Intelligence, Please…

Today, le quatorze Juillet, the French celebrate their independence from the tyrannical rule of King Louis XVI who, by the time of the end of his reign, had totally destroyed the glory days of Louis XIV, the Sun King. Today, Americans should bite their tongues and express gratitude for the sacrifices the French made in the late 18th century to help turn the tide against the British in our own Revolutionary War – sacrifices that sunk France into such a debt as to cause revolution there too.

"Aux armes!" (French for "To arms!")

On July 14, 1789, French revolutionists, identifiable by their red head coverings – also known as the red cap of liberty – stormed the Bastille prison, freeing all 7 of its prisoners. This seems silly, but storming the Bastille Prison would be akin to, say, toppling the IRS headquarters on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC – at night, when 7 janitors were emptying wastepaper baskets.

Okay, okay – stop laughing and be serious: it was a symbolic strike against tyrannical power in Paris. The toppling of the prison paved the way for the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a political/legal and philosophical/metaphysical document that established first principles for man’s freedom, equality, and duty to others (liberté, égalité, fraternité).

Washington correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) Olivier Knox (@OKnox on Twitter, and one among 50 journalists that Craft Media/Digital recommends following) passes along this clip from the American film Casablanca – a stirring rendition of La Marseillaise (the French national anthem), sung in Rick’s café to drown out the Nazis singing the Reich’s anthem:

Incidentally, this is one of only two films in history that showcases La Marseillaise in its entirety – I have blogged previously about the other film in which it appears.

Americans and Brits alike love to joke often about the French. We think they’re stuffy and snotty about their food (and ours), and unappreciative of the sacrifices we made on their behalf in World War II. And let’s face it – a lot of that stuff is frickin’ hilarious:

But today – Bastille Day – we shouldn’t laugh off the causes of personal liberty and economic freedom. Culturally, the French behave to each other’s faces the way Americans behave in the political blogosphere (read: often behind a veil of anonymity or geospatial distance – kind of makes us seem a bit cowardly in our political discourse) – and despite their hostile disagreements, they are still, at the end of the day, proud to be French and proud to be free. Today, we should all don the red cap of liberty, and celebrate the independence of our quirky cousins, the French.