Sacre bleu!

We mean no offense to France, Canada or to Americans of French descent, but an anonymous “White House official” used the term as an epithet about John Kerry when the Massachusetts senator appeared irresolute about invading Iraq. So we are merely extending the compliment to New Hampshire’s statewide daily newspaper: Is it possible The Union Leader “looks French”?

Well, at least when it comes to defending a conservative ally, The Union Leader would make a regiment of French “surrender monkeys” look like Patton’s Third Army.

The Manchester daily, historically pro-life, endorsed Charles Bass, often NARAL’s favorite Republican, in the Sept. 14 primary in the 2nd Congressional District, choosing to dismiss challenger Mark Brady, a first-term state rep from Jefferson.

Not that the UL was eager to endorse Bass in the primary, since it conceded Brady and his “insurgent” campaign were far better than Bass on the issues (abortion, gun control, government spending, taxation). But it concluded that Brady, 39, is too young and inexperienced to run for Congress at this time.

Let’s see now: If that logic applied, then the paper in its more glorious past would have told UL favorite Mel Thomson – who had two fewer years of legislative experience than Brady – to slow down his ambition. Same goes for political neophyte – and another longtime UL editorial page entity – Gordon Humphrey. It’s also two more years of experience than another former UL favorite – accent on the “former” – Bob Smith, when he was running for Congress with the UL’s blessing. And how about John E. Sununu, who was 36 when he was first elected to Congress in 1996 and had zero years of legislative experience?