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Loving France Again
Au revoir, Bush years. A new poll reveals that we're no longer a nation of xenophobic, anti-urban idiots.
One of the most pleasing aspects of the Obama presidency is that it disproves something that, deep down, many of us feared might be true: that America was a nation of idiots. The doddering quality of the entire Reagan presidency certainly gave rise to that notion. And the Bush presidency? Well where to begin? Didn’t most of us think Cheney was really president? Wasn’t reading The Pet Goat forever after being told we had been attacked on 9/11 a little too close for comfort? And then he went and invaded the wrong country. (At this point, it looks like Iran would even have been a better bet.)
Right-wing pundits made entire careers on the basis of slogans like “cheese-eating surrender monkeys.” And right-wing politicians congratulated themselves for their witty accusations against liberals who “looked French.”
Obviously one could go on and on with this theme, but the point is, we re-elected these guys. (Or in the case of Bush, elected him legitimately for the first time even after we knew what we were getting.) And if you believed what you read and heard in the media while these guys were president, well, the whole country had no use for intelligence or even for what intelligent people consider “common sense.” You may have to be as old as I am to remember when, during the Republican convention of 1984—in which a triumphant Reaganite party prepared to crush Walter Mondale and company—the worst thing you could call your opponent was a “San Francisco Democrat.” Nobody had to spell out what it meant; you only had to watch those gay-pride parades at the time; hairy homosexuals parading their perversions and giving one another diseases that Republicans like Reagan could never even bring themselves to pronounce. (That’s true, by the way; Reagan never said the word “AIDS” in public as president.)
But here’s the good news. It was all nonsense. We’ve now got a president who’s not afraid of book learning and an entire country that has no problem with San Francisco or that other perennial punchline, France.
After all, in the Bush years, the only thing worse than San Francisco was France. Right-wing pundits made entire careers on the basis of slogans like “cheese-eating surrender monkeys.” And right-wing politicians congratulated themselves for their witty accusations against liberals who “looked French.” (“Good afternoon, or as John Kerry would say, bonjour,” quipped that genius, Tom DeLay.) Morons in Congress insisted that “French fries” be renamed “freedom fries”—though this was actually an insult to Belgium. I even seem to recall Ed Koch seriously proposing an American boycott. Why? Well, few in the media bothered to ask. It was all so much fun. Sure they were right about invading Iraq, etc., but so what? Didn’t they overrate Mickey Rourke and go around pretending that Jerry Lewis was some sort of genius?
But now almost everybody likes San Francisco. Even Republicans. They also think France is, well, magnifique. In fact, there is only one demographic that differs, measurably from the rest of us in Real America. And that’s the South. Come to think of it, those numbers look a lot like the numbers expressing approval of George W. Bush’s presidency--only reversed—and Bush’s numbers are a bit lower.
Now for the bad news: Unfortunately, a significant percentage of those schmucks still have their own cable shows…
Eric Alterman is a professor of English and journalism at Brooklyn College and a professor of journalism at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He is the author, most recently, of Why We're Liberals: A Handbook for Restoring America's Important Ideals.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
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Jeff Madrick is a contributor to the New York Review of Books and a former economics columnist for the New York Times. He is editor of Challenge Magazine, visiting professor of humanities at Cooper Union, and senior fellow at the New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. He is the author of Taking America, The End of Affluence (Random House) and The Case for Big Government.
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Eric Alterman is a professor of English and journalism at Brooklyn College and a professor of journalism at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He is the author, most recently, of Why We're Liberals: A Handbook for Restoring America's Important Ideals.
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Eric Alterman is a professor of English and journalism at Brooklyn College and a professor of journalism at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He is the author, most recently, of Why We're Liberals: A Handbook for Restoring America's Important Ideals.
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Eric Alterman is a professor of English and journalism at Brooklyn College and a professor of journalism at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. He is the author, most recently, of Why We're Liberals: A Handbook for Restoring America's Important Ideals.
Oyy-vey, this guy is a piece of work! This is a pretty shallow analysis. I personally don't know ANY Americans who hate France because they are France. I know A LOT of Americans (most in fact) who don't like any other country telling us how to fix an international situation (NOT Iraq) that they seem to want fixed but can't bother to actually assist in fixing it. It sucks being the world's policeman when most of your "friends" in the international community can only criticize and complain. I truly wish America were NOT the world's policeman but this is the card we have been dealt until the sun sets on the American era.
Obviously you've never listened to right wing radio. They hate anyone not American when it serves them.
only one thing wrong with your argument; who exactly dealt the cards? Playing too much solitaire?
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I love a good laugh in the morning and this dribble certainly provided it! Eric, you need to get out of your self-protective, liberal insulating bubble because it's not working for you. I'm going to submit my application to blog here because Tina will let ANYONE spout off without making a shred of sense or having anything of real value to contribute.
Although I assume your preaching to most of the choir here as far as bush bashing goes, theres not much else in your piece however. You even missed that French toast is not French either... and most importantly; We started bashing the French only after they warned us that Iraq would become... well what it has become. And seeing as they had much more experience with this sort of war in Algeria than we did we really should have listened.
This "attack all critics even if they are right" knee jerk reaction stuff is driving me up the wall.
Also
Everyone keeps
Forgetting
They gave us
That really nice
Statue.
And
helped
fight the
British
Hear, hear!
Downbytheriver,
True enough! But at the same time, would you get in a car with a friend when he's drunk? From an international politics point of view... that is what they thought we were doing. Really, the only nation that really got behind us was Britain. (And Tony Blair sacrificed his political career to do it, as did any other leader who tried.)
But lets face another reality. France and the U.S. have always had a "snarky" relationship for centuries. And the irony is... (wait for it... ) in many ways we're alot alike. If you don't know what I mean, look at history and get to know the regional role France plays in the E.U. and the perceived views of themselves and you'll get what I mean.
Exactly. The French and Americans are a LOT alike. There are superficial differences, of course, but both countries have unusually large numbers of people who think that their national shit doesn't stink.
Umm...I've been around the world a couple of times, and visited France twice. My feeling is that French dislike of the US is based on two things; 1. The US rescued them twice recently (I & II); and 2. The French consider themselves superior to anyone else, not just Americans. Alterman's piece is similar to the French position; i.e. Bush is the source of all problems in the US, and the World, and the French are superior to the Americans. I think I'll wait a while for the French to give assistance with no strings attached. My experiences match those of many nationalities besides Americans in their opinion and experience with the French.
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While, that is all very true. That was a very long time ago, under very different circumstances... we've all changed. It still colors our national personality but it isn't who we are. So keep that in mind...
Besides... I have to be in Paris the end of May and I don't want to jinx it.. lol :)
Alterman's take presumes that public sentiment reflects the perspective of whomever is in office. If one president says France is bad, polls will reflect that the public concurs. If another says France is OK, the same thing will happen. This is so condescending. Furthermore, Alterman suspects that, "America is a nation of idiots," unless and until the public does something he agrees with. "Cheese-eating surrender monkey" is a term coined by The Simpsons. This doesn't prevent Alterman from citing it and ascribing it to his olitical opponents.
It is the petulant dismissiveness of contemporary political discourse that damages the discourse. Alterman is Hannity with a (D) next to his name.
Didn't the US flourish under Reagan? Didn't the USSR crumble on his watch? I take issue with his courting of the religious right, but I'm willing to give credit where credit is due. Alterman comes across as a man incapable of thinking outside the confines of his own predilections, as evidenced by his insinuation that John Kerry was actually a good candidate. The 2004 election was the Dems to lose. They managed to do it. Rather than assume any degree of culpability or error, Alterman derogatorily blames demagoguery and the lemmings who love it.
And by the way: Sarkozy's pro-American position has done more to ingratiate France in the hearts of The States than Alterman might like to admit. And vice-versa.
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Dahn,
You missed one thing... and it's important.
The French think they're superior to EVERONE! They drive the rest of the E.U. NUTS. I have friends in the U.K., Spain and Germany and who do they complain the most about... guess?
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The cheap shot about Bush is old...And France has centuries of arrogance..it's in their DNA.
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Alter is chosen with some frequency to elucidate the morning line for JournoList. But why keep beating the deceased equine that is Dubya?
Let me see, I took notes...Anyway Eric not everyone is liberal okay to be Gay lovers and your not making me feel guilty about it no matter how liberal you continue to get... Your thoughts on the Bush years are mostly correct and yes we all really did know that Cheney did run the shadow government but I swear you made it sound like Reagan was a nasty fellow simply because #1 he wasn't gay or #2 he agreed with the fact that the city Sodom was right there in his home state...Well nevertheless your article is gay so I'm very sure you feel pretty good about that.
Oui, c'est possible n'aimer pas les francais mais peut-etre les anglais croixent que tout le monde parle anglais seulement. Aussi, les francais savent que leur experiences de guerre sont l'importants si pas l'universals. Votre persons ici avec les critiques "anti-French" j'y pense une histoire limitee.
Quoi? The Germans are coming! Go get the nenus.
Deutsch-Französische Beziehungen sind vor allem durch der gemeinsame Kritik gegen die Amerikaner gewachsen. Wer hätte gedacht dass es so schnell zu ein verstärkte politische Deutsch-Französische Bündnis kommen würde bei ein Vielfalt von Themen. Letztendlich brauchte mann nur ein Cowboy.
Man what a global platform this Daily beast is, where umlauts, used in many European languages, turn into question mark thingies.
This guy proves that college professors have way too much time on their hands. If they made them teach instead of whatever else they are doing, maybe the cost of college would go down. I can't understand how someone this biased can teach journalists to be objective.
I think the Americans who are posting on this page and calling the French arrogant are revealing their own arrogance. It is stereotypical to label all French people as being rude. I majored in French and studied abroad in Paris while living with a Parisian woman. I found the French to be very hospitable. Most of the French people I encountered were very polite and helpful. I did speak their language to them. Often, Americans travel abroad and expect everyone to speak English to them. Naturally, this frustrates the French, as it frustrates Americans when people come here and don't know our language.
French attitude is just a regional as it is in the states. Imagine if foreign people judged America solely based on how rude new yorkers are. They would have a pretty slanted view of us. The same goes for Americans judging France by Paris only.
As one who made a statement like that, don't take it out of context. I wasn't talking about a French person, but the French mentality and how the act and view themselves as a whole. You are not the only person to live in Europe and I've really only had good experiences with the French myself. But you just have to look at politics in the E.U. and all I have to do it listen to some of my friends in several different countries and there is always a similiar theme.
Hawnzz,
I never claimed to be the only person who has ever spent time in Europe. I was merely sharing my personal experience with the French.
As for politics, I think many people would view the attitude of the American government on a global scale to be very similar to that of the French government in the EU.
I don't see the French as being overly pushy in the EU. The British for example still don't pay their fair share in the EU, the only accepted entering if they got a huge discount. They haven't adopted the Euro, and some other things, but still feel they should have as much say in everything as France an Germany. Germany is obviously alway pushing to help build up the weaker countries economy's because, coincidentally, almost all of the machines and high tech materials and so on needed are made in Germany. My point is they all follow their national interests to some degree, I don't think its fair to single out the French.
yet somehow flyoverland manages the time to comment on everything himself. I guess being unemployed living in his mothers basement affords him the time.
By the way "cheese-eating surrender monkeys." is from Grampa Simpson.
One of the
Great slurs of
All time
And a personal favorite
So Simpsons.
Let's just call this columnist "Mr. Objectivity."
You would never know this guy is a flaming liberal.
Yah, and Rush doesn't lean to the right either.
"A new poll reveals that we're no longer a nation of xenophobic, anti-urban idiots."
Does anyone else see the humor in this statement from this particular gentleman?
Yes I did... can you say.. "biased, over the top, and diva in sheeps clothing" all at once?
Are today's crop of teachers interested in
actually teaching critical thinking in an
objective way anymore,
or are professors only interested in teaching
students . . .
. . . HOW TO THINK LIKE THEM?
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Actually, that word is misspelled. It should be "croient" and means "believe."
easton-
It's actually groundskeeper willie.
Morte a les fromage-eating surrender monkeys! Hint to some who are symapthetic to the French: they are among the all-time biggest Jew-haters in Europe.
It's really quite simple. If you like to good food, it's impossible to hate the french.
Not to
Mention
Beautiful lingerie
Fabulous art
Delicious wine
Unbelievable
Gardens
And
Crazy-good
Chocolate.
As a former Army officer who loves America dearly but also lived in Paris for 2 years and enjoy the French, too.....I have to agree with Hawnzz....we share a great deal in common with the French in terms of how we view our national interests. It's no wonder that two strong-willed nations knock each other at times.
But just think how much paler the world would be without America or France.....lol.
Thank you.
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