NEW YORK — Jokes about France are plentiful lately, but many Americans aren't laughing at the European country's resistance to using force with Iraq -- and are fighting back by closing their wallets. In fact, beaucoup d'Americans have decided to boycott French products such as wine and cheese, in an effort to hurt the country's economy.

Fromage.com, a French cheese distributor, reported that its sales to the United States have gone down 15 percent in the past two weeks. Some U.S. eateries are no longer offering French wines. And a restaurant in North Carolina has even changed the name of its fries. Neal Rowland, who owns Cubbie's restaurant in Beaufort, N.C., said he decided to put stickers that say "Freedom" over the word "French" on all his menus after he watched France back away from support for war in Iraq. "Since the French are backing down, French fries and French everything needs to be banned," he told Foxnews.com in a telephone interview. "Fry sales have really gone up. People who eat them now say, 'Freedom never tasted so good.'"

Rowland cooked up the freedom fry idea last week after a conversation with a customer about World War I days, when anti-German sentiment prompted Americans to rename familiar German foods. Sauerkraut and frankfurters became liberty cabbage and hot dogs. And Rowland said patrons have been in full support of the fry renaming. "I had a gentleman come in today, who works at the court house, and he was crying, his son is serving in Afghanistan and he said he was so glad someone is taking a stand," said Rowland. "He was proud to see the support in the community for the troops."

If the backlash is strong enough, it could impact the French economy -- American trade with France tops billion a year.

But some French aren't amused by, or afraid of, the boycott. "Well, if they prefer to eat American food, it is entirely their problem," Guillaume Parmentier, the head of the French Centre on the United States, told the Canadian new service CBC.ca. "But seriously. This never works. Boycotts work when there are grave human rights violations or something like that."

U.S. lawmakers are also eager to remind the French that Americans bailed them out in both World Wars, at a cost of tens of thousands of lives. Some in Congress are even pursuing possible trade restrictions. Rep. H. James Saxton, a New Jersey Republican, has drafted a resolution that calls for a U.S. boycott of the Paris Air Show this spring. "If [the Chirac government] fails to find a way to cooperate, we'll urge U.S. citizens, companies and the military to forego participation," Saxton told WorldNetDaily.com.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he'd like to target bottled French mineral water and wine. He has instructed Republican colleagues to determine whether Congress should pass laws that would impose new health standards on bottles of Evian and other French waters. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, France is the leading exporter of water to the United States and sold 65 million gallons last year.

It's not the first time Americans have boycotted French products. Back in 1985 when the French would not allow U.S. military planes to fly over their airspace on their way to bomb Libya, U.S. consumers boycotted industries, including fashion, food and wine. And a similar boycott happened in 1995 and 1996 when France refused to stop testing nuclear weapons in the South Pacific. But Boris Marchand-Tonnel of the French-U.S. chamber of commerce in Paris played down the threat. "Maybe in a few New York restaurants, a few clients will refuse to order French wine," he told The Guardian. "But it's peanuts against the overall picture, it's really just symbolic."

Whether the boycott impacts the French economy or not, Americans from Congress to Cubbie's are saying the French can "faux-get" our future support and money.

Rowland said one freedom fry eater told him: "On Sept. 11 if a plane had slammed into the Eiffel Tower I guarantee the French would've been on the phone to the Americans saying, 'Please, we need help.' It's time for them to step up to the plate and help us."

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Fight ignorance and bad cheese. Down with freedom fries! Educate yourselves:

http://www.fromages.com/library.php

Sometimes I am a bad boy. But if all these nitwits boycott French Wine and Cheese maybe the prices will come down a bit - so I can afford more.

Mmm - I see a nice Bordeaux in my future.

yeah....I'll bet your average moronic Republican FoxWatchers cupboards are just STACKED with French products...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

FUCK ALL YOU FRENCH CHEESE EATING SURRENDER MONKEYS!!! YOU BENT OVER FOR THE NAZI"S LIKE A BUNCH OF JAILHOUSE PUNK BITCHES AND TOOK IT UP THE ASS UNTIL THE GOOD OLE U>S>A> CAME TO SAVE YOU!!!

D"OH!!!!

Now private stop writing all these silly comments. That's good Private. Now git your ass over to chow hall and start peelin' spuds! NOW PRIVATE! DOUBLE TIME! HUT!

Homer kicked Father Bush's ass once. He'll kick the sons ass too. Homer hates the rich and powerful. Homer would eat french fries any day.

Homer would resist the fascist undertones of US Foreign policy in Iraq, as would any simpson worthy of the name. Bush is an unelected president. The bush administration are psycopaths hell bent on war at any cost in order to ensure imperial hegemony of the middle east and the world. This isn't about freedom, it's about conquest. These bastards will go down in history as imperialist thugs.

In the spirit of Homer Simpson, fight Bush (the draft dodger) and eat french fries.

D'OH!

000

You know KPC this boycott might affect the French. Peering into my Cystal Ball I forsee - a sharp spike upward. Damn! And I was so looking forward to that Bordeaux.

I don’t know why “the Simpon’s” are given any weight these days. M.G sold the rights long ago, and most of the crap “the Simpon’s” dumps on the public is hardly cutting edge anymore. Geez, people. Wake up, Homer has been a tool for at least four years.

d’oh!

i do agree. the simpsons have gone down lately. still somewhat good but i think they are running out of ideas. too bad

We don't need support from the French. Taking a Frenchman with you into battle would be OK if he's going to be the camp cook.

The French have always been there when they needed us.

Since you're so hung up on history BA: You'd be sipping tea, eating crumpets, and singing God Save the Queen right now if it weren't for French support during the Revolutionary War.

They also gave us that thing in NYC, that big statue of the lady with the torch, the one who symbolizes all you despise: the Statue of LIberty. Maybe that's what really sticks in the craw of these frothing right wingers.

The Cooks are English and the Waiters are French.

...and the police are German

the lovers are Swiss

and the Italians are the mechanics.

I couldn't remember all the quote. Thanks for the balance.

Wether or not you like President Bush it should be obvious to any American with half a brain the the French are a snobby, foul smelling, useless, group of spineless cowards. Im the biggest fan of Bush myself but I hope he tears Chirac a new one. We saved those uppity beret wearing, brie eating motherfuckers from Hitler and the Nazis and this is how they show thier appreciation? Hell no this wont stand. The funniest thing about the whole situation is that Chirac and the French people actually believe that anything they say or do matters. The amount of influence that France has on world affairs amounts to a pile of steaming dogshit. A pop warner football team from Texas could whoop the entire french military. Haha i only have one thing to say to you Pierre or Jacques or whatver your fruity ass French name happens to be......DONT FUCK WITH THE USA AND DONT MESS WITH TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Wether or not you like President Bush it should be obvious to any American with half a brain the the French are a snobby, foul smelling, useless, group of spineless cowards. Im the biggest fan of Bush myself but I hope he tears Chirac a new one. We saved those uppity beret wearing, brie eating motherfuckers from Hitler and the Nazis and this is how they show thier appreciation? Hell no this wont stand. The funniest thing about the whole situation is that Chirac and the French people actually believe that anything they say or do matters. The amount of influence that France has on world affairs amounts to a pile of steaming dogshit. A pop warner football team from Texas could whoop the entire french military. Haha i only have one thing to say to you Pierre or Jacques or whatver your fruity ass French name happens to be......DONT FUCK WITH THE USA AND DONT MESS WITH TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Wether or not you like President Bush it should be obvious to any American with half a brain the the French are a snobby, foul smelling, useless, group of spineless cowards. Im the biggest fan of Bush myself but I hope he tears Chirac a new one. We saved those uppity beret wearing, brie eating motherfuckers from Hitler and the Nazis and this is how they show thier appreciation? Hell no this wont stand. The funniest thing about the whole situation is that Chirac and the French people actually believe that anything they say or do matters. The amount of influence that France has on world affairs amounts to a pile of steaming dogshit. A pop warner football team from Texas could whoop the entire french military. Haha i only have one thing to say to you Pierre or Jacques or whatver your fruity ass French name happens to be......DONT FUCK WITH THE USA AND DONT MESS WITH TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Spam. It comes in waves.

Often a series of repeated posts

with the same weary groupthink

slogans suited for the mentally

challenged.

I would say stupid, but I shall be

kind. Today.

yeah, it's so tiring. France, our oldest ally: helped us win the Revolutonary War, gave us the Statue of Liberty, and now subject of jokes by the un-read, un-washed red neck crowd, and of course, the Pro-Sharonists (who's really orchestrating this smear campaign). Rather than talking to this trash, better to contact the French embassy, say a simple "merci", and then go to the local French Restaurant, have some good food with some good wine, and maybe watch a classic French film afterwards.

Your forget something :

Saddam is the same man that Bin Laden.. It dosen't exist a man who has at the same time the face of Saddam and the face of Bin Laden

You want to find the guilty guy, so find the right man..

and don't kill people, you are for the moment victims and u are gonna become the perfect murderers..

Your war 's gonna :

-kill lot of people

-not kill saddam (beacause of protected by the US)

-not kill Bin Laden..

So boycott french products and keep your shit foods in America....

(You can't stop expressing yourselves against the french posistion in order to feel less guilty; I can assure u we haven't the same problem in france...)