Anti-French Internet site "FranceStinks.com" scores hit with US public

Hindustan Times ^ | March 06 2003 | AFP

[knighthawk]

Anti-French sentiment has found an outlet in America: A new Web site where members of the public can send jokes and express their general displeasure at Paris' stance opposing the US bid to launch war on Iraq. "FranceStinks.com" was set up by a 50-year-old Burbank, California-based television producer with a string of businesses to his name who refuses to reveal his identity, going instead by the pen name "Yankee Doodle" so as not to get too many rude letters, he says.

"Americans, myself included, have always had a very fond place in our hearts, and in our style and in our cuisine and in everything for France, and when you feel closer to someone ... are more hurt when you feel betrayed," the Webmaster says.

To express his feelings and give a forum to like-minded people, he spent four days two weeks ago setting up the site - marked by a traffic sign with an image of the Eiffel Tower on it and a 'prohibited' line scratched through it.

His mission statement is as follows:

"When it comes to knowing who their friends and allies are, the simple truth is that France Stinks! ... The French are happy to sell us everything from runny cheese to over-priced old grapejuice, but when it comes to reciprocal respect ..."

The site includes 16 pages of jokes and anti-French cartoons of the ilk: "What did the mayor of Paris say to the German Army as they entered the city in WWII? A table for 100,000 m'sieur?"

And, "How many Frenchmen does it take to defend Paris? Nobody knows, they never tried."

Photo-montages include one that reads: "White flags: new technology that could save your life."

A list of 162 brands and French businesses to boycott is given, with requests for Web surfers to complete it.

"Yankee Doodle" moreover called for a Tea Party on Tuesday March 4 at midnight.

Similar to the famous tea party thrown at the port of Boston on December 16, 1773 when patriots threw boxes of tea belonging to the British Crown into the harbour to protest unfair taxation, Yankee Doodle calls for US patriots to throw all French products in their homes down the toilet.

"Purify your homes and destroy their products then replace them ONLY with all-American goods or those of our real allies in the world," the site urges. "Drink English beer! Drink Italian wine! Eat Polish sausages!"

He also proposes an online shop to buy all kinds of clothing and items including teddy bears that carry anti-France slogans.

The Webmaster also has a similar site targeting the Germans, in unison with France both at the UN Security Council and in a recent NATO meeting aimed to slow action against Iraq as proposed by the United States.

"GermanyStinks.com" may have received around 300,000 hits, but its French counterpart has had five to six times more, "Yankee Doodle" says.

"It's because Americans have never really felt close to Germany. With both world wars, yeah, those guys don't like us, that's what we expect. But not France. So my website is a place to express that in a kind of a community."

And he says that in thousands of sarcastic or insulting messages received from French Internet surfers, the vast majority of visitors use the term "cowboy" as an insult.

"Yes, we are cowboys, and proud of it," "Yankee" counters. "The cowboys are brave, honest, it's not an insult. A cowboys doesn't look for a fight, but will never run away from it."

His message to the French: "If those airplanes had flown into the Louvre or the Quai d'Orsay, you would feel differently."

Among comments and jibes is offered a list - following the successful renaming by a restaurant of the term "French Fries" to "Freedom Fries" - of alternative names for the French kiss, proffered by patriots.

Among them: "Liberty Lick," "Freedom Frisk," "Patriot Act," "Swirlique," "Star Spangled Kiss," "Red, White, and Bliss Kiss," "Tongue of Surrender," and "The First Of Many Inspections."

[Happygal]

BTW knighthawk..HOW do you find excellent excerpts from the Hindustan Times? I mean Man! You must be a newsaholic! :-)

[nonliberal]

[nonliberal]

Woah! That's huge!

[ggekko]

Ike did make a mistake with the Suez crisis but this is about the only thing the French can gripe about during the post-WWII period.

In 1947 we help the French re-float a collasping French Franc; a little while later the Marshall Plan aid started. We allowed the French to manage a dignified exit from Viet Nam after their disastrous military collapse. We have tended to turn a blind eye toward French neo-colonial military episodes in Francophone Africa. The CIA helped De Gaulle during the Algerian crisis.

We have bent over backwards to help the French and our reward has been a lack of cooperation on any number of military and trade issues. To add insult to injury France has been the driving force behind the attempt to turn the EU into "Fortress Europe" with a particularly anti-American slant.

The bottom line is that the French have been rotten friends.

[Optimist]

"Yankee Doodle" will be a guest on KPLA 101.5 Columbia, MO's "Hilley & Hunter Morning Show" in the 8 AM Hour on FRIDAY, March 7th! We look forward to joining Kevin & Sara (and YOU) Then!
IF you are NOT in Columbia, figure out the time zone and listen live on the Net at www.kpla.com

(Yankee Doodle is apparently the webmaster)

[Burkeman1]

No- we have been idiots. Gratitude is a dog's disease. France acts in her interests. It would have been nice if we had done the same in most of the instances that you mentioned in which we helped France. That we didn't is our fault - not theirs. Nations don't have friends. And we as a country (not a nation mind you) better understand this and stop this juevenile idiocy about "cowards" and "ingrates" when it comes to our allies.

[GOPJ]

bump

[GOPJ]

bump

[ggekko]

"France acts in her interests....."

Relations between nations have longer term and shorter term components they also tend to be heavily influenced, at times, by domestic politics. The idea that nations act only out of pure calculations of Realpolitik is risible. Nations often act of pride, a sense of historical aggrievement or fear of the actions of a rival nation.

I strongly believe that France is not acting in its own best interests in the case of the Iraq situation. What appears to be the impetus behind French actions is their perception of their role in World Politics as the "third force". That this role has been superannuated by the end of Cold War seems to have eluded French diplomats and politicians. This delusional vision is only serving to uncover French impotency.

Nations share common interests with other nations. It is rational that nations will cooperate with another over such interests. What is grating about current French behavior is not that thay have forgotten previous episodes of cooperation with the US but that they mulishly refuse to recognize the commonality interest they should have with the rest of the Free World in neutralizing State sponsors of terror.

[HP8753]

French berries instead of Dingleberries

[Burkeman1]

Pyscho babble aside- France acted with us (as did nearly every major power) in the first gulf war. There are reasons now they are not. And chief among them is not a wrong perception of US Hegemoney over the entire Mid East. If you think otherwise then we disagree. If I were France or another continetal power like Germany I can easily see why they oppose this US action in Iraq.

Powers stopped acting on emotion since WWI (except the USA)- in fact- the study of Europeon diplomacy in the last 50 years is a study in self interest and realpolitik- which this Country needs to be schooled in.

[ggekko]

"Powers stopped acting on emotion since WWI (except the USA)- in fact- the study of Europeon diplomacy in the last 50 years is a study in self interest and realpolitik..."\

This is sophmoric. Why did the British revalue the Pound and Gold at pre-WW1 parity after WW1 (false pride)? Why didn't the British conclude a separate peace with Germany during WWII as was offered several times by Hitler (pride)? It certainly would have been in their short-term economic interest to do so. Why did Mussolini's Italy fancy itself as a recrudescence of the Roman Empire and conduct a reckless foreign policy as a result (false pride)? Recent European history is replete with other examples of nations acting out of a sense of pride or because of domestic political pressures rather than a discernible national interest. Do nations seek to protect vital national interests? Of course, but it is not the only factor that will motivate a nation to act.

If France was strictly concerned about its economic interests in Iraq it would made a secret deal with the US several months ago as a quid pro quo for non-interference as Germany should have done as well. I believe that Chirac and Schoeder have allowed their own domestic political problems to dominate their actions on the Iraq issue to the detriment of the interests of their countries. Talleyrand and Metternich must be turning over in their graves watching Chirac and Schroeder blunder their way throught this crisis.

[Burkeman1]

British naval forces could have smashed any German attempted landing. That is sophmoric to presume otherwise. An Invasion of Great Britain never got beyond the general staff fantasy stage in the Werhacht and Great Britain knew it. If Hitler was to concentrate on Great Britain with all his might then Churchill would have caved like a girl (but Hitler had the Ostfront in mind always). Sure- emotion does play a role. All nations are made up of human rulers. But your judgement of France reads like a National Review hit job. The French are not ingrate weenies like the Neocon press makes them out to be. You are the one being simplistic. Do you make the slightest allowance that maybe France, Germany, and other continental powers are perhaps being at least prudent in suspecting American intentions in the Mideast? Place yourself in their shoes for a moment?

[dfwgator]

Had we not given in to the French to let them have their colonies, we could have saved 50,000 US soldiers who lost their lives in Vietnam.

[Terriergal]

Oooh sounds like a good way to let off steam. :-)

[k2blader]

*LOL*

[TheLionessRN]

Does anyone know how to say "Cheese eating surrender monkeys" in French? That would be cool to say in that language, snicker...

[ggekko]

I am trying to understand what is motivating France and Germany in the Iraq situation. In Germany's case they have some investments in Iraq but nothing worth getting too excited about. Germany's position seems to have softened somewhat in the last two weeks. France may have manipulated Germany to some extent during the intitial phases of diplomatic maneuvering.

I have come to understand one thing about the French-German perspective on this crisis that I didn't fully appreciate before things came to a boil. France and Germany do not understand or sympathize with America's support for the State of Israel. From their perspective Israel is that "sh***y little country" and our support of Israel needelessy inflames the Arab world.

It is also a fact that the EU imports 100% of its oil most of it from the Middle East. Stability of oil prices is a life or death matter for the EU economies. It is a least understandable that they will find the prospect of conflict in the Middle East deeply alarming.

Having said that, however, it must also be observed that there is a significant gap between policy aspirations of the EU bloc and their capabilities. As was detailed in a recent Wall Street Journal article the armies of the EU are little more than jobs programs with little military effectiveness. The EU cannot project anything other than token military power at present. This reality makes EU diplomatic initiatives feckless.

The first Bush adminsitration gave free reign to an independent EU foreign policy during the initial phases of the Bosnian crisis. It was a disaster. The EU army was unable to supress the violence and diplomatically the EU effort was hampered by disagreements between Germany, France, and Britain.

The current German and French policy on Iraq is obstructionist; it doesn't offer a realistic alternative to the policy of the Bush administration. Because this obstructionism seems irrational I have sought a psychological explanation for the French and German posture.

If you have a more cogent rationale that better explains the French and German position I would love to hear it.

[k2blader]

It's approx. 1:40pm EST Friday, and the site isn't up anymore! :-(

[knighthawk]

I bet they got overloaded with people visiting.