This Week’s New York Times Update
[Guest post by DRJ]
The New York Times relays a memo from Paris that the French love Obama, but they don’t like boorish Americans like Sarah Palin:
“The French know exactly what to make of her [Palin], said Frédéric Rouvillois, and that is the problem. Ms. Palin may be an American dream but she is a French nightmare, said Mr. Rouvillois, a lawyer and social historian who has just written a book titled “The History of Snobbery.”
“She’s a caricature of a certain America that hasn’t parted with its boorish ‘Wild West’ side,” said the impish Mr. Rouvillois, who has also written a history of good manners. “For the French snob, the only admissible American is from the East Coast, knows Henry James, is comfortable in French, a sort of European on the other side of the Atlantic.”
A little, yes, like Senator John Kerry.”
Didn’t the New York Times learn anything in the 2004 Bush-Kerry election? This won’t win Obama many undecided American votes.
— DRJ
If this sentence is not the winner of some Unintended Irony award …
Hell, DRJ, Baracky campaigned in Germany.
JD (f7900a) — 9/30/2008 @ 8:46 pmI think the fact that these people wear the title “snob” as a badge of honor tells us about all we need to know.
France: teaching the world how to lose wars in every imaginable fashion for over 1000 years!
Chris (95a123) — 9/30/2008 @ 8:48 pmChris – If France had a civil war, which side would surrender first?
JD (f7900a) — 9/30/2008 @ 8:51 pmBoth. They’d just agree to abolish government, since neither one could win…
…and that’s when the cats, sick of being killed for food, take over. 🙂
Chris (95a123) — 9/30/2008 @ 8:55 pmUnless it is summer and 15 grand are dying due to lack of air conditioning …
JD (f7900a) — 9/30/2008 @ 8:58 pmIf that means what I think it means, then congrats…you’ve officially gone one step farther than I ever planned. You win this round. 🙂
Chris (95a123) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:02 pmOne can never go too far when mocking the French.
Or, as the snobs would say it …
On peut ne jamais aller trop loin en raillant les Français.
JD (f7900a) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:07 pmI don’t think he’s endorsing the French or their bigotry. He’s observing a strange species at the zoo and trying to describe it.
The French have to be glib about an American thoroughbred. Palin’s not a citizen of the world and she clearly won’t be a UN puppet. The French are smart about wine and women.
Vermont Neighbor (a066ed) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:07 pmFor the French snob, the only admissible American is from the East Coast, knows Henry James, is comfortable in French, a sort of European on the other side of the Atlantic.
For the ‘Merican Good Ol’ Boy, the only admissible Frenchie is a 20-year-old starlet, goes topless on screen and in the tabloids, is as dim as Britney, a sort of California girl on the other side of the Atlantic.
JVW (dd171a) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:10 pmHey, I’ll give the French this much: they’re at least smarter than many of the left in this country regarding nuclear power.
Chris (95a123) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:10 pmPour de `le bon Ol garçon de Merican, le seul Frenchie admissible est une starlette de 20 ans, va torse nu sur l’écran et dans les tabloids, est aussi faible que Britney, une sorte de fille de la Californie de l’autre côté de l’Océan atlantique.
JD (f7900a) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:12 pm#8 Vermont Neighbor:
A few years ago, I was describing my childhood growing up out West in a family of farmers, ranchers and lumberjacks to a Parisian acquaintance.
Having to bring along a shotgun to borrow the neighbor’s horses (to protect against rattlesnakes), spending time on the rez with my friends, stuff like that.
Complete, total disconnect. Something that was so far outside his reality as to be something imaginary. It would be easier for him to picture himself on safari in Africa than to recognize that much of America is still … rural America.
EW1(SG) (e8fd8c) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:15 pmIn fairness, I think there may be a good deal of people in New York and San Francisco who would react the same way.
Chris (95a123) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:18 pmIn fairness, I think Obama and his campaign staff would react the same way….
fixed that for ya!!
bmeuppls (7664db) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:21 pmThe NYT finally publishes a pro Palin piece.
Bfidler (e8f3cb) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:33 pmBut seriously the Democrats are close cousins to the Vichy French so it all makes sense.
I like the French but they have the same problems with their political class that we have. They have figured out the problems they have with their Muslim immigrants, many of whom are illegal. The French Revolution is still not over. The political class are the same ones who were wrecking the country and led to the revolution.
Mike K (155601) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:36 pm#13 Chris:
Fair is us not making fun of that funny stuff cityfolk eat. Or the funny way they dress.
Now, if they just wouldn’t make such a big deal out of parking a horse downtown, I might visit more often…
EW1(SG) (e8fd8c) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:42 pmBoy, those French certainly are civilized sophisticates with no Wild West side of their own,…hm,
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93H86MG0&show_article=1&lst=1
Dana (437bb2) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:51 pmDRJ, my wife is actually a huge Henry James fan.
After our trip to Europe last year, she told me that if I took her back to France again, she’d divorce me.
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:54 pmJohn Kerry, Sarah Palin, Jerry Lewis, and Barack Obama
Which one of the above four Americans is not admired by the French?
Can someone remind me why it is so important to the liberal elite that a country which equates Jerry Lewis and Barack Obama “like us.”
daleyrocks (9dd0de) — 9/30/2008 @ 9:54 pmEW1, very interesting story. No guts, no glory – it certainly applies to them.
Vermont Neighbor (a066ed) — 9/30/2008 @ 10:06 pmThe French – The best Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys they can be.
Dmac (e639cc) — 10/1/2008 @ 7:04 am#21 Vermont Neighbor:
Lest I leave the wrong impression, this particular Parisian wasn’t at all anti-American~but the American experience is so different from his own that he had no referents at all to connect to.
Couple that experience with a bit of snobbery and you have the typical Gallic attitude to America.
EW1(SG) (da07da) — 10/1/2008 @ 7:08 amThat passage from the Times sounds like it could come from the Weekly Standard. I figured the paper was in the tank for McCain, and this is just more verification.
jpe (08c1dd) — 10/1/2008 @ 9:27 amHuh…either that’s one of the more understated bits of sarcasm I’ve read recently, or…well, I’m just too frightened to consider the alternative.
Chris (6733a5) — 10/1/2008 @ 9:38 amEW1,
And who does everyone turn to for disaster relief and volunteers? Yes, the decidely boorish Americans! ( /sarc)
Vermont Neighbor (a066ed) — 10/1/2008 @ 9:41 amIf America didn’t exist, the NGO’s of the World would have to invent it to ensure their survival.
AOracle (ec995e) — 10/1/2008 @ 9:51 am