Miquelon.org – The Fighting French

Dear friends and readers of Miquelon.org,

I am currently very involved in the legislative elections for French Expatriates and as such will not be able to comment on Franco-American relations or issues stemming from French Bashing in the media. I apologize for this self-imposed hiatus and will resume my activities after the French legislative elections of June 2012. If you are interested in this election, I suggest you visit my personal blog and follow appropriate links from there. Campaign links will not be listed on Miquelon.org.

Thank you

- Marc A. Cormier

Yuuuup! French Bashing is back like an annoying cold-sore. Mind you, French-Bashing never really left, it just went quiet for a while. 2012 is a electoral year in America and various candidates are vying for the Republican Ticket. Anyone who has paid attention to the world of American politics over the last ten years, is well aware that French Bashing is usually a typical Republican tactic. Well maybe not anymore. AmericanLP.org is a Super Political Action Committee designed to support Democrats in upcoming election, and they are the proud authors of the latest anti-Romney video entitled “Mitt Romney – French Campaign Video”.

According to the TJ Walker, founder of American LP Super PAC, the video is designed to show Romney in a liberal and elitist light. Is American LS Super PAC involved in French Bashing or are they exploiting the anti-French streak of the Republican base? Either way, we deplore this tactic and hope American LP Super PAC withdraws the commercial as soon as possible.

For more on this please follow these links.

• CBS News – Attack ads shows Romney Speaking French
• AmericanLP.org Press Room
• Crooks and Liars

According to a leaked diplomatic cable, UMP leader Bernard Accoyer raised the issue of Anti-French sentiment in the United States with American Embassy personnel in February 2005.

Accoyer indicated to his American counterparts that he continued to receive complaints from French constituents who live in the U.S. that instances of gratuitous rudeness motivated by Anti-French prejudice continue, as does dismissive public commentary and jokes. Accoyer insisted that the problem was not all that serious, but still unpleasant because unnecessary and unjustified. Accoyer accused his own fellow-citizens of not appropriately sympathizing with Americans.

Whether it’s Women’s Soccer, DSK, Tennis, Bastille Day or a sponsored hash-tag – the web remains rife with anti-French prejudice and sentiment.

1. Brian Moylan of Gawker.com thinks he can do better than Cracked.com with his weak list of “10 things we should send back to France”. We’re guessing Ryan Tate(1) was too busy.
2. @LukeRussert (2) tweeted: Also in the midst of depressing #debt talks, go #USA women’s soccer! I don’t like losing to #France in anything. #FreedomFries
3. Still over at twitter, a sponsored hash-tag (#wheninfrance) unleashed a flood of French Bashing
   
4. Women’s Soccer provided plenty of fodder for the press and twitter
   1. After gargantuan win, U.S. can’t expect a French surrender
   2. Twitter was rife with surrender jokes over Women’s Soccer
   3. Some took offense at our replies: (1) (2) (3) (4)
5. In other news: Les Bêtes Fromages by Llewellyn Hinkes – “After all, this is the selfsame empire that slaughtered its way through most of Europe under Napoleon and used its trans-national power to colonize Haiti, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Chad, Algiers, Tahiti, Polynesia, Togo, Madagascar, Mauritania, Benin, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Congo, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, French Guiana, Morocco, Quebec, Eastern Canada, the American Midwest, and Louisiana.“

Meanwhile, part the French Consular Network (Miami – San Francisco – Nouvelle Orléans) is promoting the work of a group called “The French Will Never Forget“.

(1) Ryan Tate @ Gawker : “But [Angelina Jolie's] lazy, arrogant French doctors will make her wait in agony for three more days so they can celebrate cutting off rich people’s heads like communists and probably also so they can fornicate with their unbathed mistresses, get drunk and fantasize about terrorism.”
(2) Luke Russert is a television and radio personality who has followed in the footsteps of his father, the late Tim Russert)

Où fêter le 14 juillet 2011 en Amérique du Nord ?
Where are you going to celebrate “Bastille Day”?

États-Unis d’Amérique, dépendances et Bahams

• Boston : 7-24 juillet : Festival du Film Français
• Où fêter le 14 juillet à New York ?
• New Jersey – French Institute Alliance Française
• Où fêter le 14 juillet en Floride, à Porto-Rico, dans les Iles Vierges américaines ainsi que dans les Bahamas ?
• Nouvelle-Orléans : Festival de cinéma français de La Nouvelle-Orléans
• Célébrations du 14 juillet : Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas
• Los Angeles : Fêtez le 14 juillet avec French Tuesdays !
• Chicago
• Nord-Ouest Américain
• Washington D.C. (Ambassade) – avec carton d’invitation

Canada

• Acadie et provinces atlantiques
• Toronto – Torontois.com (17 juillet)
• Ottawa (Ambassade) – avec carton d’invitation
• Consulat de France à Québec – avec carton d’invitation
• Montréal : l’Union Française

Saint-Pierre et Miquelon

• Mairie de Saint-Pierre : reporté au 17 juillet

Seriously, happy Fourth of July.

Long live Franco-American Friendship.