French fries are Belgian

I really was going to let this go, but the more I think about it, the more irritating it is. (That, plus today’s papers are filled with procedural wrangling in the U.N. regarding war in Iraq, and I don’t have much to add to the subject)

Reps. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) have taken time from their busy congressional schedules to tinker with the menu in Congress’ cafeteria. Frustrated that France is withholding support for America’s plan for an unprovoked attack on Iraq, Ney and Jones have used their authority to change the name of “french fries” to “freedom fries” in the House dining hall. They even held a press conference to announce that this “gesture” would let the world know that the U.S. is annoyed with France.

As Jones, who apparently was the one who came up with the brilliant idea, told the Washington Post after the press conference, “This isn’t a political or publicity stunt. We feel sincere as to what we’ve done. This isn’t going to change the debate or course of the world. It’s a gesture just to say to the French, ‘Up yours!'”

Wow, that Jones sure is a class act. “Up yours”? I wonder what school of international diplomacy he learned that one.

The obvious reaction to a sophomoric stunt like this is to wonder why Ney and Jones don’t have anything better to do. But I’ve seen some other, more articulate, responses that caught my attention.

Jeannie Freud, a press officer at the French Embassy in DC, reminded the Post, “First of all, French fries are not French at all — they are from Belgium.” Don’t bother Ney and Jones with facts, they’ve got an ally to demonize.

Which leads me to the insightful remarks from Slate’s Tim Noah, who keenly reminded readers that tactics like these were common during World War I, when Americans shunned everything related to Germans, from sauerkraut to Beethoven. The difference, as Noah explained, was we were actually fighting the Germans at the time. “Germany, after all, was America’s enemy, whereas France is America’s NATO ally,” he explained. “If chauvinistic warmongers want to start renaming stuff, it should be Iraqi stuff.”

The fine folks at The American Prospect’s blog, Tapped, wondered about the next culinary target for Ney and Jones. In light of the president’s habit of turning so many former allies against us, they’d apparently have plenty of menu items to choose from.

“But why stop [with France]?” Tapped asks. “There are so many countries opposing the war that still have foods and drinks named after them, including some, presumably, that are still on the House menu from time to time. German mashed potatoes. Belgian waffles. Dutch chocolate. Swedish meatballs. White Russians. Black Russians. Irish coffee.”

Apparently, one clever Hill reporter had the same idea, and asked Ney during his press conference if items such as Russian dressing would soon be renamed. Ney responded, “We can look at the whole food chain.” Alas, I don’t think he was kidding.