I watch a lot of French news and other media in my ongoing and laborious attempt to learn a new language at midlife. I’ve learned something interesting in the process. While France and the United States are both democracies that ostensibly support freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right of popular dissent, there seems to be a startling difference in the application of these principles between the two nations. Specifically, Americans are under a near total media blackout regarding the Russian position on the Ukraine conflict, whereas the French, agree or pas, are at least hearing and seeing both sides of the debate and conflict.
While most French media tends to tout the official narrative of the macroniste government, which not surprisingly largely aligns with the United States and its marionette NATO allies, there is a remarkable willingness in public discourse to engage, hear out, and vigorously confront the other side of the argument.
American Greatness 
