Conan O’Brien had been invited to Toronto in early 2004 and aired one of the most vile anti-Quebec and anti-French sketches ever. This comedian’s associate, Robert Smigel and his hand puppet Triumph, caused such a stir the issue was raised in Canada’s parliament.

The very next day, we hand delivered a letter to Conan’s hotel outlining the facts behind French Bashing and seriousness of the issue in the context of Canada’s political and social makeup. We were not the only ones to voice our concerns.

Conan O’Brien apologized.

James Douglas Muir Leno on the other hand has never shown any form of remorse for his insensitive and downright relentless bashing of the French. Having aired tasteless sketches and over 40 anti-French jokes between 2003 and 2006, Leno became the embodiment of French Bashing in American pop culture: from surrender jokes to jabs about our cleanliness, cowardice and duplicity.

In 2006, we drove across the United States to donate a box of books on French history to Jay Leno. We dubbed the operation Educating Jay and a documentary is currently in post-production. Leno never acknowledged our efforts and in a somewhat related story also refused to meet the Consul General of France in Los Angeles despite an open invitation.

One of these two men proved to be a true gentleman, able to accept criticism and apologize for his offences.

The other slandered the memory of the French Resistance and believes the French as a nation and people should be held in perpetual contempt.

Guess who we’re rooting for.

Read more :

• Conan O’Brien
  • Conan O’Brien exports hate speech to Canada
  • Conan Apologizes to Canada – Conan Apologizes to Quebec
• Jay Leno
  • Educating Jay – Our very long list of articles
  • Leno’s Anti-French Materials

Educating Jay – EmotionFilmsLtd © 2009.

Disclaimer : This video contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this video is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

More about Educating Jay

• Jay Leno and the Tonight Show – Collected anti-French materials.
• Adieu Jay – You called my people cowards on a nightly basis for years based on your skewed perception of events in World War II and your willingness to please the Bush administration before and during the Iraq war.
• Re: James Douglas Muir Leno
• Jay Leno’s French Obsession – Is Jay Leno afraid of the Consul General of France? First, let’s deal with his latest anti-French monologues. Before losing his writing team to the WGA strike, Jay Leno could not reign in his obsession with the surrender of June 22nd 1940.

On average, about a dozen or so anti-French jabs are written on twitter per week, most of them being some form of “French Surrender” joke. While some are deliberately trying to be offensive, others are living proof there is a “long tail” to America’s recent spate of French Bashing.

A few examples from within the last day or so:

• @timchi – “You can try and run over a french bulldog but it would surrender first”
• @asianlunatic – “Mantastic: When ur in France for holiday, the French will surrender to u, just to be on the safe side.” 
• @JohnHancock61 – “Great movie line from Flushed Away: Lead French frog: To action! French frog commandos: We Surrender!”
• @Simon4365 – “ahhhh the weekend or as the French say “we surrender”!!!” 
• @Hondo11 – “I’ll say it. Pietrus is not only French (known to surrender) he looks strikingly erily to a Primate. FACT” 
• @macslash – “It’s nice to hear Serlet attack Windows with a French accent. Would have expected him to just surrender.”

While most comedic outfits have abandoned French Bashing, especially Jay Leno and his forty or so jokes about supposed French cowardice and propensity to surrender, legions of twitterers, bloggers and comment contributors have kept the myth of French cowardice alive.

Having turned a traumatic historical event of epic proportions into a timeless character trait, French Haters have woven prejudice against France and the French into pop-culture.

Thankfully, one of North-America’s most astute international columnists has decided to take the myth of French cowardice and surrender head on. I present to you, Eric Margolis and his column : “Getting to the truth about World War II”. Thank You Eric. Merci.

Here are a few excerpts:

“France’s army did not simply surrender or run away in 1940, as ignorant American Know-Nothing conservatives claim. “

“Britain’s well-trained expeditionary force in France was beaten just as quickly and thoroughly as the French, and saved itself only by abandoning its French allies and fleeing across the Channel. “

“France lost 217,000 dead and 400,000 wounded.  Compare that to America’s loss of 416,000 dead during four years of war in the Pacific and Europe.”

Eric Margolis is an award-winning columnist who contributes regularly to the Quebecor Media Company and the Huffington Post. His articles appear in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Times of London to name a few. Eric Margolis has also appeared on CNN, BBC, France 2, France 24, Fox News, CTV and CBC.

See also: French Bashers hit twitter @ Miquelon.org

While it is a fact our leadership betrayed us and surrendered us to the enemy in 1940, over 100 000 men in uniform died trying to slow the German advance. Had the French been the cowards you so often joked about, there would have been no battle of Lille and no evacuation of 340 000 British troops from Dunkirk. But historical facts were never your forte.

One last time Jay, let me remind you your mocking of the events of 1940 was – and is – as offensive to the French as 9/11 jokes are to Americans. In a print interview, you also went as far as calling the French Resistance a “mythical joke”, a highly offensive and revisionist comment you have yet to redress.

We will not miss you, save a sincere apology.
Marc from Miquelon.org

More from 112 Gripes About The French. Published in Paris in 1945 by the ‘Information & Education Division’ of the US Occupation Forces.

• The French fought in Africa, in Sicily, liberated Corsica, fought in Italy, took part in the invasion of Europe and fought through the battles of France and Germany — from Normandy to Munich.
• Units from the French navy participated in the invasions of Sicily, Italy, Normandy and South France.
• Units of the French navy and merchant marine took part in convoying operations on the Atlantic and Murmansk routes.
• On June 5, 1944, the day before D-Day, over 5,000 Frenchmen of the resistance dynamited railroads in more than 500 strategic places.
• They delayed strategic German troop movements for an average of 48 hours, according to our military experts. Those 48 hours were tactically priceless ; they saved an untold number of American lives.
• French resistance groups blew up a series of bridges in southern France and delayed one of the Wehrmacht’s crack units (Das Reich Panzer Division) for twelve days in getting from Bordeaux to Normandy.
• About 30,000 FF1 troups supported the Third Army’s VIII Corps in Brittany: they seized and held key spogs ; they conducted extensive guerrilla operations behind the German lines.
• 25,000 FFI troops protected the south flank of the Third Army in its daring dash across France: the FFI wiped out German bridgeheads north of the Loire River ; they guarded vital lines of communication; they wiped out pockets of German resistance; they held many towns and cities under orders from our commmand.
• When our Third Army was approachiung the area between Dijon and Troyes from the west, and while the Seventh Army was approaching this sector from the South, it was the FFI who stubbornly blocked the Germans from making a stand and prevented a mass retirement of German troops.
• In Paris, as our armies drew close, several hundred thousand French men and women rose up against the Germans. 50,000 armed men of the resistance fought and beat the Nazi garrison, and occupied the main buildings and administrative offices of Paris.

Our comments at the Huffington Post

Update : following the Friday April 3rd monologue by William Maher where jokes were made about the supposed non-cleanliness of the French, we have no choice but to put an immediate end to this endeavour. We sincerely apologize to our community.

While some may not agree with Bill Maher’s libertarian politics, his support for PETA or his anti-religious stance, nobody stood up for France and the French during the era of French Bashing with more force and conviction. Bill Maher took the Republican Party head on and voiced serious and structured criticism of their Anti-French rhetoric.

The “initiative citoyenne” legislation for the Legion of Honor was not designed for foreign citizens, however we believe that using a similar process should be initiated and forwarded to the Ambassador of France in Washington.

To petition the French government, you must be a French citizen. We will need your name, date and place of birth, your postal address and phone number, your consular registration number if applicable. This information will not be shared with anyone except the French government and their consular agents.

More information on the Legion of Honor – L’initiative citoyenne

More information on Bill Maher – Wikipedia [fr] – Wikipedia [en] – BillMaher.com

Photo : David Shankbone

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• We would love to have people like you and our long time supporters leave us a simple VOICE MAIL
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For more information please click on “Educating Jay”

To Donate funds to the making of “Educating Jay“, please click on “Donations“

Dear America,

Some of you have finally witnessed that Jay Leno is an insensitive, patronizing buffoon.

While interviewing Ryan Phillippe, over his first role as a gay teen on daytime television, Jay repeatedly teased his guest with requests like: “Can you give me your ‘gayest look?’.” Critics are now voicing their concern, most notably Jeff Whitty, who later blogged: “Would you ask a guest to make their ‘blackest face?’ Their ‘Jewiest face?’ Why not?”.

To tell you the truth, America, you could have asked us. We’re the French expatriates, whom years ago knew the embarrassment that is James Douglas Muir Leno!

While you were all dancing the French Bashing boogaloo, who among you noticed Jay resorting to the worst kind of stereotyping, revisionism and downright xenophobia about France and it’s people. Anybody…Bueller…Anyone…?

You were blinded by guffaws of contrived laughter, as it was the air of the day to bash all that was Gallic.

Leno called the French dirty, smelly *, complicit with the enemy **, cowards *** and mocked the most painful era of our history, the German occupation and surrender of 1941 that enslaved our country and led to the death of half a million citizens.

Yet, you did nothing but laugh along, change French Fries to “Freedom Fries”, boycott perfume, pour French wine down sewers and put many French restaurants and their (American citizen) employees under financial strain or ruin.

Jay Leno pushed the French Bashing envelope even further when he was interviewed by Nikki Finke for L.A. Weekly. Leno resorted to blatant historical revisionism: “Well, there’s nothing funnier to me than the French. The French Resistance is probably the biggest mythical joke that ever existed. There were four guys in the French Resistance. They couldn’t hand over the Jewish people fast enough.” Still, you did nothing…

Jay and “his people” refused to meet us in July of 2006 when we drove cross-country to speak to him about his French Bashing and to offer literature on that dark period of our history. Leno – to this date – has also refused to meet France’s Consul General Philippe Larrieu for lunch despite an open invitation from France’s top diplomat in Southern California.

Now that Leno openly mocks sexual orientation, has his mask finally fallen?

Need more proof of Leno’s hatred towards the French? Read on…

* In France, they’re having trouble translating a lot of Internet terms into French. In France the law is you have to use French words. For example, there are no French words for surfing the Web, there aren’t any French words for chat session, and there aren’t any French words for hacker. Of course, a lot of other words don’t translate to French either: military victory, deodorant…

** It is so cold the French now have another reason to be in bed with the Iraqis…

*** I’m watching the sports news and they had this psychologist on and he said that this strange behavior means that deep down, Mike (Tyson) is afraid to fight. I had no idea he was French, did you?…

“And some sad news. France’s new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife have separated. (…) I guess what happened was, Sarkozy’s wife came home early one night, and caught the French president surrendering to a German woman.”

Fast forward to January.

During Thursday’s monologue, Jay featured a sophomoric voice-over of president Sarkozy’s press conference, supposedly speaking about his new love interest with bleeped over allusions to various sexual acts. Kevin Eubanks and his band then played the Marseillaise.

This definitely was not French-Bashing, but Leno revealed that his interest in France has now been reduced to Entertainment Tonight level fare about Nicolas Sarkozy’s love life.

A step in the right direction?

Well not exactly. While the regular readers of Miquelon.org know for instance Leno refused to meet us when we drove across America in our bid to Educate Jay, it should be pointed out that Leno – to this date – has refused to meet France’s Consul General Philippe Larrieu for lunch despite an open invitation from France’s top diplomat in Southern California.

Time for a new campaign?

Sources: New York Times – Tonight Show Online Video @ NBC (US IP’s or Proxy) – LA Times – Toasting the days of wine and commerce

Update: NBC.com Community Board

Using stock photography of an Air France jet taking off – Leno surmised jokingly, that the first draft of airline’s slogan was : “We’re As Rude At 30,000 Feet As We Are At Ground Level” – The complicit crowed cheered the joke.

Source: YouTube.com

Marc St Aubin du Cormier

Jay Leno’s monologue, Monday October 9, 2006 – “That was the story today. All around the world people were reacting to North Korea’s nuclear testing. The U.S. condemned it. China said it was wrong. France surrendered. ”

UPDATE : Floyd Landis was set to make a triumphant post-Tour de France appearance on the “Tonight Show.” Instead, the cyclist may end up as comedy fodder for host Jay Leno…

Marc St Aubin du Cormier

For historical accuracy, we feel we need to point out the following:

• French Action in Afghanistan, about 4000 French military were involved in 2002.
• France takes part in ISAF (539 French troops maintain the security of the Kabul airport and its environs). Only the United States, France and the United Kingdom are providing officer training for the new Afghan army.
• French military participation is significant: in Macedonia (the EU’s Operation Concordia: 53 percent of troops); Bosnia-Herzegovina (10 percent of troops, the second-largest contribution after the United States); Kosovo (15 percent of the troops, the second-largest contribution, following Italy; United States number 8).
• Côte d’Ivoire: France deployed a continent of nearly 4,000 men, whose intervention saved American lives, in order to restore peace to that country and support African ECOWAS forces to which it, along with the United States, provides the greatest support.
• Liberia : France evacuated about 100 Americans from Liberia on June 8 and 9, 2003.

Source : French Embassy in Washington

Dear Jay Leno;

For the last three years, Miquelon.org has been the one and only media watchdog in North American dedicated to exposing and documenting French-Bashing and Anti-French activity.

One of our busiest areas is monitoring national (and international) news, radio, print comments, articles; writers, columnists, as well as advertising campaigns, and entertainment programs.

Featured in many media outlets, Miquelon.org has been written about and interviewed for: AFP (Agence France Presse), Libération (www.liberation.fr), TF1 (www.tf1.fr), KTTM Radio, Fox News Radio with Alan Colmes, Der Spiegel, the Utne Web Watch. We were scheduled to appear on Bill O’Reilly, only to be pre-empted by the Scooter Libby Affair. We just finished an interview with the London Sunday Times on the topic of French bashing in the media.

Since 2003, you, Mr. Leno have been at the top of our monitoring list for late night television French-bashing. An example:

“Well, there’s nothing funnier to me than the French. The French Resistance is probably the biggest mythical joke that ever existed. There were four guys in the French Resistance. They couldn’t hand over the Jewish people fast enough. Oh, please, don’t tell me about the French. The French have all sorts of secret deals with Saddam and everybody else for two cents a liter. It’s an easy target.” – James Douglas Muir Leno, Interview with Nikki Finke, LA Weekly.

Hence the initiative here at Miquelon.org what we call: “Educating Jay”. Jay, your continued offensive anti-French remarks, has resulted in our own revolt. Last year, we appealed to our readers to send us funds to buy books about France, the French in World War II and the French Résistance. Donations poured in, and we have put together a selection of books on these topics. Although we had initially planned to send you the books by mail, I personally am driving across the country from Toronto Canada to Los Angeles California to give you these books myself

We believe you have quite an impact on the popular perception of French, even more so than Fox News, the New York Post, the Washington Times to name a few. Given the fact that you have had many Americans of French heritage on your show, I find it incredible that you continue to make disrespectful comments about the French. Therefore, I believe a one-on-one conversation is in order, in a bid to change your perceptions about the French culture and country.

I extend an invite to you to meet with me while I’m in Los Angeles and will check for my name at the gates at NBC Studios in Burbank.

To quote the character Howard Beale from the 1976 film Network: “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Yours truly,
Marc Saint-Aubin du Cormier