The kitten has claws, even now…

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A strange story from France this week...

 

Bardot fined for 'race hate' book
BBC, Thursday, 10 June, 2004, 14:30 GMT 15:30 UK

 

French film legend Brigitte Bardot has been fined 5,000 euros (£3,301) for inciting racial hatred in a book.

The charges against Bardot, 69, related to her best-seller, A Cry In The Silence, in which she said she "opposed the Islamisation of France".

Last month the former actress apologised in court, and said: "I never knowingly wanted to hurt anybody."

In her book she wrote about issues such as racial mixing, immigration, the role of women in politics and Islam.

The book also contained a section attacking what she called the mixing of genes and praised previous generations who, she said, had given their lives to push out invaders.

Bardot's comments prompted anti-racism groups to launch legal proceedings against the actress, who now campaigns for animal rights.

The court said: "Madame Bardot presents Muslims as barbaric and cruel invaders, responsible for terrorist acts and eager to dominate the French to the extent of wanting to exterminate them."

It awarded a symbolic one euro in damages to France's anti-racism movement MRAP and to the League for Human Rights who brought the case to court.

The court also ordered a 5,000 euro fine against the head of Bardot's publishing house, Le Rocher, and ordered both to pay for advertisements in two newspapers announcing their convictions.

Bardot has previous convictions for inciting racial violence after criticising in print the Muslim practice of slaughtering sheep.

 

Curious.

I’ve seen little on her campaigning for Jean-Marie Le Pen or his daughter, but any report of that wouldn’t surprise me.  The odd thing is how much she combines the values of the Christian, conservative right with the PETA mindset of the vegetarian left.  What a mix!

Celebrity politics is odd.  Well, Charleton Heston, after being Moses and El Cid and whatnot, is a hero of the right and heads the National Rifle Association, trying to make sure we’re all well armed.  The left has its Barbara Streisand, Cher, Martin Sheen, Jessica Lange, Alec Baldwin, Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, George Clooney, Mike Farrell, Janeane Garofalo and all the rest.

The really odd thing is that one thinks of Brigitte Bardot’s ex-husband, Roger Vadim – he fashioned the movie “And God Created Women” (1956) just for her.  And she was hot.  Recently (and released on DVD March 16, 2004) Roger Vadim offered his second version of this movie – and this time he used Rebecca DeMornay, daughter of the late far, far right political television guy Wally George (not known much outside Southern California, but Wally made Ann Coulter look like Mother Teresa and pretty much advocated killing all the liberals.)  I hear the second version is awful.  Anyway, Roger Vadim and Brigitte Bardot didn’t last.  Roger later married Jane Fonda (Hanoi Jane , as they say).  Roger and Jane didn’t last.  Jane later married Ted Turner, who himself has been more than a bit left on many issues.  Ted and Jane didn’t last.

All in all?  The personal and political judgment of those in the film business, the big-gun celebrities, can be a bit suspect.  They don’t have special insight.  Just insight. Sometimes.  What the do have is celebrity.  So what?

Brigitte Bardot is guilty of being a pain in the ass.

Things your Republican friends will deny…

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This from l'Agence France-Presse (AFP) by way of The Tocqueville Connection:

ZUT ALORS! FOLKSY REAGAN REALLY DID KNOW FRENCH
Received Monday, 7 June 2004 00:32:00 GMT

UNITED NATIONS, June 6 (AFP) - For all those around the world who remember Ronald Reagan as a plain-spoken president who represented the folksy heart of America, here's a shocker -- he really did know some French.

John Negroponte, the US ambassador to the United Nations who served as his deputy national security advisor, said here Sunday that Reagan once stunned a dinner party by singing the French national anthem.

"President Reagan noted at one point that he didn't know any foreign languages," Negroponte said, recalling a dinner he hosted for the late president in Mexico.

"But in high school he had learned to sing the Marseillaise, the French national anthem. And he asked the guests if they would like to hear him sing it. What were they going to say?" Negroponte recalled with a chuckle.

"He sang, with perfect recollection, the Marseillaise to the assembled guests," the US ambassador said. "He was a magnificent man, he was charming, he had a great sense of humor."

Well, Reagan lost the lead in “Casablanca” to Humphrey Bogart, or he turned it down.  One or the other.  But one sees he really liked the movie. 

 

Heck, everyone loves it when Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) leads the whole café in the Marseillaise, downing out the Germans singing their crap.  Major Heinrich Strasser (Conrad Veidt) is quite unhappy.  Yvonne (Madeleine LeBeau), the French café singer with the guitar, is nearly shouting the words, head high, tears streaming down her face.  "Rick" Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is smiling grimly.  Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) is thinking hard about the consequences and Ilsa Lund Laszlo (Ingrid Bergman) glows in adoration of her husband.

 

Of course Ronald Reagan memorized the song.  He probably thought he was in the movie, as he sometimes got a little confused about such things.

 

But he won the leading role in the other Casa Blanca, didn’t he?

Ah, he came from a generation of folks who thought the French were actually fine people.

 

Which generation is that?

 

Any generation from the 1770’s to 2002 of course.