Americans have always had an odd relationship with the French.

We like to complain about their snooty Parisian waiters and their overall sense of superiority. Somewhere in America a barfly is ranting over shots and beer that we bailed them out of two world wars — and they didn't even thank us.

Sometimes the French irritate us so much that we react stupidly. When they didn't join our invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, a congressman named Bob Ney had the term "French fries" expunged from the menu at three cafeterias on the Hill and replaced with "freedom fries." This act of Congress got more press than it deserved, prompting Tina Fey to suggest a substitute for American cheese: "idiot cheese."

Nevertheless, we enjoy ridiculing the French. We make fun of their poodles, their mimes and their love of Jerry Lewis movies.

In 1976, conservative humorist P.J. O'Rourke wrote a classic piece of politically incorrect satire for National Lampoon magazine titled, "Foreigners Around the World," in which he unsparingly insulted every nation he could think of. He said this about the French: "Sawed-off sissies who eat snails and slugs and cheese that smells like people's feet."

That's the only part I could reprint.

National Lampoon, which ceased publication in 1998, was a pop culture phenomenon that set a standard for irreverent, cutting-edge humor that is carried on today by The Onion and the creators of "South Park." In its heyday, it was close to being the U.S. equivalent of Charlie Hebdo in its unbridled commitment to freedom of expression, no matter how offensive it might be.

It's trite to say that "now we are all French." But the terroristic murders of 17 French citizens — among them 12 in the Charlie Hebdo attack — remind me of a quote often attributed to our nation's greatest Francophile, Thomas Jefferson: "Every man has two countries, his own and France."

Though Jefferson probably did not say that, it undoubtedly reflected his sentiment.

The French are struggling with their own 9/11. It is much smaller in scale in terms of loss of life but it is no less monumental in meaning. Because this was an attack against us all — just as the toppling of the twin towers of 2001, the Madrid train bombings of 2004, the London Underground bombings of 2005, the Boston Marathon attack of 2013 and other acts of terrorism were really assaults on freedom-loving people everywhere.

President Barack Obama admitted it was a mistake not to send a high-ranking U.S. official to the unity rally Sunday at the Place de la Republique in Paris, one that he hopes to correct with a special visit by Secretary of State John Kerry. We stand with France, but you can't help but think we missed an opportunity to prove it by showing up. More than a million people gathered at the rally. The Eiffel Tower was bathed in flashing light, a show of defiance.

A Frenchman was asked by a CNN street reporter whether he had a theory as to why the Islamic terrorists, two brothers who were French citizens, went on the bloody rampage. The man ignored the question. "They are not going to win," he said.

How can you explain terrorism? It's impossible to explain the inexplicable. It's killing for the sake of killing, as evidenced Saturday when a 10-year-old suicide bomber, who hid explosives under her veil, blew herself to smithereens along with about 20 people in a crowded Nigerian market.

Terrorism is a global disease. It's a cult of death that has no minimum age requirement.

We're with the French, just as Lafayette was with us when we fought the British and took a bullet at the Battle of Brandywine Creek. He was far from being a sissy.

When he returned to the United States in 1824 at age 68, he was hailed as a hero. Lafayette was Lindbergh, MacArthur and the Mercury astronauts all rolled into one. He was a rock star.

The country Lafayette saw had changed since the American Revolution. Its territory had expanded to 24 states, and the population had grown from 2.5 million to 11.3 million. The old general's tour of cities, towns and battlefields took more than a year. His itinerary included a brief stopover in New Rochelle, which was founded by French Huguenots.

Along the way he frequently evoked the memory of George Washington, whom he considered his adoptive father. And he spoke to Congress about his common bond with the American people, who adhered to "the sacred pledge of the emancipation of the world."

Lafayette, we are here. Freedom fries be damned. They are not going to win.

Reach Phil Reisman at Twitter: @philreisman

Read or Share this story: