commentary: pourquoi j'aime les Francais

It is my regular practice to leave comments connected to the posts that stimulate them. In this case, Alain Breillat's response to an earlier article of mine is worthy of greater visibility. I offer it here, in its entirety.

We forget that the French ruling class looks down their noses at the American upstarts when it comes to finesse in foreign policy and of course in the realm of food (on the latter I would agree with them - American's by and large have no appreciation for good food).

I think you would find Bob, that the real issue is how the media plays on the French aristocracy and technocrats' efforts to stand against the American political endeavors across the world. The Continetal approach is one of white gloved diplomacy and yet we have seen over the last century where their endeavors have failed on a consistent basis (Poland anyone? How about Sarajevo? And lest we forget, who brought down the USSR?) I firmly believe the French political class believe themselves morally superior to the ragamuffins across the sea - but it just kills them that they no longer have the wealth and military power they once had when the day was, in order to truly be civilized, you had to speak French.

There is a belief, ill considered, that the Continentals are the sophisticates when it comes to keeping the world in order and that the Americans are bumbling fools. GW Bush has not helped that perception, in fact his malapropisms and fumbling nature have plummeted us significantly back to the days of the Ugly American. I cringe when I listen to him speak and when I see him fumble with the right approach to dealing with foreign powers (the finesse is what I'm talking about). But the reality is that no single country has so successfully managed their international power and ascendancy as well as the US. There is a rich history of foreign policy in which this hayseed nation has outwitted and outgunned even superior nations like France and Great Britain. (Let us not forget the Battle of New Orleans - Andrew Jackson anyone? and the Louisiana Purchase in which Jefferson gained roughly 1/3 of North America for 3 cents per acre - essentially took advantage of Napoleon's challenge in dealing with the war mongering British at the time.)

Every major European power had aspirations of keeping portions of North America or overtaking it entirely but the Americans outfought and outfoxed them at every crucial turn. Only the US was able to force Britain's hand in allowing them to sustain a massive Navy across the world - something France, Germany and Spain all failed to accomplish militarily - and the US did it without spilling a drop of blood. Spain, France, Britain, Mexico, and even Russia were rebuffed in their attempts to retain or capture portions of what is today US boundaries.

So, I don't think you can blame the French politicians like Mitterand, Chirac, and M. De Villepin for despising the Americans. We pollute their language, we force our culture and our movies upon them, and we ignore them when they seek to influence our foreign policy. For a nation that is as proud as the French, this is akin to pissing in the bottle of Château Le Pin Pomerol 1999 before serving it to them. Don't get me wrong, I love the French, the people at least - they're a part of me - my ancestors' blood from the Haut-Poitu region runs deep in my veins. The politicians are where they go sour.

So, I don't think you can blame the French politicians like Mitterand, Chirac, and M. De Villepin for despising the Americans. We pollute their language, we force our culture and our movies upon them, and we ignore them when they seek to influence our foreign policy. For a nation that is as proud as the French, this is akin to pissing in the bottle of Château Le Pin Pomerol 1999 before serving it to them.

Don't get me wrong, I love the French, the people at least - they're a part of me - my ancestors' blood from the Haut-Poitu region runs deep in my veins. The politicians are where they go sour.