Bastille Day: Silly Little French President, Terrified Idle French Legislators …………..
“Allons enfants de la Patrie Le jour de gloire est arrivé.
Contre nous, de la tyrannie, L'étandard sanglant est levé,
l'étandard sanglant est levé, Entendez-vous, dans la compagnes…..” La Marseillaise
“France's lower house of parliament Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a ban on any veils that cover the face -- including the burqa, the full-body covering worn by some Muslim women. The vote was 335 to 1. The measure must still go to the French Senate before it becomes law. The Senate is expected to vote on it in the week of September 20. Amnesty International immediately condemned the vote. "A complete ban on the covering of the face would violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who wear the burqa or the niqab in public as an expression of their identity or beliefs," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's expert on discrimination in Europe………..”
How silly can the French leaders get. Suppose a Frenchman or woman decides to go around wearing a Zorro mask, definitely not mainstream French habit: will they take a vote on that one as well?
Imagine if President Obama (okay, President McCain or more likely Palin) asks the Congress to ban the burq’a, and that US Senate spends weeks of its precious time preparing to vote on it, time that it can better use in partisan bickering and “just saying no” to each other. Imagine if it passes the House with only one dissenting vote: almost as unanimous as support--Israel-against-all-peace-proposals votes that are taken periodically during election years.
French legislators and their silly little French president must have no other weighty problems to tackle than the estimated 300 (or less) women who cover their faces, and admittedly look odd and out of place in their country.
In any case: happy Bastille day.
Cheers
mhg
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