French President Emmanuel Macron urges US to reject isolationism
French President Emmanuel Macron urged the United States to reject fear and isolationism Wednesday and instead embrace the historic bond between the two countries to launch a new era of 21st century leadership and security. Macron told a joint meeting of Congress, “the American and French people have had a rendezvous with freedom.” Speaking almost directly to President Donald Trump, Macron quickly turned to the top issues of Syria, the Iran nuclear deal, free trade and the Paris accord on climate change — topics where he and Trump disagree — as he urged the United States not to retreat from its historic and military role in world affairs. “We are living in a time of anger and fear” because of “global threats,” Macron told lawmakers. “You can play with fears and angers for a time, but they do not construct anything.” With a nod to great American leaders, including former President Franklin Roosevelt, he warned against withdrawing from the world in fear. “We have two possible ways ahead. We can choose isolationism, withdrawal and nationalism. It can be tempting to us as a temporary remedy to our fears,” he said. “But closing the door to the world will not stop the evolution of the world.” He proposed a “new breed of militarism” that was more effective, accountable and results-oriented. “This requires more than ever the United States involvement,” he said. At times during the nearly hour-long speech, delivered in English, he took turns playing into his friendly relationship with Trump, while nudging, forcefully at times, against their differences. He reiterated French support for U.S. sanctions on Pyongyang toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and said as for Iran, “our objective is clear: Iran shall never possess any nuclear weapons.” But he warned against simply abandoning the multi-nation Iran nuclear deal, as Trump has considered, promoting a “more comprehensive deal” he has been discussing with White House officials during his U.S. visit. In a nod to what Trump calls, “Fake News,” Macron warned that lies disseminated online are threatening freedoms worldwide, and in a play on Trump’s famous campaign slogan, Macron said he was confident the U.S. will re-join the Paris climate agreement. “Let us work together in order to make our planet great again,” he said, “and create new jobs and new opportunities while safeguarding our earth.” If Earth’s climate continues to warm, “there is no Planet B,” he added. The independent centrist president, who does not always receive such a robust welcome at home, was greeted with repeated standing ovations from members of Congress — including Republicans, who have not always aligned with French leaders on policy. In recounting common bonds from the earliest days of the United States, Macron talked about a meeting between Ben Franklin and the French philosopher Voltaire, “kissing each other’s cheeks.” In an apparent reference to his friendly meetings this week with Trump, he said, “It can remind you of something.” Macron was speaking as part of his visit to the United States. It’s the first time a president from France has addressed Congress in more than a decade, but follows a tradition of foreign leaders appearing at the U.S. Capitol. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Diane Roberts: Stop the French-bashing; we owe them
For reasons that do us no credit, Americans find it easy to insult the French. Perhaps we hate their freedoms – their freedom to live for something other than money, their freedom to enjoy food and sex minus 400 years of Protestant guilt. We call the French “cheese-eating surrender monkeys;” we sneer at John Kerry and Mitt Romney because they speak French. At the Oct. 28th debate, Jeb Bush tried to get clever about Congress’ laziness, accusing them of adhering to a “French work week.” When the French refused to participate in our perfectly stupid invasion of Iraq, we boycotted their wine and some particularly silly congressmen demanded that the House cafeterias serve “Freedom Fries,” and “Freedom Toast.” Now that Paris has suffered terrorist attacks that killed at least 132, some Americans are expressing sympathy and solidarity with France. President Obama called it an “attack on the civilized world.” Buildings from 1 World Trade Center in New York to a bridge in Nashville lit themselves up with the blue, white and red of the French tricoleur. Nous sommes tous Parisiens. Then there’s the Republican Party. Donald Trump castigated the French for their “tough gun control laws.” If only everyone in the concert hall and the restaurant and the stadium had been toting AK-47s like the terrorists, things would have been very different. Newt Gingrich and Anne Coulter piled on, blaming France for not being armed. The politicizing got so bad that Red State’s Erick Erickson, a big gun-hugger himself, tweeted: “I gotta say, it does feel a little icky to turn this attack in Paris into a debate on how France should adopt our 2nd amendment.” Naturally, it’s all Barack Obama’s fault. He didn’t keep U.S. troops in Iraq; he didn’t deal with Syria; he hurt Israel’s feelings; he refuses to utter the words “radical Islam.” We all know that those are magic words, words that would solve the problem. Criticizing Obama’s Syria policy is fair enough: It’s been disastrous. But blaming him for ISIL absolves the neocons of the Bush-Cheney administration whose trigger-happy invasion of Iraq and cavalier treatment of the country, especially the Rummy-Wolfie-Cheney de-Baathification program, poured gasoline on the flame of extremism. Trump would probably describe France as a “loser” country, with its paid maternity leave, fast trains, humane employment laws, and excellent healthcare system. The French, in turn, reject “Anglo-Saxon capitalism” as rapacious and destructive. Nevertheless, the United States could learn from France – as we have always learned from France. French philosophers inspired our Founding Fathers with the idea that government should serve its citizens and that freedom was a human right. Rousseau argued for the state’s “social contract” with the individual; Voltaire championed civil rights and religious freedom; Montesquieu advocated for the separation of powers in government. What, you thought we came up with that all by ourselves? The French tradition of reason, of rational thought, of respect for knowledge, might help Republican presidential candidates get past their hysterical responses. Ted Cruz says ISIL is “coming to America.” Jeb Bush says the U.S. should focus on “Christian refugees”: They’re welcome in the U.S. as long as we make sure they’re the real deal, you know, give them a catechism exam, ask them to eat a bacon sandwich, and see whether they say “Merry Christmas!” instead of “Happy Holidays.” Ben Carson wants to ban any and all refugees from the Middle East. That’ll learn ’em. Because Obama’s going to let in 200,000 Syrians who are almost certainly psychopathic jihadis. Carson would bomb an oil field to make ISIL “look like losers.” Trump wants to bomb, too: all the oil fields. Then Exxon can come in and make everything, as he said, “beautiful.” And, according to him, it’s 250,000 Syrian refugees. The real number proposed by Obama is 10,000. But why let the facts get in the way of a good piece of political insanity? And under no circumstances should we remember that terrorists are often homegrown: Timothy McVeigh, the London suicide bombers in 2005, Anders Behring Breivik, and Dylan Roof were native to the nation they tried to attack. If nothing else, perhaps the Republicans will stop with the French-bashing and remember that if it were not for France, the United States would not exist. The French government sent guns, soldiers and money during the American Revolution, and the Marquis de Lafayette spent millions of his own fortune on American independence. The French deserve better than to be told they should be just like us. Diane Roberts teaches at Florida State University. Her latest book is “TRIBAL: College football and the Secret Heart of America.”
