"The United States Is Our Friend, Whether We Like It or Not"

When Mr. Bush was asked by a Canadian reporter at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Paul Martin why public opinion polls showed the two countries drifting apart, and whether he bore responsibility, he responded, "You know, I haven't seen the polls you look at, and we just had a poll in our country where people decided that the foreign policy of the Bush administration ought to be--stay in place for four more years." ("Bush, Visiting Canada, Aims to Smooth Ruffled Relations," The New York Times.)

To most of the English-speaking world, it would appear that the president didn't answer question, and not only that, that he totally discounted the thoughts and opinions of the Canadian public with the answer he did give to boot. That's because most of the English-speaking world speaks, well, English.

Our president speaks Hubris-ese. While the two are close, they are not the same. For instance, in English, it appears the president is saying the opinions of the Canadian people are meaningless when compared to the votes of 50 million Americans--which is a fairly decent--if superficial--interpretation. What you don't get by only speaking English (you poor, poor bastard) is the subtext and subtlety. What we Hubris speakers get when we read that response is this: "Fuck you, you Molson-slurping fur trappers, and pray every night for the next four years that Dick and Donald don't discover some natural resource up here that my major donors are interested in." Do you see the difference? the nuance lost in the English in translation?

It's okay. There's no need to thank me. I'm just glad to be of some help to you, our friends up North and other regions abroad, because, you know, I'm a giver.