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How to Lose Friends and Alienate Countries

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I for one am not really sweating this...a bunch of ignorant pundits blabbing on at 3 in the morning do not constitute a serious threat to Canada's international standing, especially since two are really professional comedians without a military background, one a mediocre print journalist, and the last one a pretty Ann Coulter wanna-be.

Besides, given the way the US federal reserve is printing money we'll all be viciously mocking American dollars/pesos during primetime!
 
An apology from G. Gutfeld:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090323.wfoxapology0323/BNStory/National
 
I think it's impressive that enough Canadians were offended by a slight against the CF that it got an apology out of a major foreign news network that is well known for it's 'confrontational' programming. Even more impressive considering that Fox News rarely issues public retractions or apologies.

My previous comments still stand when I say that alot of this sounded hollow considering that Canadians do this to our allies to the south all the time via our media networks and commentators. However, maybe we (as CF members on the site) should, before we lambast others for getting all worked up, appreciate the fact that ordinary Canadians are defending the 'honour' of the CF. Like I posted earlier, I doubt the media as well as ordinary citizens would have been up in arms over something like this a decade ago.
 
TDeV said:
looked at the above link; no apology seen here.

Gutfeld issued an apology Monday afternoon saying, "I realize that my words may have been misunderstood. It was not my intent to disrespect the brave men, women and families of the Canadian military, and for that I apologize."

???
 
If Benson had appeared in Edmonton, there is no doubt in my mind he would have been tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail....AFTER a rather lengthy Blanket Party. Soap in a sock anyone?

Cheers,

tango22a
 
Would there be anything illegal about offering $50 to anybody in Edmonton who could mail me Doug Benson's nose?
 
Seems as if civilians are much more worked up then military members. I've had numerous people here at Civvy U ask me how outraged I was and act very shocked when I am unfazed about the whole thing. Nice to see a measured and mature response from most other military members. Soldier on folks, can't let rubbish like this get under your skin.
 
"My apologies to the Canadian military, they probably could at least beat the Belgians." - 5:55 AM Mar 22nd from web

http://twitter.com/GregGutfeld

Oh Guts, you wacky iconoclast you.
 
Greg Gutfeld: NO Brain NO Pain...Open mouth ( shouldn't be hard he strikes me as a bit of a mouth-breather)....Insert Foot.....close mouth!

Well he's had his ten minutes of fame, BUT he doesn't seem to want to leave the stage.

tango22a
 
I have done my best to stay away from interweb comment boards on places like Youtube et al for quite a while. However because this video is quite frankly impossible to avoid, I've inadvertantly read few (very few) of the comments made by Canadians in response to this clip.

While reading these comments, I have become disgusted on an almost equal level while reading what other Canadians have to say. EVERY comment that I have read has been anti-American to the fullest extent. The sheer level of ignorance shown by Canadians is .... well, there aren't words for it.
This Gutfeld character was trying to be funny, even though in bad taste (which does not make it any better)... these following  cut/paste comments are not people trying to be funny, they are just examples of ignorance.

"America couldn't invade
Canada ever! They would run out of gas and oil to do it, we power them remember!!!! "

"F@CK FOX and F@CK the USA a pissed offed canidian"

"Wait 'til our troops have been pulled out of Iraq, then watch these guys squirm and beg for us to come back. Go fuck yourself Fox News!"

"[name removed] agrees,Canadians are fighting a war those assholes started......."

The level of anti-American attitude present in Canada should make any Canadian shake their heads.

Oddball
 
/offtopic
Oddball, of course Youtube's commentary section attracts mostly retarded users. Look up fred's amount of subscribers, then watch one of his videos. In my online gaming and board experience, Canadians with a medium to strong anti-american bias are a loud ~20% minority, except in places that attract a younger, more rebellious and/or immature crowd. However, the majority of people do have a light bias in my opinion.

There are many better comment boards to be found on the internet, sad thing is the ignorant users are fast spilling elsewhere when almost everyone holds their views where they come from. Look at digg.com, it was once a good place to share news, opinions and comments, and it rapidly turned into a shithole over a year. reddit.com still has serious and very interesting discussions going on, but the amount of useless links and dumb commentaries is slowly increasing... More and more do I see the kind of things I would (sadly) expect from digg these days.

In short, judging the general population based on a concentrated pool of retards is bad practice :x
 
benny88 said:
Seems as if civilians are much more worked up then military members. I've had numerous people here at Civvy U ask me how outraged I was and act very shocked when I am unfazed about the whole thing.
Exactly - we get plenty of practice putting up with "humour" like this from other Canadians. Apparently we're a whipping-boy that they prefer to reserve for themselves.
 
A friend sent me the link, and I must say that it was satirically comical at first then just went overboard and became insultingly stupid.  I don't think John Stewart would ever cross the line of Troop support especially on the day we lost 4 Brothers.  :salute:
I have also read ad nauseum the posted comments on youtube.  Yes, there is a lot of anti-American sentiment there, mainly because the average american on the street thinks this way, and most of the posted comments are from very ticked off Canadians.(youtube lets thru all of the bad words-which only shows that there are ticked off people)  Mind you, some of the poor grammar and spelling shows some how uneducated or uncaring some of us appear to be.
Rick Mercer has taken pot shots at americans with his "Talking to Americans" segments and they were funny.  However, he was taking pot shots AT us in the same breath, as only Canadians can.
Am I appalled with this segment, yes.
Will it happen again, probably.
We are good neighbours who borrow each others lawnmowers and have beer together....and throw the cans back over the fence. 
Sometimes our Friendly Southern Neighbours have to understand that we have feelings and don't have a huge military.
:cdn: 

 
recceguy said:
Americans say Lieutenant phonetically, 'Lootenant', we pronounce it like the Brits 'Leftenant'. Either is correct in its own context and local language. The only 'ignorant assholes' are the bigoted ones that display local bias and condemn someone because of their own perceived cultural norms.

I have heard many broadcasters, including the BBC and even the Evil Satanic Baby-Eating CBC, use our pronunciation for our troops, the other for US troops. A simple courtesy, and technically correct.
So I am a nitpicker. But "bigoted"? Gimme a f'n break ...
 
Read the last line of this post. Makes the apology seem sinsere.


http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/03/23/redeye-soldiers-mocking.html?ref=rss

Fox host apologizes for mocking of Canadian Forces

Last Updated: Monday, March 23, 2009
The host of an over-the-top, late-night Fox network show has apologized for disrespecting the Canadian military with a recent segment on his intentionally inflammatory program.

"The March 17th episode of Red Eye included a segment discussing Canada's plan for a 'synchronized break,' which was in no way an attempt to make light of troop efforts," host Greg Gutfeld said in a statement issued Monday.

"However, I realize that my words may have been misunderstood. It was not my intent to disrespect the brave men, women and families of the Canadian military, and for that I apologize."

In an interview with the CBC on Monday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said he accepted the apology — pointing out it came only after his department contacted Fox demanding one earlier in the day.

MacKay called the comments "totally, totally inappropriate, ridiculous [and] demeaning."

The vast majority of Americans, from President Barack Obama on down, "have nothing but respect and admiration for the Canadian forces and their families," he said.

"I don't think we should dignify this with more commentary other than to say it's highly regrettable," he added.

"The apology at least represents some recognition of the insensitivity — and we all move on."

'Red Eye is a satirical take on the news, in which all topics are addressed in a lighthearted, humorous and ridiculous manner," MacKay added.

Gutfeld, a former Maxim and Stuff magazine editor, hosts the cultural commentary show, which is broadcast on Fox weekdays at 3 a.m. ET.

He moderates a round table of panellists who deliver off-the-cuff musings and crack jokes about a wide range of topics from the worlds of news, entertainment and sports. Commentators have included comedians, Fox News anchors, actors and Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis.

'…The Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white Capri pants.'
— Greg Gutfeld, Fox News moderatorIn a five-minute segment broadcast March 17, Gutfeld mocked the Canadian Forces, noting Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie's recent comment that the military may need a year to recover after Canada's mission in Afghanistan ends in 2011.

"Meaning, the Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white Capri pants," Gutfeld said.

"I didn't even know they were in the war," panellist and comedian Doug Benson added. "I thought that's where you go if you don't want to fight. Go chill in Canada."

The panellists continued by joking about soldiers needing a break for "manicures and pedicures," how Canada should be invaded and poked fun at the RCMP.

Canadian soldiers, who have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001, have spent the last four years in the country's most violent regions. On Friday, military officials announced that four more Canadian soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded in two separate roadside explosions outside Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.

Canadians express outrage
Over the past few days, the Red Eye segment has sparked outrage from a range of Canadians, including thousands of comments on YouTube and Facebook.

"Our soldiers are dying for them and they have the audacity and the ignorance … to say something like that, it is insulting. It's the most ignorant thing I've ever heard," Sam Warren told CBC News after watching the segment.

The segment also drew criticism from Conservative author, columnist and commentator David Frum.

"The clip in question is a sequence of goofs about the feebleness, uselessness and absurdity of the Canadian armed forces. Why would I call that dumb? Here's why," Frum wrote on his New Majority.com blog last week, before listing the Canadian soldiers, aid workers and a diplomat who have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.

"Sorry I disrespected your show, Red Eye fans, but you disrespected the dead," Frum added.

On Sunday, a post attributed to Gutfeld appeared on Twitter, which offered an apology of sorts.

"My apologies to the Canadian military, they probably could at least beat the Belgians," the posting read.
 
MacKay should have invited him over and punched him in the nose and say HA HA just kidding eh? It's funny eh?

The whole group of them in the youtube video are a bunch of morons. You know how some people have a dumb look? They have it.
 
Aside from particularly bad timing, I fail to see what the huge fuss is about. A few lines by a group of semi-comedians who enjoy pushing the envelope on a lot of topics.  Who cares what a bunch of civi talking heads think?
American and other Coalition troops on the ground in Afghanistan know the value of our contribution, the high regard of just one of our Coalition peers for our troops is worth far more than anything said by Gutfield and the rest.
I don't mind, because they don't matter.
 
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