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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2006. PAGE 5.
Other Views
French nothing if not contrary
The French complain of everything.
And always.
No. George W. Bush didn't say that —
and neither did Winston Churchill.
The author of that remark was a chap
who knew les gens de la Republique better
than most. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte.
It seems that being a leader of the French is
even more exasperating than merely observing
them from afar. Somebody else once moaned
"how can anyone govern a nation that has 246
different kinds of cheese?"
His name was Charles de Gaulle.
Well they are an...unpredictable...people,
to be sure. Take Brigitte Bardot. The one-time
cinema sexpot was on our TV screens a lot this
past spring, pouting and pleading with Canada
to end the "sickening and barbaric" seal hunt.
Perhaps she has a point, but it's interesting
to note that when she's not embracing our cute
and cuddly seal pups at photo ops, she's
slagging gays, Muslims, immigrants and
anybody who doesn't happen to have a job.
She calls homosexuals 'freaks'. She's been
charged with inciting race hatred a half a
dozen times. She supports the politician Jean-
Marie Le Pen, a French bigot who occupies a
spot on the political map somewhere between
George Lincoln Rockwell and Adolf Hitler.
And she opposes mixed marriages.
Lucky for those seal pups they were born
white.
The French are nothing if not contrary.
Their politicians badmouth American
belligerence in the Arab world at the same
time as French munitions manufacturers
shovel warplanes, rocket grenades, tanks and
guns out the back door to any Middle
Easterner with a valid credit card.
Bikers
B iker gangs have been given an
extraordinarily easy ride by Ontarians
and there are signs this still has not
changed.
The biggest mass murders in the province's
history; in which eight Bandidos died, should
have convinced residents that bikers seriously
threaten their society.
But many — not police — have been
remarkably tolerant of the bikers for years,
although their crimes including drug-
trafficking, extortion, theft and murder, have
been well documented
These include some in business and
government. The dominant Hells Angels. who
now appear likely to take over all biker gang
activities in Ontario, held a convention in
Toronto four years ago trying to persuade
residents they are law-abiding citizens,. much
like the Shriners and Kiwanis, and their
connection is they love to ride bikes.
This was after news media were flooded
with reports bikers were , killing scores of
rivals, as well as innocent bystanders, in
Quebec as they extended control over many
crimes, and expanding their already strong
base in Ontario.
Police pleaded with hotels, bars and
restaurants in downtown Toronto not to serve
the gang, but many put up signs advising
"welcome bikers," arguing bikers' money was
as good as anyone else's and struck a blow for
free enterprise.
The then mayor, Mel Lastman, was
photographed naively shaking hands with, and
welcoming, a biker in full regalia and the gang
must have felt very much at home.
The Angels were similarly welcomed in
Kenora, where a municipal spokesperson said
it had no option but to treat them like other
visitors and found it even harder to turn down
their money. There was no recognition money
came from selling drugs and causing misery.
Even as an ally, France has often proved to
be a trial. During the dark days of The Second
World War, Britain offered refuge to Charles
de Gaulle, leader of the Free French.
Was de Gaulle grateful? Hardly.
"France has no friends, only interests" he
once said.
Also:. "When I want to hear what France
thinks, I ask myself."
After the war, Churchill is reputed to have
remarked, "Of all the crosses I have had to
bear during this war, the heaviest has been the
Cross of Lorraine (de Gaulle's symbol of Free
France).
And if he didn't say it, he should have.
On the other hand, the French have given us
much. Their contributions to the world of
wine, cheese and even bread are second to
none. The French language is, incontestably,
the most beautiful to the ear. French artistes,
from Moliere to Matisse to Massenet, have
enriched the world's cultural mix beyond
measure.
Yes, in balance, we could forgive the French
their inconsistencies and irrationalities, but for
one flaw, one national blemish that cannot be
ignored.
They love Jerry Lewis. Idolize him! In 1984
they made Lewis a commander in the Order of
Arts and Letters — France's highest cultural
The Angels in their search to be accepted
managed to get one of their members
appointed to a provincial advisory board by
the former, supposedly pro-law-and-order
Progressive Conservative government,
presumably by leaving out aspects of his
resume.
An advertising company thought there was
nothing wrong in leasing them a billboard on
which they proclaimed Hells Angels are "still
fighting for democracy and freedom."
News media pictured an Angel outside a
court having "a chuckle with. his mother,"
which sent a message these are just mom's
boys at heart. This was before he was jailed for
extortion.
The Hells Angels in another attempt to
improve their image have been allowed by the
court system to pay part of $2 million
compensation to a mother of three,
accidentally shot in a gang war, which also has
raised concerns they bought lesser jail
sentences.
The murdered bikers also have been
pictured mostly as someone you would like
next door: One was described as a motorcycle
enthusiast who never wore bike gear on the
street, was respectful and wanted to cut ties
with the gang and start a new life with his wife
and young son.
Another also longed to get out of crime,
which is something we have seen often in
movies, and was overjoyed he recently had a
award.
. Two months later, they awarded him the
Legion d'Honneur. That's the highest honour
France can bestow on anybody.
The French besotment with one of
Hollywood's goofiest progeny is no one-night
stand. As far back as 1965 they were saluting
his 'comic cinematic genius'. In fact, that's the
year that French critics chose The Nutty
Professor as the best film of the year.
Have you seen that film? If not, don't. Trust
me.
The love affair rages on. Last month, the
French Ministry of Culture held a special
ceremony to elevate Lewis into an even more
exalted niche in the French pantheon of fame.
They gave him the honorary title of Legion
Commander.
Lewis attended the ceremony and, in his
quintessentially classy way, disrupted
proceedings by yawning, checking his watch
and loudly snoring during the 20-minute
induction speech read by France's Culture
Minister. The audience roared.
Culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de
Vabres clutched his speech to his chest as
Lewis tried to grab it and told the crowd, "The
longer my remarks last the better, so you can
keep on enjoying Jerry Lewis's comic talents."
Yeah. Right.
It's confusing. This is a nation that gave the
world Notre Dame Cathedral, Rene Descartes,
Versailles, Champagne and Edith Piaf. They
are a subtle, multi-layered, transcendentally
metaphysical people. Is it conceivable tlit the
French see something in America's most
cornball comedian that escapes the rest of us?
Jerry Lewis?
Soi serieux, cherie. C'est ne pas possible.
Ontario
first child. Toys littered the floor of his home
and neighbours. recalled he walked his collie
and told it to keep quiet when it barked.
A third was well spoken, clean-cut and
hardworking and no-one would have guessed
he was a biker.
A fourth murdered biker had children's
drawings for playing hopscotch scrawled on
his suburban drive and another was said to
have a heart of gold and took good care of his
mother and father.
Yet another biker, one of the accused killers,
was gentle with kids and played "horsey" on
the floor with a child on his back.
Such descriptions accurately portray part of
the way some criminal bikers live and have a
use in showing they are not easily
recognizable so others have to be wary.
But they also suggest the bikers are not as
bad as pictured and elicit sympathy.
Police also have added the murders are
"internal cleansing" - bikers murdering other
bikers rather than endangering others — when
they are dangerous to everyone and the public
should recognize it.
Love that Sam-I-Am
4 he sun did not shine. It vias too wet T
to play. So we sat in the house all
that cold, cold wet day.'
It was with these few simple words that
Theodor Seuss Geisel began what has become
a children's classic. Geisel; more familiarly
known as Dr. Seuss, was a successful political
cartoonist and author who had penned several
popular children's books when he took on a
challenge from his publisher. As the tale goes,
in 1954, a magazine article stated that children
were not enjoying the books of the day
because they were boring. The publisher gave
Seuss a list of 400 words which he felt were
important and told Seuss to write a book using
just 250 of those words. The result took just
220 words and gave us that inimitable mischief
maker The Cat in the Hat.
As a parent or grandparent you have to
appreciate Seuss's genius for capturing the
attention and imagination of little ones. The
rhythmic words accompanied by Seuss's
captivating illustrations are fun no matter
what your age.
Recently my grandson, who's six,
announced he could read "Green Eggs and
Ham by Dr. Seuss".
This story of this particular Seuss' classic is
even more incredible than that of the Cat.
Publisher Bennett Cerf bet Seuss in the early
1960s that he couldn't write a book using only
50 words. That little challenge gave the world
Green Eggs and Ham, one of my favourites.
So needless to say, when Mitchell told me
about his recent accomplishment that was all I
needed to !war and extracted a promise that he
read the book to me at bedtime. And if you
think this is a good book to read to a child, it's
even better having a child read it to you. The
adults clustered around lust couldn't help
smiling when they heard "That Sam-I-Am,
that Sam-I-Am. I do not like that Sam-I-Am",
delivered in that child's voice, now made even
cuter by a toothless-inspired lisp.
Dr. Seuss has proven time and again that
things need not be elaborate or complicated to
be better. Even some of his 'adult' books were
written in the same style of verse and pictures,
but never assume by this that they are simple.
For example, Oh, The Places You'll Go, which
is an absolutely terrific book has a great
message about life's capricious nature and
perseverance.
"You won't lag behind, because you'll have
the speed. You'll pass the whole gang and
you'll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly,
you'll be the best of the best. Wherever you go,
you will top all the rest.
Except when you don't.
Because, sometimes, you won't."
While the intent was that it be for an older
audience, the book still is an entertaining read
for little ones and sets them up for the reality
that the road before them will not always take
them to the place they want to go.
For someone who loves books and who has
tried to pass that love on to her children, seeing .
Mitchell reading, and enjoying it, the other
evening was a pleasure.
But it's to be expected I would think when
the stories take• place in the magical world
illustrated with verse and images by Dr. Seuss.
From Hop on Pop to You're Only Old Once,
Dr. Seuss has created a library that excites and
enchants readers of every age. That the
simplified vocabulary in his beginner books
encourages young readers is a gift he has
given us that will last forever.
et easy ride in