Vive la France
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Pirate modeAlright, this is enough. I thought it was insane that the right wingers were stamping their little feet in outrage that Kerry dared to mention that Mary Cheney was a lesbian, which is a complete non-issue as far as any sensible liberal is concerned. But now they have a new cause célèbre.
John Kerry spoke French in a campaign speech. "Je vais aider les Haitiens." How despicable!
This new faux pas has the wingnuts in a tizzy. Doesn't he realize that the French are the American bête noir? They've been plaguing us for years, sending that snooty Marquis de Lafayette to steal the credit for our revolution, cluttering up our harbors with oversized statuary, and making us nauseous with their escargots. And everyone knows that despite having two world wars fought fiercely over their soil, they are all cowards, and that Descartes and Rousseau and the Curies and de Broglie and Lavoisier and Fourier and Ampere and Agassiz and Rodin and Renoir and Sartre and yadda yadda yadda were aberrations—the French are all silly pseudointellectual poseurs who like Jerry Lewis.
It's déjà vu. Kerry has French friends. He has French relatives. He looks French. He speaks French. He has been to France. These are all gross sins in wingnut land. You'd think that by now it would be de rigueur for Kerry to avoid any sign of respect to or appreciation of one of the wealthiest and most populous nations in the European Union. It's far more rational for our administration to treat an entire nation of 60 million people, with a few centuries of history and friendship between us, with complete contempt.
Besides, speaking a European language is like announcing that you've actually received some kind of education and recognize the existence of those funny foreigners. Doesn't he know our president is supposed to play the fool? That showing even a hint of sophistication will summon the scorn of the yokels? That GW Bush's consistently idiotic demeanor is a tour de force?
I only know a few essential phrases in the language myself, but all I want to hear Kerry say to the right wing vermin with their stupid anti-French bigotry is "Va te faire foutre!" while showing them le bras d'honneur.
Estman, my take on French bashing: In every population, there are a certain number of cowards who love to huddle in safe places and snarl out at everyone else. Occasionally, when they see someone weak and defenseless, they work up enough courage to creep out and bash them with a club.
Usually, that cowardice is kept in check by a generalized social atmosphere of disgust towards it. The bullies and cowards that come to light in news stories, etc., are reported as ugly aberrations.
On occasion, groups of cowards band together and gain a certain amount of power. When they briefly take control of a society, the way they protect themselves from charges of cowardice is they tell stories about how their cowardice is GOOD. This opens the gate for other, more timid, cowards to come out and find defenseless victims to bash.
In the U.S. right now, we have cowards in control of the White House, and they're inspiring the smaller cowards to pick at the French.
Why, specifically, the French? First because the Jews, Mexicans, Chinese, blacks, etc., the usual targets of this type of cowardly bullying, are now off-limits. Second, I suppose, is simply because the French government dared to question the god-given war plans of our Coward-in-Chief.
Trust me, most of us know what he is, and what the people surrounding him are. It's a feeble defense, but we CAN say we didn't actually elect him; he just sorta happened. Most of us are still fairly decent people, but ... until we can get the lot of them out in January, we -- and the French, and the rest of the world -- just have to live with them.