U.S. presidential candidate Jeb Bush drew a comparison between lazy senators and the French — and reaped outrage. It’s a good reason to have a best of America’s Euro-bashing.
Anti-American statements from Europe could fill libraries. Conversely, there are also repeated abuses, polemics, or a clumsiness of U.S. politicians toward the Old Continent. Given current events, here is the best of Euro-bashing.
Example 1: How Lazy Are the French?
Yes, the French: three days of work and otherwise, they are having vin rouge, brie et amour. Similarly, Jeb Bush seemed to present the French week in a throwback to his rival Marco Rubio’s somewhat patchy attendance record in the Senate when Bush appeared in a televised debate among Republican contenders for the White House. “The Senate, what is it like a French work week? You get, like, three days where you have to show up?” Bush said.
The French representative to the United Nations in New York countered these rhetorical attacks on the Grande Nation promptly, with an annoyed tweet. “In any country, electoral campaigns offer the opportunity for a lot of bombastic nonsense. Let’s be indulgent,” the representative said.
Bush apologized the next day. “I now know that the average French work week is actually greater than the German work week. So, my God, I totally insulted an entire country — our first ally, that helped us become free as a nation,” Bush said.
Example 2: ‘F– the EU’
Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State, made it clear in a telephone call with former opposition President Viktor Yanukovych in the early phase of the Ukraine crisis, how little esteem she felt for the hesitant approach of the Europeans. “F— the EU!” Nuland said to the U.S. ambassador to Kiev on the phone in February 2014. “Exactly,” agreed Geoffrey Pyatt.
Chancellor Angela Merkel made it known through a spokeswoman that she thought Nuland’s statements were “absolutely unacceptable.” The U.S. State Department then promised that “of course“ Nuland would apologize to America’s European partners.
Example 3: McCain Gave Merkel and Steinmeier a Piece of His Mind
Sen. John McCain is always good for a harsh attack, whether against Assad, the Islamic State, Putin or Iran. In the spring, he attacked the German chancellor and her foreign minister because of their view of his Russia-friendly policies. About Frank-Walter Steinmeier, McCain said, “The foreign minister of Germany is the same guy that refuses — and his government — to enact any restrictions on the behavior of Vladimir Putin, who is slaughtering Ukrainians as we speak.”
Just before, McCain had similarly dealt an attack on Merkel. “How many people have to die in Ukraine before we help them defend themselves?” asked the Republican in the ZDF program “Berlin Direct.” He continued, “If one looks at the attitude of the German government, one might think that she does not know or does not care that people are being slaughtered in Ukraine.” When Merkel was on her way to the White House, she may have been particularly pleased at the moment McCain lost the 2008 presidential election to Barack Obama.
Example 4: When France and Frankfurters Were Banished from the Menu
Political differences may sometimes expand into menu wars, as we already experienced in 2003. In various cafeterias of the U.S. Congress, “French fries” were suddenly called “freedom fries” — freedom fries instead of French fries. The same applies to French toast, known as “croque monsieur” in its country of origin. This culture war was kindled at a time when the war against Iraq had found broad support in the U.S. and the public believed there were hidden weapons of mass destruction. Because Paris did not join President George W. Bush’s campaign, the owner of the restaurant “Cubbies” in Beaufort, North Carolina came up with the idea to rename, among his other supplies, his three surrounding barracks of potato sticks “freedom fries.” When in 2006, the Iraq war became unpopular in the United States, the cafeterias in Congress returned to the phrase “French fries.”
And Germany? The Social Democratic-Green-party government under Gerhard Schröder knowingly refused to obey Bush. America’s menus had been set free from German terms nearly 100 years before. During World War I, the “typical German” food identified as sauerkraut had been renamed “liberty cabbage,” and the famous sausages were no longer called “Frankfurters” but “hot dogs.”
Example 5: Obama Duped London
The British has always had something of a “special relationship” with the U.S., especially as the United Kingdom and America speak a similar language. But Obama dashed British dreams in June 2011, when he signed the Argentine-initiated Organization of American States agreement, which was to negotiate the status of the Falkland Islands — those Falkland Islands that British units had re-occupied after taking back the islands from the Argentine military in 1982. When in 2013, the islanders voted by 99.8 percent in favor of continuing their affiliation with the British crown, Washington refused to recognize this referendum.
And then, there’s this: When Margaret Thatcher was granted her last respects in St. Paul’s Cathedral in March 2013, Obama did not even send a subordinate staff member from his administration. Only the U.S. Embassy in London sent its respects to the Conservative Party baroness. On the other hand, what the heck! The Iron Lady wouldn’t have gone to Obama’s funeral.
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