Perfidious Gaul, how sharp is thy barbIt has been amazing to note the upwelling of Francophobia in previously unsuspected locations. Suddenly, every commentator worth his five-figure lecture fee has been discoursing on the various faults of the French: their cowardice, their incivility, their ingratitude.
We saved their butts in 1944, and now look at them -- they're opposing a perfectly reasonable war for their own selfish reasons. How dare they act in their national interest! Better they should let the United States decide what their national interest is. We'd be happy to do it. We'd even be happy to send a retired admiral over to run the country. It would seem that John Poindexter will soon be unemployed again.
People who had never had an opinion about France before, people who had previously confined their attacks to Bill Clinton, Teddy Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and, oh yes, Bill Clinton, are now brimming with expertise on the morale-sapping nature of French culture.
Revisionist history is carrying the day. According to our latest experts, America selflessly went over to France to kick out the Nazis just because we love freedom. Actually, we didn't even start to fight Germany until Japan attacked us, and our battle was to stop aggression that had reached our shores.
The French are such an easy target. They have no constituency to speak of over here, and anti-French epithets are not even among the banned words. I can say "frog frog frog" all day long, and not one complaint will be lodged. There's nothing like an unpopular and passive national group to bring out the attack dog in politicians and pundits.
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