Oh Canada!

OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Canadian Member of Parliament Carolyn Parrish had said she hated "damned Americans" and called them bastards in the run-up to the Iraq war.

She found a new moniker, idiots, on Wednesday in discussing the planned U.S. missile defense system.

"We are not joining the coalition of the idiots. We are joining the coalition of the wise," the Liberal legislator told a small group of demonstrators.
...
"They tortured people in Iraq, they (the Iraqis) have no weapons of mass destruction. Could somebody explain to me whether you think they're idiots or geniuses?"

That may add a little spice to the upcoming Hockey World Cup. The US team will play Canada Tuesday night in Montreal in the opening game for both teams (and a rematch of the gold-medal match in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, which the Canadians won).

CBC, as usual, is providing the best coverage of these Olympics. Last night, I caught the end of a story they were doing about Greeks organizing massive protests against Colin Powell's planned visit to Athens this weekend. I didn't hear Bob Costas mention it during NBC's coverage. I will give him credit, however, for mentioning the obvious to IOC President Jacques Rogge. Paraphrasing, Costas pointed out that a huge part of the funding for the Olympics came from broadcasting, and that the largest part of that came from Costas' own NBC. Costas asked Rogge if that huge financial stake put pressure on judges and IOC officials to decide controversies in favor of Americans. Rogge denied any favoritism, but it was nice to see Costas mention the 800-pound gorilla in the room, even if it was his own gorilla.