The French

[Carpe Diem]

I wish I had seen the TV long enough to get this quote accurately, but on Fox News today the following (paraphrased) comment was printed on the TV screen for a few seconds:

"Courting the French to join us in the battle against Iraq is like inviting a Glee Club to a gang fight."

 

[Unforgiven]

 

[WhiteAsSnow]

"Courting the French to join us in the battle against Iraq is like inviting a Glee Club to a gang fight."

LOL -- I'd rather have the glee club!!

PS-- I can dog the French since my grandfather was from Quebec!

 

[WaltH]

Having been to France a couple times, and the way they're treating us now...I have no use for them.

I was in Paris a few years back. Stopped in a cafe to get a postcard to send to my wife. Paid for it and sat down at one of their tables to fill it out. The waiter came over and asked for my order. I told him I was just filling the card out and heading over to the Louvre. He said, very nastily, I couldn't sit there unless I ordered something (This is 8:00AM and I'm the only one there). I told him to go F*** himself and continued to fill out the card. All he could do was schlep back to the kitchen because inherently, the French are non-confrontational pu$$ies. He probably went inside to call his 4th cousin on his fathers side who is American to come over and defend him.
I'm sure I didn't handle that situation correctly, nor did I give Americans a very good name. But I did purchase something at their establishment, and sat for all of 3 minutes to fill it out. I was much younger then but I don't think I'd handle it any differently today.

 

[Tombeis]

If the French would pay us back for every time we saved there ***, there would be a Statue of Liberty looking out over every major port in the United States.

 

[Siriuslite]

I'm not French, nor have ever been to France and I normally don't defend them, but if your looking for some payback, start opening up your wallet.

Here's a brief history lesson for those who forgot how important France was in American history:

http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_world_france.html

Without France, there wouldn't be a U.S.A. today. People would be singing God save the Queen at the start of every baseball game (or perhaps you'd be playing cricket). Don't think of it as "saving their asses" but rather a return of a favour. Also, the Statue of Liberty was gift from France to the U.S. (two sister nations) for the centennial of American independence (a few years before any world war). There was no debt owed by France to the U.S. when they gave it. Giving and not expecting something in return is what friends do.

 

[Silviron]

We did owe France a debt of honor... They didn't have to help during the Revolution, and although they didn't do it for completely altruistic reasons they did help. And they were a good friend to the US through the 19th century.

It is just the 20th century that France has completely gone downhill. And our debt to them has been repaid MANY times since then, at greater cost and earning no long term appreciation from them.

Oh, and thank you France for the statue. It has inspired millions worldwide to a hope that your own people no longer have.

 

[pedalinbob]

oh, wait! it gets better.

did you hear that (i will probably twist this around, but you will get the point) the UN voted Iraq to be head of the weapons council? and they voted Libya to head the human rights council?

im super tired right now, but i think this is correct--or at least close. somebody please step up and set me straight.

regardless, i think this is crazy!!!

Bob

 

[Max]

Originally posted by pedalinbob:
oh, wait! it gets better.

did you hear that (i will probably twist this around, but you will get the point) the UN voted Iraq to be head of the weapons council? and they voted Libya to head the human rights council?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Here it is (Charles Krauthammer, Friday, January 31, 2003):

U.N., R.I.P.

The article starts:

My son long ago introduced me to the joys of the Onion, the hilarious Web site that features such parodies of the news as "Clinton Deploys Vowels to Bosnia; Cities of Sjlbvdnzv, Grzny to be First Recipients." So when, on the night of the State of the Union address, my son handed me an Internet printout headlined "Iraq to Chair U.N. Disarmament Conference," I was sure he'd been dipping again into the Onion.

"It's better than that, Dad," he said. "It's off CNN."

I should have known. You can't parody the United Nations. It inhabits -- no, it has constructed -- a universe so Orwellian that, yes, Iraq is going to chair the May 12-June 27 session of the United Nations' single most important disarmament negotiating forum.

Iran will co-chair.

 

[sunspot]

A little of topic but when Prez Bush first started talking war, I was not overly in favor of it. When the press reported that if the US does this it would mean the end of the UN, I became a full suporter of the Prez.
I have UN arm patches with the olde red circle and line on them.
I'm trying to say this in a mild way and not go off in a rant.

 

[Albany Tom]

I think we may be even for the revolutionary debt after we lost our guys on the beaches of Normandy. I think we might have been even a few years earlier when the French fired on our landing forces in North Africa.

The French have one great thing going for them - they're the only nationality that it's completely OK to pick on. Seems that everyone pretty much dislikes them.

If we have any French readers, you may have seen me on your TV! The President (Premiere?) visited New York City a few days after the 9/11 disaster, and among other things shook the hand of nearly every person at the OEM headquarters on camera. I'd be the only guy in the room that didn't stand while doing so.

However, if they start speaking English, and stop trying to defend a silly culture, I'm sure many would change their minds. A hint would be that if you have a *good* culture, you don't have to legislate it's existence.

PS: Americans love to snicker at the thought of Disney in Paris.

 

[WaltH]

Say what you want. France has always done what is best for France. We were fortunate enough to have it also be good for us. The US on the other hand has helped out in no-win situations many times. I guess I'm just jealous. I wish our country would do what is best for us and not consider the impact on others.
Selfish sniveling babies...but they do make good fries and toast.

 

[Flashlightboy]

Hold on there for a minute. The French are being smart about this. Look a litle deeper into the issue and you'll see that in both World Wars, the cumulative French combat time was about 2 weeks.

Did anyone else pick up on the fact that the some of the footage Powell showed at the UN involved a FRENCH Mirage? Coincidental or a poke in the eye?

I also hear that tourism in France is down so much this year that the French are having to be rude to themselves. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'll be here all week.

 

[Charles Bradshaw]

French Logic may be mutually exclusive terms, like Military Intelligence. France sheltered and supported the Ayatollah Khomeni (sp?), and is doing business with Saddam Hussein.

Also, expecting the U.N. to support the USA in a War of actually enforcing the U.N.'s own sanctions, is a pure fantasy, as the vast majority of the member nations are anti-USA to start with.

Given France's attitude, I am not surprised now, to find even my domestic mail parcels delayed by 2 weeks (ones I receive). This being the result of getting something via tha mail, direct from France. Mandrake Linux is the French distribution of Linux operating system.

 

[MichiganMan]

Regarding the French help during the establishment of our country, it only lends credence to suspicions of their motivation now.

The French helped us durring revolutionary times not out of concern for an up and coming fledgling Democracy but instead merely to try and check British hegemony. This has been their MO throughout most of their international history. They bitterly mourn the passing of an earlier era where France was the center of civilization in the western world, ie. if you wanted to converse with another part of the world diplomatically, you spoke French. They see us in that position now since the US is undeniably the dominant military power (and arguably the top cultural and economic influence) in the world.

So they spend their time trying to throw obstacles in our path these days instead of the British.

Don't forget that they supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. Did they do it because they favored slavery and the rights of states over a federal government? No, they did it because it was a way to weaken a country that was beginning to show disturbing signs of becoming a world power. This is not the behavior of a friend, unless you're referring to the female friend most women have who turns jealous and bitter whenever the woman's life is going a little too well.

And to complete my Ugly American Arrogance: Did you hear that they had to discontinue the fireworks at EuroDisney? Yeah, seems that every night when they went off the French surrendered.

Thank you, please tip your waitress.

 

[Flashlightboy]

Hey MichiganMan,

I'm the jokester here. I liked it though.

 

[ikendu]

"We have met the enemy...and they is us." - Pogo

 

[Lighthouse]

ikendu,

Yep, Walt Kelly and his bayou bunch really had a way with words didn't they?

 

[RaginCajun]

That seems to be the normal way for the French to treat American tourists. I would not go there again if you paid me to.

Paul

Originally posted by WaltH:
Having been to France a couple times, and the way they're treating us now...I have no use for them.

I was in Paris a few years back. Stopped in a cafe to get a postcard to send to my wife. Paid for it and sat down at one of their tables to fill it out. The waiter came over and asked for my order. I told him I was just filling the card out and heading over to the Louvre. He said, very nastily, I couldn't sit there unless I ordered something (This is 8:00AM and I'm the only one there). I told him to go F*** himself and continued to fill out the card. All he could do was schlep back to the kitchen because inherently, the French are non-confrontational pu$$ies. He probably went inside to call his 4th cousin on his fathers side who is American to come over and defend him.
I'm sure I didn't handle that situation correctly, nor did I give Americans a very good name. But I did purchase something at their establishment, and sat for all of 3 minutes to fill it out. I was much younger then but I don't think I'd handle it any differently today.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">

 

[KC2IXE]

Originally posted by RaginCajun:
That seems to be the normal way for the French to treat American tourists. I would not go there again if you paid me to.

Paul

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Paul,
You can be wrong and right. I have a lot a friends who have gone to France and were treaded well. But then again there was this incidents

My Father was born in France, and came to the USA when he was 8. When he was in his early 70s (I thing it was 72), he decided to back and visit France for the first time since he left (he was supposed to go back with the OSS but broke his leg)

He went to the town he was born (St Remy), and went to town hall to find his birth certificate, and see if he could find the house he lived in. He asked the village clerk for some help in broken French/English (He can't remember much French)

After about 10 minutes, the Mayor came out and asked in VERY disparaging French "Why are you helping this Man?" The clerk replied "Sir, this man was BORN in this town 72 years ago." - Boy did the Mayor's attitude change - NOW my Dad was acceptable, as he was French. My Dad didn't find it funny, but he did allow the Mayor to take him and my Mom to lunch