FRANCE MEETS CONGRESSIONAL MOVES

with profound silence, so far. While members of Congress are tripping over themselves, as well as over the Congressional cafeteria menu and the bodies of WWI vets, to prove themselves more anti-French than the next person, the big Parisian papers (Figaro and Le Monde) seem not to have noticed. Instead, their reporters are doing an excellent job discussing the contours of our debate over war.

Le Monde's Eric Leser has an excellent article on the intersection between war sentiment and evangelical religion in Austin. His basic thesis is that evangelical churches (and the Southern Baptists) support war, but that more moderate churches are more hesitant. In addition, Leser discusses the scope of antiwar opinion at UT-Austin.

Figaro has been running a wonderful series of in-depth articles on war sentiment in various American communities. They began with Louisiana and Mardi Gras, moved to Texas (with a fine discussion of the impact of war sentiment on the muslim community there), and then discussed Arizona yesterday. Le Figaro also has a rather sardonic piece on the way that K-mart has responded to war sentiment in its Easter candy selections.

My sense of things is that these papers are looking in the right place for an interesting story. The anti-French faction in Congress thinks that it will increase its electoral chances by bashing the French in silly and petty ways. It seems to me that their behavior is a curious mix of populist appeal and Washington isolation.