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

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

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)

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

Long live Franco-American Friendship.

**SNEAK PREVIEW** Educating Jay
Special Invite Closed Screening
Co-written and directed by Shannonn Kelly.
Music by Paul Stirling Taylor

Marc Cormier, the “Michael Moore” of French expatriates in North America would like to invite you to a sneak preview of “Educating Jay”. One French-bashing late night TV talk show host vs. One French columnist dedicated to exposing French-Bashing and Anti-French activity in  America. To paraphrase Howard Beale, he’s as mad as hell, and he’s not  going to take this anymore! Marc Cormier, media  watchdog ‘rottweiler at large’ travels on a 44 day road trip in one of  the hottest summers on record to confront Tonight Show host, Jay Leno  about his incessant French Bashing on late-night TV.  One  province, 13 states and 27 cities later he arrives on the doorstep of  NBC Studios to teach Jay Leno a history lesson. Will Jay get an “A” or  totally flunk out…?

• When : 9:15 PM – TUESDAY June 21
• Where : Theater 222, Innis College 2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto, U of T campus.
• Why : Because French People are Awesome!
• ReelHeART 2.011: www.reelheart.org

Miquelon.org is a watchdog group dedicated to documenting French-Bashing and Anti-French activity and monitoring the news and entertainment media. Miquelon.org has been featured or mentioned in many media outlets : Financial Times, AFP (Agence France Presse), Libération, TF1, KTTM Radio, Fox News Radio with Alan Colmes, Der Spiegel, and the Utne Web Watch.

Marc Albert Cormier

What’s really interesting to us, at Miquelon.org, is that after 8 years of no support from the French political establishment, French Bashing is now a convenient card to play when it suits someone’s political agenda. How convenient …

So far, we have seen little or no French Bashing save a few lousy headlines in faux-French over the DSK Affaire. Most attacks have been aimed squarely on DSK’s personality, his status and his lifestyle. Just like in France.

If anti-French sentiment is expressed in this case, we’ll be the first to denounce it. In the meanwhile, Jack Lang might want to keep his opinions on the matter of French Bashing to himself.

• Source : LePost.fr

I enjoyed this endeavor, I was proud to do the work so many others recoiled from and appreciated the support from the many thousands who donated, wrote in with leads or confided their personal stories stemming from the stupidity of base French-Bashing.

But something lately has not been quite right.

Last year, many French citizens discovered they had become second class citizens. Having a foreign born parent, like myself, meant they could not renew passports or identity documents without proving their foreign born parents had indeed become full fledged French Citizens. At the time, like many others, I alerted my elected officials. The issue seemed to be resolved despite the decree, written by then Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkzoy, still being on the books.

This week, state affairs have taken on a new twist.

French member of parliament, Claude Goasguen, put forth a proposition that would curb the number of dual citizens by stripping them of political rights and keeping a special register of said dual nationals. Being a Citizen of France through my father and a Citizen of Canada by maternal lineage, here I am today, lumped into a new class of sub-citizens of the French Republic.

My Citizens Abroad Assembly Representative (Assemblée des Français de l’Étranger) tried to reassure me yesterday by claiming this proposition had little chance of becoming law despite the fact Claude Goasguen is the head of the parliamentary committee overseeing changes to the citizenship act.

Naturally, I protested the project vociferously using all possible channels, including Goasguen’s Facebook profile. I was quickly excluded and saw all my comments quickly removed.

I now have a sour taste in my mouth. I feel my country’s government no longer considers me – and  millions of others – as full citizens. I have shied away from French internal politics on this site, but I can no longer ignore the fact the UMP party is at the forefront of this nasty cabal.

I wonder how many French expatriates who are dual citizens, or have children with dual citizenship, will remember this next year when they are called to the polls to elect parliamentary members for the first time ?

Marc, dual citizen of France and Canada
Petit fils de poilu et descendant de triple déportés …

Here are a few articles and comments worthy of note.

• Du «french bashing» en Amérique – Petite poussée anti-française avec l’intervention «alliée» en Libye, mais bien moindre que lors de la guerre d’Irak. By Antoine Bourguilleau – The article’s approach is interesting but misses a lot of what we’ve uncovered over the near decade of existence. See my response below to Bourguilleau.
• “‘[...] Only Obama could make France look good” – David Letterman
• The French: ‘Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys’ No More?

Glenn Beck is known for having openly stated his hatred for the French. This was before his more notorious bat shit crazy stunts and his subsequent demise. Where is Beck today: fewer markets, almost no advertisers and the focus of endless petitions and protests.

Jay Leno is hardly even worth mentioning anymore. His name has become synonymous with backstabbing, low ratings and just bad comedy. Howard Stern, the granddaddy of French Bashing, has also turned on Leno: “He’s not fit to scrub David Letterman’s feet”

Dennis Miller still appears on Bill O’Reilly’s broadcast. The two notorious French Bashers rarely if ever mention France or the French anymore.

George W Bush is still considered politically radioactive by members of his own party and virtually irrelevant by most. Although his image has gradually improved since he left office, his presidency is still regarded as one of the worst in modern history. Bush is now reduced to taking swings at his former press secretary, Scott McClellan…

Condoleezza Rice still doesn’t regret the Iraq war but admits “the mistake…was to put a spotlight simply on the weapons of mass destruction”. Still no apology for her comments about “punishing France”.

Donald Rumsfeld wrote his memoirs and will be touring in early February. He probably won’t be touring outside of the United States…

• Still active in politics are:
  • Former representative Roy Blunt is now a Senator.
  • Jack Kingston is still a very active member of congress.
  • Peter T. King is currently serving in the House, reprensenting New York’s 3^rd district.
  • Walter Jones has since expressed regret for the “freedom fries” incident, and has become a vocal anti-war Republican.
• No longer in office:
  • Virginia “Ginny” Brown-Waite, retired from politics for health reasons.
  • Tom DeLay was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted on money laundering and conspiracy charges.
  • Dennis Hastert left politics and resigned his seat in November 2007.
  • Bob Ney resigned after he pled guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal.
  • Jim Saxton left politics in 2009.

Jones has since expressed regret for the “freedom fries” incident, and has become a vocal anti-war Republican.

Read more about Water Jones’ defection, Freedom Fries

More :

• President Obama Meets with President Sarkozy – WhiteHouse.gov
• British Reaction to Obama’s declaration
  • UK FURY AS PRESIDENT OBAMA COSIES UP TO FRANCE
  • France is our biggest ally, declares Obama: President’s blow to Special Relationship with Britain
  • America’s real special relationship