"French anti-Americanism" on NPR's ATC

[carolinayellowdog]

Hey,

On the commute this afternoon I heard a piece on All Things Considered by Sylvia Poggioli on "French anti-Americanism." It was infuriating in that it told a lot of small truths in service of a Big Lie. Have never had cause to suspect Sylvia P. of propaganda before but this was very disappointing.

The piece starts with the assertion that French anti-Americanism is age-old, and proceeds to interview a couple of French academics who have made a study of it. Interesting weird stuff on Buffon the naturalist and his theories that New World species were all degenerate-- including humans. By the end of it we had been told that the French envy us, are deeply irrational in their hatred of America, were more worried about American movies than Nazi aggression in the 1930s, hated Woodrow Wilson and saw our WWI involvement as a plot to establish hegemony, ad nauseum.

There might have been truth in all these assertions but the context made it hugely deceptive and propagandistic. No mention of the way recent US policy has alienated the rest of the world, or of the long-standing warm friendship between our two peoples, and certainly no mention of rabid American francophobia of late. The message was that any French criticism of the US can be safely dismissed and ignored because it's irrational, envious, rooted in age-old inferiority feelings, blah blah. And therefore we need not consider why such tension has arisen between us and our oldest allies, or how much respect our last elected president had in Europe compared to the unelected chimpostor.

Welcome anyone else's take on this piece.

CYD

[Cat Atomic]

1. I didn't hear it, but I go to France and Belgium regularly and

I agree with you- this "rivalry" is a myth. Everyone I've talked to there sees the notion as bizarre. It's being fed to people here, but I've never seen it there.

Many people in France despise Bush and his policies, but they draw a distinction between the people and the government.

[shockingelk]

3. how could they not be peeved and haughty

English overtook French as the "langue de diplomatie internationale" and we buy their old oak wine barrels cause we "like them better than new ones" ... ketchup = nous sauce nationale ...

[AP]

2. Sylvia Poggioli is practically a fascist. She reported on Milosevic

when his trial started.

She was breathless, describing his beautiful suits, and his wonerful manner, and the fact that he was representing himself so wonderfully. All she did was criticize the trial, subtly.

At the time, it was important for Republicans to discredit the trial because it suggested that Wild West justice in Iraq was less effective than trials with rules of evidence, and things like that.

She made me sick to my stomach.

If I had to place bets on who's getting paid to lie on NPR, I'd put my money on her.

[billbuckhead]

4. Isn't NPR now run by a CIA agent?

They have turned into propagandists to the more educated. Faux, CNN and NPR each have their places in the disinformation campaign.

[Mel]

9. Yes billbuckhead you are correct

his name is Kevin Klose he came on board in 1998.

[cprise]

5. NPR is a charity for corporations like Exxon

No wonder so many NPR affilliates feel they also have to carry the BBC.

[Taxi Driver]

6. Huh?

Why would they feel the need to carry the BBC? What's wrong with the BBC?

[AP]

8. I think the point is that NPR has to interrupt their commercials

for the Republicans every once in a while with news or their listeners would start to smell the turd.

[pretzel4gore]

7. good for the record....

when the time comes to round up the neocon traitors, the routine spins of everyday news will be all the evidence needed.....these people literally hanging themselves!