# Gingrich attack ad/Romney speaking French \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 13, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453 "2012-01-13T23:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/41 "2012-01-14T20:24:01Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/42 "2012-01-14T20:51:31Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/43 "2012-01-14T21:14:24Z")
The French ad is also being discussed in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638419). ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/44 "2012-01-14T21:36:12Z")
> [@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! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/45 "2012-01-14T22:30:41Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/46 "2012-01-14T22:34:13Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Strange women in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/47 "2012-01-14T22:41:42Z")
King Arthur. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/48 "2012-01-14T22:46:03Z")
> [@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. > [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/49 "2012-01-14T23:33:46Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/50 "2012-01-14T23:54:09Z")
Merged duplicate threads and retitled thread to make topic clear. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/51 "2012-01-15T00:15:20Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > 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. Time there was when “Fighting-Cock France” was the stereotype. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/52 "2012-01-15T00:29:25Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I figured as much, but, still, that’s a bad clip. But it’s a great commercial. I almost feel bad for the guy, and every time he speaks I rethink my position on Christian fundamentalism and the anti-christ. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/53 "2012-01-15T00:32:09Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Pssh. He’ll lose the hardcore Cajun vote, I guess, but that’s not enough to lose him the state. Are you under the impression that the language Cajuns speak is actually French? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/54 "2012-01-15T00:33:03Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Are you under the impression that the language Cajuns speak is actually French? 😉 Can Quebecers understand it? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/55 "2012-01-15T02:30:09Z")
I foresee a future Onion headline: \*\* GOP candidates tout failed grades, low IQ in bid to win over conservative primary voters\*\* ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/56 "2012-01-15T03:03:30Z")
> [@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. It’s weird. Lafayette helped the War for Independence and is remembered fondly here. There’s a historical Francophilia as you say. But Washington practically stated that his motivation for rebellion was the failure of the Crown and Admiralty to hand over Quebec’s territory (especially the southern part that became our “Midwest”) to the English-speaking coastal colonies. The peace treaty required not just independence for the coastal colonies, but for the crown to sign away Quebec south of the Great Lakes. One may infer that “patriot” terrorism would continue absent that concession. The War of 1812 was an attempt to conquer Canada that failed. The USA can be interpreted as an anti-Francophone project from its inception. Which side is dominant is probably a function of general levels of xenophobia versus xenophilia. These days xenophobia sells. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/57 "2012-01-15T04:19:42Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Can Quebecers understand it? I haven’t seen one try, so I can’t be sure. I once had the opportunity to observe a total communications breakdown between a schoolteacher from Paris and a Cajun tour guide. I ended up translating for them…even when they both switched from French to something that was ostensibly English. Cajun might be a little closer to the Québécois dialect, since it’s descended from what was spoken in Acadia and parts of Quebec before the Brits kicked a bunch of Acadians out around 1750-1760. It’s obviously drifted a lot in the past 250 years, though–just look at the change from “Acadian” to “Cajun”, for example. It’s also picked up vocabulary from several other languages, probably including some African tongues via Haitian Creole. I suspect that if the French and the Québécois can readily understand each another, neither will easily follow a Cajun. They could probably pick up the gist of it, but they’re not likely to understand everything. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/58 "2012-01-15T04:23:11Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > 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. They almost lost the damn thing, obeying the politicians. They wanted the first USA troops to be used as replacements in French units where they did not speak the language, and gave the USA troops the crappy chau-chau machine gun. The US military was afraid the M-14 would fall into German hands. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/59 "2012-01-15T04:30:31Z")
I saw this ad played as a bumper on the “Morning Joe” show and initially thought it was a parody. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453/60 "2012-01-15T05:41:31Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I foresee a future Onion headline: > \*\* > GOP candidates tout failed grades, low IQ in bid to win over conservative primary voters\*\* Perry already tried that. 😃 I find Gingrich’s ad silly for more reasons than the French thing. He’s comparing a moderate Pubbie to moderately liberal Dems–who won the Democrat nomination! That implies that Romney could win across party lines more readily than someone who baldly scorns moderation. It’s mad all over. And Mitt has no French accent at all for someone who supposedly lived there for two years, not that I can tell from “Bonjour, je m’appelle”. :dubious: :listens again: Was that a German “r” in “Bonjour”!? Except Germans drop final “r”. Oh, I dunno, I never really learned French. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gingrich-attack-ad-romney-speaking-french-edited-title/609453.md?page=4)