The Nature of Things

I am a Francophile. I admire the French culture and the way of living that is pursued by the people of France. It's a sentiment that is shared by many - I think most - Americans, and it has strong historical roots. After all, France was our first foreign ally. Without their aid, that 1770s war to secure independence from Britain might have turned out quite differently. One of the qualities of a true friendship is that that friend will tell you when you are doing something stupid. So it was when our former president, George W. Bush, determined to invade Iraq after the attacks of 09/11/01. France did not support that invasion and argued against it.  For standing up against a bully, France's reward was jingoistic members of Congress engaging in the silliness of trying to rename French fries as "freedom fries" and calling the French all sorts of insulting and bellicose names.  These are some of the same politicians who are today inveighing against Syrian refugees and dema...

France, we stand with you.

2015 is not off to a sterling start. Events in France this week confirmed for us once again that there are angry, misguided people in the world who feel persecuted by simply living in a society that protects and indeed encourages freedom of speech, even the most offensive speech.  Goodness knows we have plenty of the thin-skinned in this country, people who take offense at any criticism . Usually, they just shoot off at the mouth (see Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Curt Schilling ), but occasionally the more deluded of them take up arms (see Cliven Bundy, various open carry activists, the Boston Marathon bombers). The most misguided of all imagine that by physically attacking and killing the purveyors of free speech, they can eradicate the speech which they find offensive. They are always wrong. It only causes such speech to metastasize.  Vive la France!

Today is the French National Day. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789 during the French revolution. We commonly think of it as Bastille Day. In France, it is celebrated with parades, patriotic speeches, and fireworks, not unlike our own Independence Day. France and the United States have historic ties going back to our country's Revolutionary War when the Marquis de Lafayette, a French patriot, fought on the side of our fledgling country. It has sometimes been a prickly relationship but blood ties are strong. When the United States entered World War I on the side of France, a group of military officers with Gen. John Pershing visited the tomb of Lafayette where one of the officers - some reports say Pershing, some say one of his aides - uttered the phrase, "Lafayette, we are here!" implying that they had come to repay a debt of honor. On this French National Day, we remember again that debt and we wish our French friends and their new government ...