12/21/24
January 17, 2006
Denis Coderre: Va te faire cuire un oeuf!: NHL player Shane Doan is suing Canada M.P. Denis Coderre for libel after the politician accused him of making a slur against the French. Neither this story nor Coderre's letter state the alleged comment -- Doan's accused of calling Referee Stephane Auger and other officials "fucking Frenchmen" after a Dec. 13 game.
I would actually imagine that's kind of a selling point.
posted by chicobangs at 03:58 PM on January 17, 2006
Word is that Ladislav Nagy actually made the comment, which is why Doan doesn't want to retract. Referee Auger probably just misjudged who uttered the slur. By the by, rcade, he's not accused of a making disparaging comment against the French, but against francophones, which is an entirely different thing (although the Habs do have the only French player in the league). Further, the first letter of a word is not capitalized in a French title. Just sayin'. . .
posted by Judas at 04:05 PM on January 17, 2006
Nah, fuckin' Frenchman is probably not a racial slur. Fuckin' nigger probably isn't either, right? chico, I agree with you: Coderre is probably trying to get some positive attention since federal elections are coming up. When the NHL inquiry is made public and the real culprit is exposed, it'll probably backfire.
posted by Judas at 04:08 PM on January 17, 2006
Well, now that Doan is pushing the issue, the odds of us finding out exactly what happened go up slightly. There does, however, seem to be an awful lot of circumstantial evidence that exonerates Doan.
posted by chicobangs at 04:12 PM on January 17, 2006
The way it's going for the Liberals in the election, I doubt he'll have a job by the time this backfires on him.
posted by mkn at 04:13 PM on January 17, 2006
...or erode the political capital Coderre has tried to squeeze from the situation. I wouldn't think that "fucking Frenchman" is a racial slur. Isn't it an oxymoron?
posted by garfield at 04:16 PM on January 17, 2006
or not. [/brainfart] - A note from the Redundancy Department of Redundancy
posted by garfield at 04:23 PM on January 17, 2006
Garfield, with your link it seems that it is very much an oxymoron (or something like that).
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 04:53 PM on January 17, 2006
I wouldn't think that "fucking Frenchman" is a racial slur. It's tautology, certainly. And it reminds me of Woody Allen (I think from Deconstructing Harry) "... it's sarcasm and orgasm. You know, I could actually run on that slogan in France and win."
posted by JJ at 05:14 PM on January 17, 2006
Nah, fuckin' Frenchman is probably not a racial slur. Fuckin' nigger probably isn't either, right? Well, I don't see a man from France objecting to be called a Frenchman while the same is surely not true of a man with black skin. Second, France is a country and not a race (even accepting that humans can be subdivided by skin color into different races, which is a whole different discussion) so the term cannot even be a racial slur.
posted by billsaysthis at 05:29 PM on January 17, 2006
fuckin' is not a slur. Frenchman is not a slur. using them together does not produce a slur. the nigger remark/analogy was waaaaay off.
posted by gspm at 06:14 PM on January 17, 2006
gspm is correct in his remarks.
posted by mrhockey at 07:31 PM on January 17, 2006
By the by, rcade, he's not accused of a making disparaging comment against the French, but against francophones, which is an entirely different thing Thanks ... should've been more clear. Fuckin' pedants.
posted by rcade at 07:54 PM on January 17, 2006
Denis Coderre is a no talent ass clown. I loved your headline, rcade, and I will not go all RZA on you guys this time.
posted by qbert72 at 09:14 PM on January 17, 2006
gspm is correct in his remarks. oh, and I'm not? *sit in corner to sulk*
posted by billsaysthis at 11:07 PM on January 17, 2006
billsaysthis, you're on to something. Even though the concept of many human races has proven to be false, the word has remained to mean skin color. In French, the term race can be used to mean different cultural groups. Somewhat archaic, but still used. Why is this important? Because Coderre made his original declaration in French. gpsm, you're right, I was way off. It's not an insult, it's a compliment. in fact, my French-speaking black friends tell me it's just as much fun being called one or the other. rcade, the point is that Coderre is defending people from Canada, and not people from France. The difference there is huge, not subtle.
posted by Judas at 09:52 AM on January 18, 2006
huh? In no way was I implying the "fucking Frenchman" comment was not an insult. But to lump an insult like that in with "nigger" is rather disingenuous.
posted by gspm at 12:44 PM on January 18, 2006
Judas, I'll just disagree here but I do appreciate (and want to acknowledge) that your response was much more of a civil, useful comment. Just my two cents but for future reference this style works much better in our little world.
posted by billsaysthis at 06:13 PM on January 18, 2006
Or a frog during the game. I wouldn't think that "fucking Frenchman" is a racial slur.