The French Ego

Roger Cohen writes in the International Herald Tribune about a French notion that allows the intellectuals to love America while hating President Bush.

Politicians speak of saying yes to America but no to Bush. The newspaper Liberation warns Bush that he should not take President Jacques Chirac's expected expressions of gratitude as directed at him, but rather at America. Laurent Fabius, a former prime minister, says Bush is viewed "as the exact opposite of the values that make us love America."

The idea is very French. It is conceptual. It is subtle. It is intellectually pleasing. It projects the notion that France knows better than America what America really is or really should be. It harks back to the idea France shares with America: that the countries incarnate some eternal values and have a mission to export them to all mankind.[Emphasis mine.]

Worthy of mention is that despite the fact that the French have a demonstrated history as losers in international conflicts, no other country's citizens could ever expect to challenge the people of France in the amount of abject unsupported egocentrism. I would suggest that the qualities of egocentrism and being a loser often appear together.