[Hallicrafters] Important Article...please read ASAP

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

I came across the following article published in the Alanta Journal Constitution last week and have decided to share it with the rest of the group.  I for one am fed up with this idiotic French bashing and think we should be grateful for their wise counsel in these troubled times.  Let the record show that I love my French Fries, French Kissing, French's Mustard and French Poodles!

Also, I want to state my deep appreciation to fellow Flint favorite son, Michael Moore.  I'm so proud that he has the courage to speak his mind about what is right and how I wish more Americans find the courage to speak up for what is right.  

Here's to an open dialog.  I encourage all members on the SWL list to state their opinion on the war either pro or con.  Let's make this a lively vehicle for free speech.

God bless America,
God bless our troops.
Send them home.

Duane


FYI:

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 3/20/03 ]

OUR VIEW

France-bashing has gone too far 

How quickly we forget. While two centuries have passed since France sided with
ragtag American rebels fighting for their independence, it was only a decade
or so ago that 10,000 French soldiers joined us in the Gulf War in Kuwait.
After Sept. 11, about 5,500 Frenchmen fought alongside U.S. troops in the war
against terrorism. Approximately 1,200 French troops are still in
Afghanistan.

No less important are the deep bonds of loyalty between our two nations that
were forged by the sacrifice of American GIs who helped liberate France from
aggression and tyranny during two world-changing wars.

But now, some Americans with short memories and a shaky grasp of history are
crudely mocking our trans-Atlantic ally. Their reason: the stubborn refusal of
the French government to support President Bush's decision to proceed with an
invasion of Iraq.

Some hysterical critics have called for boycotts of French cheese and wine.
Others have taken sledgehammers to French cars while snarky late-night
talk-show hosts regularly lampoon the French in their monologues. The silliest
and most troubling Francophobia, however, has come from those on Capitol Hill,
who should know better.

Republican U.S. Reps. Bob Ney of Ohio and Walter Jones of North Carolina
succeeded in getting the cafeteria menus in the House of Representatives to
rename french fries "freedom fries." (Too bad they didn't realize that it is a
culinary creation from Belgium.) The topper, however, was a bill introduced by
Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.), who wants to give the families of U.S.
soldiers killed during the world wars money to travel to France and bring back
the bodies of those buried there.

Some anti-France backlash might have been expected; at times, the opposition
its government has mounted to a military invasion of Iraq has been nothing
more than shameless grandstanding. Moreover, there is reason to suspect that
the government of President Jacques Chirac has acted, in part, to protect its
commercial interests in Iraq.

But the current crisis also provides a timely reminder that freedom of speech
-- a cherished American ideal that the French fought valiantly to help us
secure -- should not be squandered on such petty pastimes as renaming our food
and bad-talking our friends. If Americans genuinely support democratic values,
they should respect the right of the French to make up their own minds.


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