Mon Apr 11/05
Spring forward

Spring has sprung with a vengeance in the Tdot, and I'm feeling no pain. Plans for a backyard bocce ball setup are being drawn up, patio furniture has been procured, and barbecues are being priced out in the Wal-Mart flyer. I'm so full of cheer that it doesn't even bother me that, in reaction to Tuesday's post, I've been called (see comments) a "disappointed Liberal." (In light of my profound disdain for the Liberal party I consider that a little below the belt, but in fairness, I suppose I must be a Liberal of sorts. Why else would I disagree with Kate McMillan?) It also doesn't bother me that I still don't know what point I missed when I suggested that maybe, just maybe, those who linked to Captain Ed were taking themselves a wee bit too seriously when they compared themselves to Woodward and Bernstein just before they professed their respect for the exact sort of publication ban that they had just violated. (I've yet to read a sufficient response to the question Damian Brooks posed here, and then, in follow-up, here.)

But spring has also brought with it the rarest of beasts: a significant but not earth-shattering story and an appropriate reaction thereto. The story: border-crossers will soon need passports to enter the United States. The reaction: it's just not that big a deal. As far as I can see, a large number of Canadians and Americans will still be asked a few simple questions and sent on their way with a smile, without any request for ID. We live in histrionic times, where Canadians forced to show their passports at Niagara Falls must be evidence of something else — say, the absolute 100 percent failure of Canada's immigration system. But the gradual phase-in of this program, and Canadians' ongoing US-VISIT exemption, show that politicians on both sides of the 49^th parallel realize that the Canadian/American relationship is something special, something that partisan point-scoring will never be allowed to undermine.

And what's more, I don't have to walk to work tomorrow! Happy springtime, one and all!