Sunday, January 25, 2009

A cheesy dispute with France


President Bush took a parting shot at the French by raising the duty on Roquefort cheese from 100% to 300%. This was in retaliation for a French ban on American beef. The French are notorious for protecting their crummy agriculture industry. Many people think President Obama will reverse the decision. He loves the French and they love him back.

Cheese threatens Obama's French honeymoon

The in-tray of Barack Obama may be piled high, but he might like to put aside the banks, the Middle East and health care to focus on a truly urgent matter: the French cheese emergency.

The new President could blow the great goodwill that he enjoys in France if he fails to reverse a parting shot by George W. Bush against that symbol of Gallic gastronomy -- roquefort cheese. We could even face a new round in the war against Yankee junk food, with Coca Cola and MacDonald's in the firing line.

The story began last Thursday when Washington suddenly tripled an already heavy duty on the pungent blue cheese from the southern Massif Central. The idea was to punish Europe for maintaining a longstanding ban on beef from US cattle that had been administered with growth hormones. Excerpted from timescorrespondents.typepad.com/charles_bremner

2 comments:

freude bud said...

The fact that French cheeses require 100% import duties to make their market share in America manageable should tell you something about your characterization of French agriculture as crummy.

Long Live Kraft and Velveeta! Yuuuuum

Dummidumbwit said...

I like European Conservatives because they don't lever religion into the mix, your title of Intellectual Redneck ignores the fact that most dumb ass bible belters don't want the Evangelicals in control either, the bounce in and out of those Churches depending on their mood.Guns and Bibles, more like Guns beer Harley s and GMC's I know thet are in Illinois and Indiana as well as anywhere else.Lose em and the GOP will rule?AND YOU KNOW IT!!!