Letter to The News&Observer, March, 2003

I was astounded and dismayed by the March 12 "Specialty of the House" article reporting that the U. S. House of Representatives menu now lists "freedom fries" instead of "french fries." I was embarrassed to learn that North Carolina's Rep. Walter Jones spearheaded the change. What an utterly puerile and misguided effort in the name of a cavalier and superficial concept of patriotism.

France is not our enemy. The French government and its people do not hold a parallel mean-spirited animosity toward Americans. The enemy, rather, is the prevailing mindset of our leader, who goes loutishly galumphing into the complexity of the global political arena with no profound understanding of world history and cultures. Our enemy is the dearth of subtlety, wit, savoir-faire, statesmanship, civilized discourse, and diplomatic agility exhibited by those whom we blindly trust to navigate the volatile and treacherous seas of foreign policy.

Under the aegis of this current leadership I fear that...nous sommes perdus.