French President Jacques Chirac warned Thursday of a “catastrophe” for global diversity if the United States’ cultural hegemony goes unchallenged.
Speaking at a French cultural center in Hanoi ahead of Friday’s opening of a summit of European and Asian leaders, Chirac said France was right to stand up for cultural and linguistic diversity.
The outspoken French president warned that the world’s different cultures could be “choked” by US values.
This, he said, would lead to a “general world sub-culture” based around the English language, which would be “a real ecological catastrophe”.
Citing Hollywood’s stranglehold over the film industry as an example, Chirac stressed that only with government assistance could countries maintain their cultural heritage.
Vietnam is a former French colony, but only around 375,000 of its 81 million people speak French. English is considered by most people a far more valuable and practical second language, particularly among businessmen.
On October 2nd Pundit Review Radio interviewed Scott Johnson of Powerline. We had a wide ranging discussion about the Dan Rather controversy and the impact it is having on the mainstream media.
Blogger Dean Esmay of Dean’s World was a guest on Pundit Review Radio on October 2nd. Dean spoke with us about his involvement with the blogger driven charity Operation Give. Dean told us about the great work military blogger Chief Wiggles is doing to bring a sick Iraqi girl to the U.S. for a life saving operation and he lets our listeners know how they can help in this very worthwhile effort.
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Pundit Review Radio highlights the work of bloggers and other leaders of the new media and discusses the impact they are having on politics and the press.
The show is archived on this site. Our interviews from last week with Dean Esmay of Dean’s World and Scott Johnson of Powerline will be posted tomorrow. Our interview with Mattt Margolis of BlogsforBush is posted below in an audio blog link.
This Saturday we have a great show lined up for you. Our first guest will be Don Luskin of Smart Money, National Review and PoorandStupid.com
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How’s this for diversty of opinion on the Boston Globe editorial page today. Pathetic.
The understudies onstageVICE PRESIDENT Dick Cheney could have come across as the Bush administration hatchet man, too mean-spirited to deserve reelection, but he didn’t. Senator John Edwards could have come across as young and inexperienced, too callow to serve a heartbeat from the Oval Office, but he didn’t.
Neither can claim a clear win(By Scot Lehigh, Globe Columnist)
CALL THIS ONE a tie, a polite but pointed debate in which each of the two number twos did reasonably well.
Cheney proves his irrelevance(By Thomas Oliphant, Globe Columnist)
CLEVELAND THE COUNTRY doesn’t need Dick Cheney any more. After his 90 minutes on the stage last night, it is clear he is no longer an essential person in politics and government. What he brings to the table are liabilities.
Consider this debate a draw(By Cathy Young, Globe Columnist)
THE VICE presidential debate ended without a clear winner. In terms of style and demeanor, there was nothing like the clear contrast between John Kerry’s strong presence and George W. Bush’s apparent lack of self-confidence. Vice President Dick Cheney came across as more mature (not just in the sense of actual age) and more authoritative, but he also seemed rather …
A defensive vice president(By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist)
DON’T LET today’s headlines get in the way of yesterday’s arguments for war with Iraq. Dick Cheney stuck to that principle during last night’s debate with Democratic challenger John Edwards. The vice president’s overall debate strategy appeared to be very simple: Say it calmly, say it with authority, and hope that people in battleground states continue to believe Bush-Cheney can …
A downward spiral(By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist)
LOS ANGELES GIVEN NO chance to play grandpa, Dick Cheney was the grump. Hunkered down and grimmacing through his answers, the vice president must have lived up to Republican strategists’ greatest fears.
Tomorrow’s news today…
If John Edwards can leave the stage tonight without sounding like Pedro Martinez,
“I have to tip my hat and say Dick Cheney is my daddy”
then he will be declared the winner in the mainstream media.
In the past 48 hours, the press has positioned this as the experiecned, tough as nails Dick Cheney versus the good ol boy southern charm of inexperienced John Edwards. Edwards has been taken down a few pegs so that even a solid defeat can be spun as a victory. “It wasn’t as bad as some unnamed Kerry campaign officials had feared”
This will represent quite a feat for the Kedwards ticket. They will have been declared the winners in two debates for doing nothing more than speaking within a certain timeframe and not getting embarrassed.
The more one examines what John Kerry said, the harder it is to rationalize his near unanaimous victory in the media and in the initial polling. As people take a closer look at the never ending list of contradictions in Kerry’s remarks, his poll numbers are again slipping. His debate bounce was about as profound as his convention bounce. The only thing they have in common is that the conventional wisdon displayed by the media elites was wrong both times.
This is precisely what Evan Thomas of Newsweek was referring to when he said recently,
Letâ??s talk a little media bias here. The media, I think, want Kerry to
win. And I think they̢??re going to portray Kerry and Edwards РI̢??m talking about
the establishment media, not Fox, but Рthey̢??re going to portray Kerry and
Edwards as being young and dynamic and optimistic and all, thereâ??s going to be
this glow about them that some, is going to be worth, collectively, the two of
them, thatâ??s going to be worth maybe 15 points.
All Edwards has to do is have one exchange with Cheney in which he does not back down and says something harsh. If he does this, he will have “stood up to Cheney” and “shown a toughness he had not shown on the campaign trail”. Edwards was “surprisingly strong” and “not intimidated”. Cheney on the other hand will be described as “dour” and “not willing to listen to criticism”. He will be viewed as an effective advocate for the President, even “making the President’s case better then the President”.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski has slammed Dem president hopeful John Kerry, aka Mr. Diplomacy, for not recognizing Poland’s contributions and sacrifice to the war in Iraq.
“It is sad that a senator with 20 years of experience does not recognize
Polish contribution. This is immoral. It is sad that a senator with 20
years of experience underestimates Polish sacrifice, this is sad.”