In the matter of Raymond Davis

I agree that there are two sides to this story and that perhaps we have not heard Raymond Davis' version given that his employer, whoever that may be, has been mum during his incarceration to date. My primary concern is that both foreign service officers and private US citizens have been murdered in Pakistan in recent years, and something like this only stands to inflame already strong anti-American sentiments in a country rife with conspiracy theories and with a current government that most Pakistanis perceive as putting US interests above their own.

Beyond the international convention of diplomatic immunity, there lies a larger principle at stake here, and that is adhering to the same rules and laws that other citizens in the country to which a person is posted in an official capacity must follow. The Washington Post had an excellent article today about how Pakistanis are now referring to all Americans in that country as "Raymond Davis'", implying that all Americans in Pakistan are either spies or have an overly imperious attitude in dealing with Pakistanis.

Is that what the United States has become? The "new British" in the Middle East and South Asia, too worried about our own existential survival to the point that we don't have the time or have become too indifferent to do the difficult job of learning languages, forming relationships, and listening to opposing viewpoints? Sadly, there are many people in our government who are doing just this, and the actions of one individual have managed to put at risk not only the hard work that has already been done but also the very lives of those who are doing this genuine diplomatic work.

My contention all along has been that the word "diplomat" should be reserved for those who use language to influence others as opposed to guns. I would hesitate a guess that a majority of Pakistanis and Americans would agree with that opinion, even if that means that Raymond Davis has to learn to fight his way out of a bad situation with words of persuasion to the Pakistanis rather than his glock.

Where's the (Canadian) beef? -- In America

Canada and the US are essentially the same economic entity. Ohio would've been part of Canada if it hadn't been for Commodore Perry's victory over the Brits in the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812, and there's really no reason for Canada and the US not to merge militarily (which NORAD pretty much represents) as well as politically, other than the fears of Quebec nationalists about losing their French street signs and those of American rightwingers about all the Muslims claiming political assylum and living in Toronto just ready to set off a car bomb in the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.

I think no American in his/her right mind seriously envisions an economic or military conflict with Canada, even over such contentious issues as who gets to control potential shipping lanes over the Arctic. But, that's exactly the point. Americans can't look at one country and be like, oh, well these guys are absolutely no economic threat to us, and then look at a country with an almost an identical economic profile, and be like, oh, man, these guys are taking all our jobs, but hey, I love this new flatscreen television I just watched the Super Bowl on!

Most Americans have no idea that many of their consumer and car products are made in Canada or that the oil they put in their cars or the food they eat is made with stuff that comes out of the ground in Alberta and Saskatchewan and shipped out through Manitoba. When they hear Canada, they think of ice hockey and Molson.

I'm fairly educated, and it wasn't until people from the Canadian embassy paid a visit when I was in law school at Ohio State that I realized that Canada was a much larger play in the Midwest economy than China. If you ask anyone in Youngstown or Akron, where their automotive jobs went, they'll all reply China. When in reality, it was more likely their job went north to an auto parts plant on the other side of Lake Erie that now supplies to GM plants in Mexico and China for cars to be sold in Brazil and Turkey.

Where's the (Chinese) beef? -- In Canada

I'm going to cite for you the import and export stats for two countries that trade extensively with the United States as published by the US Commerce Dept, and you guess which ones they are --

FY10
County A) Imports from US: $228M; Exports to US: $252M; Balance: ($23M)
County B) Imports from US: $82M; Exports to US: $334M; Balance: ($252M)

If it weren't for the imports from US in Country B being a little less than half of what they are from Country A, would you not think these two countries to be highly similar in terms of their balance-of-trade with the US?

Well, it turns out they are. And, it's primarily because of Country A that my homestate of Ohio is the eighth largest economy in the US and the 20th largest economy globally -- almost 40 times that of the Republic of Georgia yet with a population only double and no warm sea port if you don't count the St. Lawrence Canal. How could that possibly be for a landlocked state in the so-called rust belt? It's called, proximity to Toronto.

The point being, if any country represents a threat to the US economy it's Country A, Canada, but instead we have everyone in this country complaining about how country B, China, is out to destroy the American way of life. I beg to differ. The Canadians have a lot more leverage over a bunch of Americans, especially now that they've become our number one supplier of oil, and so far it's only South Park that's been sounding the alarm!