[Huntress]

What ever our government is paying to support UNESCO should be reduced by the amount American businesses stand to lose from this measure, or, better yet, just be eliminated entirely.

[evolved_rage]

Hey Alec Baldwin, France doesn't want your crappy movies. But move there anyways.

[The_Victor]

The U.S. earns about $80 billion a year from the export of its popular culture.

If I'm reading the article correctly, the "Cultural products" are mostly movies and music. On one hand, I want to support American businesses, but OTOH the world is kinda sticking it to Hollywierd. Given the amount of crap that passes for "cultural products" these days, it might be nice to limit them here too....

[norton]

Of course, this takes place while the USA is on a "diversity" bender of an entirely different sort.

While they lock our culture out, we are sponsoring and adopting more and more of outsider's culture - and making it a crime to complain.

[Polyxene]

UNESCO - yet another reason for the United States to get out of the UN, withhold ALL money now going to the UN, evict every single despot in the UN building, then implode the UN building itself!! After all we do for these ingrates, this is the way they thank us!! (rant off)

[Dallas59]

If the world wants RAP...We are doomed...

[Gay State Conservative]

Who can blame them? Fully 99.9% of what comes out of Hollywood is pig swill.

But in the interest of fairness,any country that restricts our Hollywood output can expect us to limit their airplanes..TVs...cars....sugar...steel,
etc,etc.

[Carry_Okie]

Thank you George Bush, for entangling the US UNESCO where Reagan had got us out.

[GVnana]

Slowly but surely the UN dissolves into fascism and sows the seeds of it's own demise.

[silverleaf]

By "cultural products" I presume they mean American movies (sorry Johnny Depp, Brad-gelina, George Clooney and Gwyneth Paltrow), American music (sorry Madonna)....and Big Macs?

Looking forward to seeing the euro/asian consumer reaction to replacement culture from Canada! Helllooo Celine Dion!

[Semper Paratus]

I guess ending the worldwide sex-slave trading of children will have to wait for more important issues to be settled first by UNESCO

[playball0]

US to UNESCO. FU. Go away or we'll taunt you some more.

[Bob Buchholz]

Talk about irony. The biggest supporters of the UN in the entire US is Hollyweird, now the UN has told them to get lost. I hate to say it, but I love it!

[playball0]

US to UNESCO. FU. Go away or we'll taunt you some more.

[yankeedame]

...voted to support a joint French and Canadian initiative aimed at making it easier for foreign governments to limit consumer access to American cultural products.

Why? What are they afraid of? That the consumer will prefer "American cultural products" to native culture products? Why are they afraid of this? Could it be that American marketing has hit the mark when it comes to consumer demand, while with "native cultural products" Big Unions, not consumers, are calling the shots? (Ah, yes, nothing like Albanian tennis shoes.)

And...since most US clothing products are made in China, Mexico, etc. isn't this stance against "American cultural products" a kind of back-handed slap at the workers China, Mexico, etc.?

Or could this whole resolution be nothing but a kind of deliberate waspishness, a sort of "Ha! So there! Whatta you gonna do now, Mister Bigshot?" attitude.

And last but not least there's the Versailles mentality of the signers of this resolution. The soft condescension of the aristocrats/anointed acting for the "good" of the great-unwashed of their people. Considering the grown men and women of their countries as little more than children who can not be left to make decisions on their own.

[Smedley]

Last Thursday, the United States was sucker-punched by an international organization. A majority of countries belonging to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted to support a joint French and Canadian initiative aimed at making it easier for foreign governments to limit consumer access to American cultural products.

I think that this might well be a violation of GATT. While there are cultural exceptions to free trade under GATT in order to preserve an indigenous culture, I don't think that you can single out a single country.

BTW, having done research on this issue in Law School, Canada and France are the two biggest tools on this issue. Canada even went so far as to screw over the Country Music Channel (CMT) in favor of their own country music station (CNC) under the cultural exception even though there was little or no difference in the perceivable content. It was a $$$ scam.

http://www.american.edu/TED/cmtvcan.htm

Likewise, France declared war on the American entertainment industry calling movies like "Jurassic Park" the biggest threat to French culture. Dont ask me how a movie about dinesaurs that takes place on an island off the coast of South America is a threat to the French.

http://reason.com/9807/fe.cowen.shtml

In a contest between Hollywood and the French, who do I want to lose?

[Question_Assumptions]

I think we should withdraw from the UN, stop paying our dues, and give them a 30 day eviction notice from their New York City headquarters. Then we'd see who gets the last laugh.

[TheSpottedOwl]

All I can say is that the boycotts must have done some sizable damage : )

Bush needs to immediately tender our resignation in UNESCO.

[joebuck]

This resolution is nothing more than an end run to avoid the provisions the various trade treaties which have gone into effect over the last several years. (NAFTA and others.) There is virtually no commodity that a Country cannot claim is intrinsically part of the national culture. (Think French wine). Thus, this resolution allows countries to put bans and quotas on imports of these important "culture destroying commodities". I bet a month's pay that within a couple of years France will put quotas on the import of Californian wines in order to protect France's "cultural identity". Take it to the bank.

[metmom]

Kick the UN out of the US.