The discovery early in the week that Mike Tyson has a tattoo of Chairman Mao on one arm and Che Guevara on the other tempted me to to ask you all what historical figure YOU would get as tattoo. However, while interesting, I thought the question might not lead to much insight.
Then I met a prof at the UW who had a tattoo of Napoleon inked on his back--and not just Napoleon--Napoleon AND his horse.
And that did get me wondering...
What is it with us and the French? Why do we have so little respect for them?
The American Revolution is the defining event in our nation's history. And the French were our allies...King Louis XVI provided the Continental Congress with the equivalent of 1 million dollars and in 1778 sent warships to help in our naval battles against the British. Sometime after the French overthrew their own monarchy, they marked American-French amity with the Statue of Liberty. The motto "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity" sounds as American as July 4th, apple pie, and Rotary clubs.
Yet, we as a people just don't like them much.
Is it their vocal opposition to our involvement in the middle east? Is it their socialist-based government (which is rapidly changing, by the way)...or is there some innate dichotomy in our national identities?
Hmm. Maybe I should go back to the tattoo question. I'm thinking Golda Meir.
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