His comments are innocuous in that he does not specifically intend to bash the French, but he does repeat, casually, things that are "bashing" and thus gives them additional credit.

It's just like the left calling the Paulson bailout "socialism" for the rich. Even as it criticises the bailout, it validates the use of "socialism" as an insult.

Keillor validates the use of the French as a target, and as a knee-jerk anti-American grup.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes