Speaking of the French....

Sick of sick of sick of sick of you
Time has come to pay...
Know your enemy!
--RATM

Yesterday's IHT has a battle of the op-ed's with some no name former Parissiene and an NRO contributor, respectively defending a)France's rep in the US and b) defending the anger of the US towards France.

The Parissienne loses because he is from Paris. The people of Paris are amongst the snottiest assholes this planet has to offer, and that shines right through in this 'ridiculous' headline:

America's ridiculous hatred of the French

Oh god. Where to start? Nevermind, that would take too long. The author, in desperate need of a violin, lets out his grievances about the anti-Frenchness of American culture "Oh, the late night comedians! The 'Freedom Fries'! The humanity!" And here comes another steaming hot nugget of ****:

Why the French exception? Several reasons spring to mind. France's opposition to the war in Iraq is the first, of course. This has infuriated the political establishment - Republicans and Democrats alike. And during times of war, patriotic sentiment can quickly become xenophobic. Having cast themselves in the role of Cassandra (who was endowed with the gift of prophecy but not with the talent of making herself heard), the French should not be surprised by the American Agamemnon's resentment.

Does this guy inhabit planet earth? The French sent a 140 decibel message at the UN: Don't bring this to a security council vote or we will block you. Not only that, they were sabotaging US diplomacy over the Iraq issue the whole time...I'm not going to even touch arms sales to Iraq......oh, maybe I will: Did I mention that French arms sales to Saddam dwarf US arms sales by a ratio of 100:1? As in 10B. (officially) to 100M? I'm digressing:

To go back in history a bit, France is one of the few major European countries to have never undergone any widespread immigration to America. So there is no French minority to pander to, no French lobby to placate.

The unspoken insinuation is "You have a Jew Lobby controlling Washington". Thanks for the anti-semitic tip. Maybe you can stop pandering to the entire arab world. PS: Are you even on bin Laden's hit list? ....Probably in his 'protection racket' if anything.

As a French citizen, I am appalled that the French news media, the judicial system and members of Parliament have shown so little interest in the French role in the scandal surrounding the United Nations' "oil-for-food" program.

Of course you are. That's why your citizens keep voting the same assholes into power, from the same school of power hungry Gaullists. Queue eye rolling.

Does that make me anti-French? The very notion of being "against" a nationality - American, Israeli, Arab - is repellent to me.

I closed my eyes and guessed he would say 'Israeli'- zero relevance to this discussion.

Americans themselves are sometimes confronted with this kind of absurd hostility abroad. Of all nationalities, they should be the first to stay away from it. After all, diversity and respect for other cultures are among the core values on which America was founded - and by which Americans thrive.

Ahh...its the same thing, can't we relate? We are brothers! You hate us, but the whole world hates you (including us)!

It did not kill the French to be hated for two years. But it did us no good, and did not help Americans much, either. So what about liking us again? For starters, just for two hours.

How about stopping the slow takeover of the EU, for your own foreign policy gain-for two hours? Let's face it: France has a classic 'little man' complex. They are a nation of small dicks (Napoleon), wanting an extension so bad they slyly grow one by attaching to other vulnerable nations (Algiers, Ivory Coast, Eastern Europe).

As a sidenote, it's really disappointing to hear the French attempt to play the victim. They should really just try to state they are justified, because that's how they really feel. Read Le Monde Diplomatique....they don't really think they are victims, they are a hegemon fighting another hegemon at any cost. Paris will be the next Washington in the United States of Europe.

...Here's the response on the same page of the paper edition:

Liberté, égalité, absurdité
John J. Miller The New York Times Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Neo-Gaullism

WASHINGTON Plus ça change.
.
In 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson sent marines to the Dominican Republic to protect American citizens during a violent civil war, President Charles de Gaulle of France condemned the intervention. In a secret message to Washington, however, he asked for help defending the French Embassy. Johnson did so, but never heard a word of thanks, in public or private. Instead, de Gaulle went on to demand that the United States withdraw from Vietnam and, eventually, to pull his own forces out of NATO.
.
President George W. Bush must know exactly how Johnson felt. Shortly after Bush's re-election, the current French president, Jacques Chirac, called the post-Saddam Hussein world "more dangerous," announced that the United States doesn't "return favors" to Europe and even accused Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of "a lack of culture."
.
Chirac managed to stuff all these comments into a single interview, which happened to coincide with Bush's firm support for a French military crackdown in the Ivory Coast, where antigovernment insurgents have endangered French citizens.

What's missing is the long history (you can't stuff it all in) of French interference in Africa. Hypocritical to the max.

Yet it's a mistake to assume that Chirac's rhetoric was just a clumsy expression of pent-up frustration with American voters. French foreign policy in the 1960s was not driven by a leader's personal antipathy for a brash Texan in the White House, and neither is today's. For decades France has viewed the United States as a unique threat.

Hence the takeover of EU.

The root of the problem is Gaullism itself. More than just a form of nationalism, Gaullism insists that France must exert an outsized influence on the course of human events. During the cold war, de Gaulle spoke of his country leading Europe as "one of three world powers and, if need be one day, the arbiter between the two camps, the Soviet and the Anglo-Saxon." Hence de Gaulle developed a nuclear arsenal, threatened to destabilize the dollar and criticized American military actions.
.
Chirac and his neo-Gaullists recognize that France can no longer serve as a fulcrum between East and West, but they believe their country still has a vital role to play in containing the world's "hyperpower," in their pejorative labeling of the United States.

I wouldn't want to state that they pander to their arab minority and embrace their anti-semitism.....they don't 'believe' in 'states', just 'believe' in their own 'superiority' and inherent right to rule the world. "Toute Les Gloires De France!"

Before the invasion of Iraq, Paris didn't just express reservations - it tried to sabotage American goals in every feasible venue, from the chambers of the Security Council to the committee rooms of NATO. Since then, it has issued a raft of demands, including the hasty transfer of sovereignty to an ad-hoc Iraqi government, as well as a date certain by which the United States will remove its troops, no matter the circumstances.
.
Chirac's diplomats even spent October lobbying unsuccessfully for Iraqi insurgent groups - the ones now killing American troops and Iraqi civilians - to be represented at the international meeting in Egypt in November. It is difficult to see how French interests are furthered in any way by this behavior, unless France is understood to believe that its own aims are advanced whenever American ones are thwarted..

In any conventional sense, this is the definition of an enemy.

Condoleezza Rice, now Bush's nominee for secretary of state, was quoted in 2003 as telling colleagues that the United States should "punish France." This is a tempting tactic, for it holds out the promise of vengeful satisfaction. It was also the motive behind the recent campaigns to boycott French products. Unbeknownst to most of the participants, however, the consumer strategy was tried without much success in the 1960s. In truth, Paris isn't worth a boycott.

Ouch. This is the part where I tell you my own mother was involved with the French boycott while she was in Texas..and she wasn't even American (or 'Texan', as they say). But I will tell you this: The US, and Texas especially, is not quick tempered as a whole. It has taken a very long time to build up a hate for the French, and I think this was the straw that broke the camel's back. I personally believe France thought they could continue their BS without repercussions or US attention.

Thinking otherwise only buys into the Gaullist claim that France should occupy a place of reverence in the community of nations. But why should its views matter any more than, say, Italy, whose population and economy are nearly the same size? The marginal amounts of aid and peacekeeping help Paris can offer hardly merit concessions on America's part. And if France threatens to undermine American interests with its Security Council veto, America should call its bluff, pointing out that such behavior merely weakens the institution that is the prime source of France's undeserved prestige. (Despite all the bluster, France has not used its veto power unilaterally since 1976.)

If it weren't for our own modesty, Canada would have owned their UNSC seat. What the hell did the French do to deserve a permanent veto, other than lose to Germany in two weeks?

Moreover, making an example of the French is precisely the wrong approach because it elevates France in the eyes of the world's anti-Americans, who will always be with us. The one thing France and the neo-Gaullists can't possibly abide is being ignored. Perhaps that's punishment enough.

Booyah. Marginalize and ignore. I disagree that an American boycott has had no affect, however. When I was in France in the summer of 2003, there were zero Americans in Paris, and the French felt it--all because of an unoffical boycott of American tourists. Seriously, they had a bad summer for tourism. Maybe it had nothing to do with the boycott, and more to do with the fact that:
a) Everything that is worth seeing in France is basically jacked from another country
b) The French are the biggest assholes on earth

I am a little bitter. I liked seeing France, but I disliked the French. Intensely. If I ever see a Frenchman, lost on the streets of Vancity (when I get back) or in Osaka, I'm going to point them in the direction of the nearest crack den. ...hmm, that probably only applies in Vancouver.