Posted on 11/08/2005 7:53:22 PM PST by nickcarraway
Washington - France's explosion of rioting has captivated Americans, who tend to view the French as smug, snooty and quick to point fingers at what\'s wrong with the United States.
Now it's payback time, and influential media outlets and analysts can barely conceal their gloating.
Conservative newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times are proclaiming a blow to European self- righteousness and the continent's welfare-state economies, which they say are partly to blame for immigrants' misery.
'Just two months ago, the French watched in horrified fascination at the anarchy of New Orleans, where members of America's underclass were seen looting stores and defying the police in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,' the New York Times reported from Paris.
'Every night for more than a week, the suburbs of Paris have been a showcase of Europe's failure to integrate its immigrants,' said the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. politicians have publicly remained mum on the riots that have spread from Paris to all across France, though the State Department has warned U.S. citizens to stay away from the worst flashpoints.
But U.S. television networks are showing nightly images of burning cars and riot police - which Fox News TV reporter Greg Palkot said 'looked like nothing short of Baghdad'.
There's a sense of vindication among conservative writers who like columnist Mark Steyn have darkly predicted 'burning buildings, street riots and assassinations' in Europe's major cities, with their African and Arab minorities.
For the U.S. right wing, it's no coincidence that the violence is erupting in the European nation with the largest Moslem minority. They have long claimed that Europe has underrated the explosiveness of an immigrant population they view as nearly impossible to integrate into society.
Others even charge that Europe has become a breeding ground for international terrorism, alluding to the Hamburg-al-Qaeda cell that helped carry out the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Many U.S. politicians across the spectrum share political scientist Samuel Huntington\'s theory of a \'clash of civilizations\' - or the view of British essayist Theodore Dalrymple that \'the sweet dream of universal cultural compatibility has been replaced ... by the nightmare of permanent conflict\'.
Another reason cited in the U.S. for France\'s unrest is the economic system.
\'In a country where short workweeks and early retirement are sacred, there is little emphasis on creating new jobs and even less on grass-roots entrepreneurial activity,\' economist Joel Kotkin wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
He says the overregulated welfare state itself is an obstacle to integrating immigrants into France\'s society and economy.
Clearly, part of the problem is economic, said Stanford University political scientist Niall Ferguson. \'But the second problem is that Europeans do not try hard enough to make immigrants integrate culturally,\' he wrote in the Los Angeles Times.
Many commentators say that, at the very least, the French riots show that social problems and a bungled or aloof government response are not limited to the United States.
\'Yet until now, many in France assumed that what they regard as a superior \'social model\' protected them from the eruptions of lawlessness that in recent years have touched Los Angeles, Miami and New Orleans,\' said the Washington Post.
Some are also reminded of the argument that France\'s Moslem minority was a reason why Paris opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, a stand that infuriated the Bush administration and U.S. conservatives and led to a French-bashing orgy a few years ago.
'you had millions of seething unassimilated Muslim youths in lawless suburbs ringing every major city, would you be so eager to send your troops into an Arab country fighting alongside Americans?' Steyn said in the Washington Times.
that's creepy.... ya beat my post....wow!
I'm sorry...I wasn't aware that it was even veiled.
Hell, after France bent over backwards to kiss Islamofascist ass, it is rather karmic to see them strung over a barrel by the same monsters they so gleefully defended over the nation that pulled their asses out of the fire not one, but twice.
And judging from the latest events, looks like we're going to have to do it again.
"Am I evil for admitting that Muslims attacking France makes me smile?"
If you are, you've got a lot of company.
Wisdom for the ages.
Heh.
The "funniest" part is the Muslim-apologists getting a lil' taste of reality. I take no pleasure in innocent French civilians being ransacked, but the reality check is so well-deserved it is indeed somewhat delicious. Don't fight us, fight the REAL enemy.
Like President Bush said, you are either with us or against us. The French now need to reassess their previous stance, because being with us is also self-preservation for themselves.
LOL!
Well, I'm maybe exactly gloating, maybe, kind of, sort of, but I'm not having any trouble not feeling any sympathy for them.
It's amazing to see the news on TVCinq, the international French channel. They very briefly touch on the story, then rush on to cover the US elections, the Azerbaijan government reshuffle and some space story about Eurosat. All delivered by smiling news readers with extra big grins. Bizarre.
We are just as bad at kissing the Muslims lying murdering asses as anyone.
I'm maybe exactly gloating = I'm maybe not exactly gloating
You know you're tired when you can't even proof read correctly. Didn't catch it the first time around.
I feel bad for the few there who are actually decent folk simply outnumbered by the culture of weakness in France. My hope is that this is turning some of those who blindly went along with the left in Europe. Let this be a lesson to them!!
Not bizarre; denial.
Just picturing all of those crappy Frog cars being burned is enough to put a smile on my face.
A nation is only as good as the people it allows to immigrate.
Wake up American INS. There are MANY GOOD reasons why immigrants have to be screened and enter legally.
What is happening in France is the best example of why immigration has to be regulated by quota.
---The French (and German) gloating over Katrina wasn't thinly veiled at all.---
You forgot the Islamic militants (dare I say terrorists?). What a strange threesome, eh?
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