The Albany Times-Union
November 25, 2005
A terrible threat from the north
By BILL MARCUS
SHANGHAI — It was so nice to wake up the other morning and hear the head of the government take full responsibility for the results of an investigation into a scandal that has rocked the nation, embarrassed the party, and compromised the public integrity of key leading officials. It was just too bad that the country was Canada, and that the news was coming to me via the CBC based in Calgary.
For more than three years now, I’ve been monitoring my home, the United States, by Internet radio from my perch in the People’s Republic. Recently, my sleep patterns were disturbed as a result of worrying about my visa. So I tuned into the CBC, where, unlike the Americans out of New York City or Albany, my home for the past 20 years, they talk, not yell.
I listen to the CBC, a much more calming voice. No Bush. No Rove. No War. No such luck.
First I heard the Bloc Quebecois voted at its party meeting to raise an army if they approve independence.
Then, one morning: kickbacks, millions of Canadian dollars wasted, early elections, and no less than an entire lifetime ban for 10 members of the Liberal Party. Over what? A cultural- linguistic fight corrupted by political idealism.
“We’ve put up with a lot. A lot more than the Americans would ever put up with,” a speaker now says about the ruling Liberal Party’s unfolding political scandal.
Anger, frustration, powerlessness. Advertising executives hiding from public view.
Separate, I say! Raise an army! Vive le Quebec vivre!
But to my friends in upstate New York I earnestly advise watch out! Should the National Army of Quebec be raised, our way of life will surely be imperiled! Waste no time! Mount the battlements! If a civil war spills over onto our shores of Lake George and Lake Champlain, Northway traffic may result. We have nothing to lose but safe access to Plattsburgh!
Perhaps, I write to a friend in the service of one of our members of the New York Assembly, someone ought to introduce a bill to “study” New York’s military options in such an event.
I’m going back to bed. Hopefully when I wake up, all this will be gone. As for my radio, I’m tuning that back to WAMC in Albany to hear updates on my own country’s unfolding scandals if for no other reason, than their familiarity, if not their tone enables me to sleep more easily.
Bill Marcus teaches at Fudan University in Shanghai.
Link to original Albany Times-Union article: A terrible threat from the north