Michael C. Moynihan | June 3, 2008
Brigitte
Bardot,
convicted again:
A Paris court also handed down a $23,325 fine against the former screen siren and animal rights campaigner. The court also ordered Bardot to pay $1,555 in damages to MRAP.
[...]
A leading French anti-racism group known as MRAP filed a lawsuit last year over a letter she sent to then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. The remarks were published in her foundation's quarterly journal.
In the December 2006 letter to Sarkozy, now the president, Bardot said France is "tired of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts."
This is, if my count is correct, the fifth time Mme. Bardot has
been convicted of "hate speech" in France. She was previously fined
for telling Le Figaro in 1999 that "my country, France, my
homeland, my land is again invaded by an overpopulation of
foreigners, especially Muslims" and writing in her autobiography of
an impending "Islamisation of France."
reason on "hate speech" and "hate crimes."
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Bah, she's 73. I'm finding it difficult to get worked up this morning about freedom of speech violations in Europe unless they involve very hot women who are still, you know, hot. Sue me.
Religion, animal rights, freedom of speech, and a semi-nude woman with a guitar. Potential for the biggest thread of the day!
Yes, sometimes we take PC too far in the states. That being said, the next time some American whines about suppression of free speech or excessive PC(when their complaint is illegitimate or minor), I'll kindly direct them to this garbage. And France is one of the leaders of the free world.
joe,
Before you get lambasted below, let me just remind you that, unlike
the U.S., many European countries are strongly nativist, and this
kind of shit is common on both sides of the left-right,
generally-false dichotomy...
Looks like the right has its useful idiots, too.
What does that even mean? Are you talking about Sarkozy or the
Conservative Muslims? or MRAP?
I'm looking at this issue and i really don't see "right" or "left",
i'm seeing religious zealots, free speech being squashed by an
overbearing state, and an animal right activist who's
nationalistic.
That's the probelm with Left vs Right these days, it rarely seems
so black and white...
For Bardot:
Animal Rights > Religious freedom
For France:
Religious freedom > Freedom of expression
Both wrong.
She seems more like an all-purpose idiot, joe. Animal rights
maniac, nativist jerkweed, making strange, schizophrenic comments
about gays; she's a kook.
When are the young, hot kook-ettes going to get themselves in the
news? We need a new generation.
Actually the "For France" part of my last post is incorrect. It
really should be:
Protection from being offended > Freedom of speech
Mike, the picture you used is prefered to the ugly reality pictures in the real article.
If what Moynihan wrote about the previous fines is correct, than it sure doesn't take much! Just describing demographic changes as in some way undesirable, or maybe even merely pointing them out?
Steve, Episiarch, Taktix,
The term "useful idiots" was coined by the Soviets, to refer to
people who were not on board with Bolshevik Communism, but who
allowed their political activism in unrelated spheres - racial
equality, anti-war, gender equality - to be appropriated by the
communist movement for its own purposes.
That's exactly what Bardot is doing here - in a nation that kills
and consumes millions of cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, pigs,
snails, and whatnot every year, she's singling our Muslim
immigrants for censure, on the grounds that they kill animals.
She's allowed her animal-rights activism to be hijacked by her
country's xenophobic, anti-Muslim right.
In France there are still instances of Jews getting assaulted
just because of their religion, and clearly a lot of volitility in
the poor Islamic suburbs. They take this very seriously because
they think it is the only way you can keep the country from
spiraling into riots and the like. French people are very quick to
hold protests and strike.
They clearly think that suppression of thought is more integral to
reducing political unrest than prosperity is. They apparently think
they can systematically ignore the Muslims as long as they don't
say mean things about them.
I don't care if she is a nutcase. Free speech is free speech. I don't see how any right thinking person could not be on Bardot's side in this.
Ah,
So you're saying she's a useful idiot for the (nativist)
right.
That makes more sense. :)
One cavear, leftists can be nativists too. It's far less common
since it does not jibe well with egalitarianism. But it does
happen.
Her husband Bernard d'Ormal is a former adviser of the far
right "Front National" party.
I don't think she's a useful idiot, I think she's a wholesale
nativist and knows exactly what she's doing.
I don't see how any right thinking person could not be on
Bardot's side in this
"In this" being the operative term.
If you find anybody who doesn't support Bardot "in this," you let
us know.
her country's xenophobic, anti-Muslim right.
Has the European left really rejected the openly xenophobic
positions on the European right? Or is it really more like this
country, where the left says "well, we want to kick them out too,
but we want to be nicer about it than Tom Tancredo".
The French are an overly emotional, childlike race, and must be kept on a tight leash, lest France devolve into chaotic depravity and riotousness.
Proving once again that free speech really only applies as long
as you're bitching about something or someone that is popular to
hate and ridicule.
Practice that free speech against something that is protected by
the the world's PC police, and you find yourself bitch-slapped and
saddled with nasty labels.
GAH! My eyes!
How did someone that insanely hot become that insanely
haglike?
Oh, there was an article? Totally missed that.
Has the European left really rejected the openly xenophobic
positions on the European right?
From my experience, they also find the Muslims icky, don't want
them in their neighborhoods, workplaces, or schools, but their
ideology compels them to approach them differently.
The dislike of immigrants is very widespread there and covers all
ideological spectra. The differences lie in what they want to do
about it and how willing they are to talk about it.
Sun damage, Joel. It's brutal on a girl's skin, but it doesn't
show up for thirty years or so.
She was gorgeous, though.
Has the European left really rejected the openly xenophobic
positions on the European right?
Neither "Europe" nor "the European Left" is homogenous enough for
that quesiton to have a meaningful answer.
Episiarch,
I prefer to give someone who was once that hawt the benefit of the
doubt.
News flash!
Actors are inconsistent in their views and often say stupid
things.
That's nonsense, MP.
Give up your illusions, joe. I double-checked the DNC, Obama, and
Hillary sites, and all say "Secure our borders" first. They tow the
line about restricting immigration to an acceptable level, while
never specifying what this level is. They wrap it in "Protect all
U.S. workers and their wages & prevent exploitation of
immigrant workers" (from the DNC, which properly translated means
dey took ur jobs). They
all seek stricter employer level "papers please" enforcement. And
they all wrap it in some "we place a premium on compassion,
respect, and policies that help families" (from Hillary's site)
BS.
Neither "Europe" nor "the European Left" is homogenous enough
for that quesiton to have a meaningful answer.
That's right. Which is why you calling her a tool of the right
shows your bias. She's a tool of the xenophobes, who are neither
right nor left.
"If you find anybody who doesn't support Bardot "in this," you
let us know."
Uh, joe, maybe I misunderstood, but wouldn't that include all the
French legislators who cooked up the "hate speech" law and all the
other folks who support such laws? Seems like a pretty big
group.
Wait, so am i the only one that thinks it's okay that she loves
animals, hates religious zealots, is a nativist, and is outspoken
about those views despite the state's attempts to censor her?
I don't see any of that as bad. I mean, if a bunch of baptists came
into my town, encouraged large scale reproduction and political
activism in an attempt to change the laws, customs, and religious
affiliation of my town, and punished those who voiced concern about
it.
It only seems natural that people would resist such openly hostile
moves.
"From my experience, they also find the Muslims icky, don't want
them in their neighborhoods, workplaces, or schools, but their
ideology compels them to approach them differently."
Exactly. The European left just wants to keep immigrans in their
ghettos and let them have sharia law and arranged marraiges and
whatever other form of barbarism an be justified in the name of
tolerance. Mind you they would never tolerate a European woman
being forced to quit school for an arranged marraige at age 12, but
a Pakistani woman? Well that is their culture and who are we to
judge. The European left looks at Muslim immigrants as some sort of
exotic form of animal to be respected and caged.
"I don't see any of that as bad. I mean, if a bunch of baptists
came into my town, encouraged large scale reproduction and
political activism in an attempt to change the laws, customs, and
religious affiliation of my town, and punished those who voiced
concern about it."
If that happened libertarians would be having kittens and saying
100 times worse things about Baptists than Bardot ever said about
Muslims. Libertarians don't have much sympathy for Bardot because
it is not their country and not their sacred cow being gored.
I am getting the idea that NutraSweet places a premium on female looks that are more "cute" than "hot". NTTAWWT.
"In their prime:
Brigitte Bardot, or Catherine DeNeuve?
Discuss."
Not even close. DeNeuve in a landslide. DeNeuve is still hot and
she is like 70 now.
No, you're not the only one, Mark. Count me in too. If it were the Baptists doing that people would be flipping their wigs over it.
John - the specification was "in their prime". Based on that,
I'd have to say Bardot > Deneuve just slightly.
However, Buñuel
>
Godard. (NSFW).
No, you're not the only one, Mark. Count me in too. If it
were the Baptists doing that people would be flipping their wigs
over it.
A rejection of speech suppression is not an endorsement of the
speech being suppressed. Why is it surprising that libertarians are
more irritated by the actual use of government force instead of the
calls for use of government force?
Nichelle Nichols is about the hottest old woman I've ever seen*,
and Pam Grier's a total GILF.
*Shirley Jones and Kieu Chinh, too, actually.
Penquin,
There is no accounting for taste, but I would take DeNeuve any day.
She had class. Bardot was fluzey.
Do you guys think that the French people who are afraid that a
sudden surge of foriegn born Muslims will mean that their culture
and policies may change in was they find unappealing are crazy or
racists? Because I think they're just being sensible.
Islam is often misunderstood and feared foolishly. Many Islamic
people are moderate, sensible people. But you don't have to be
Donderdo or such to think that a whole lot of Islamic people have
deeply held beliefs that are at best a "poor fit" with Western
liberal demoractic ideals. If they become 35% of your population
(and electorate) with little assimilation time then Jesus that's
trouble...
Oh, and put me down for Bardot, though a three way would make everybody happy I should think (sometimes cooperation is better than competition).
"That's exactly what Bardot is doing here - in a nation that
kills and consumes millions of cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, pigs,
snails, and whatnot every year, she's singling our Muslim
immigrants for censure, on the grounds that they kill
animals."
Is that right joe? I mean, I'm not sure and correct me if I'm
wrong, but when Bardot is described as an "animal rights activist"
then I assume that she has probably taken some strong and public
stands on the treatment of animals by her own people.
And she may find Islam in general, or this practice in particular,
to be distinctly awful in her area of concern...That's not
neccessarily idiotic...
If they become 35% of your population (and electorate) with
little assimilation time then Jesus that's trouble...
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong on this, but a significant chunk
of France's muslim population arrived during and right after the
Algerian War. France has been systematically denying assimilation
as a possibility for 40 years now. Of course they're having
problems. Treat any group as second-class citizens for generations
and see what happens.
Do you guys think that the French people who are afraid that
a sudden surge of foriegn born Muslims will mean that their culture
and policies may change in was they find unappealing are crazy or
racists?
Exactly, i mean call me crazy, but it seems more like mass scale
colonization...
The native americans were very friendly toward the new arrivals,
even helped with the first thanksgiving and all that, good thing
they weren't "xenophobes"...
"but a significant chunk of France's muslim population arrived
during and right after the Algerian War."
Yeah, and I should think they were Franco-philes who only wanted
what was best for France...
The native americans were very friendly toward the new
arrivals, even helped with the first thanksgiving and all that,
good thing they weren't "xenophobes".
You can't be serious. That's like indicting vegitarianism because
the Tyrannosaurus Rex ate Triceratops.
R C Dean | June 3, 2008, 11:42am | #
In their prime:
Brigitte Bardot, or Catherine DeNeuve?
Discuss.
Sophia Loren.
Bardot always looked like she would give you crabs and laugh when you complained.
Don't take it so personally, NutraSweet. Your past experiences with prostitutes have no bearing here.
Fine, you wanna play like that?
In
Japan you have to find a vending machine for that kind of
service.
That's like indicting vegitarianism because the
Tyrannosaurus Rex ate Triceratops.
WTF? Can you explain that analogy as it made no sense to me.
I'm talking about a clash of cultures, one that is freedom loving
and one that is strictly authoritarian, when the two collide there
are enough of the freedom lovers who will welcome the
authoritarians with open arms, either oblivious, unconcerned, or
blinded by idealogy. Once the authoritarians have enough strength
on their side they smash the freedom lovers, the resistors and the
quislings.
sort of like that sci-fi novel (can't think of it's name) where the
planet Bakunin (anarcho-capitalist) is attacked by another planet's
authoritarian forces, they almost win by hiring Bakunin's own
"citizens" as mercenaries...
hope that makes sence.
NutraSweet, has your syphilis moved into the dementia stage yet? Because the link you put up is for "Panties for Peace" and has nothing to do with vending machines or Japan.
Yeah, and I should think they were Franco-philes who only
wanted what was best for France...
Alternatively, they were afraid the FLN was going to murder them
and foolishly assumed since they had been French citizens since
birth, they would receive equal treatment in France.
Do you guys think that the French people who are afraid that
a sudden surge of foriegn born Muslims will mean that their culture
and policies may change in was they find unappealing are crazy or
racists? Because I think they're just being sensible.
It's funny, when I express this attitude about the US immigration
issues, I'm denounced as a xenophobe. But I'm glad you're on my
side, MNG, against the open-borders majority.
Got it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostile_Takeover_Trilogy
It's a good read, if you're into libertarian space-opera...
Epi-
A joke explained...
In Japan you have to buy dirty panties, in Burma you get them free
in the mail.
Feminists
discussing what it means to be a man. [chortle]
If I bothered to understand your joke, how would I continue my string of VD insults towards you? Some people...
WTF? Can you explain that analogy as it made no sense to
me.
Because you're comparing cross-border immigration issues in the
21st century to the immigration issues of the 17th century, without
making any adjustment for the cultural attitudes/values that
resulted in the wholesale slaughter of both immigrants and
natives.
Or are you saying that simply because there was conflict, it makes
sense to compare today's issues to those from 400 years ago?
MP,
I double-checked the DNC, Obama, and Hillary sites, and all say
"Secure our borders" first. Border security and immigration
levels are two completely different issues. Have you never heard
the term "high walls, wide gates," or are you just
pretending?
They tow the line about restricting immigration to an
acceptable level, while never specifying what this level
is.
And, in your feverish little mind, this turns into "well, we want
to kick them out too, but we want to be nicer about it than Tom
Tancredo". BTW, nice quote about "acceptable level." Oh, wait, you
didn't provide a quote.
They all seek stricter employer level "papers please"
enforcement. While advocating for legalizing immigration, so
everyone has the papers.
If you have anything to back up your assertion that the Democrats
want to restrict immigration, I'd love to see it, because so far
you've provided bupkis.
Which is why you calling her a tool of the right shows your
bias. She's a tool of the xenophobes, who are neither right nor
left.
You don't know what the National Front is, do you? You know, the
party her HUSBAND is an activist for?
PC speech laws suck.
As to France and the whole Muslim issue, it's a multi-layered
problem. One of the biggest problems (AFAIK) for French Muslim
immigrants and their children is that the French economy is a joke
and there are few jobs available.
From what I've read, usiness regulations make it difficult for
employers to take on new employees for permanent positions, since
they can't practically fire them or lay them off afterward. These
regulations also harm upward mobility, since more "educated" jobs
are often filled through long-term unpaid internships that then
morph into paid positions, to create a sort of de facto
probationary period and allow firms to get rid of useless idiots
during the internship period. The sons and daughters of the elite
don't have any problem, since mommy and daddy can support them
through the internship phase, but recent immigrants are less likely
to have that luxury.
In short, France is such a static, stratified society that
immigrants have a much tougher time than they do in this country.
If the Algerians and West African immigrants didn't already speak
French, I have a feeling they'd try to go somewhere else.
Is that right joe? I mean, I'm not sure and correct me if
I'm wrong, but when Bardot is described as an "animal rights
activist" then I assume that she has probably taken some strong and
public stands on the treatment of animals by her own
people.
She doesn't describe French culture as the problem. Killing animals
is just something bad, that French people do, and she tries to
reform that culture. This is not the same line she takes towards
Muslims, whose meat-eating ways are a black mark against Islam as a
whole.
Ann Margaret mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Rrrrrrooow!
Ursula Andress.
Natalie Wood.
Jane Fonda (urk! Speaking of nutty, but hot)
and a 2nd for Sophia Loren
If I were her I'd make sure the check for the fine bounced. My $23,000 check would bounce, for sure.
Has the European left really rejected the openly xenophobic
positions on the European right? Or is it really more like this
country, where the left says "well, we want to kick them out too,
but we want to be nicer about it than Tom Tancredo".
Yes...but they are an even more of a
call-everyone-who-disagrees-with-me-a-racist freak show then joe
is...my expertise in this comes from emails i exchange with my
socialist French ex-girlfriend, Who says Sarkozy is a full blown
racist....but i guess i should give her some credit...unlike joe
she actually says she is a socialist and not a liberal.
Border security and immigration levels are two completely
different issues.
Yeah the left wants to restrict individual freedom of everyone
regardless of national origin...while the right wants to reform
entitlements but fail at it so they go after poor Mexican workers
(well only half of the right...the other half hire poor Mexican
workers to work for them)
Joe does not believe the free exchange of goods and services is a
right so he has no problem with the "search every truck and cargo
bin no matter the cost Kerry style" border security.
Yeah the left wants to restrict individual freedom of
everyone regardless of national origin...while the right wants to
reform entitlements
And also, their farts smell like tollhouse cookies, and that
episode with that other fella in the rest room was all just a big
misunderstanding.
France will be in a Civil war within 20yrs. The result of not protecting its borders. Islam and individual rights are not a good fit. Islam is political. There just isn't a Muslim majority country that doesn't impose severe restrictions on minorities. Yes even Turkey the so called great Muslim hope is anything but free. VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: No freedom without border patrol
That country that bars offensive speech also bars Muslim girls from wearing hijabs to public school. Its attitude towards free speech and expression is that its free unless other people don't think you should be free to say or express it.
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