Canada Died‪?‬

One day in late 2012 I was reading the coins in my pocket, something I have hardly ever done, when I noticed something that was the size and color of an American nickel but which had the inscription, "Canada, 1867-2008". Honestly, this was the first notice I had gotten about the death of Canada, since our American news media pays so little attention to our northern neighbor. I was shocked and depressed by the news. It was days later before I became frightened. If a nation such as Canada--reasonable, good-natured, never threatening other countries--had passed away, what chance is there for America and for civilization itself? At that time I wrote this obituary for a friend I hardly knew. And I added a plea for change. Can we discipline ourselves before America and the rest of the world share poor Canada's fate?