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U.S. Election 2012: What will happen next ?
America, I apologize. For the past two months, I’ve been misrepresenting you, to myself, and to the people I’ve met while studying at Sciences Po. I’ve never stopped loving you; never stopped being grateful. But I’ve been embarrassed. I bought into — and propagated — some typical stereotypes of Americans: monolinguistic, intolerant, gun-loving, tone-deaf to the international community, and uncaring about the environment. While in France, land of the glamour and relatively liberal social policy, I’ve often bemoaned the fact that to you, I must return: land of obesity and constant brouhahas over not-even-universal health care. You seemed hopelessly stodgy…
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Avoiding debates about the debates: Why France is the perfect haven for Americans during the presidential election
My parents got to Paris from North Carolina the morning of the presidential debate on Oct. 3 — the one where Mitt Romney was proclaimed victor on both sides of the Atlantic, by both the left and the right. My dad and I get a long really well, but we’re supporting different presidential candidates. “So how about the debate last night?” he asked. “Let’s not talk about this,” my mom said. That seems to be the theme of the discussion around the presidential debates and elections among my American loved ones: For the sake of avoiding conversations as uncomfortable as…
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Americans in Paris : What that means in a post Freedom-fries world.
Former U.S. Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich claims to be a conservative. But this January, he lambasted Mitt Romney for speaking French, implying that French as a second language is something best left to the United States’ liberals and progressives. (As a side note, I’m not sure if this “criticism” of Romney was warranted. A video of the Republican nominee speaking French betrays that his French is heavily accented — not that I’m one to talk— and faltering.) If Gingrich really were conservative, he would applaud Romney’s knowledge, however rudimentary, of French. Francophilism, specifically an appreciation for Paris, is every bit as much…