← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Sertorius
Thread ID: 11554 | Posts: 7 | Started: 2003-12-20
2003-12-20 14:31 | User Profile
Louisiana Purchase celebrated Bicentennial organizers dismayed Bush absent Anne Rochell Konigsmark - For the Journal-Constitution Saturday, December 20, 2003
New Orleans --- It could have been the start of a beautiful friendship --- or at least its revival.
If only President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac had agreed to attend today's bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase, taking place in America's most French city. Maybe, state officials reasoned, the two would have had a chummy reunion, melting the chill that settled between them when France refused to endorse the invasion of Iraq.
But tant pis --- what a pity. Bush reportedly thought about coming, but in the end, declined the invitation.
"We were disappointed," said Kristian Sonnier, a spokesman for the event. "We were really hoping it would be a chance for reconciliation. But once Bush declined, we could not invite Chirac. Protocol says the White House has to invite the head of a foreign nation."
Sonnier said Chirac reportedly had been excited about the event. Chirac attended Tulane University in the 1950s, living in the French Quarter and driving a cab to make money.
Relations between the two nations were far better 200 years ago today, when the Louisiana Purchase, one of the most important real estate deals in history, was finalized in a tiny room in New Orleans above what is now Jackson Square. For $15 million, France sold the United States 800,000 square miles of mostly wild, unsettled territory, doubling the size of the newborn nation, giving it New Orleans and ceding control of North America's most important natural superhighway: the Mississippi River.
As historic moments go, a land deal may sound a tad dry, but that hasn't stopped Louisiana from going all out to make the bicentennial tantalizing to locals and visitors alike. The state has had exhibits, concerts, books, documentaries, special restaurant menus, packaged tours and even a world premiere opera.
Today, more than 250 re-enactors will march through the streets of the French Quarter, fire muskets and cannons, play period music and sign documents in the same room of the Cabildo, the old territorial capitol, where the original transfer took place.
"If the purchase had not happened, the United States would not exist as it does today," said Tim Pickles, a historical re-creation director who is orchestrating today's re-enactment. "It opened the door to westward expansion. As far as America is concerned, it was the pivotal diplomatic action."
In a way, the absence of the two presidents makes the event more authentic: President Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon Bonaparte of France negotiated the terms of the Louisiana Purchase, but they did not attend the Dec. 20, 1803, signing.
"In a perfect world, yes, we'd love for them to be here," Pickles said. "It is the absolute perfect time for a rapprochement. At the signing, William C.C. Claiborne, Jefferson's representative, said that forevermore, France will be a friend of the United States and that nothing would ever be able to wipe out what had passed between them in the Louisiana Purchase. So it might have been nice for Bush and Chirac to hear that."
The presidential no-shows have not been the only disappointment of the year. The New Orleans Museum of Art hoped to attract as many as 400,000 visitors to its elaborate and expensive exhibit, "Jefferson's America and Napoleon's France," but only 120,000 came. Museum director John Bullard said several factors probably affected attendance, but he also wondered if the topic isn't a bit boring.
"A land purchase isn't very glamorous," Bullard said. "And maybe the state hosted too many events. I know I'm tired of the topic."
Because the room where the signing took place is so small, the re-enactment will be broadcast in Jackson Square for the public to see. And some events won't be re-created exactly as they were. In 1803, cannons fired for almost an hour in Jackson Square and at area forts. Today, just a few cannons will be fired, Pickles said. After all, this is the French Quarter, where some residents consider tour guides and bands to be noise pollution.
"We have to be careful of people's sensibilities," Pickles said. "It will be spectacular, it will be noisy, but it's not going to upset anyone."
[url=http://www.ajc.com/saturday/content/epaper/editions/saturday/news_f33e4f65464ba055005c.html]http://www.ajc.com/saturday/content/epaper/editions/saturday/news_f33e4f65464ba055005c.html[/url]
2003-12-20 18:18 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Sertorius]Chirac attended Tulane University in the 1950s, living in the French Quarter and driving a cab to make money.
I didn't know that.
At the signing, William C.C. Claiborne, Jefferson's representative, said that forevermore, France will be a friend of the United States and that nothing would ever be able to wipe out what had passed between them in the Louisiana Purchase.[/QUOTE]
Nothing except for the neo-con jews in the current Bush administration and their propaganda disseminators on AM talk radio.
2003-12-20 21:10 | User Profile
T.D. so true, so true. Disgusting is one word to discribe the ruler's of U.S. in the District of Criminal's today. The attacks on France made me ashamed for U.S.
2003-12-21 06:51 | User Profile
Yes this is shameful!
2003-12-21 10:01 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Smedley Butler]T.D. so true, so true. Disgusting is one word to discribe the ruler's of U.S. in the District of Criminal's today. The attacks on France made me ashamed for U.S.[/QUOTE]
Me too, Smedley. And it pains me still when I hear those attacks parroted by friends and family who get their politics from bought and paid for AM talk radio. I always remind them what the great nation of France did for Texas and the U.S. in their struggles for independence just a few short years ago. What AY said about jews making efforts to sever our cultural and historical ties to Europe, all the while joining us at the hip with Israel is so true, and yes it is disgusting. I maintain the faith that one of these days we'll go on to right all the wrongs.
2003-12-23 03:21 | User Profile
But tant pis --- what a pity. Bush reportedly thought about coming, but in the end, declined the invitation.
I see Dubya has thumbed his nose at his own supporters in Louisiana once again.
2003-12-31 04:06 | User Profile
What a shame. When Men were Men. It happenned you know, there was a world when Men were Men. So unreal in this society, to the po9int where I seriously doubt whether I want to bear children. I don't want to bring them into this world. I feel disconnected. I feel apart. Fact : There would not be a United States of America without France Fact : French soldiers died to create AMerica Fact : modern America chastises France because it holds soveriegnty , how dare France is a nation, it's our bitch, we control it. Fact : Normandy Invasion liberated France from the Nazi Germany, Fact : Americans do not understand. Fact : France would have been free without the Americans Fact : Americans are self centered and have no respect for anyone Fact : France SOLD AMERICA for chump change, but it wasn't chump chamnge back then. Fact : Money has no value at all. The powers process money same way you would process cheese. Fact : France and America are one and the same. ALways have been. Insolent pigs who say different are not Americans. Fact : Any two legged chimp can be an American, but only Frenchmen can be French.