Every once in a while, I run across a news item that reads like a satire piece from The Babylon Bee rather than an actual news story. This was one of those times. While the jokes pretty much write themselves, I'll handle the thorough shredding you're about to read. 

Let the fun begin — très magnifique!

As Socialist French Euro-deputy Raphael Glucksmann, a member of the leftist Socialists and Democrats Party, sees it, the United States no longer represents the values of freedom and should therefore ship the Statue of Liberty back to France. 

No, really. 

Glucksmann told a cheering convention of his Place Publique leftist movement how disappointed he is in the U.S. and why we should not keep what was originally a gift from France:

Give us back the Statue of Liberty.

We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: 

‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty. We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.'

A "gift." How ironic. We'll get to the gifts America has given to France in a minute.

No doubt full of himself with bravery — French-style bravery, of course — Glucksmann continued, as the likeminded lunatic crowd cheered him on:

The second thing we’re going to say to the Americans is: ‘If you want to fire your best researchers, if you want to fire all the people who, through their freedom and their sense of innovation, their taste for doubt and research, have made your country the world’s leading power, then we’re going to welcome them.'

At its best, the above is unintelligible grandstanding. At its worst, we're looking at hypocritical hollow spew.

Anyway, the Statue of Liberty, designed by Frenchman Auguste Bartholdi and donated to America by the French people, was unveiled on October 28, 1886, to mark the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence. 

The 305-ft. statue now comprises The Statue of Liberty National Monument and sits on Liberty Island and Elis Island in New Jersey and New York.

Now, Let's Talk About Gifts, Shall We?

Let's begin with World War I. While American forces didn't "liberate" France in the sense of driving out the occupying German forces, the entry of the United States into World War I changed the course of the conflict at a tremendous cost in American lives.

The American Expeditionary Forces arrived in Europe in 1917 and helped turn the tide in favor of Britain and France, leading to an Allied victory over Germany and Austria in November 1918. By the time of the armistice, more than four million Americans had served in the armed forces and 116,708 had lost their lives.

Next up? Yup, World War II. 

While D-Day — the June 6, 1944, Allied invasion of Normandy, France — didn't end the war in Europe (that would take eleven more months), the tremendous success of the invasion created a path to victory for the Allies. Approximately 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself — 2,501 of whom were Americans.

The estimated total battle casualties during the entire Battle for Normandy for the United States stood at roughly 135,000, including 29,000 killed and 106,000 wounded and missing. The liberation of Paris by American and British forces took place from August 19 until August 25, when the last German garrison surrendered the French capital.

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So not to minimize the significance of the Statue of Liberty, our French friends, but please.

Meanwhile, as France and the rest of Europe continue to bristle over all things President Donald Trump, all the while working to limit freedoms in their own countries, America is indeed back on the path to greatness after four destructive and divisive years of the Biden-Harris administration.

Vive l'Amérique!