Of french fries, boycotts and cat bans!
Take that!
We sure showed the French that we Americans were nothing to mess with back in 2003.
When President George Bush was revving up the U.S. war machine and aiming it directly at Saddam Hussein无毛视频檚 Iraq back then, France demurred.
French Minister of Foreign Affairs Dominique de Villepin announced that France would not support nor participate in any war effort directed at Iraq.
That didn无毛视频檛 go over well in the halls of the U.S. Congress.
That无毛视频檚 a place where petty feuds grow lives of their own.
A well-meaning Republican congressman, Bob Ney of Ohio, decided to take matters into his own hands. Since he was the Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, he could control certain activities in the congressional cafeteria.
Ney无毛视频檚 response to the reluctance of France to join the United States in battle against Iraq? Freedom Fries.
Yep! Instead of the congressional cafeteria serving french fries, a U.S. congressman officially renamed them 无毛视频淔reedom Fries.无毛视频�
It doesn无毛视频檛 get any stupider than that, does it?
There would be 无毛视频淔reedom Fries无毛视频� on the congressional menu from March 11th, 2003, until August 2nd, 2006, just because some overzealous Republican wanted to hold a grudge against the French.
Here无毛视频檚 the kicker.
French fries didn无毛视频檛 even originate in France.
They came from Belgium.
Ney was accidentally backhanding Belgium.
It was a waste of a good international insult, if you ask me.
Meanwhile, there are as many as 400 American and multinational companies that have said they无毛视频檙e scaling back their business ties to Russia since its incursion into Ukraine.
That includes FedEx, McDonald无毛视频檚, IBM, Apple, and Amazon 无毛视频� as major companies who feel as though they无毛视频檇 like to avoid having the blood of Russia无毛视频檚 attacks on their hands.
Those curtailments are reasonable for the time being.
However, some dizzying restrictions have been enacted.
Chris Sununu, the Republican governor of New Hampshire, recently announced the state无毛视频檚 liquor and wine stores would stop selling Russian-made products.
That would include the vodka brand Stoli. (Short for Stolichnaya)
But Stoli is mostly made in Latvia 无毛视频� not Russia.
I wonder if anybody has told the good governor that he无毛视频檚 protesting the fine folks of Latvia.
According to the British 无毛视频 Minister, Nigel Huddleston, Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev needs to provide 无毛视频渁ssurances无毛视频� that he doesn无毛视频檛 support Vladimir Putin before he can play in the upcoming Wimbledon tournament.
First, isn无毛视频檛 the name 无毛视频淣igel Huddleston无毛视频� a perfectly British name? Second, what the heck is a 无毛视频溛廾悠� Minister无毛视频�?
Third, isn无毛视频檛 it a bit ridiculous to demand that sovereign citizens of another country denounce their own country无毛视频檚 leadership?
Let无毛视频檚 be honest. If Medvedev denounces Putin, he could pretty much kiss his family members, who might be still living in Russia, goodbye.
There are as many as 40 Russians currently playing in the National Hockey League.
Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins are the two most notable
So far, there hasn无毛视频檛 been any maverick U.S. congressman, or somebody from some American 无毛视频渟ports ministry无毛视频� (we actually don无毛视频檛 have one of those) who无毛视频檚 made that kind of demand on any Russian athlete playing in the United States.
That无毛视频檚 a good thing.
There无毛视频檚 a split on whether the current situation in Ukraine could have fallout on the International Space Station.
Current NASA administrator and former U.S. senator Bill Nelson says he believes there无毛视频檚 still cooperation between Russia and the United States as far as the ISS is concerned.
However, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin isn无毛视频檛 as committed. Rogozin is threatening to have Russia无毛视频檚 cosmonauts leave the ISS, and allow it to crash back to Earth, because of the continued sanctions.
Nobody says this stuff isn无毛视频檛 complicated.
Although, there is one situation that无毛视频檚 kinda silly.
The International Cat Federation (ICF, I guess) is going to great lengths to express its antipathy toward Russia and Putin.
They无毛视频檝e put out a statement claiming that all cats bred or owned in Russia will be henceforth (my word) banned from international competition until the end of May.
Meow!
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.