Tuesday, July 05, 2005
BELZER TELLS US OF "FRANCE"
Comedian and cop on TV, Richard Belzer, at the "Huffington Post" for the 4th of July:
Oh, my. Someone might explain the following to him.
First of all, "sorry" but "France" didn't "make it happen". The pre-French Revolution monarchy helped. Regardless, if it hadn't, the revolution probably would have "happened" another way.
But, yes, it aided the U.S. mostly for its own reasons (Hey, at least Belzer got that bit right.) -- mostly, to stick it to Britain. (Generally speaking, for centuries, whether monarchy or not, French governments have been trying to "stick it" to Britain.)
And a little more than a decade later the King who made the alliance possible got his head cut off by "France", and so did many aristocrats who had backed U.S. independence. Of what should be of particular interest to Americans, of the men who actually fought alongside Washington, the magnificent French commander during the war, the Comte de Rochambeau, was nearly executed by "France"; some of the junior officers (like Lauzun, Custine, d’Estaing, Broglie and Dillon) actually were.
Second, any debts owed to France -- specifically to its "Ancien Régime" -- for providing Rochambeau's soldiers, sailors and engineers who had helped Washington win at Yorktown, and for (mostly) loans to help pay and equip the American Continental army, all have been completely, utterly repaid . . . and with much additional interest.
We aren't asking, but since Belzer has raised the issue of timeless blood and loan debts, it is worth noting how it might also well be said that, as Americans, we continue to await OUR repayment(s) from the French Republic, for our having bailed out that entity in World War I, World War II and afterwards -- and even if, as had been the case of the French monarchy's aiding the infant U.S., doing such was in our own interests. ¶ by Robert, Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Comedian and cop on TV, Richard Belzer, at the "Huffington Post" for the 4th of July:
I am in France. You remember France, it's the country that financed the American Revolution...OK, it was in their self-interest, but still, they made it happen. Let's face it: without the French there would be no America...in other words, without them, there is no us. Sorry, but c'est la vie...
Oh, my. Someone might explain the following to him.
First of all, "sorry" but "France" didn't "make it happen". The pre-French Revolution monarchy helped. Regardless, if it hadn't, the revolution probably would have "happened" another way.
But, yes, it aided the U.S. mostly for its own reasons (Hey, at least Belzer got that bit right.) -- mostly, to stick it to Britain. (Generally speaking, for centuries, whether monarchy or not, French governments have been trying to "stick it" to Britain.)
And a little more than a decade later the King who made the alliance possible got his head cut off by "France", and so did many aristocrats who had backed U.S. independence. Of what should be of particular interest to Americans, of the men who actually fought alongside Washington, the magnificent French commander during the war, the Comte de Rochambeau, was nearly executed by "France"; some of the junior officers (like Lauzun, Custine, d’Estaing, Broglie and Dillon) actually were.
Second, any debts owed to France -- specifically to its "Ancien Régime" -- for providing Rochambeau's soldiers, sailors and engineers who had helped Washington win at Yorktown, and for (mostly) loans to help pay and equip the American Continental army, all have been completely, utterly repaid . . . and with much additional interest.
We aren't asking, but since Belzer has raised the issue of timeless blood and loan debts, it is worth noting how it might also well be said that, as Americans, we continue to await OUR repayment(s) from the French Republic, for our having bailed out that entity in World War I, World War II and afterwards -- and even if, as had been the case of the French monarchy's aiding the infant U.S., doing such was in our own interests. ¶ by Robert, Tuesday, July 05, 2005
