Posted 10/28/2006 04:16:00 PM by Douglas

Of all the people that should be angry/ashamed of this reprehensible attack ad in Tennessee's senatorial race, I wouldn't have thought it was have been the Canadians.

Whatever its intent, the aside is seen in Canada as a suggestion that the country is a free rider when it comes to global security. While Canada did not participate in the invasion of Iraq, it has posted a large portion of its army in Afghanistan as part of NATO forces since 2002. On Wednesday, Michael Wilson, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, spoke with an official at the White House, whom the Canadian government declined to name, to officially express Canada’s displeasure.

Bernard Etzinger, a spokesman for the Canadian Embassy in Washington, would not discuss the conversation beyond saying, “They took the call and listened to what we had to say.”

The advertisement, financed by the Republican National Committee, was pulled from the air on Wednesday after Democrats and the N.A.A.C.P. criticized some of its content as an attack based on racial stereotypes and fears.

In the advertisement, actors in staged interviews speak sarcastically about Mr. Ford and his positions. They include a white actress who says that she met Mr. Ford, who is black, at a “Playboy party.” She looks into the camera and says, with a wink, “Harold, call me.”

Disgusting. What's even more sad is that as stupid and polarizing as ads like this are, they obviously work.