Friday, June 11, 2010

To Laugh or to Cry

Early in the G. W. Bush years, when red-blooded American conservatives were jumping on the bandwagon in support of invading Iraq, some decided the name "French fries" unjustly honored a nation that refused to back the war. In an effort to keep the cholesterol coming, some restaurants renamed the product "freedom fries." At the time, I thought the whole thing was silly.

Eight years later—after well over 4,000 Americans died in Iraq and another 30,000 were maimed or wounded—it was hard to see the humor. But apparently, as this slide show illustrates, Americans aren't the only ones inclined to use gastronomy to make silly political points.

Bon appetit
.

A spot of tea with your freedom fries, anyone?

3 comments:

Idna said...

You left one out, Jane!

John Kerry married into the Heinz family fortune. So when he was running for pres., there was 'another' ketchup you could buy instead of Heinz ketchup.
check it out here.

(I actually had one of these .... what fun!)

Unknown said...

I have no idea why you might be surprised. The oil companies, beginning with the Seven Sisters, have been at it since the DOJ issued the infamous "Business Letter" back in the 50s. Congress, even it's heyday (or at least when I covered it back in the 70s) held scores of hearings on the Alaskan Pipeline only to find all overturned by the Appeals Court.

I could go on, but I doubt a prolix rant would do anything to effect "change," which clearly isn't being done in Washington now -- Just look at the new approval of Movie Ticket Sales Derivatives by the CFTC.

The greats like Proxmire, Sparkman, Dirksen, Mansfield, Church and McIntyre are rolling in their graves.

Citizen Jane said...

I have a hunch that you "could go on and on" quite interestingly, RFR. I hope you will comment on other topics of interest.