- Instead of dealing seriously with the Iraq crisis, too
many members of Congress are busy banning french fries and exploiting the
memory of our D-day heroes.
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- Leave it to members of Congress to find ways to distort
and trivialize even the deadly serious subject of war.
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- Congress still hasn't gotten around to conducting a serious
debate on the question of going to war in Iraq. Most Republicans are too
busy mindlessly parroting the White House line, and most Democrats are
too busy ducking for cover. But plenty of members have found time to showboat.
House Republican leaders decreed this week that french fries and french
toast will henceforth be known as freedom fries and freedom toast in House
cafeterias. Our armed forces in the Persian Gulf must be proud to know
that our well-fed honorables are showing solidarity by stuffing freedom
fries down their oversized fry holes. That'll show those insolent French.
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- Banning the term "french fries" is stupid but
sort of funny. The cynical grandstanding of novice U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite,
R-Brooksville, is far more offensive. She offered legislation this week
that would allow the American cemeteries in France and Belgium to be ripped
up so that the bodies of our soldiers buried there can be returned to "patriotic
soil." If Brown-Waite has nothing better to do in Washington than
try to score cheap political points by desecrating the graves of America's
D-day heroes, she should pack her bags, come home and leave her seat vacant.
Her district and the country would be better off with an empty seat than
an empty suit.
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- Over the course of American history, the French have
been by our side as often as any country. In any case, our support for
France during two World Wars -- and France's support for us during the
American Revolution -- is irrelevant to the crisis in Iraq. On that issue,
French officials, like their counterparts in dozens of other countries,
have been butting heads with the Bush administration, but our nations have
been friends for a long time and will continue to work together on most
issues.
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- Some of our politicians apparently don't know it, but
true freedom is marked by the right to utter unpopular opinions. In the
absence of serious debate in Washington, though, the silliness is likely
to escalate. Now that fries and toast have been dealt with, Congress probably
will turn its attention to hens, horns, kisses and cuffs.
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- And we can only hope that Turkey's parliament reconsiders
its decision to prevent U.S. troops from using its military bases for an
attack on Iraq. Otherwise, the (pardon our French) damn fools in Washington
will have us all eating freedom birds next Thanksgiving.
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