffy protesters with the typical ugly signs. When the media went by us they had their cameras off, all pointed skyward and they showed no interest in us. When they got to the few dozen scruffy protesters, all the cameras came on and guess what the media reports and images were that night on the National TV news about the crowd that came out to meet the Reagans? The anti-Americanism we see in so much Canadian media just does not represent the views of the average Canadian. Generally, we find Americans a caring, intelligent, honest and likeable people, just like President Reagan.