I have recently discovered CNN – I’ve always been a bit of a news junkie but this.. this discovery has catapulted my addiction to a whole new level. The news from the USA has become something of an evening soap opera for me. I’ve been introduced to programming that is positively riveting and a cast of thousands – news anchors, political analysts, congressmen and senators, majority leaders, speakers of the house, good guys and villains. At first I found the spectacle confusing, I had no idea what the rules were, no clue which side to cheer for or how to know when someone was winning – but I’m catching on.
American politics is a spectator sport for us here in Canada – I’m invested in their shenanigans but only as far as my sensibilities go – I have nothing on the line. From my vantage the proceedings in Washington are like a full blown Hollywood production – daytime television at its finest, but in truth they are far from inconsequential. I’m watching the USA re-define its place in the world, its priorities and its policies.
I’m an average Canadian – I try not to ruffle feathers and I’m a bit of a fence sitter. Like a lot of my countrymen I lean a bit to the left, I’m proud of our healthcare system and our social nets. I’m a pacifist, I root for underdogs and I worry about climate change. At my heart I’m a peace keeper and I believe that love is love is love. My opinions would lump me among the radical left if I lived in the United States but here at home I’m just middle of the road.
There is a monument straddling the border between Canada and the United States in a park not far from where I live. On it is inscribed “Children of a Common Mother”. That inscription always hits my heart. It reminds me to look at my siblings with a little distance, to celebrate our connections and to appreciate our differences. We grew up under one roof but we have each evolved in our own way. Our commonality is in our past. That inscription also inspires hope – hope that the connection of the past is strong enough to support a connection in the future. Hope that my children and their children will feel that connection. Hope that respect will always rule the day.
I have an opinion about what’s going on south of our border, but I have to remember it’s a Canadian’s opinion, it’s ‘this’ Canadian’s opinion. I have a second hand view of what actually brought my country’s sister to this place of unrest and division. I’m watching their news from the vantage of my own experience – I feel removed and worried. I feel helpless. But I also feel hopeful – Canada and the USA are siblings, children of a common mother, we are connected and something in that connection leads me to believe that things will get sorted out down there. I feel hopeful that respect will again rule the day.