I have been a reader of the DF for a while and really enjoyed this article. None of it really surpised me though. I remember the quote of Mitterand's that Porphyrogenitus had up last year about France not knowing that it was at war with the US. Times change and alliances do change. That is just one of the facts of life. I have read some who believe that Franco-American relations began to sour after WW1. Being that so much has been said in the past few weeks regarding D-Day and the like, we must remember that all those soldiers died so the French could say and think what they wish. I do not like what they say and think, I do not agree with any of it, but if we tell them that because people died pushing Nazis out they have no right to hate America, then all those people died for nothing. I have a letter my grandfather sent my grandmother containing a line about "knocking the soup out of German supermen." The same as the Nazis had to be shown they were not superior, because we are Americans or are believers in democracy and capitalism, we are not so superior that our opponents do not have a right to say whatever they please. As for a debt for WW2, I will say that for all that they have to go through holding pro-American ideals in a severely anti-American environment, "A', the Dissident Frogman, and Maryse have no debt. In the way they best can, they continue the work of men like my grandfather and his brothers. No, blogging and speaking one's mind is not like combat, but it is SOMETHING and their work is in a manner done to defend us. I am proud to have "A" as a citizen of this country. He has more of an American mindset than most Americans. Should the Frogman and Maryse ever make it over, I will be equally proud to have them here. It is an old saying that immigrants make better Americans than Americans do. In spite of all the hatred that France bears towards my country and myself, I respect them. If we love the memory of Lafayette who gave so much for us and who loved France, then we must end our relations with France without too many more hard words and without much more malice regardless of what the French public says or believes. "A", the Frogman, and Maryse carry with them the best that France has to offer, not because their beliefs and opinions praise the United States and agree with my own beliefs, but because they speak their mind without regard for what others will think. That is freedom. That is individuality. That is a glorious thing. And if you ever do end up in the US, do not change. It is not desirable to wave a flag and say everything is perfect. Find the flaws here the same as you have in France and do not restrain your criticisms. Only in that way can we improve.