O CANADA, WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME?

HOW COULD Alex Beam seriously admire a place (Canada) where free heroin
clinics, government-run health care, and the opportunity to buy all the pot
you need are the latest progressive innovations ("Showing a plucky
independence with its tolerance and diversity, Canada has never been more
hip," Living/Arts, July 1)? Is there anyone who still thinks it's cool to
hang out with Bill Clinton and his latest female companion?

But before I went off on a tear, I thought I would get my wife's opinion.
As a true middle-of-the-road independent, I thought she might have a more
moderate opinion. Her reaction surprised me. She assumed the column was
written by a Republican. When I asked her why, she thought the column was
meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

In her opinion, no one could possibily think the items mentioned in the
column were in any way good things. No matter how much I tried, I could not
convince her that some people would likely see the things listed as a true
claim to hipness and coolness for Canadians.

So we have more evidence that what the left sees as hip or cool are exactly
those things that average Americans see as bizarre and destructive social
engineering. For example, full-service heroin dens, needle exchange
programs, and same-sex marriage were mentioned in Beam's column.

So I gave Canada Day a pass, and waited until July Fourth to celebrate the
birth of a truly great country.

BRUCE HITCHCOCK

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