from the
All Politics is Local dept......
Food Fight Galls French
"Governator" supports Death Penalty
Nero Fiddles as Rome Burns
All Politics is Local dept......
Food Fight Galls French
"Governator" supports Death Penalty
Nero Fiddles as Rome Burns
8 Comments:
I particularly liked the Frenchman's comment that Schwartzenegger is opposed to foie gras, but allows the death penalty to proceed.
Yes, I appreciated this too. Like 'em or not, the French are not a stupid people...everytime I go there, I am asked by at least one person to explain the reasoning behind the death penalty...something I am unequipped to do, as I always tell them...
The politicians taking up this fight are so, so cynical...sad pictures notwithstanding, there is just no evidence that these farming practices are any more cruel than most other forms of meat production - in fact in many ways, they are probably less cruel and certainly have less negative impact in the larger sense.
What these politicians are so obviously trying to do is gain a little populist credibility by trying to ban a meat that is a "luxury", showing themselves to be compassionate types who "care" while at the same time pleasing powerful constituants who have a sincere interest in all animal rights issues (this last part is especially true in California). It also distracts the public from larger, more difficult issues around agribusiness that people like Arnold will never touch with a ten foot pole. The reason this particular meat is so perfect for this purpose is that hardly anyone grows it, and those who do are small time producers, relatively speaking - they are expendable. Also, most people don't ever get around to eating it, so they don't feel they are losing out on anything personally.
If Arnold or Joe want to impress people who know how to think, they should go after, say, large scale industrial pork production, which is a real nightmare on so many levels, or perhaps working conditions in the California fields of giant vegetable or fruit producers...but of course, impressing people who think has nothing to do with it...
thomas-
of course, saving ducks and killing people makes perfect sense from arnolds' upside down political perspective. i wonder if our alderman realized his name and initiative were going to be tied to this concept and in this way.
This is a hilarious piece. Love the French but, face it, if they are dissing you, you've really reached bottom. ;-)
...no, no, no, Pamela - everyone knows the most embarrasing people to be dissed by are the Belgians !
Dissing themselves is something of a national pastime in France, as the Canard Enchaine and much of their huge comic book culture so richly demonstrates...actually, that tendancy looks pretty healthy from this vantage point...
Clarification on the culture slippage: The "Canard Enchaine" (Chained Duck) is a famous satirical newspaper - visit http://www.canardenchaine.com/
My french professor always used to say "if you can read the Canard Enchaine, you've proven to yourself you understand French"...I'll have to write to him and tell him his former "C" student can do that now...
Rebecca -- I stand corrected re the Belgians. Alas, they are so inconsequential that one often forgets them. Even the Dutch loathe the Belgians, and they don't dislike anyone!
pamela-
fyi- 2 % of the rogers park review's total audience is now belgian. small world.
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