Freedom of Advertising

Ahhh, summer is over and college students across the nation are free to make an ass out of themselves in the name of "free speech". Colorado State University's school paper's editorial board took the deeply philosophical position of "F*** BUSH". The Board claimed that the headline-sized "article" was meant to foster student discussion of the freedom of speech. More like the freedom to be a jerk-wad. It should be noted that another article on the same page appears to be critical of Hillary Clinton and her health care plan.

Fallout from the Bush expletive has been visited upon the paper. Not because of University sanctions (the University is prohibited by law from penalizing the paper or its staff) but in the most American way possible -- Capitalism. As a result of the paper's need to express this intellectual point of view, it has lost approximately $30,000.00 in advertising resulting in pay and budget cuts. I guess this will teach studets about freedom of speech: Maybe the government can't prohibit stupidity (unless it endangers public safety) but the market can and will punish such asinine proclamations and that's America at work.

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Our French Allies Again?

Reports have been made that the centre-right candidate for the French presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy, has an affinity for Franco-American relations. So much so that his Socialist opponent has accused him of wishing to replace British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, as Washington's "poodle". Funny how any cooperation with America always results in accusations of toadying.

Despite being tagged as being President Bush's new "yes man", Sarkozy has long been on record as being against the war in Iraq and against the execution of Saddam Hussein. He does however take a more balanced view regarding Israel as opposed to past French administration's blind allegiance to the Arab states.

Sarkozy still has to get past his Socialist opponent but he would definitely be a bridge to strengthen French-American ties which have long been strained. I can think back even to the Reagan years when America wanted to fly over French airspace to strike Libya with a squadron of F-111 bombers. The cheese eating surrender monkeys refused, opting instead to protect their relationship with the then-leading terrorist state. Things haven't gotten any better since then.

If Sarkozy (the son of a Hungarian immigrant) gains the French presidency, the U.S. will undoubtedly take steps towards solidifying relations. The next American President, Republican or Democrat, will need to take a new approach to the French but having someone in Paris who doesn't reactively oppose every American initiative would be nice.

American Superheroes

Just finished reading a review of Spider-Man 3 which has been released in Japan. The review finished by complaining of the gratuitous shot of Spidey in front of an American flag representing a return of the hero from his earlier dabbling in the forces of darkness to being on the side of all things that are good and right (read: American). Oh, horrors!

The article was then tagged with hundreds of comments about the reviewer's contempt for the showing of Old Glory. The majority of commentators noted that Spider-Man is an American superhero and if the rest of the world doesn't like it, don't see the movie. I couldn't agree more. One European complainer noted that James Bond doesn't pose with the Union Jack, although a spy posing with a flag would be seemingly counter-productive. Nevertheless, he is working for a British agency ostensibly to serve "Queen and Country" (and to bang his way through the world's female population and drive nifty Aston-Martins and Jaguars).

I remember when Superman stood for truth, justice and the American way. Even as recently as the 70s and early 80s, Christopher Reeves' Superman proudly waved the Stars and Stripes. Now, for some reason, American superheroes have been forced to give up their nationalities. What is next? Captain America recast as "Captain Multi-National Force"?

A flag is supposed to instill a sense of national pride. If certain citizens of the E.U. and United Kingdom don't understand that, then that's their problem. Go watch "Hot Fuzz" or "Mr. Bean".