TEXAN TRIUMPHS AND POTTER PREVAILS WHILE FRENCH FUME
The Decline & Fall Of The Gallic Empire?
by R. Bastiat, Iconoclast Economics Editor
PARIS -- Minutes after cruising down the Champs-Elysées to close out his record-breaking sixth straight championship of the world's premier cycling race -- the Tour de France -- Lance Armstrong took a congratulatory overseas phone call from fellow Texan George W. Bush. "You're awesome," the president of the United States told the triumphant American athlete.
If a similar gracious gesture was forthcoming from the president of France, however, I have yet to hear about it. And somehow I don't think I ever will. Armstrong's repeated success in this most-French of all international athletic competitions is not something the host nation's political and intellectual elites want to be reminded about.
In fact, the French chattering classes make no secret of their overall antipathy to all things "Anglo-Saxon" -- especially American -- and they can't hide their resentment that a brash outsider from George W. Bush's home state has been dominating their beloved cycling classic. Quelle honte! The shame is just too much for a proud nation to endure.
Indeed, the resentment by France's intellectual establishment of the continuing success of the Anglo-Saxon model is so pervasive that it has now spilled over -- with a vengeance -- into the literary criticism of popular fiction. French academics so despise striving and individualism that they have recently taken to deriding even the British Harry Potter children's book series as nothing more than the crass indoctrination of a younger generation into the horrific world of competitive capitalism.
I'll have more to say about that bizarre viewpoint in a moment. But it's clear to me that the problem French intellectuals encounter with the fictional Potter stories is essentially the same one they have with the real-life Lance Armstrong saga -- the unforgivable Anglo-American emphasis on initiative, enterprise, achievement, excellence, and the will to prevail against heavy odds. France's ruling classes have made it known that they just can't abide such barbaric capitalistic abominations.
The Gallic Wars
To be sure, not all of France resents Lance Armstrong, and some Gallic sports fans had generous praise for the champion during the three-week cycling marathon. Many of them have grudgingly come to admire the U.S. cyclist's achievements in overcoming life-threatening cancer and his extraordinary performance in every phase of the grueling race, and a few French spectators actually applauded as the defending champion rode by. Even the Tour de France race director praised Armstrong for "his mental strength, his temperament, and his hard work."
But the positive reaction of some French sports figures and fans to Armstrong's success remains strictly within the confines of athletic competition. To the leftist intellectuals who dominate France's media, political offices, government bureaucracies, and university faculties, there is a deeper and more disturbing aspect of the American athlete's sterling performance. Their uniformly negative reaction suggests that they see it as the harbinger of a much broader attack on their fragile, decadent, and declining "civilization" by the barbaric vanguard of a primitive alien culture.
The indomitable Texan symbolizes everything the French intelligentsia hates and fears about the dreaded Anglo-American value system: long hours, hard work, competitive zeal, meticulous preparation, single-minded focus, methodical attention to detail, the obsessive pursuit of excellence, and -- most of all -- winning. It is all so uncivilized -- so . . . well . . . un-French! Thus the lament that alien attitudes and work habits are unfairly sweeping the world, depriving la belle France of its role as the true beacon and model for other nations to emulate.
The host country's political office-holders and media elites did everything in their power this year to thwart Lance Armstrong's quest for a sixth Tour de France crown and to disparage his current and past achievements -- but to no avail. He won it all anyway, and they know that his victory is their failure. Their despair is deeply felt because they understand the symbolic importance of his accomplishment, far beyond the results of a single prestigious bicycle race.
Bashing The Biker
It was obvious well before -- and all throughout -- the 2004 Tour de France that French elites would do everything possible to discredit Armstrong and the hated Anglo-Saxon competitive spirit they believe he represents. In that effort they were aided and abetted by their allies in the print and electronic media, by hostile European spectators, and even by race officials who changed the rules this year specifically to reduce Armstrong's chances and favor his main competitors. Among the many and varied stratagems:
*Doping allegations: The French media continue to aggressively pursue the unsubstantiated accusations that performance-enhancing drugs are the only possible explanation for the cancer survivor's unparalleled strength in the sporting world's most grueling contest. At one point these recurring charges triggered a two-year French judicial inquiry, which ultimately found them to be unproven and unsupported by any credible evidence. But the absence of factual backing did not stop the Parisian press from trumpeting further baseless suspicions on the eve of the 2004 Tour.
*Incriminating acts: During the 2004 Tour, a French television crew tried to gain access to Armstrong's hotel room to look for -- and possibly plant -- evidence of drug use.
*Bribery charges: A recent article in the French weekly l'Express alleged that Armstrong had once bought off the Coors Light cycling team to let him win a US race series a few years ago. But the director of the Coors team was quick to rebut that accusation, telling Cyclingnews that the charges were absurd -- Armstrong was just too good to be beaten by any of his riders. "There was no deal," he flatly asserted. "Lance attacked . . . and there was nobody who could cover his move."
*Boorish behavior: During the mountainous stages of the 2004 Tour, spectators booed, whistled, shouted unprintable insults, and spat upon Armstrong as he slowed for the grueling climbs. Along the route, the American rider was ridiculed by French roadway art that featured syringes as a mocking reference to the unproven drug allegations.
*Rule changes: Race organizers altered the rules of this year's Tour de France relating to time bonuses, team restrictions, and the geographic staging of the course itself, admittedly in an attempt to thwart Armstrong and to favor his mostly European rivals (many of whom nevertheless folded along the way under the champion's onslaught, to the chagrin of the race-fixing officials).
In the end, of course, none of it mattered. Armstrong gave them his definitive reply on the course itself -- in the Alps and the Pyrenees and the valleys and the flatlands, where the rubber meets the road. After three arduous weeks grinding the pedals up and down 2,107 miles of picturesque terrain, the 32-year-old champ ended up winning five individual stages of the Tour plus a team time trial. He triumphed over his nearest rival in the overall standings by a comfortable 6 minutes and 19 seconds to take home to Texas his sixth straight Tour de France championship.
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The Decline & Fall Of The Gallic Empire?
by R. Bastiat, Iconoclast Economics Editor
PARIS -- Minutes after cruising down the Champs-Elysées to close out his record-breaking sixth straight championship of the world's premier cycling race -- the Tour de France -- Lance Armstrong took a congratulatory overseas phone call from fellow Texan George W. Bush. "You're awesome," the president of the United States told the triumphant American athlete.
If a similar gracious gesture was forthcoming from the president of France, however, I have yet to hear about it. And somehow I don't think I ever will. Armstrong's repeated success in this most-French of all international athletic competitions is not something the host nation's political and intellectual elites want to be reminded about.
In fact, the French chattering classes make no secret of their overall antipathy to all things "Anglo-Saxon" -- especially American -- and they can't hide their resentment that a brash outsider from George W. Bush's home state has been dominating their beloved cycling classic. Quelle honte! The shame is just too much for a proud nation to endure.
Indeed, the resentment by France's intellectual establishment of the continuing success of the Anglo-Saxon model is so pervasive that it has now spilled over -- with a vengeance -- into the literary criticism of popular fiction. French academics so despise striving and individualism that they have recently taken to deriding even the British Harry Potter children's book series as nothing more than the crass indoctrination of a younger generation into the horrific world of competitive capitalism.
I'll have more to say about that bizarre viewpoint in a moment. But it's clear to me that the problem French intellectuals encounter with the fictional Potter stories is essentially the same one they have with the real-life Lance Armstrong saga -- the unforgivable Anglo-American emphasis on initiative, enterprise, achievement, excellence, and the will to prevail against heavy odds. France's ruling classes have made it known that they just can't abide such barbaric capitalistic abominations.
The Gallic Wars
To be sure, not all of France resents Lance Armstrong, and some Gallic sports fans had generous praise for the champion during the three-week cycling marathon. Many of them have grudgingly come to admire the U.S. cyclist's achievements in overcoming life-threatening cancer and his extraordinary performance in every phase of the grueling race, and a few French spectators actually applauded as the defending champion rode by. Even the Tour de France race director praised Armstrong for "his mental strength, his temperament, and his hard work."
But the positive reaction of some French sports figures and fans to Armstrong's success remains strictly within the confines of athletic competition. To the leftist intellectuals who dominate France's media, political offices, government bureaucracies, and university faculties, there is a deeper and more disturbing aspect of the American athlete's sterling performance. Their uniformly negative reaction suggests that they see it as the harbinger of a much broader attack on their fragile, decadent, and declining "civilization" by the barbaric vanguard of a primitive alien culture.
The indomitable Texan symbolizes everything the French intelligentsia hates and fears about the dreaded Anglo-American value system: long hours, hard work, competitive zeal, meticulous preparation, single-minded focus, methodical attention to detail, the obsessive pursuit of excellence, and -- most of all -- winning. It is all so uncivilized -- so . . . well . . . un-French! Thus the lament that alien attitudes and work habits are unfairly sweeping the world, depriving la belle France of its role as the true beacon and model for other nations to emulate.
The host country's political office-holders and media elites did everything in their power this year to thwart Lance Armstrong's quest for a sixth Tour de France crown and to disparage his current and past achievements -- but to no avail. He won it all anyway, and they know that his victory is their failure. Their despair is deeply felt because they understand the symbolic importance of his accomplishment, far beyond the results of a single prestigious bicycle race.
Bashing The Biker
It was obvious well before -- and all throughout -- the 2004 Tour de France that French elites would do everything possible to discredit Armstrong and the hated Anglo-Saxon competitive spirit they believe he represents. In that effort they were aided and abetted by their allies in the print and electronic media, by hostile European spectators, and even by race officials who changed the rules this year specifically to reduce Armstrong's chances and favor his main competitors. Among the many and varied stratagems:
*Doping allegations: The French media continue to aggressively pursue the unsubstantiated accusations that performance-enhancing drugs are the only possible explanation for the cancer survivor's unparalleled strength in the sporting world's most grueling contest. At one point these recurring charges triggered a two-year French judicial inquiry, which ultimately found them to be unproven and unsupported by any credible evidence. But the absence of factual backing did not stop the Parisian press from trumpeting further baseless suspicions on the eve of the 2004 Tour.
*Incriminating acts: During the 2004 Tour, a French television crew tried to gain access to Armstrong's hotel room to look for -- and possibly plant -- evidence of drug use.
*Bribery charges: A recent article in the French weekly l'Express alleged that Armstrong had once bought off the Coors Light cycling team to let him win a US race series a few years ago. But the director of the Coors team was quick to rebut that accusation, telling Cyclingnews that the charges were absurd -- Armstrong was just too good to be beaten by any of his riders. "There was no deal," he flatly asserted. "Lance attacked . . . and there was nobody who could cover his move."
*Boorish behavior: During the mountainous stages of the 2004 Tour, spectators booed, whistled, shouted unprintable insults, and spat upon Armstrong as he slowed for the grueling climbs. Along the route, the American rider was ridiculed by French roadway art that featured syringes as a mocking reference to the unproven drug allegations.
*Rule changes: Race organizers altered the rules of this year's Tour de France relating to time bonuses, team restrictions, and the geographic staging of the course itself, admittedly in an attempt to thwart Armstrong and to favor his mostly European rivals (many of whom nevertheless folded along the way under the champion's onslaught, to the chagrin of the race-fixing officials).
In the end, of course, none of it mattered. Armstrong gave them his definitive reply on the course itself -- in the Alps and the Pyrenees and the valleys and the flatlands, where the rubber meets the road. After three arduous weeks grinding the pedals up and down 2,107 miles of picturesque terrain, the 32-year-old champ ended up winning five individual stages of the Tour plus a team time trial. He triumphed over his nearest rival in the overall standings by a comfortable 6 minutes and 19 seconds to take home to Texas his sixth straight Tour de France championship.
More...
