XPost: alt.society.anarchy, alt.politics.radical-left, alt.socie   
   y.civil-liberties   
   XPost: alt.society.liberalism, talk.politics.libertarian, talk.politics.misc   
   From: etacx18@etaoin.com   
      
   Monday, July 8, 2013   
   “Les français sont comme les chihuahuas” (#Snowden)   
      
   By Andrew Dittmer, who recently finished his PhD in mathematics at   
   Harvard and is currently continuing work on his thesis topic. He also   
   taught mathematics at a local elementary school. Andrew enjoys explaining   
   the recent history of the financial sector to a popular audience.   
      
   Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, was denied travel over France, Spain,   
   Portugal, and (purportedly also) Italy, and then forced to land in   
   Vienna, in response to suspicions that Edward Snowden was being sheltered   
   on the plane. France’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius,   
   expressed his “regrets” over the “accident,” citing “delays in the   
   confirmation of flight authorization over [French] territory for   
   President [Morales’] plane.”   
      
   The title of this article is excerpted from this rather typical reaction   
   of a subscriber to the French newspaper Le Monde:   
      
       It looked like France was indignant about Snowden’s revelations. But   
   they act like the lackeys of the U.S. once they have an opportunity. The   
   French are like chihuahuas. They yap loudly but they don’t bite!!!   
      
   Although the incident occurred several days ago, the responses among   
   French readers were so extraordinary that they merit further attention.   
   For many, the incident represented an unmistakable turning point:   
      
       There is a certain concept of the world that is disappearing   
   definitively.   
      
   And so I have selected a representative sample of these responses, both   
   from Le Figaro (center right) and Le Monde (center left), and formed them   
   into a conversation:   
      
   Excuses   
      
   – So that’s Hollande’s excuse? They didn’t know it was Morales’   
   plane!   
   They really take us for imbeciles.   
      
   – Our President has even declared on television that he didn’t know if   
   there were one or two airplanes [...]   
      
   – Regrets?! Who is going to buy that???   
      
   – His “regrets” only matter to those who believe that they’re real.   
      
   – If the [governing] Socialist Party is Washington’s doggy, he might as   
   well just say it. Should we get ourselves ready to lick Obama’s hand?   
   Bravo, Hollande. Bravo.   
      
   – It’s clear that not only do the Americans listen to what the French are   
   saying, the French also listen to what the Americans tell them to do,   
   like blocking Morales’ flight path.   
      
   – What Hollande is saying sounds very much like a straight-up lie.   
      
   – M. Hollande: “As soon as I knew that it was the Bolivian president’s   
   plane, I immediately authorized its flying over [French territory].” A   
   little reminder, the airplane was stuck in Vienna for 13 hours! It is   
   absolutely necessary to buy M. Hollande a cell phone and stop using   
   messenger pigeons [...] What does [he] take us for?   
      
   – Who is he making into a joke, anyway? People who believed in him and   
   voted for him and who are discovering today how low he has fallen. It’s   
   pathetic.   
      
   Consequences for French Politics   
      
   – Obviously France is a subordinate nation and its President Hollande has   
   no balls.   
      
   – All the Americans have to do is snap their fingers and he lies down.   
      
   – The Americans must have discovered something tremendous about Hollande   
   if he gets on his belly like that before them.   
      
   – I’m a socialist and I am really, really disillusioned !!!!   
      
   – The PS [Socialist Party] and Hollande would do that?! I’m hurt by… not   
   by France. I’m hurt by the PS. They shouldn’t do that! Let Sarko or some   
   other jerk do that. But not the PS!! Bootlickers! When you don’t have   
   pride in your own ideas, you are nobody. They protest at being spied on   
   but then they give in! I am VERY disillusioned!   
      
   – Personally, I expected nothing out of Hollande… and thinking things   
   over, I believe I have received even less than nothing.   
      
   – Tony Blair was Bush’s poodle, does our “socialist” president aspire   
   to   
   becoming Obama’s? Is France, home of the Rights of Man, worthy of such   
   behavior?   
      
   – Daddy [Hollande] dances around with mommy Merkel who has no more depth   
   than he, and [then] bows his head before “Yes We Can” [...]   
      
   – Everybody’s ready to pound their fist on the table against the American   
   spying, and on the other hand, when it comes time to submit, everybody’s   
   ready to do that, too… What a disgrace for France.   
      
   – Our status as a vassal is almost worse than that of the Eastern   
   European countries relative to the USSR. They were under military   
   occupation. For Hollande, the servility is in his head.   
      
   – Hollande is a socialist. He claims to be a defender of freedoms and of   
   the oppressed. And he just acted like Washington’s rug.   
      
   – I can no longer discern anything socialist in this gang of social   
   climbers. [...] This head of the government deserves to be on trial for   
   high treason [...]   
      
   – The little clique of social-traitors [wordplay on social-democrats] in   
   power besmirches the tradition of France as a land of welcome. They’re a   
   band of diplomatic eunuchs! What a disgrace…   
      
   – Hollande had plenty of chances, he wasted them all.   
      
   – Hollande: the man who has failed in his rendez-vous with history.   
      
   – Excuses are not enough to remedy this offense to President Evo Morales.   
   It would be appropriate to require the Minister of Foreign Affairs   
   [Laurent Fabius] to resign.   
      
   – It’s pretty obvious that Fabius is taking orders from the U.S…. and if   
   Snowden had been in the plane, would France have turned over this   
   idealistic and courageous young man over to Obama’s police?   
      
   – If Hollande isn’t responsible, he should exercise his authority and   
   punish [his subordinates]. If he’s responsible… he should leave. This act   
   is an insult of all of Latin America and it tarnishes the image of our   
   country.   
      
   – But the problem is, I’m worried that they [Hollande and Fabius] could   
   care less about France. What they want is power.   
      
   – Hollande, resign! Go to the U.S., given that you’re their servant! I’m   
   ashamed of my country.   
      
   – Next everyone will be astonished that the extreme right is attracting   
   more and more supporters.   
      
   – I voted for the socialists. It will probably have been the last time   
   since I don’t see much of a difference between Nicolas [Sarkozy] and this   
   guy on anything.   
      
   – To think that I’ve always defended Hollande against wind and tides,   
   even when my wallet suffered as a result. But this is the straw that   
   breaks the camel’s back. A French socialist that is the United States’   
   poodle, who would have thought!   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)