Is French-bashing getting worse ?

[Flagg]

Last Saturday, I drove my wife and daughter to Indianapolis to see the big air show. This is a big event, with daily attendance of around 85,000 people. I especially wanted to see the WW2 airplanes. A beautiful DC-3 and B-17 were there.

Reps from Time Warner Studios were there too, and they were featuring the film “Casablanca” on a gigantic outdoor screen for the entire public after the air show in the evening, right on the runway and airport lawn.

I love classic movies, so I wanted to watch it.

I ended up regretting it.

Remember the part where everyone is in Rick’s cafe, and the Germans begin singing marching songs, then the Free French agent stands up and begins to sing “La Marseillaise,” and everyone else joins in a loud, patriotic chorus?

Well, at that point in the movie many of those who had stayed to watch it (about 8-9,000 people) began booing and hissing at the screen, and yelling just about every anti-French comment you could imagine. I couldn’t tell how many were doing this, but it sounded like A LOT of people. Instantaneous French-bashing orgy.

Not that I was very surprised. Very upset, but not surprised. This is a very heavily neo-con area, so I suppose I should have expected as much…

Anyway, time to leave, I thought. So we got to our car, and there, another sad moment: flyers had been dropped on windshields: an anti-immigrant diatribe about all those illegal Mexicans who are wiping out our culture, blah, blah, blah…

And who was the writer/sponsor of all those anti-immigrant flyers? None other than the American National Socialist Movement, apparently based in Minnesota, and obviously with several members in or around Indianapolis.

So the following day, I checked the local news and papers to see if there were any public reactions to the flyers.

Nothing.

So, damned if I’m a Frenchie, but OK if I’m an American Nazi?


http://superfrenchie.com/?p=926#comments

Scary, isn't it ?

[K8-EEE]

1. Everyone Is The Enemy To Those Brownshirts

They're crazy!

[liberaldemocrat7]

16. Republicans don't realize that CONSERVATIVES control French government

When I point this out to Republicans they act IN DENIAL. They deny that conservatives run the country at present. Both the prime minister and the president come from the conservatie party in France.

Idiot Republicans.

[bryant69]

2. That's sad

And total bullshit.

I hate France bashing.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Name removed]

7. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[liberal N proud]

3. I hadn't heard much until a couple of week ago and then

all of a sudden people are bashing the French all over again.

My brainwashed brother started in on them out of the blue when I was visiting. I couldn't take it any longer and just went for a long walk.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. I honestly don't understand it.

These guys have literally done nothing to us. Furthermore, in the days leading up to the Iraq War (what sparked this ignorant hatred in the first place), THEY WERE RIGHT!

[mikeytherat]

8. They were right about Vietnam, too.

They warned us not to do it. They mentioned how they'd had their asses handed to them, and how unwise they felt the larger war would be.

C'est la vie

mikey_the_rat,
superfrog

[whistle]

5. Remember the 14 characteristics of fascism....

...items 1 and 3 :

<snip>
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottoes, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

<others found at>
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/The_14_characteristics_030303.htm

[maine_raptor]

6. Not surprising

Mix WWII aviation nuts (I know, I'm one of them :) ), and Am Nazis, and it's bound to happen.

As for the local media/LTE not reporting/reacting to the flyer drop, maybe that's a good thing.

Remember even Bad publicity is Good publicity.

[YOY]

9. It's been around for a while (French Bashing/Francophobia)

Mark Twain was even quite good at it.

http://www.twainquotes.com/French.html

Then again he was actually clever about it.

[johnlal]

10. I can' t imagine..

What has America come to, that they are watching Casablanca and taking the side of the Germans?

[dipsydoodle]

11. All sounds a bit

childish to me. If they're that touchy about the French then when they gonna ship the Statue of Liberty back to them. I'm guessing that a few arseholes started hissing and the sheeple joined in.

[Blue_Tires]

12. it's been getting a lot worse

since the invasion

what makes even LESS sense to me is the seething hatred that RWers aroud here have for Canada:wtf:

[originalpckelly]

13. First they came for the french...

then they came for Iraq's "WMDs"...

[PeterPuck]

14. majority of spectators at air shows are RWers

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1690813/posts

Freepers are all about bashing people that are different than themselves. They are not capable of inteligent thought so they are limited to jumping on the band wagon and spouting sterotypical clichés (Freedom fries and toast, cheese eating surrender monkeys...)

Since 9-11 it is ok to be rude to others.

[nealmhughes]

15. Eh, la France, mere du siecles des Lumieres, etat de liberte, fraternite

et egalite. La France, pays de Brie, Bordeaux, et cassoulet. La France la chere pays de mon coeur.

Allons enfants de la Patrie, le jour de gloire est arrive! Contre nous de la Tyrannie, l'etandant sanglant est leve...
Aux armes Citoyens! Formez vos bataillons, marchons, marchons....

[Darth_Kitten]

17. Booing a Classic Movie? They must be so gauche..............

But then the french are so crass and vulgar.....they don't even have a word for "gauche" ;)

[Ravenseye]

18. Our country is screwed up

When we boo an Allied nation in a movie set during WW2 and agree with the Nazi party it's clear to me that something has gone wrong in this country.

[SweetLeftFoot]

19. My girlfriend is French

and she never delights in telling Americans she may meet who have a go atv her - yes, it happens - that she regrets taht her country ever won the US War of Independence for Washington's ragtag guerillas.