Recently it has become obvious that a virulent strain of patriotism has taken hold of some Americans. In their fervor they have forgotten France actually is our friend and anti-war protestors are human beings as well. And just as the anti-war protestors on Highland Road receive middle fingers and obscenities in addition to just honks, a few of our congressmen have taken cheap shots at the French in an effort to show their “displeasure” about the country’s stance on our planned invasion of Iraq.
A few days ago Republican Representative Bob Ney (R-Ohio) embarrassed our nation when he renamed the U.S. Capitol building cafeteria’s French fries “freedom fries.”
Ney called the move “a small but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France.” Perhaps he thought he was doing something really clever. In actuality, the move showed him to be base and juvenile in both manner and grudge, for we are not at war with France.
Surely I’m not the only American who knows this. In the president’s eyes we might as well be, though. The French aren’t “with us,” so according to our linguistically challenged president’s philosophy they are “against us.”
Now, if they really are “against us,” we would invade their country, overthrow the government, liberate the French people from their morally repugnant regime and make France an outpost from which to fight the War on Terrorism. But the United States isn’t doing that, which means France is still our friend.
That’s right! France is actually our friend!
But not according to Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Florida), who recently proposed legislation providing financial help to rebury the bodies of U.S. servicemen lost in the two world wars and currently buried in France. “I, along with many other Americans, do not feel that the French government appreciates the sacrifices men and women in uniform have made to defend the freedom that the French enjoy today,” she said.
That France granted indefinite ownership of the burial grounds to the United States apparently does not matter. This is not a slap in the face for France, but an embarrassment for America. To move the bodies of fallen American soldiers just to spite a nation in dissent is petty and sad.
The last profoundly odd case of insanity over the war does not involve congressmen, though. Simultaneously, CNN reports that an airline passenger with a “No War With Iraq” sign in his suitcase found a strange little note inserted by the Transportation Security Administration agent who searched his bag. The note read “Don’t appreciate your anti-American attitude!”
To call an American who opposes the looming war “anti-American” or “unpatriotic” borders on terminal naiveté. Before anyone calls a dissenter “anti-American,” read a bit in a history book. It should be duly noted that political dissent is a part of America, and as Americans we are all welcome to just that. It’s the American way.