Coordinated attacks ongoing in France

I think the answer is obvious.

I think the answer is obvious.

The answer is as plain as the nose on your face, but you can't see it.

Cragman, outstanding post! Bob, et al,(everyone but Me'n Cragbuddy) are too proud and too arrogant to ever admit they need the grace of God.

Robert L posted
These poor people ask, why does all the oil leave their land, but they see little in return?

Robert L posted
Decades of colonialism which lead into despotic regimes in the Middle East.

Yep, the current situation is the result of impotent, weak and useless European half-commie bleeding heart idiot leaders, who're the main terrorist accomplices. The problem is that Europeans are too weakened and brainwashed to defend themselves now. Yes, they need to be armed but they seem to be too weak to realize what they should do to save their countries/incapable of any action. They're literally being decimated as nations by invaders and they can not resist anymore. Europe is done. US is heading the same way, open door policy/runaway immigration will do it in.

I recommend surrendering to our fears, picking a strongman, renouncing our liberties, and blaming the foreigners.

Both countries are nations of immigrants, but their approaches to newcomers could not be more different. Come to France, and you're welcomed to the table—if you're willing to speak French, eat French food, and see the world as French people do. (In the last French presidential debate, both candidates fell over each other to assure their people that there would be no halal meat offered in French school cafeterias—a bizarre note to my ear here in New York, where parking rules are suspended for Succoth, Idul-Adha, Good Friday and Diwali, and no one frets.) Assimilation in France is hierarchical, in the sense proposed by Harvard's Jim Sidanius: Success is measured by how close people come to the summit, which is perfect Frenchness.

In the United States, though, assimilation is what Sidanius would call authoritarian. It's not about a standard of culture or conduct or speech. It's just a contract. There are rules, and you're welcome if you adhere to them. What language you speak, what God you worship, aren't relevant. That approach makes for less community but more openness of mind. Put it this way: If someone is acting in a way that is far from a French person's idea of what is French, then said person is most definitely not French. If someone is acting in a way that is far from my idea of what is American, well, hey, you never know. The guy could still be as American as I am, in the eyes of the law and my fellow citizens.

In both nations, then, millions of people feel that it is wrong to be racist, and they make an effort not to appear so (an exquisite sensitivity to the dangers of appearing racist appears to kick in at about age 8 or 9, according to this research). However, the American version of anti-racism includes an obligation to consider how things look to the Other. After all, his view could be just as American as yours. Beverly Hills Cop, after all, made fun of all its characters, not just Eddie Murphy's.

So, you know a joke that makes fun of people of a certain race that isn't yours? In the U.S. you show you are enlightened by not telling it, because you know what seems funny to you could offend someone of a different background. The French version of anti-racism goes the other way: You show you are enlightened by telling the joke, because we're all equally French. We have the same background, so if I'm not offended, how could you be?

In our cautious urge to let all differences have room to breathe, American art and culture can strike the French as flighty and childlike (the way Californians look to the rest of us Americans). In their urge to erase difference, though, the French can look, to us, condescending and close-minded. Sometimes I think the French want to say to Americans, "just because it's strange and new doesn't mean it's great." And Americans want to say to the French, "Could you just appreciate that for what it is, instead of having to make it French?"

because we're the land of the hand-wringing pussies.

Security and liberty are a zero sum game

How the hell are you supposed to cut the cheese?

You can't have both. Either we're the land of the FREE, which implies the home of the BRAVE; or we're the land of the enslaved, because we're the land of the hand-wringing pussies.

the Constitution and Bill of Rights conveyed Freedom, not safety

the Constitution and Bill of Rights conveyed Freedom, not safety

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.