Don't that beat all! AMBIENT AIR? I always knew they didn't use deodorant
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| Europe |
| France's Newest "Sophisticated" Tabloid: L'Anti-Americain |
| 2005-02-07 |
| Forget about all that trans-Atlantic talk of kiss-and-make-up following the "Freedom Fries"-era disagreements between France and the United States. There's a new tabloid on Paris newsstands offering an alternate take: "L'Anti-Americain." The cheeky newspaper's editor-in-chief says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice can have a free issue of the satirical monthly when she's in Paris next week. Y'know, in case she needs to wrap some fish or line a birdcage. She'll need to have Rice and her French counterparts hope to rebuild ties bruised by disagreements over the U.S.-led war in Iraq. In Paris, a stop on her swing through Europe and the Middle East, she'll give a major speech in which she's expected to lay out her vision for American diplomacy. Sure hope it goes something like "Jacques, STFU!" But on French and American streets, mutual distrust still simmers. Well, on our side, it's more like disgust & contempt. On the day Bush won re-election in November, The French-language paper offers an unflattering, if tongue-in-cheek, look at America's perceived shortcomings — from fast food to the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Y'know, all the usual top-10 whines & bitches they have been screaming about for the past few years in the pages of "Le Monde". Cartoons and editorials featuring "We're so invaded by American culture, we can't resist," he said. "C'est vrai! We have not put up a fight against any invader for centuries!! The first edition in December sold 7,500 copies, advertised only by word-of-mouth and its eye-catching cover, Royer said. Its Bush re-election headline read: "France offers political asylum to Americans!" Paging Alec Baldwin! The cover of January's issue features a voluptuous blonde clad only in an American flag beside a doctored photo of Bush as a paperboy, proudly pointing to his presidential seal. I'm sure it's much more funny than the description. At least I hope so, but, then again, they DO think Jerry Lewis is a comedy genius. "The name is 'anti-American' for laughs, but it's really anti-Bush," said Royer. Why didn't he call it "Anti-Bush", then? Obviously, I don't get the nuances involved in this sophisticated thinking. By ordering troops into Iraq Conversely, some Americans see France as ungrateful for U.S. help during World War II. Now where would we get that idea?? "These grudges will probably last a long time. Yup. They go deep beyond the White House and Washington, and out to Middle America," said political scientist Steven Ekovich of the American University of Paris. At least there's one thing red & blue America can agree on....France bites. Royer acknowledges the success of "L'Anti-Americain" rests on Bush providing good material. "The danger is to do something too basic, too stupidly anti-American, |
| Posted by:Desert Blondie |
| #5 It does claim to be satirical. The question is, does the tone cover deeply held feeling, or are the writers, as His Majesty Prince Abdullah suggests, really poking fun at the French true believers? Certainly, the whole enterprise is in bad taste. But let it not be said that the French are incapable of such things! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-02-07 7:43:37 PM |
| #4 I smell a hoax. This paper came out a few months ago and I read about it in some of the European blogs. One or two of them went into the articles and came away with the sense that the publisher is 1) trying to make cash of excessive anti-Americanism, and 2) secretly mocking the same people who would buy such a tabloid. The anti-Americanism here is different from the real burning anti-Americanism you see from the Euro-lefites. There is no humor in the Guardian, because they are true believers. This stuff comes with a wink from the editor, as if they were trying to discredit anti-Americanism by being so excessive and silly. Maybe I'm wrong. We shall see. |
| Posted by: Prince Abdullah 2005-02-07 5:43:27 PM |
| #3 The French apparently want to develop fullblown hatred between the US and France. Despite Pres. Bush and Sec. Rice trying to repair relations between the two nations, this animosity goes much deeper than the Bush administration-it is a disdain and hatred of Americans, despite the couching of it in humorous statements, that may well push repair beyond the reach of the administration. There is an undercurrent in parts of America right now of deep antipathy for the French. So keep it up France-no doubt you'll reap huge benefits! |
| Posted by: Jules 187 2005-02-07 4:54:37 PM |
| #2 Sounds like a paper version of a lefty blog. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2005-02-07 4:25:56 PM |
| #1 "because of the ambient air — maybe what I think a lot of French people are feeling right now." . Don't that beat all! AMBIENT AIR? I always knew they didn't use deodorant |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-02-07 3:13:52 PM |