Beth Arnold

Letter From Paris: Yes, We Ca(e)n! In Normandy

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The Obamas are in France -- a land that loves and admires them, individually and as a couple, for their intelligence, philosophies, and, let's not forget, potent style. Barack and Michelle and the First Couple of France Nicolas and Carla (Bruni) Sarkozy are walking the streets of Normandy, where a good portion of the history of western civilization was formed more than 1,000 years ago. Where William the "Bastard," later known as William the Conqueror, was born, whose Norman Conquest brought Norman-French culture to England, and had an impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages. The details of that impact and the enormity of the changes have been debated by scholars for over a century.

Sixty-five years ago today, along this Norman English Channel, the liberating drama of D-Day shook ravaged France and emboldened the hopes of all Allies. Normandy is a lush bucolic region north of Paris where, today, wheat fields brush the wind and pheasant families quietly parade. Where sheer bluffs drop to the turbulent sea and German bunkers still pepper haunted green hillsides. It is where, every weekend, the roads are lined with the cars of Parsians, who are making their way to country homes -- not to mention a fair share of Americans and British who have chosen to make Normandy their own home.

Obamarifix: D-Day, Obamas in Normandy

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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrived a little earlier than expected for the magnificent D-Day celebration the French had been busy preparing in Normandy.  President Nicolas Sarkozy and First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy had invited the American First Couple to enjoy the countryside, taste the Camembert and Pont L'Eveque cheeses, sip some of the refreshing cidre, and the world-famous apple brandy called Calvados.

Barack wanted to knock back a slug of the Calvados first thing in the morning like the old Frenchmen who had survived the World War that ravaged their beautiful region--but thought better of it.  One thing his mama had said was don't drink before breakfast.  He knew that seeing the D-Day  beaches would be emotional for all those gathered along the English Channel and for those watching from home.  For all the families of the men and women who'd fought and given their lives.  For those who'd lived through the war. 

And so the American First Couple came to celebrate the historic and moving anniversary of D-Day.

Letter From Paris: Calling A Dick A Dick

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With yet another round of Dick Cheney disinformation saturating the airwaves, it boggles the mind how the Bush administration controlled the American conversation in the media for so many years. As the public was pounded with fear and loathing of the rest of the world--during the lead-up to the war, the war, and seemingly ever after as long as this crushing tactic works--the Republican leaders tore American democracy and values down, torture by torture.

The Democratic Party deserved to be donkey-whipped, at least symbolically, for their complacence and compliance during these Bush years. They cowered in fear as the Bush/Cheney dictatorship steamrolled over them as the band played on.