Our State Department apparently never reads the news. If they did, they might have noticed that unassimilated immigrants in France and elsewhere might be more interested in destroying democracy than in building it up.

But stupidity has never stopped the striped pants set from doing as much damage as they can:

Much of the embassy's outreach is meant to dispel "mistruths" about the United States, the ambassador, Charles H. Rivkin, said in an interview, adding, "It's easier to hate something you don't understand."

With an annual public affairs budget of about $3 million, the Paris embassy has sponsored urban renewal projects, music festivals and conferences. Since Mr. Obama's election, the Americans have helped organize seminars for minority politicians, coaching them in electoral strategy, fund-raising and communications.

The International Visitor Leadership Program, which sends 20 to 30 promising French entrepreneurs and politicians to America for several weeks each year, now includes more minority participants, and Muslims in particular. The embassy began a similar program for French teenagers.

Mr. Rivkin, 48, an entertainment executive and the youngest American ambassador to France in nearly 60 years, has taken a strong personal interest in the banlieues. Earlier this year, he thrilled a group of students in Bondy when he arrived with the actor Samuel L. Jackson, one of several entertainment industry contacts he has called upon in France. In Los Angeles, Mr. Rivkin cultivated ties between the family media and hip-hop worlds; in Paris, he has hosted local rappers at the Hôtel Rothschild, his official residence.

Hat Tip: Ed Lasky