MERCI

MERCI 

It's Thanksgiving . . . 2009. 

This year, I have decided to thank the French. 

Truth be told, the French in recent times have received precious little thanks. In the run up to and aftermath of the on going Iraq War, they were of course vilified. America's higher-ups treated them as the despicable denizens of Old Europe, unwilling and unable to roll up their sleeves on the side of democracy and the ubiquitous war on terror. When they stood their ground, refusing to be intimidated into capitulation, we unleashed the big guns.

We renamed french fries Freedom Fries. 

And dusted off all those World War II jokes. 

My guess is that the French let that whole culinary correction thing roll right off their collective backs. In fact, they probably liked it. At its best, and even at its worst, France is a nation of fine food. It is very hard to get a bad meal at a half way decent restaurant in Paris. You can't get a cheap one. Especially now, with the dollar tanking. But it will usually be a good one. 

So I bet they were pretty happy to be done with les Americain's "french fries." 

In 1972, when I was an exchange student living in Paris, the whole city was in a twist over the fact that a McDonald's was opening on the Champs Elysees. There were street protests and ominous editorials bemoaning another unwanted invasion. For awhile, it looked like Le Big Mac was going to be une bust. Things, however, have settled down appreciably. Mickey Dees is packed every day of the week. President Sarkozy is asking his fellow citoyens to be a little less French and more American when it comes to labor markets. My French friends even brag these days about California wine. 

The only thing they really oppose is our unnecessary wars. 

And our right wing. 

And I really can't argue with them on either count. 

In 2005, I returned for my first visit to France in twenty nine years. Walking around Versailles with the same fellow I had lived with as a teen, he told me that 80% of the French had supported John Kerry in his bid for the Presidency. Over here, where he was being swift boated into an un-American coward, the nut case right said that Kerry "looked" French . . . and it wasn't a compliment. Over there, he was still a hero. Which of course is why he lost. 

Thank God Barack doesn't look French. 

France isn't just a country. It's closer to an intoxicating experience. I went to a three day conference in Paris last winter. Everyone had come to talk law and do business. These conferences typically make attendees participate in team building exercises. You know, the stuff that uproariously funny commercial lampoons as two guys who have had enough catch the first American Air Lines flight out of town. But ours was different. We painted a picture. On a ten foot square canvas made of mini-squares we could later disassemble and take home. 

We did Picasso. 

Instead of psychobabble. 

At the last night dinner cruise on the Seine, I sat between a young Anglo-French lawyer and a Dutch-Israeli real estate investor. The City of Lights rolled by, gorgeous even in the chill of a cold winter night. Which is another thing you have to thank them for. 

They'll always have Paris.

WORLD SERIOUS

WORLD SERIOUS

My daughter, a freshman in college, called earlier in the semester to report that she had gotten a high mark on an English essay. The Professor had even read part of it to the class. At home, this was greeted with cheers, coming as it had from a young adult whose early relationship with the English language at one point resembled hand to hand combat. 

As a kid, when Courtney had an idea, it was an "ideal". Announcing she had apologized for any transgressions big or small came out as "I said my sorries." As a sort of liquid epiphany, apple juice regularly emerged as a request for "apple jews." Apple Catholics or Protestants were apparently not as sweet. The best baseball player ever to don a uniform was "Babe Ruth-ez". And early on, at a point when she still thought her older brother was cool, she promised that if she ever came into money, she would be sure to get him tickets to the "World Serious." 

I say the hell with her brother for the time being. 

The Republicans need those tickets. 

Tuesday, as we all know, was Election Day. Turnout was low. Here in New York well less than 30% of the registered voters cast ballots, and the same was the case throughout the nation. The Republicans won the gubernatorial races in New Jersey (by a little) and Virgina (by a lot). New York City's now Independent (previously Republican and probably Democrat previous to that) Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- having spent $100 million of his own money to the other guy's five -- won reelection to a third term by a less than resounding five points. And suburbanites tossed out a three term incumbent County Executive in Westchester and nearly did the same to a two termer on Long Island. Both were Democrats. 

This is hardly what the statisticians would call a "representative sample." Most of the races had decidedly local angles to them, all successfully exploited by the victors. And when 70% of those eligible to vote stay home, those who show up tend to be (1) motivated and (2) extreme. In Virginia, for example, those who voted this year had favored John McCain by 8 points a year ago. Clearly a lot of last year's Obama voters -- who had won the state by 12 points for Barack -- stayed home. Enough in fact to create a 20 point swing in starting points. It is not a surprise that a Republican won that race, and given the margin he probably would have won even if all those Obama voters had showed. But it would have been a lot closer. 

For its part, New Jersey was close. 

Even though it should not have been. 

For most of the race, the now Governor-Elect Chris Christie was ahead by double digits. He explains his slide from inevitability to mere victory as the product of Governor Corzine's negative campaign ads. He doth, however, protest too much. Both of them ran negative ads, and as the children are wont to say, Christie started it. Jon Corzine did not invent political corruption in the Garden State and had nothing to do with the parade of hacks marching to their perp walks in this summer's political version of the Sopranos. But if all you knew came from Christie's commercials, you'd have thought that Corzine himself belonged in the slammer. It's easy to become Governor of New Jersey if you promise to end corruption and lower property taxes. Actually doing this, however, is the rough equivalent of a political hat trick. 

Many have tried. 

None have succeeded. 

Not even Chris Christie when he was New Jersey's US Attorney. The bad guys he put in jail were just replaced by a new crop of bad guys for the current US Attorney to put in jail. When that group is replaced and Christie is in his fourth year as Governor, someone will run against him promising to end corruption. And that someone won't have to write new campaign ads. He can just dust off Christie's. 

The Chairman of the national Republican Party, Michael Steele, wants none of this local angle stuff. For his money, Tuesday's elections were an indictment of an "incredibly arrogant" Democratic Party that is putting "our freedom and economy at risk." Of course, the economy was at risk long before January 20, 2009. In fact, it was more or less on life support. And it is very hard to talk about the loss of freedom these days without images of Dick Cheney's uber-state coming immediately to mind. Steele must think that a free and productive America is one where Wall Street is made safe for renewed financial bubbles and health care is provided at the whim of for profit insurance companies. 

The rest of us know otherwise. 

Even the rest of us in New Jersey and Virginia. 

We've already been to . . . 

The World Serious. 

In fact, we live there.