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Fred Barnes: How Many Frenchmen Does It Take . . .
The Weekly Standard ^
| 02/13/03
| Fred Barnes
Posted on 02/12/2003 9:13:20 PM PST by Pokey78
Nobody likes an ingrate and a tide of anti-French sentiment is sweeping the American street.
DO THE FRENCH have the slightest idea about how obnoxious they seem to many Americans? I suspect not, but then the French aren't all that self-aware in the first place. And the American press, hung up on anti-Americanism around the globe, has done little to inform anyone of the rippling tide of anti-French feeling here.
The simple fact is nobody likes an ingrate. It would be one thing if the French said they planned to sit out the war with Iraq. But it's quite another when the French actively try to undermine President Bush and prevent regime change in Iraq, as they're doing now. After all we've done for the French--saving their butts in World Wars I and II, taking over for them in Vietnam--this makes them ungrateful in the extreme--breathtakingly, unprecedentedly, and perhaps even unforgivably, ungrateful.
There's more than just anecdotal evidence of anti-French sentiment. There are polls. Gallup found that France's favorability among Americans has dropped 20 points in the past year. It's still at 59 percent, but that survey was taken in December. Since then, the French have gone out of their way to alienate the entire American population (except the hard-core left). My guess is a poll today would show that France is viewed far less favorably than in December.
But what about the anecdotal evidence? I give speeches and appear on TV and frequently criticize the French on Iraq, and I repeat every anti-French joke I've heard. I thought this might be politically incorrect. Au contraire. Americans of nearly all stripes appear to appreciate France-bashing. I haven't been chastised once, even after telling tough jokes zinging the French for their history of weakness, disloyalty, and fecklessness.
The jokes have taken on a life of their own. Americans love them. For instance, Jay Leno says it's no surprise the French won't help us get Saddam Hussein out of Iraq. They didn't help us get Germany out of France, either. Still, it's essential for them to join us in the war against Iraq. They can teach the Iraqis how to surrender.
And why are French streets tree-lined? So the Germans can march in the shade. How many Frenchmen does it take to defend Paris? No one knows. It's never been tried. What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up? The army. How many gears does a French tank have? Five, four in reverse and one forward (in case of attack from behind). FOR SALE: French rifles . . . never fired, only dropped once.
Dennis Miller specializes in anti-French humor. "The only way the French are going in is if we tell them we found truffles in Iraq," Miller says. "The French are always reticent to surrender to the wishes of their friends and always more than willing to surrender to the wishes of their enemies."
That last one is more than a joke. It's shrewd commentary. It captures why the French make such poor allies. When they pulled out of NATO 40 years ago and declared Americans must close down their bases in France, Secretary of State Dean Rusk had a bitterly caustic response. Should we dig up the graves of American soldiers in Normandy, too, and take them home? No French answer was recorded.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: businessiniraq; cheeseeating; cowardsunlimited; dairyproducts; downwithfrance; fairweather; france; french; frogosuckorama; iraqissocialist; letthemeatcheese; munchezmonshortz; profiteering; quitters; retreat; socialists; surrender; surrendermonkeys; toocynicalpourmoi; whatfrench; whiteflags
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1
posted on
02/12/2003 9:13:20 PM PST
by
Pokey78
To: Howlin; JohnHuang2; Sabertooth; Miss Marple; terilyn; lainde; KeyWest; MeeknMing; ...
Ping for the FredHeads.
2
posted on
02/12/2003 9:13:52 PM PST
by
Pokey78
To: Pokey78
Delightful! Thanks.
3
posted on
02/12/2003 9:20:54 PM PST
by
WomanofStandard
(Life is Hard, but God is Good)
To: Pokey78
Excellent. There were a couple in there I hadn't heard yet.
Whereas in my youth "Pollack" jokes used to be all the rage, it looks like the moronic, ungrateful, arrogant, obstructionist and pathetic French have now assumed the position instead.
4
posted on
02/12/2003 9:31:08 PM PST
by
MCH
To: Pokey78
What do you call a Frenchman with a sheep under one arm and a goat under the other arm? Bi-sexual.
5
posted on
02/12/2003 9:32:36 PM PST
by
Arm_Bears
To: MCH
Sorry - I forgot to add cowardly and craven to the list of appropriate adjectives describing our wonderful French "friends".
6
posted on
02/12/2003 9:32:49 PM PST
by
MCH
To: Pokey78
How can I be placed in the FredHeads list? I'm a big fan of Fred Barnes.
7
posted on
02/12/2003 9:35:13 PM PST
by
David1
To: Pokey78; xm177e2; mercy; Wait4Truth; hole_n_one; GretchenEE; Clinton's a rapist; buffyt; ...
Fred Barnes MEGA PING!
To: David1
All ya gotta do is ask, and I'll take that as asking.
You are now a FredHead.
9
posted on
02/12/2003 9:39:15 PM PST
by
Pokey78
To: Pokey78
Should we dig up the graves of American soldiers in Normandy, too, and take them home?Yes!
10
posted on
02/12/2003 9:40:53 PM PST
by
farmfriend
( Isaiah 55:10,11)
To: Pokey78
Fred's getting some fairly serious TV facetime lately with this stuff. Good for him.
To: Pokey78
Add me too Pokey, I love Fred. Thanks
To: Pokey78
A deceased pastor who served in France and Italy in WWII warned that France would be among the earliest to support the AntiChrist and must be watched closely. That was 35 years ago.
I think he had some insights many don't about France and the French.
Certainly their pride is akin to satan's in at least some respects. Pride goes before a fall. But then, since when did the French really care any more than the current Americans about the truths of The Bible?
13
posted on
02/12/2003 9:54:33 PM PST
by
Quix
(21st FREEPCARD FINISHED--going to get back to it soonish)
To: McGavin999
Okey dokey.
14
posted on
02/12/2003 9:57:10 PM PST
by
Pokey78
To: Pokey78
One of the delightful sidebar stories to the justified resentment of the French,is this: French newspapers, beginning with Paris Match, have been compelled to translate and print a classic phrase from Bart Simpson, popularized by Jonah Goldberg. It is "cheese-eating surrender monkeys." As the saying goes, "C'est la guerre." And should we feel sorry for the French? Nah. Comme it dit en francaise, "Quelle dommage."
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "Using the Old Noodle," not yet up on UPI, or FR.
To: Pokey78
Thanks ;-)
16
posted on
02/12/2003 10:13:11 PM PST
by
David1
To: Pokey78
Thank you Pokey
Had to send this off to family!
17
posted on
02/12/2003 10:15:38 PM PST
by
MeekMom
(( Please visit http://CNLGLFG.com) (HUGE Ann-Fan!!!))
To: Quix
The Antichrist will not be a "secular" figure but a religious one.
18
posted on
02/12/2003 10:16:14 PM PST
by
HiTech RedNeck
(more dangerous than an OrangeNeck)
To: Congressman Billybob
One of the delightful sidebar stories to the justified resentment of the French,is this: French newspapers, beginning with Paris Match, have been compelled to translate and print a classic phrase from Bart Simpson, popularized by Jonah Goldberg. It is "cheese-eating surrender monkeys."
"Les Primates Capitulards Toujours en Quete de Fromage"
19
posted on
02/12/2003 10:22:15 PM PST
by
egarvue
(Martin Sheen is not my president...)
To: egarvue
One nice thing about the current situation is that the french are proving that Frogs do taste just like CHICKEN...
20
posted on
02/12/2003 10:30:47 PM PST
by
null and void
(Frog - the yellow meat...)
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