New flash!  France is not the United States.  They speak a strange language, saying things like “quel dommage” and “zut allors!”  The French eat snails and frogs, and when the food is not peculiar, they give it odd names.  A grilled cheese sandwich (with ham) is a croque-monsieur and a ham sandwich with butter a jambon-beurre.  The French don’t have a federal system, trial by a jury of peers, or the right to keep and bear arms.  Likewise, they do not protect religious liberties to the extent we do in America.  Indeed, they are a profoundly secular state.  So when local French municipalities decided to ban so-called burkinis (full-length bathing garb for Muslim women), the outrage of some folks on this side of the Atlantic seemed a bit misplaced – like arguing with a Frenchman over whether Jerry Lewis is really a comic genius. Some of those with objections to the French ban are not necessarily people...(Read Full Post)