Time to stop bashing French

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | July 11, 2003 | Froma Harrop

[schaketo]

It's been fun, but isn't it time to stop bashing the French? The gleeful stomping on all things from France has progressed from the moronic to the pathetic.

First, there was the dimwit stuff, like renaming french fries "freedom fries" in congressional cafeterias. Now we have student-exchange programs unable to find American homes willing to take in French students over the summer. That's depressing.

Like a chronic ailment, Francophobia flares now and then, especially when France tries to frustrate the United States on the world stage. The source of today's friction is, of course, the war in Iraq.

A walk down memory lane of low points in Franco-American relations inevitably pauses at 1966, when Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of NATO. Then, as now, American restaurant owners poured perfectly good French wine down the drain, at least while the news cameras were rolling.

Today, Americans and the French have one thing in common: They detest each other's leader. A good French friend of mine is a perfect example. She was an exchange student here years ago, has happy memories of waiting tables in Wyoming and is generally well disposed toward the United States.

But George W. Bush drives her nuts. And it's probably his style more than his politics. A Dick Cheney who pushes an individualistic, every-man-for-himself philosophy in a frank manner may be disagreed with but not hated. The spectacle of Bush alternating between tax cuts for the rich and displays of religious piety, however, sends my friend over the deep end.

Americans, for their part, have no obligation to admire French President Jacques Chirac (also a former exchange student in the United States). The cagey old pol has undoubtedly exploited anti-American feelings in France, also a latent force, to distract attention from his various scandals at home. For example, a now deceased member of his Gaullist Party describes on tape how he handed over $720,000 in cash to a Chirac aide as the boss, then mayor of Paris, looked on. Were it not for a court ruling that a sitting president cannot be dragged before a judge, Chirac might be behind bars today.

For Americans, lingering anger over Iraq obscures how very much France and the United States work together around the globe. Last month, Chirac announced that France would send its own special forces to fight alongside Americans in Afghanistan.

The French already play an active role there, training Afghan soldiers. "We still have french fries here," an American Special Forces officer, who runs a training center in Kabul, recently told the Wall Street Journal.

Bush has openly thanked the French for freely sharing their intelligence on terrorist activity with the United States. Fighting terrorism is, of course, very much in France's interest. Intelligence reports last year suggested that al-Qaeda cells were planning "spectaculars" in several countries at once, with France a prime target.

France keeps close tabs on potential terrorists, who are known to hide out among France's large Muslim population. In December, the French police picked up four suspects linked to a group that had planned to blow up the Strasbourg cathedral.

France has picked up other international burdens, notably Congo's civil war. Today, French troops have the unenviable job of keeping two warring tribes apart. Some of the combatants are 12-year-olds, who express an eagerness to shoot French soldiers.

The French are about to celebrate their Fourth of July, which happens to fall on the 14th of July. The 14th commemorates the destruction in 1789 of the Bastille, the political prison in Paris that symbolized despotism. Its liberation set off a revolution that was far bloodier than ours, but equally world-changing.

A key to the Bastille now hangs in the hall of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. It was a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette, who had served under Washington in the Revolutionary War.

Bastille Day is going to be a working Monday in the United States and definitely a non-holiday for professional Francophobes. But Americans with an open mind should find some commonality in the French waving a blue, white and red flag 10 days after we waved red, white and blue - in both cases honoring revolutions for the rights of man. What a fine occasion to give our animosities a rest.

[Nick Danger]

Scientists have computed the speed at which nerve impulses travel through the body. It's actually quite slow. If Lilliputians were our size, a creature like Gulliver could take a couple of hours to move his foot... it would take that long for impulses from the brain to reach the correct muscles to make the foot move.

This is why scientists advise against waking sleeping giants. A pissed-off giant will still be squashing you and stepping on you long after you have moved on to the next thing. They haven't. The impulse to stomp you and squish you may have originated long ago, but the feet and the fists are still coming down. There's no telling how long that can go on. Depends on how big a giant you pissed off.

[schaketo]

I have bought Michelin tires since I began driving. This week I put a new set of Goodyear’s on my old Jeep. Felt good!

[schaketo]

A short refresher course:

A list of French companies products to boycott. Some are well known, but many are not. Here goes.

It lists French products to boycott. You will probably be surprised to learn the French own everything from Wild Turkey to Car & Driver to Motel 6 to cheesy Spencer Gifts to disgusting Democrat schlock-show host Jerry Springer.

Air France
Airbus
Alcatel - Based in Paris France
Allegra (Allergy Medication) - Produced by Aventis Pharmaceuticals based in Strasbourg, France
Aqualung (Including: Spirotechnique, Technisub, US Divers, and SeaQuest)
AXA Advisors
Bank of the West - Owned by BNP Paribas
Beneteau (boats)
BF Goodrich - Owned by Michelin
BIC (Razors, Pens & Lighters) - Started in 1945 by Marcel Bich. Originally based just outside of Paris. Began trading on the Paris Stock Exchange in 1972. 40.5% Publicly traded. Bich family still owns 33.5%.
Biotherm (Cosmetics)
Black Bush
Bollinger (Champagne)
Car & Driver Magazine
Cartier
Chanel
Chivas Regal (Scotch)
Christian Dior
Club Med (Vacations) - Owned in part by Paris based CDC (Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations)
Culligan (owned by Vivendi)
Dannon (Yogurt & Dairy Foods)
DKNY - LVMH acquired 100% of Gabrielle Studio Inc., the privately owned licenser of Donna Karan trademarks back in 2001.
Dom Perignon
Durand Crystal
Elle Magazine
Essilor Optical Products
Evian
Fina Oil - Billions invested in Iraqi Oil fields
First Hawaiian Bank
Focal (Car speakers)www.focal-jmlab.fr
George Magazine
Givenchy
Hennessy
Houghton Mifflin (books)
International Herald Tribune - 181 ave Charles-de-Gaulle - F-92521 Neuilly - FRSource:World Business Council for Sustainable Development '00 [Domain Registration], [Corporate Profile]
Jacobs Creek - Owned by Pernod Ricard since 1989
Jameson (wiskey)
Jerry Springer (talk show)
JMLab (Speakers)www.focal-jmlab.fr
Krups (coffee and cappaccino makers)
Lancome
Le Creuset (Cookware)
L'Oreal (Health & Beauty Products)
Louis Vuitton
Marie Claire
Martel Cognac
Maybelline
Méphisto (Footwear & Apparel)
Michelin (Tires & Auto Parts) - Their phone number is: (33) 1 45 66 15 53 in France
Mikasa Crystal and Glass (purchased by ARC int'l in 2001)
Moet (Champagne
Motel 6 - 33, Avenue du Maine- 75755 Paris Cedex 15 France
Motown Records
MP3.com
Mumms (Champagne)
Nissan (Cars) - Majority owned by Renault
Nivea
Normany Butter
Parents Magazine
Peugeot (Automobiles) - Pronounced "Pooh Joe", must be French
Pierre Cardin
Playstation Magazine
ProScan - Owned by Thomson Electronics, France
Publicis Group (Including: Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising) - Here's a French connection that'll tick ya off--a couple years ago Publicis bought the Leo Burnett Advertising agency and that agency does the "Go Army" campaign. Sickening ain't it?
RCA (televisions & electronics) - Owned by Thomson Electronics
Red Magazine
Red Roof Inns - Owned by the Accor group based in France
Renault (Automobiles)
Road & Track Magazine
Roquefort Cheese - All Roquefort cheese is made in France
Rowenta (Toasters, Irons, Coffee makers, etc)
Royal Canadian
Salomon (Skis)
Seagram's Gin
Sierra Software and Computer Games
Smart & Final
Sofitel (Hotels) - Owned by the Accor group based in France
Sparkletts (Water) - Owned by Danone, based in France
Spencer Gifts
Sundance Channel
Taylor Made (Golf)
Technicolor
T-Fal (Kitchenware)
The Glenlivet (Scotch
Total Gas Stations
Triangle (Speakers)www.triangle-fr.com
UbiSoft (Computer Games)
Uniroyal
Uniroyal Tires - Owned by Michelin
Universal Studios (Music, Movies & Theme Parks) - Universal Studios is owned by Vivendi-Universal, headquartered in Paris France
USFilter
Veritas Group
Veuve Clicquot Champagne
Vittel
Vivendi - Vivendi Headquarters, Paris France
Wild Turkey (bourbon)
Woman's Day Magazine
Yoplait - France-based Sodiaal owns a 50% stake of Yoplait
Yves Saint Laurent
Yema watches
Zodiac Inflatable Boats

Please add to the list and email to your like-minded friends.

[TheSpottedOwl]

The gleeful stomping on all things from France has progressed from the moronic to the pathetic.

I guess that boycott is really working :)

[Quix]

Time to stop?

Au contraire! sp?

[NativeNewYorker]

Speaking of Chanel:

One could say perfume helped keep Chanel's name pretty throughout the period when her reputation got ugly: World War II. This is when her anti-Semitism, homophobia (even though she herself dabbled in bisexuality) and other base inclinations emerged. She responded to the war by shutting down her fashion business and hooking up with Hans Gunther von Dincklage, a Nazi officer whose favors included permission to reside in her beloved Ritz Hotel. Years later, in 1954, when she decided to make a comeback, her name still had "disgraced" attached to it.

[Slip18]

"Depends on how big a giant you pissed off."

Hehehehehehe!

[NativeNewYorker]

The gleeful stomping on all things from France has progressed...

We shall stomp them in the wine stores.

We shall stomp them in the fashion marts.

We shall stomp them on the internet.

We will never, ever, forget...

[Greenpees]

The author, Froma Harrop, admonishes us to stop beating on the French.

In her case, it's evident that beating on the American President is so much more fun. "tax cuts for the rich ...piety"

I don't even need to meet this lady to already know what she's about.

[reagan_fanatic]

This is pathetic beyond the pale.
Froma's ignorance on France's duplicity regarding Iraq is mind-boggling.

Maybe she would be happier in France. Perhaps she can give Johnny Depp a call. I hear he may be moving...

[OldPossum]

There is so much to say but I confined my remarks to Ms. Harrop to this in an e-mail:

"You and so many other leftists keep on forgetting that it is the rich who provide a hugely disproportional amount of taxes paid, so it logically follows that whenever there is a tax cut they get a hugely disproportional amount back. Is that so difficult to understand? Maybe it is.

"As for the French, whine all you want. The Americans have always disliked them, always will. Perhaps it has something to do with their personal qualities."

[lawgirl]

I agree with Dennis Miller, as told to Jay Leno--to the French: "you are dead to me!" LOL!

[Wild Thing]

NO,it is never enough bashing of the French!
I won't stop!

Wild Thing

[discostu]

I didn't wait for the Iraq war thing to start bashing France, I'm not gonna stop because it's basically over. France is an annoying country filled with annoying people and stinky cheese, whether or not we're invading Iraq doesn't change that.

[mil-vet]

Looks to me as if the author shares her french friend's skewed (good term) perception.

Another candidate for leaving the country, like liar baldwin, et.al.!

[Lancey Howard]

I agree with this.
I will no longer bash the cheese-eating surrender monkeys.
I will simply continue to ignore them and avoid their imports.

[Lancey Howard]

By the way, if it is published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, then it has anti-America, anti-capitalist fingerprints all over it. The Inky has a stench that is impossible to miss.

I really wish that paper would hurry up and die.

[Lancey Howard]

[Drango]

~snif...a bunch of mean ol' FReepers pickin' on the frogs.

[Scenic Sounds]

A ping from someone who believes that the bitchin' and moanin' about the French should never end. ;-)