Posted on 06/01/2004 1:22:25 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
It was here in 1908 that the wealthy Forbes family came over from England to buy a cliff-top mansion. It is where his American dad met his mother, and where a first cousin is still the mayor.
If you missed the media revelations earlier this year about Kerry's newly discovered French roots, and you still assumed he was Irish, you are not alone. The senator, who is actually half-Jewish and half-English with a lot of French relatives, is accused of being less than forthcoming about his heritage.
As a boy, Kerry spent many a summer at the Forbes family mansion called Les Essarts. One resident says he remembers playing with the Forbes children on the playgrounds of Saint Briac. The woman says she played many games of "hide and seek" with "Johnny," as she calls him.
Family friend Dominique Durocher says everyone in Saint Briac is very proud of Kerry, and they are hopeful that he will be the next president, so that relations between France and the U.S. can improve. Durocher says Johnny was already interested in politics as a teenager.
It really is a wonderful story, about summers spent at a lovely seaside resort. But it hasn't been a story the Kerry campaign has wanted to talk about.
We discovered that the mayor of Saint Briac, Brice Lalonde, did not want to talk to us about his famous American cousin. Apparently, the Kerry campaign is nervous about the 'French connection,' as well as news photos showing Lalonde's obvious pride in Kerry.
Durocher said, "Nobody talks anymore much, you know, because they said they have decided not to talk about John Kerry, and France and Saint Briac. Because maybe it could be bad for, not bad, but you know somebody in America will say you are too French or too, you know."
The two cousins are said to remain in regular contact, so we asked the Kerry campaign if it or the senator asked Lalonde to stop talking to reporters. They did not respond.
Lalonde once ran for president in France as well, in 1993, on the Ecology ticket, and he served as the environmental minister in the cabinet of Socialist President Francois Mitterand. Lalonde is known as a committed environmentalist, but apparently not committed enough for some.
In Paris, French political analyst Florin Aftalion told us that Lalonde was kicked out of the Green Party because they thought he wasn't radical enough.
Meanwhile, here is Kerry wearing the green at a St. Patricks Day breakfast in Boston in 1995, when most of his Massachusetts voter base still thought he was Irish. Kerry told the Boston Globe that he has always been "clear as a bell" about not being Irish.
But in 1984, Kerry is quoted as saying, "As some of you may know, I am part-English and part-Irish." And in 1986, a Kerry speech in the Senate reads, ''For those of us who are fortunate to share an Irish ancestry, we take great pride in the contributions (of) Irish-Americans…"
The Kerry campaign has said those speeches were submitted for the record and never actually read by Kerry, and in fact were written for him by his staff, who also were apparently in the dark about their boss not being Irish.
When Kerry got into the race in 2003, the automatic assumption in the pundit class and among anyone who hadn't studied his background thoroughly, was that the man is Irish.
Newspapers often described him that way, and media-digging has not turned up a single letter to the editor from Kerry explaining that he was Austrian-Jewish on his father's side. The Jewish name was Kohn, later changed to Kerry, and English-French, the Forbes, on his mother's side.
Massachusetts has more Irish-Americans than any other state. And Mike Gilleran, the former deputy chief of the Massachusetts Republican party, told the media that, "If it were understood by the population that (Kerry) was not Irish, he would never have risen in Massachusetts politics."
"Politically speaking, in a presidential sense, it pays to be Irish," says CBN News Political Editor John Waage. "There are undecided, independent, blue-collar, ethnic Reagan Democrat voters to be had, in vote-rich electoral states. Now, if your ancestry is French, where you gonna go? Quebec doesn't have electoral votes to offer."
If Kerry were running against Bush in France, he would win, hands down. The French love his style, and the fact that he speaks French fluently.
Most French hate George W. Bush. But the French won't be voting in this election. And with some Americans viewing France as an adversary these days, it is support that Monsieur Kerry doesn't need, and the reason his campaign would like to change the subject.
Is it KOSHER to be a KERRY? (A John F*** Kerry that is.)
I just love it when they paint a whole population with this broad a brush. Kind of like the stupid polls that keep putting Kerry ahead of Bush. I simply do not believe that most French hate George W. Bush. A certain number of very vocal ones for sure, but "most" is the wrong word.
Is it Kosher to be a Weenie ??? .....
"....So actually, he's only 25% jewish or am I confused.."
Is that enough to secure the Jewish vote??? Oh, I forgot, he'll probably get it anyway as long as the "D" is after his name. What a sick joke that jewish vote is.
He speaks fluent French, making it easier for Chirac to manipulate him.
The two cousins are said to remain in regular contact, so we asked the Kerry campaign if it or the senator asked Lalonde to stop talking to reporters. They did not respond.
Lalonde once ran for president in France as well, in 1993, on the Ecology ticket, and he served as the environmental minister in the cabinet of Socialist President Francois Mitterand. Lalonde is known as a committed environmentalist, but apparently not committed enough for some.
The French Connection that Kerry is nervous about Americans discovering!
If Kerry wins, will she be the first first lady not to have been a native born American?
This is not the only mystery surrounding John Kerry or his wife, Teresa, and their family backgrounds.
The Jewish vote is falling off the democrat's plantation hence all the anti semitism seeping out of the left these days
"Not that it's really important"
Of course your correct when speaking about Americans. But it'll be huge problem in the Middle East.
Once again, it is the fault of an underling and not the candidate. Well, who hired them?
BUMP for you to see!
"Meanwhile, here is Kerry wearing the green at a St. Patricks Day breakfast in Boston in 1995, when most of his Massachusetts voter base still thought he was Irish. Kerry told the Boston Globe that he has always been "clear as a bell" about not being Irish.
But in 1984, Kerry is quoted as saying, "As some of you may know, I am part-English and part-Irish." And in 1986, a Kerry speech in the Senate reads, ''For those of us who are fortunate to share an Irish ancestry, we take great pride in the contributions (of) Irish-Americans…"
He's a liar and a fraud and any Irishman, especially those from Massachusetts, who votes for him is an idiot. And it's the FRENCH part of him which explains why this Jewish/English man is Catholic
Sen. Kerry's French Connection (Froggy, he went a-courtin')
FOXNews.com - You Decide 2004 - Kerry's French Connections:
Suddenly, Kerry Can't Speak French
E-nough!: Kerry's French cousin asked to shut up?
Ann Coulter: American women to Kerry: We don't think you're so hot
Kerry criticized for French connection
John Kerry: Too French to be US president?
Teresa on the Stump, Teresa Heinz Kerry, from Mozambique, PRO-ABORTION Catholic, UN Employee, etc.
Teresa Heinz Kerry, Drummond Pike and the Communist TIDES FOUNDATION
The Bible and homosexuality [Kerry thinks the bible is for homosexuality]Sin to vote for pro-abortion politicians?
By Father Matthew Habiger, OSB
Kerry Will Hold Pro-Abortion Rally Prior to Sunday's Abortion March
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