The British Empire and its Commonwealth...

So it's Commonwealth Day.

We've made the point in this space numerous times and it can not be made enough.

Great Britain is the greatest force for good in the last 500. That goes for her colonies too. After all, Winston said, 'If the British Empire and her Commonwealth should last for a thousand years...' Of course the United States is not art of the Commonwealth but we are the guarantors of the British inheritance. That inheritance is Common Law, parliamentary democracy, free speech and free religion and a generally open way of seeing things.

We'll say it again. All the horrible ideas of the 20th century were hatched in the salons of Europe and all of those ideas were battled and destroyed by the English speaking peoples. Look at Normandy. Brits, Yanks, Cannucks storming the beach. Down in the Med, Kiwis and South Africans were fighting the Krauts in Italy. Meanwhile Aussies were slugging it out with the Japs in Borneo and New Guinea. A couple of million Indian troops were battling the Japs in Burma, as were the King's African Rifles.

Heck, look at Britain's post colonial conflicts in Asia, Malaya, Borneo, lots of Aussies and Kiwis again. They were with us in Vietnam too. With us again in Afghanistan as well.

We're all a little different. Think of the English speaking peoples as a far flung family. Britain is dad of course. American is the oldest son and he once had a couple of awful quarrels with dad. That was a long time ago and the oldest son helped dad out when he was having trouble with the neighbors. Canada is the 2nd oldest and never wanted to get in a big fight with dad the way big brother did. Canada tries to emulate dad and looks after him too. Australia is the rebellious and boisterous son. The 3rd son can be kind of embarrassing some times but he's a straight shooter, good and honest. As the youngest some New Zealand is sometimes forgotten, quiet, but carries on like dad all the same.