Gingrich attack ad/Romney speaking French [edited title]

[Quartz]

Apparently Gingrich is attacking Romney for his ability to speak French.

WTF? I mean... seriously? Is there something I'm missing?

[New Deal Democrat]

Rank and file Republicans resent education and learning and dislike all things foreign.

[rocking chair]

yes, seriously, and no, not missing anything. speaking french is a prep school, mamby, pamby, rich boy thing, according to some people; and always something someone who lived in mass. would do.

[Giles]

Strangely, Newt Gingrich has a PhD and has worked as a college professor. You'd think that this anti-intellectual sentiment would work against him, too.

[Gagundathar]

Yeah, why would any prospective leader of our country need to speak with anybody in Quebec?

I don't like Romney, but dangit the Gingrich camp is just over the top with this one.
Pick something else, you silly idiots!
Attack his positions, not his competencies!
Sheeesh.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Gagundathar

Yeah, why would any prospective leader of our country need to speak with anybody in Quebec?

Is there really even a single person there who doesn't know English, at least as a second language? (I'm sure there are no Indians left who don't, from the Rio Grande to the Northwest Passage.)

[Gagundathar]

Well, you have a point.
Didn't remember that not ever having been there.
Though I really wish I had.

[guizot]

I'm pretty sure this Gringich's way of turning Romney's comments about Obama trying to make the U.S. like Europe back on Romney himself.

[Giles]

Originally Posted by BrainGlutton

Is there really even a single person there who doesn't know English, at least as a second language? (I'm sure there are no Indians left who don't, from the Rio Grande to the Northwest Passage.)

In fact, yes -- visiting Montreal & Quebec City I've found plenty of people with little or no English. But the POTUS doesn't deal with the Province of Quebec any more than the Prime Minister of Canada deals with the State of New York: speaking French would be more useful in dealing with France, and with those countries in Africa that used to belong to the French Empire.

[Alley Dweller]

Anyone remember the popular anti-French hysteria back in 2003 when France dared to question the US plans to liberate Iraq? People in the US were buying expensive French wine and pouring it down sewers. The US Capitol cafeteria renamed French Fries as "Freedom Fries." There were movements to boycott French goods and companies, including that notorious French discount store chain Target.

So do you think the Bain cafeteria was serving French Fries or Freedom Fries?

It's a way to leverage that old anti-French patriotic fervor.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Alley Dweller

Anyone remember the popular anti-French hysteria back in 2003 when France dared to question the US plans to liberate Iraq? People in the US were buying expensive French wine and pouring it down sewers. The US Capitol cafeteria renamed French Fries as "Freedom Fries." There were movements to boycott French goods and companies, including that notorious French discount store chain Target.

So do you think the Bain cafeteria was serving French Fries or Freedom Fries?

It's a way to leverage that old anti-French patriotic fervor.

"Lafayette, we are here!"

-- Col. Charles E. Stanton, 1917, at the tomb of the Marquis de Lafayette.

[Gagundathar]

Originally Posted by Alley Dweller

Anyone remember the popular anti-French hysteria back in 2003 when France dared to question the US plans to liberate Iraq? People in the US were buying expensive French wine and pouring it down sewers. The US Capitol cafeteria renamed French Fries as "Freedom Fries." There were movements to boycott French goods and companies, including that notorious French discount store chain Target.

So do you think the Bain cafeteria was serving French Fries or Freedom Fries?

It's a way to leverage that old anti-French patriotic fervor.

Oh crap. Somehow I had a brain fart and forgot that.
Sorry. Working while posting does that sometimes.

[rocking chair]

kerry was also mocked for speaking french. of course that was closer to the "freedom fries" anti french thing.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Quartz

Apparently Gingrich is attacking Romney for his ability to speak French.

WTF? I mean... seriously? Is there something I'm missing?

Some commentators have highlighted a possible irony in that Mr Gingrich, a former House Speaker, has a doctorate in European history. His 1971 dissertation, Belgian Education Policy in the Congo 1945-1960, contains a number of sources in French in its bibliography.

So there's that. One thing the story doesn't say is where these ads are being broadcast. South Carolina, I presume?

[Qin Shi Huangdi]

Worst ads since probably LBJ's ads of "If Goldwater gets elected, nuclear war will ensue".

[carnivorousplant]

Originally Posted by Alley Dweller

It's a way to leverage that old anti-French patriotic fervor.

Well, they were kind of...tacky...in two world wars.

[Qin Shi Huangdi]

America's attitude toward France has always been schizophrenic from extreme Francophilia as the bastion of culture which American intellectuals often worshipped blindly to extreme Francophobia as Napoleonic conquerors, Jacobin radicals, or cheese eating surrender monkeys.

[Paralogic]

Originally Posted by Quartz

Apparently Gingrich is attacking Romney for his ability to speak French.

WTF? I mean... seriously? Is there something I'm missing?

No.

Both Gingrich and Romney went after the racist vote the past couple of weeks by blaming African Americans for costing the country too much in unemployment assistance.

Gingrich now blames Romney for having an education. Something that will play well with white toothless beer chugging mindless drones that are, surprisingly, able to vote, and always vote Republican.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Qin Shi Huangdi

Worst ads since probably LBJ's ads of "If Goldwater gets elected, nuclear war will ensue".

That might well have happened.

[joebuck20]

Originally Posted by rocking chair

kerry was also mocked for speaking french. of course that was closer to the "freedom fries" anti french thing.

I also recall a Fox News piece from back when he was running for president about how he seemed "too French."

[carnivorousplant]

Originally Posted by Paralogic

No.

Something that will play well with white toothless beer chugging mindless drones that are, surprisingly, able to vote, and always vote Republican.

Toothless?
Cite?

[Captain Amazing]

Here's the actual ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyFaW...layer_embedded

[Measure for Measure]

Originally Posted by Paralogic

Gingrich now blames Romney for having an education. Something that will play well with white toothless beer chugging mindless drones that are, surprisingly, able to vote, and always vote Republican.

Originally Posted by carnivorousplant

Toothless?
Cite?

Education, specifically whether you have a high school education, significantly lowers the incidence of extensive periodontal disease. See J Periodontol, Apr 1999 "Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Oral Health: Assessment of Periodontal Disease".



What?

[littlespeedysuperbike]

How is it that we have attack ads that mock a candidate for being too friendly towards our oldest and most loyal ally?

[Kolak of Twilo]

Originally Posted by Captain Amazing

Here's the actual ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyFaW...layer_embedded

Wow.

There are so many things to say about that ad I don't even know where to begin. It almost doesn't even make sense. Clearly, Newt and his people feel the word "Massachusetts" is seen as evil by most South Carolinians. The image of Dukakis is odd because I would think most people don't even remember him today. And the French thing is just sad.

Newt really really hates Mitt. Anyone in the "Pick the Republican Veep" thread who suggested Newt hasn't been paying much attention.

[Northern Piper]

Originally Posted by BrainGlutton

Is there really even a single person there who doesn't know English, at least as a second language? (I'm sure there are no Indians left who don't, from the Rio Grande to the Northwest Passage.)

The bilingualism rate in Quebec hovers around 40 %. Francophones in Quebec tend to have lower rates of bilingualism than either anglophones in Quebec, or allophones.

See this table: Bilingualism Rate in Canada.

(Data is from 2001, but I doubt that it's changed much.)

So just under two-thirds of Quebeckers don't speak English.

[rocking chair]

Originally Posted by Kolak of Twilo

Wow.

There are so many things to say about that ad I don't even know where to begin. It almost doesn't even make sense. Clearly, Newt and his people feel the word "Massachusetts" is seen as evil by most South Carolinians. The image of Dukakis is odd because I would think most people don't even remember him today. And the French thing is just sad.

Newt really really hates Mitt. Anyone in the "Pick the Republican Veep" thread who suggested Newt hasn't been paying much attention.

i believe dukakis was just thrown in as a mass. thing, i don't believe that he speaks french... greek perhaps.

[Frank]

Originally Posted by Qin Shi Huangdi

America's attitude toward France has always been schizophrenic from extreme Francophilia as the bastion of culture which American intellectuals often worshipped blindly to extreme Francophobia as Napoleonic conquerors, Jacobin radicals, or cheese eating surrender monkeys.

France had some 8000 soldiers and a fleet present when Cornwallis surrendered.

[Frank]

Originally Posted by Kolak of Twilo

And the French thing is just sad.

Newt is unlikely to win Louisiana.

[BigT]

Originally Posted by Kolak of Twilo

Wow.

There are so many things to say about that ad I don't even know where to begin. It almost doesn't even make sense.

Okay, I'll cover one. Who doesn't know how to say, "Bonjour, je m'appelle ____"? In what world does this mean you speak French? Is it because he can "back roll" his Rs? This is the most basic phrase they teach you. I bet a speech writer could have told him how to say this.

[jjimm]

Sometimes I wish that American politics was conducted in a language I don't understand.

[Captain Amazing]

I don't think that it was mocking him for speaking French so much as saying that he was a John Kerry clone, and the French thing was just something they threw in at the end...you know, "he even speaks French, like John Kerry."

And he does, btw, know how to speak French. He spent two and a half years as a missionary to France.

[aceplace57]

I love the silliness that occasionally creeps into elections.

Newt Gingrich's latest attack against Romney?

SPOILER:

He speaks French.

That's telling the dirty so and so. Is this the best Newt can come up with? Nothing else has worked. I guess Newt will attack Romney's dog next time.

I'm not a Romney supporter. I just find this latest attack against him so silly.

Priceless.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16549624

[Chefguy]

It's not exactly Swift Boating, which was the most despicable thing I've seen in the last 40 years, but it's an indication of just how slimy things are going to get in the Presidential election.

[Simplicio]

Doesn't Newt have a PhD in Belgian history? I can't imagine he could do that without at least being able to read french.

[aceplace57]

I'm pretty sure Newt must read French too.

The article in my OP has a link to Newt's Ad. Its highlighted in the article.

Some commentators have highlighted a possible irony in that Mr Gingrich, a former House Speaker, has a doctorate in European history. His 1971 dissertation, Belgian Education Policy in the Congo 1945-1960, contains a number of sources in French in its bibliography.

[runner pat]

Originally Posted by Simplicio

Doesn't Newt have a PhD in Belgian history? I can't imagine he could do that without at least being able to read french.

Which means at some time in his life he used the word "Belgium".
How could he let such filth pass his lips?

[Onomatopoeia]

Originally Posted by aceplace57

I love the silliness that occasionally creeps into elections.

Newt Gingrich's latest attack against Romney?

SPOILER:

He speaks French.

That's telling the dirty so and so. Is this the best Newt can come up with? Nothing else has worked. I guess Newt will attack Romney's dog next time.

I'm not a Romney supporter. I just find this latest attack against him so silly.

It may be silly, but this kind of stuff plays well with low-information, poorly educated, Republican voters. Newt knows exactly what he's doing here.

[Little Nemo]

Mitt uses French in public. Newt only Frenched in the privacy of his own home.

[BigT]

Originally Posted by Captain Amazing

And he does, btw, know how to speak French. He spent two and a half years as a missionary to France.

I figured as much, but, still, that's a bad clip.

[John DiFool]

Strange women in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!

Just when I thought our political discourse in this country couldn't get any lower, some a-hole politician somewhere proves me wrong.

[Chronos]

Also odd is attacking him for voting in the Democratic primary in 1992. Bush was assured of the Republican nomination; there was no point in anyone voting in the Republican primaries. Anyone who wanted their voice heard would have done the same. Now, if he'd voted for a Democrat in the general election, I can see how that'd be attack-worthy, but this looks like "he's an acknowledged homo sapiens, and his sister is a thespian".

[Alley Dweller]

The French ad is also being discussed in this thread.

[Doctor Who]

Originally Posted by Chronos

looks like "he's an acknowledged homo sapiens, and his sister is a thespian".

Whaaaaaaat? Disgusting!
Do you have a cite? I may need to vote for Newt if these allegations are true!

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Captain Amazing

I don't think that it was mocking him for speaking French so much as saying that he was a John Kerry clone, and the French thing was just something they threw in at the end...you know, "he even speaks French, like John Kerry."

And he does, btw, know how to speak French. He spent two and a half years as a missionary to France.

That was my first thought, too. Romney = Kerry.

Funny thing is, though, that a "Massachusetts moderate" probably has a better chance to beat Obama as opposed to someone like Gingrich.

[Trepa Mayfield]

Originally Posted by John DiFool

Strange women in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!

Huh?

[Quartz]

King Arthur.

[appleciders]

Originally Posted by Frank

Newt is unlikely to win Louisiana.

Pssh. He'll lose the hardcore Cajun vote, I guess, but that's not enough to lose him the state.

Originally Posted by Trepa Mayfield

Huh?

It's a reference to King Arthur, who received Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake, and more directly to Monty Python, in which they mock this as a means of selecting a king.

[Folacin]

Originally Posted by carnivorousplant

Well, they were kind of...tacky...in two world wars.

They did kind of get rolled in WWII (although my understanding (based on no personal reading) is that they did better than the whole 'surrender monkey' meme implies), but they fought as well as anyone in WWI.

[twickster]

Merged duplicate threads and retitled thread to make topic clear.