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When the American Air Force awarded a $30+ billion contract to EADS, the European parent company of Airbus, several politicians seized the opportunity to renew with another round of French Bashing. By claiming this contract will result in the non-creation of 44 000 jobs, politicians like Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts have gone as far as claiming “(the US is) in the position now of subsidizing socialism”. Read the rest of this entry »

We have yet to fully comprehend the consequences of the Administration’s Anti-French policies carried out between 2003 and 2007, but careful research has been conducted in certain fields, including the effect of French Bashing on the publishing of French papers in American journals following the events of 2003. Read the rest of this entry »

Donald Morrison’s premature report on the death of French Culture (Time Magazine) was dealt a wicked blow tonight at the Oscars. Marion Cotillard won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role as chanteuse Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, and Philippe Pollet-Villard win for Best Live Action Short Film, Mozart des Pickpockets.

Let us paraphrase the oft-quoted and notorious French Basher Mark Twain: The report of our cultural death is an exaggeration.

Über-conservative commentator, Michael Savage was reported to have gone on another anti-French tirade on his show, aired Friday February 8th. He revisited one of his favourite theories, according to which Jerry Lewis’s status in France is due to a form of closet Anti-Semitism. Michael Savage believes the French do not admire Jerry Lewis nor Woody Allen, but hold them in deep contempt, as “schlemiels”. During this Friday show, he also declared France “culturally worthless”, probably an echo to Time magazine’s recent article on the supposed death of French Culture. Read the rest of this entry »

During his surrender concession speech, Mitt Romney warned his audience that America, if not careful, could become another “France”, a Romney euphemism for failure. Read the rest of this entry »

The smoking bans have barely been enacted in France and already several journalists this side of the Atlantic have wallowed in tired old stereotypes about the French “surrendering”. Our first example is Canada’s Times Colonist. Peter O’Neil and Megan Ainscow of CanWest News Service ran the following headline: “French surrender to smoking ban”. The worst offender however is Jon Bauer, Herald Writer in Everett Washington for the “Buzz Blog”. Bauer wrote a short blurb on the Heraldnet.com Website, resorting to the usual grab bag of French stereotypes. Read the rest of this entry »

Surely this is a joke? Alas it isn’t. The guest list released by White House for Tuesday night’s social dinner at the White House in honor of French President Nicolas Sarkozy included non-other than Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri and his wife Abigail Perlman Blunt. Read the rest of this entry »

“I surely hope that those Americans who renamed French fries into freedom fries, and those Americans who poured perfectly good French wines down American drains, I hope that they realise what foolishness that was” - Nicholas Burns, US State Department Read the rest of this entry »

When solicited by journalists, former French Bashing politicians don’t return their calls. Candidates for the Republican ticket now spin the politics of President Nicolas Sarkozy in their favor and the talking heads seem to have new marching orders. It is now safe to say, French Bashing has come and gone. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been quite a few months since Jay Leno last bashed the French on the Tonight Show. In fact, some of us thought the Educating Jay project had been met with some success (Comments made to James Woods of Shark on January 18 2007). Despite our efforts, Jay Leno and his team of writers decided to heap more scorn on the French by resorting to another stereotype: rudeness. Read the rest of this entry »