"Planet America", Part One

above: mighty Horseshoe Falls ,in the Niagara chain of falls, one of America's great natural wonders. (P.S., It's in Canada.)

It can be said that many Americans have more than their fair share of hubris about this country and how we stack up above and beyond other nations. It gets so insular that recently, in a Republican Party Presidential debate, contender Fred Thompson was asked by moderator Chris Mathews whom the Prime Minister of Canada was. That the question of who is the leader of the USA's biggest trading partner and the nation which shares our long, long northern border WAS EVEN ASKED says a lot about the state of ignorance in the States. It's like we're on our own planet.

Senator Thompson got it right by the way. (It's PM Stephen Harper) But in the past politicianss don't do so well on naming foreign leaders.

In 2001, our current President was stumped when, according to a Washington Post report at the time, a Canadian TV host and gadfly named Rick Mercer waggishly told George W. Bush at a press conference that he had the support of Canada's President, Jean Poutine.

Bush reponded:

"I appreciate his strong statement. He understands Canadians are strong and we'll work closely together."

Actually, Canada has Prime Minister, not a President. And Jean Poutine was a made-up name, poutine being a popular dish served in Quebec.

Well, you say. Bush didn't hear the question, or his lack of travel prior to assuming office left him ignorant, or, hey you jerk, stop picking on Bush!! OK, but let me expand my criticism. Ron Wyden, the Democratic Senator from my home state of Oregon, was challenged in his first Senatorial debate in 1998 to find the country of Bosnia on a map.

He couldn't!! This is even more weird because Bosnia was in the news a great deal due to the Serbians invading the country and laying havoc on the Muslim population. But he got elected anyway!

Why are so many Americans ignorant of other nations? Is it our size or the relative might of the American economy--now slowly being whitted down by the collective strength of the European Union, plus China, India, et al? Or is it that we have a lot of Atomic Weapons and we just feel too strong to teach geography and world events? Or is it because we are a large nation and there is a great deal to keep track of right here for most folks, given the limited time we all might have to keep informed?

I hope it's the latter answer mainly, but sometimes I'm not so sure.

Open up the average American newspaper and you won't hear much about other parts of the worldunless, like Iraq, Americans are stuck in a war over there.

On the radio spectrum, outlets like the BBC World Service put us to shame in their coverage of world events. On televison, CNN tries a bit to do international stories like Anderson Cooper's interesting and stark, "Planet in Peril", but other shows like "Larry King Live" seem to devote most of its coverage to events right in the USA (the exception being anything having to do with the endless investigation into the death of Princess Diana or a rap or pop star getting in trouble overseas at an airport). Some pundits like Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly on the uber-conservative Fox News Channel would have us believe that most citizens in places like Europe are a pack of socialist zombies. They are a comfort to the xenophobic shut-ins among us, I am sure.

To be fair, I'm sure other nations have their share of ignorant people. But I strongly suspect other nations don't have so many ignorants running things and supplying information to the public.

So, all things considered, this story from the Associated Press (below) shouldn't come as too big a surprise:

Video Puts Canadian Part of Falls in US

By MATTHEW LEE – 1 day ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Oh, Canada! The USA is closer than ever.

The Bush administration appears to have annexed a major Canadian landmark as part of a slick new campaign to promote U.S. tourism and welcome foreign visitors to America.

A Disney-produced promotional video released last week by the departments of State and Homeland Security highlights majestic American landscapes, from New England's colorful fall foliage and the Grand Canyon to the Rocky Mountains and Hawaii's pounding surf.

Backed by a soaring orchestral soundtrack, shots of those attractions are interspersed with the smiling images of people of all creeds and colors. The video, "Welcome: Portraits of America," is to be played at select airports in the United States — starting at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston — and at U.S. embassies abroad.

About four minutes into the seven-minute production, viewers are treated to the impressive sight and sound of water roaring over Niagara Falls before the screen shifts to the Lincoln Memorial.

In showing the natural wonder, Disney's filmmakers, however, chose the Horseshoe Falls, the only one of Niagara's three waterfalls to lie almost entirely on the Canadian side of the border separating western New York state from southern Ontario province.

Making matters worse, a visitor to the U.S. would not even be able to get the same view of the falls in the video because the scene was shot from a vantage point in Canada, according to Paul Gromosiak, a Niagara Falls, N.Y., historian and author.

Also, he said the video leaves out the two cascades that actually are on U.S. territory, the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.

"This is not the United States, this is 100 percent Canada, shot from the Canadian side," Gromosiak said after reviewing the video at the request of The Associated Press. "This is an insult."

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So if the State Departent /Homeland Security gang can't get it right, and they should know where the borders are, right, maybe we should ask everybody who runs for office a lot of questions that might reveal what they know about the lay of the land outside the USA (besides hoardes of socialist zombies and that Stephen Harper guy, I mean.)