On France, Friends, Orcs & Trolls

So much comes to mind on the Tenth Anniversary of the beginning of the Clash of Civilizations. I've been thinking about gestures of support and sympathy Americans received from around the Christian world. They meant a lot then, and they mean a lot now.

France. We give the French a hard time, usually because they do what they want to do, instead of what we tell them to do. The French have learned not to butt in to stuff. I wish we would learn the same lesson.

Americans make jokes about the French, and they are fun to make fun of...in a Canadian sort of way. They laugh at us too, and we provide plenty of reasons.

Three things we ought to remember before we hate on France. One, the French provided decisive assistance to us in the Revolutionary War. England was the greatest power in the world, and we needed all the help we could get.

Two, the French have a superior intelligence service; they share with us, and we share with them. Jason Bourne is based in France, and he is awesome, albeit Matt Damon was fat in "Contagion," but I digress. Also, France is crawling with mooslums. So is England. So are Northern Virginia and Dearborn, Michigan.

Third, the day after 9/11, an editorial writer for the French paper Le Monde, published a nice piece about America, "Today we are all Americans." "Nous sommes tous Américains." That is French for something, and the link will take you to the article.

I've been to France a couple of times, to Normandy, Paris, and Marseilles. I found the French to be unusually friendly. I thought they'd be mean America-haters, but not at all.

Granted, the French do laze about, eat weird food, have sex, sit around in bistros, drink (awesome) coffee and/or absinthe, smoke, and discuss Marxism. Well, that's actually Johnny Depp, but he is kind of the French prototype.

Our two countries are friends; we are allies. We don't have to learn their language, as we're far too busy learning to speak Mexican since they refuse to learn English.

England. America has no better friend on earth than Great Britain, unless it is Israel. After 9/11, as a gesture of solidarity, the Queen commanded the band to play the "Star Spangled Banner" during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. The Brits invoked the NATO treaty. They have had our back in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Obama's new war to establish islamic caliphates in Libya and Egypt. Tony Blair paid a very high price for his unusual loyalty and support.

In Germany, long my favorite country in the world (other than Mordor), 200,000 Berliners marched to show their support and sympathy. Granted it wasn't the cool kind of 1930s marching that we all miss, but it was still nice.

Australia is always with us. They know, we know, and the Japanese know that America saved Australia from invasion during World War II. That one was close. The Japanese Empire gobbled up everything else. After 9/11, the Australians invoked the ANZUS Defense Treaty. They sent troops to all of Bush's wars. That felt good too.

Sidebar: One hasn't suffered in occupation until he has been occupied by the Japanese. They were cut-your-head-off mean. When hippies and "progressives" whine about Hiroshima, I gently remind them of the Rape of Nanking, during which the Japanese slaughtered over 500,000 people in a matter of weeks. Even the Germans were appalled.

Ireland. I'm not a huge fan of Ireland, though, because they whine too much. Wine, too. Something about potatoes. It's always something to do with the British. Some of them used to blow up people, like my boy Lord Louis Mountbatten, but I guess they stopped. Then I recalled Ireland was the only other country to declare a National Day of Mourning. That was touching, albeit it was just an excuse to take off work and get drunk. Even the Germans were appalled.

Poland is one of my other favorite countries. They gave us the Pope of Popes. They love America, and they want to be like us. Humble little Poland sent troops to help out in both Afghanistan and Iraq. We haven't always reciprocated. Bush fell all over himself to suck up to Russia, even if it is at the expense of Poland. Not good, but the State Department is infested with commies -- like that awful Colin Powell (ugh).

These are only a few of the gestures of support shown to our country after 9/11. Our friends did what friends do in time of greatest need. We found comfort, good feeling and encouragement. This helped assuage the grief and rage we all felt when we discovered that these singularly unattractive palestinians were celebrating our horror. They were dancing with delight in the streets of their grubby little hovels. They celebrated on the day our heart was broken. That was mean. I don't believe I'll ever forget that. Even the Germans were appalled.

Way to amp up American support for a palestinian state.

On this day of days, I remember my friend Barbara Olson, a nice lady I knew from my Washington days. She was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. I remember David Angell, one of the creative folks who brought us Cheers, Wings and Frasier. He and his lovely wife Lynn were murdered when their plane was flown into the World Trade Center. I will remember Thomas Swift, a young man who died when the towers fell.

Tom Brokaw mentioned his poor mother, how she wandered around, perhaps almost in shock, asking people if they'd seen her son. Brokaw said that to him, Mrs. Swift represented all the Mothers who lost, and who would lose sons and daughters...

In a war that is a Clash of Civilizations, whether we want to admit it or not. As Sam Gamgee poignantly told Frodo, "there is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."

We are the good guys, and they started this. Our God can beat up their allah.

©2011 Randall P. Hodge, Esq., and Morningwood-DRK Enterprises – Prestige Worldwide