GOP Exposé: Kerry, Closet Frenchman (Uh oh)

[kskiska]

By Dana Milbank

Mon dieu! The Republicans are trying to turn John Kerry into a frog.

Bush pal and Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans recently said publicly what his colleagues have long been saying privately: He called President Bush's Democratic opponent a "fellow of a different political stripe who looks French."

(snip)

Now, the Kerry campaign has made it easier for the GOP to portray the candidate as très French. Seeking to boost his image, his allies have sought advice from, of all people, a Frenchman.

A close Kerry adviser has contacted G. Clotaire Rapaille, a French-born corporate consultant who psychoanalyzes cultures with what he calls "archetype research." Rapaille, based in Florida, has made a name for himself describing Americans' subconscious associations by examining the "reptilian" part of the brain. He determined that the smell of coffee makes us think fondly of childhood. He found that the French associate the smell of cheese with life while Americans associate it with death. His "brand psychoanalysis," used by companies such as Procter & Gamble, helped develop Chrysler's PT Cruiser. Now, he is psychoanalyzing brand Kerry.

Max Berley, a French-speaking foreign editor at The Washington Post, made this startling discovery when he came across a weblog item published last week by the French newspaper Liberation. "The entourage of John Kerry has just contacted a French anthropologist based in the United States, Clotaire Rapaille, in order to better understand how to beat Bush in November," wrote correspondent Fabrice Rousselot. He reported that Rapaille advised Kerry "to call for a summit with all the European leaders to devise anti-terrorism strategies, in order to show that he 'does more' than Bush regarding security."

(snip)

Rapaille said he is not being paid by Kerry and that he has been contacted by top fundraisers for Bush. Rapaille also noted that he was paid by Lee Atwater to advise Vice President George H.W. Bush's 1988 presidential campaign. As for his 2004 intentions, "it's kind of confidential," he said.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16135-2004Mar22.html

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. Pffft.

What a fucking dumb article.

Not even worth the paper it's printed on.

Probably the same guy that helped Gore invent the internet.

[Democat]

2. More freedom fries?

Could these people embarrass themselves anymore than they already have?

[schultzee]

3. I hate all republicans.....

[FDRrocks]

4. Do the French take the term "Frog" as an insult?

Just wondering if that subtitle is as disgusting as it seems.

[Rochambeau]

6. We take it the way the insulter want it to be taken...

For us to be called "Frog" has no sense I should say since I guess that not more than 1% of the french have ever eat some frog....It's just an old stereotype and, if someone want to call us "Suprem Beings" to insult us then we will take "Suprem Beings" as it is, an insult... The word chosen has no importance, only the person who say it and why is important...

[burrowowl]

9. Supreme

Well the Belgians think the French take themselves for: lumieres;)
We won't say what the French take Belgians for on this thread.
BTW have you seen English title Barbarian Invaders (a Canadian film made with some support from Canal+).

[yardwork]

5. I can't believe the depths to which the Washington Post has sunk.

[wellst0nev0ter]

7. Ahhh. . .

Takes me back to Milbank's New Republican days :eyes:

[Dogmudgeon]

8. This is reality ... right?

I thought it was a joke.

I had a stressful day. I thought maybe I was punch-drunk or something. But then I read the article.

It appears to be the RNC's serious effort at campaigning.

They're going to make Kerry like like he's French. Do they really think there are that many knuckleheadedly stupid people in this country?

I know that there's a lot of disdain for the "sheeple" around these parts, but I have usually held people's intellectual abilities in higher esteem. The GOP really thinks that their "base" -- and all of those independent voters -- will turn against Kerry if they think that he's Frenchified.

No. I have to be hallucinating or something. In a few minutes, the aliens will pull the brain probe out of my butt, and tuck me back into bed, and I'll wake up and the world will be a sane place once more.

The Bushites are really going to try to make Kerry seem French.

Zeta Reticulii, here I come!

--bkl

[Piperay]

10. The repukes are completely and totally

PATHETIC and apparently scared shitless if this is what they are stooping to...looking French. :wtf:

[Flagg]

11. Is that blatant xenophobia or what ?

And they wonder why we hate them....