The French at War

[Troll]

Does anyone know the name of the congressman that said something very close to these exact words "I don't understand why the French oppose a war with Iraq. I would think they would want to participate so they could show them how to surrender"? I caught this bit yesterday listening to the radio but forgot the congressman's name.

 

[Flo]

How could De Gaulle think that breaking up Canada would not hurt Canadians as a whole?

And why is France still interferring in Canadian politics decades later, even after we've shown that Canada as a whole is very helpful in protecting French in Quebec?

And while not all French people may agree with the actions of De Gaulle and Chirac, you voted for them. He represents you.

I was a little too young to vote for De Gaulle, but I was one of those hoping for his demise in 1969, and I only voted for Chirac (with a metaphorical clothes pin on my nose) because, like the majority of the people who voted for him, I couldn't stand the idea of Le Pen in office. As it is, I can say I'm not too fâchée with the way Chirac is handling the Iraq case. Given the intelligence of the anti-anti-war comments, I can't see how I could trust those making them to come with an intelligent and harmonious solution to the Saddam/Al Qaeda problem ... I think having someone who's forcing them to give logical, verifiable explanations is good for them.

As for Canada protecting French in Quebec, that is not the opinion of most of my Canadian friends

 

[rikzilla]

Personally I love France...

I've spent several wonderful vacations on the beach at Les Sables D'Olonne. Great food! (Moules a la creme!! yum!)
The people were friendly, the women beautiful, the sun warm, although "la mer a froid!!" The French won the Eurocup 2000 (I think??) in soccer that year and I never saw such a celebration! Big fun! Lots of smiles!

I would hate to think that the current geopolitical issues we find ourselves confronted with would spoil all that goodwill. Hopefully it won't.

Honestly, I don't understand official France. When the US has needed even the slightest support in the last 30 years France has declined. They didn't support NATO...they wouldn't allow US overflight for the strike mission against Libya after Libya bombed the Berlin disco and took out the PanAm flight. Official France seems even more arrogant than America...but an empty arrogance. The arrogance of a king with no country, or an English Lord who has sold his estates and has nothing but a good name left to mask his poverty.

Official France IMHO only exists within Paris. On almost every visit there I dealt with a great deal of snooty and rude Parisians. Only when outside Paris did I find a welcoming and friendly people. That's what I found most puzzling about the country. It's like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. I love France...but hate Paris.

Sorry if we ticked you off Flo. But this whole business about Saddam is not the first time we've faced a France that does not appear to be our ally.

-zilla

 

[hammegk]

... and this from a supposedly thinking elite ...

By this you mean the elite in Paris (& Bonn) who as usual prefer obstructionism to action? The idiots in Brussels are also, as usual, irrelevant and meaningless.

 

[ZeeGerman]

By this you mean the elite in Paris (& Bonn) who as usual prefer obstructionism to action? The idiots in Brussels are also, as usual, irrelevant and meaningless.

It's Berlin now, just in case you didn't notice.

Zee

 

[a_unique_person]

Sorry if we ticked you off Flo. But this whole business about Saddam is not the first time we've faced a France that does not appear to be our ally.

-zilla

Do I hear anything about Canada? They have been upfront from the start about not backing this adventure, but all the vitriol appears directed at France.

 

[hammegk]

It's Berlin now, just in case you didn't notice.

Zee

Thanks; sorry for the error. You are correct that I didn't notice.

Tracking the centers of European political irrelevance is low on my agenda.

 

[Flo]

Personally I love France...
Honestly, I don't understand official France. When the US has needed even the slightest support in the last 30 years France has declined. They didn't support NATO...they wouldn't allow US overflight for the strike mission against Libya after Libya bombed the Berlin disco and took out the PanAm flight. Official France seems even more arrogant than America...but an empty arrogance. The arrogance of a king with no country, or an English Lord who has sold his estates and has nothing but a good name left to mask his poverty.

So what ? why ignore the voice of an empoverished Lord if he has something of potential value to say ? I'm somewhat amused by the American protestations at acting only for the safeguard of democracy, freedom, etc., then screaming blue murder everytime someone has the audacity to want to exert it: "every voice counts", unless it is in disagrement, or questions US government options, in which case it becomes suddenly irrelevant. Had France agreed from the start, it would have been lauded as a great nation among the powerful, I suppose

Official France IMHO only exists within Paris. On almost every visit there I dealt with a great deal of snooty and rude Parisians. Only when outside Paris did I find a welcoming and friendly people. That's what I found most puzzling about the country. It's like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. I love France...but hate Paris.

Typical tourist misconception: "IMHO, the XXX country only exists within its capitals. On every visit, I dealt with a great deal of snooty and rude (Tokyoites, NewYorkers, ...). Only when outside the capital did I find welcoming and friendly people ...."
Paris, or Tokyo, or New York, may be a tourist destination to you, it is where the local population works, mostly in something having nothing to do with tourism, hence the total indifference towards visitors (not that I approve of it ... I was born in Paris, hate the place).

Sorry if we ticked you off Flo.

I don't worry about reading criticism of France (I have plenty myself, the latest stupid adventure in Ivory Coast, for example ...) or even a good joke. What ticked me off was the gratuitous insults and the lowbrow rhetoric, by people who should know better than just repeat what politicians and polemicists say ...

[/]

But this whole business about Saddam is not the first time we've faced a France that does not appear to be our ally.
[/B]

Depends on your definition of "ally": if it means never questionning the US government's options and just following meekly, then it is true, France is no ally.

 

[shuize]

Troll:

It may have been the same congressman who said today:

How many Frenchmen does it take to defend Paris? .... I don't know, it's never been tried.

-- Rep. Roy Blunt (Missouri 7th)

 

[Bjorn]

Andy Rooney made some 'funny' comments on 60 minutes today, mostly about the 'cowards' in France. He told the story about how he was there, in August 1944, watching Charles de Gaulle participating/leading the parade towards the Notre Dame just after the liberation of Paris, when sniper(s) started shooting.

Rooney plainly stated how he hid under a tank, and then somehow managed to conclude how he had 'deserved' some rights ('I was there!'), while the French people had not.

Not in a single word did he mention what everyone with a tiny knowledge of history would emphasize, and what became one of the famous pictures from that periode, like the flag hoisting in Iwo Jima: Charles de Gaulle refused to hide and continued to walk tall during the whole episode.

And Mr. Rooney, hiding under a tank, is mocking him.

 

[shuize]

Bjorn:

what everyone with a tiny knowledge of history would emphasize ... like the flag hoisting in Okinawa

You mean the flag raising on Iwo Jima.


[edited to add sarcastic comment]

 

[Jedi Knight]

Do I hear anything about Canada? They have been upfront from the start about not backing this adventure, but all the vitriol appears directed at France.

Well, it isn't like the French asked for it, did they? Wasn't it the French who abandoned NATO and military matters involving NATO in the 1960's? Yep. France just "walked away" from the table of freedom in the 1960's. They were just that anxious to give themselves away to the communists.

If the free world put its national security into the hands of France, it would be the end of civilization.

JK

 

[Bjorn]

Bjorn:

You mean the flag raising on Iwo Jima.

[edited to add sarcastic comment]

Sorry, I was too irritated to think clearly. You're right.

 

[Segnosaur]

Do I hear anything about Canada? They have been upfront from the start about not backing this adventure, but all the vitriol appears directed at France.

A couple of notes (from a Canadian)
- Canada has been waffling in our support for the U.S. in its 'war on terror' (the government wants to be counted as 'friends' of the U.S. without actually doing anything). I don't think they've made a clear decision either way about attacking Iraq. (They say they don't want to go to war, but haven't totally discounted it.)
- France and Germany have been active in blocking NATO in defending Turkey (Canada has not)
- Canada has helped the U.S. in Afghanistan (of course, we actually had to get the Americans to fly our troops over there, and supply the ammunition). Still, we have been of help in the past
- You missed the 'suck and blow' speech by our former Prime Minister Mulroney, where he complained about how the government wants to be seen as a friend of the U.S., at the same time people in the government are insulting the U.S.

 

[Segnosaur]

I was a little too young to vote for De Gaulle, but I was one of those hoping for his demise in 1969, and I only voted for Chirac (with a metaphorical clothes pin on my nose) because, like the majority of the people who voted for him, I couldn't stand the idea of Le Pen in office. As it is, I can say I'm not too fâchée with the way Chirac is handling the Iraq case. Given the intelligence of the anti-anti-war comments, I can't see how I could trust those making them to come with an intelligent and harmonious solution to the Saddam/Al Qaeda problem ... I think having someone who's forcing them to give logical, verifiable explanations is good for them.

As for Canada protecting French in Quebec, that is not the opinion of most of my Canadian friends

I'm not happy with the current Canadian government either. I think Canadians should be ashamed that they would support such a corrupt an inept group of leaders. However, like it or not, our Prime Minister was elected, and as such makes the desisions that represent the country as a whole.

And even though you may have selected Chirac because you found the other option so much worse, remember, it was the French citizens who ended up in the situation where the only 2 possibile people to vote for were not desirable.

As for protecting the french in Canada, I wonder.... are your friends in Canada Anglophone or Francophone? Many of the media outlets in Quebec tend to support Quebec separation, and as such overlook any support for the French language given by the country as a whole.

 

[rikzilla]

Q: What do you call 200,000 Frenchmen with their hands up?
A: The Army!

Q. How any French soldiers does it take to change a light bulb? A. Five
one to sit on his butt and watch and do nothing.
the second to turn tail and run.
the third to roll over.
the forth to surrender to the light bulb and snitch out occupied sconces.
and the fifth to pick up a phone and cry to the United States.

Q: What's the difference between a dead skunk and a dead french man In the middle of the road?
A: There's skid marks In front of the skunk.


Q: How many frenchman does it take to defend Paris?
A: Nobody knows, its never been tried before


What color is the American flag? Red, White, and Blue. What color is the British flag? Red, White, and Blue. What color is the French flag? White.


Q: Why don't they have fireworks at Euro Disney?
A: Because every time they shoot them off, the French try to surrender to Mickey.


Courtesy of
English-made French joke website!

 

[DanishDynamite]

Good idea, Rick! Nothing like a few jokes to lighten the pro/con war atmosphere. Here's a few I found:

Q: What's the difference between an American and an American bomb?
A: The bomb is smart enough to know where to find Iraq


It is said that Mahatma Ghandi was asked, "What is your opinion of American civilization?"
His reply: "I think it would be an excellent idea."


Noteworthy dates in 20th-Century American history:
1917 - When World War I began.
1918 - When the U.S. won World War I.
1941 - When World War II began.
1945 - When the U.S. won World War II.


Q: What do Americans call a TV set that goes five years without need of repair?
A: An import.


There are four people sharing a compartment on a train - a beautiful young Italian woman, a rather elderly German lady, an American man, and a Canadian man.

They're making polite small talk when the train goes through a tunnel. All you can hear in the darkness is a huge "WHACK!" When they come out the other side, the American is rubbing the side of his face which is all red.

The American thinks "Damn, that Canadian fool must have grabbed that young Italian woman, and she slapped me thinking I'd done it."

The Italian woman thinks "Damn, that stupid American must have tried to feel me up, missed, groped that old German woman instead, and she must have slapped him for it."

The German lady thinks "Damn, that stupid American must have groped that young Italian woman in the darkness, and she must have slapped him for it."

The Canadian man thinks "I hope we go through another tunnel so I can smack that American again!"

 

[rikzilla]

Sorry DD that there are no Danish jokes that I could find.

Apparently one must be relevant in order to attract the attentions of jokers.

An ode to the French....a serious one

I know some veterans who would say that if the French are in training, they are training to throw up their arms in surrender.

B. Rice Aston, from Houston, the president-general of the Sons of the American Revolution, was visiting here with fellow members.

As he approached the monument in the cemetery, he said: "Remember what Henry Kissinger said. The French are prickly. If you're at the top of the ladder, they sometimes want to shake it for you to fall off."

You walk another hundred yards near hallowed turf: "George Uttering, Pvt., 12 Inf., 4 Div., New York, June 7, 1944; Ramond Carey, 2 Lt., 319, 82 Airborne, New York, July 4, 1944; Ercal W. Netzer, Pfc., 22 Inf., West Virginia, June 7, 1944."

 

[Flo]

I'm not happy with the current Canadian government either. I think Canadians should be ashamed that they would support such a corrupt an inept group of leaders. However, like it or not, our Prime Minister was elected, and as such makes the desisions that represent the country as a whole.

And even though you may have selected Chirac because you found the other option so much worse, remember, it was the French citizens who ended up in the situation where the only 2 possibile people to vote for were not desirable..

I know, and I am proud I saw it coming, which is why I went to vote on the first leg for the "socialist" future-ex-prime minister (as socialist as Blair ...), and then for Chirac. The whole story was a mess and an exercise in stupidity by a populace so egged-up about security issues (both Chirac and Le Pen pretending the socialists were intend on selling the country to the Arabs) that they wanted to "give the left a lesson", not realising into whose hands they were playing ... until, to national shame, there was no other solution than voting for "skeleton-in-the-cupboard" Chirac ...

As for protecting the french in Canada, I wonder.... are your friends in Canada Anglophone or Francophone? Many of the media outlets in Quebec tend to support Quebec separation, and as such overlook any support for the French language given by the country as a whole.

Almost exclusively francophone, and a bunch of whiner, IMO. They don't deserve any support, if only for inflicting Celine Dion to the world

 

[DanishDynamite]

rikzilla:

Sorry DD that there are no Danish jokes that I could find.

Try a Swedish website.

Apparently one must be relevant in order to attract the attentions of jokers.

Oh, I wouldn't say that. You're a living counterexample.