By Stephen Smith
Buffalo, NY – As a British citizen I am one of quite a number of expatriate Brits who delight in living in Buffalo. Now that hasn't always been the case for Brits, nor has it been the case for Buffalonians always extending us a warm welcome! Although whatever their feelings at the time, it must have been a fairly warm day for Buffalonians when we Brits set fire to the city as part of our contribution to the 1812 War between ourselves and the United States. I was recently reminded of this by a historic plaque on the side of a Pearl Street building: Site of Buffalo's first schoolhouse, burned by the British in 1813.
Ah well, let's not get lost in nostalgia for the good old days (that's if you're an arsonist of course). But even in the here and now there can still be tensions between Americans and Brits. On the subject of war, there is the not so small matter of Iraq; or "I-rack" according to our Great American Leader, George W, et al; that's the Latin "al" of course, meaning "and the other guys", not Al as in Gore; although gore as in blood has a lot to do with war. Furthermore, this is Bush et al, not Gore et Bush, which according to the Supreme Court, Al apparently did not do at the Florida recount, no matter how hungry he was to win.
But I digress - so back to those respective cultural tensions: George's famous words in his State of the Union Address about Sadaam purchasing "nucular" material from an African nation were, now claim he and his (that's the et al but enough of that), misinformation; misinformation fed to the Administration, they say, by - you've guessed it - the same people who not only burnt down Buffalo in 1812, but also set fire to the Washington White House - those perfidious Brits.
However, according to the Great Brit Leader, Tony B, the information about Sadaam and that certain African nation is not misinformation. It is correct! Only the British government is not going to tell how they know that, so there!
Who is right, George or Tony? We shall have to await the next episode of this increasingly lethal (and among the Brit experts, now suicidal) soap opera. But as we wait -
It must be said
The less I care For Bush and Blair
Too many dead For finding that
Which isn't there
The reasons given
To embark
Upon this seeming folly
Called Iraq.
However, we Brits are used to waiting; or queuing as we call it when waiting for a taxi, or our turn in a shop to by a packet of sweets; which to you Americans means standing in line for a cab, or in a store to buy a bag of candies. But language differences are something we can talk about another time.
Meanwhile, I'm perplexedly, Stephen Smith.
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Listener-Commentator Stephen Smith is an Episcopal priest serving St. Paul's Cathedral in downtown Buffalo.