The French..lol

[*~Eleni~*]

"France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country. France has usually been governed by prostitutes."
---Mark Twain

"I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me."
--- General George S. Patton

"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion."
-- General Norman Schwartzkopf

"We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it."
---- Marge Simpson

"As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure"
---Jacques Chirac, President of France

"The only time France wants us to go to war is when the German Army is sitting in Paris sipping coffee."
--- Regis Philbin

"The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore. True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whiskey I don't know."
--- P.J O'Rourke (1989)

"I don't know why people are surprised that France won't help us get Saddam out of Iraq. After all, France wouldn't help us get the Germans out of France!"
---Jay Leno

"The last time the French asked for 'more proof' it came marching into Paris under a German flag."
--David Letterman

"You know why the French don't want to bomb Saddam Hussein? Because he hates America, he loves mistresses and wears a beret. He is French, people"
--Conan O'Brien

"As far as France is concerned, you're right."
---Rush Limbaugh,

"You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who was still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn't have the face for it."
---John McCain, U.S. Senator

[twilightbee]

Conan's always got the best lines! lol

[MsRay]

I'm not too keen on France-bashing, but tolerate it. But the quotes should match up to the people who spoke them:

One example. (http://www.snopes.com/quotes/babbin.htm)

[Maxim]

i'm with ms.ray on this one

[darius]

france is shooting themselves in the foot. france is still the #1 international tourist spot for americans. they love our greenbacks, like we love their baguettes & cafe au laits. let's boycott. their argument is more about CREAM than anything else. if they sincerely want to offer self-sacrifice for peace, why don't they try and fix what they fucked up for centuries on the african continent and let us worry about the middle east -- after all, the latter job requires massive balls, something france hasn't demonstrated since the days of Napoleon. he's doing somersaults in his grave, you know.

[TheHipHopBillGates]

I don't know if I agree that france is the #1 international tourist spot for americans.

[darius]

Originally posted by TheHipHopBillGates
I don't know if I agree that france is the #1 international tourist spot for americans.

dubya said it one of his press conferences, and i remember seeing it mentioned in a Washington Post article. i'll see about tracking down the source.

[*~Eleni~*]

i think what you are trying to say is that Americans are the most frequented tourists for France..I don't think that France is the most desired/visited destination for Americans..

did that make sense? lol..I heard that as well..but I heard it a bit different..I do believe that MOST of their tourists are Americans and that we stimulate their economy in a big way..
they always disliked us..a good travel agent will prepare you for the "attitude" you might encounter when visiting France as an American"

fuq them..stupid snobs :rolleyes:

I hope the Effeil Towers breaks.

[darius]

Originally posted by Eleni
i think what you are trying to say is that Americans are the most frequented tourists for France..I don't think that France is the most desired/visited destination for Americans..

did that make sense? lol
fuq them..stupid snobs :rolleyes:

yeah, that! thanx for the clarification. Jacques Chirac is faced with an interesting scenario for his people. if anyone remembers what happened during the last presidential election race in france, they first series of voting, to determine which 2 candidates go for the presidency was won by Le Pens. Now THAT guy is nutz. He wanted to break France off of the EU, isolate them to their own interests and invigorate a new sense of patriotism (unbridled of course). Now, if that vote was any indication of what the general french psyche may be, it should tell us that they want to play amongst the big boys again on their terms, not the terms of some greater institution. Chirac, in my opinion, has hijacked the UN, along with Russia and Germany. Now, what do the 3 of these countries have in common? They were all BIG TIME not too far off in the distant past and they have desires to reach greater international heights. Whether these countries like it or not, we (America) showed them a better way to live. We removed nazism from Germany (hehehe, and France), and we removed communism from Russia. I'm not trying to glorify the capitalist way of life cuz even I, to some degree consider it an unfair extreme, but what these nations are failing to realize is that America has an obligation to the rest of the world. We always have. In a sense, it is our destiny. This station wasn't just handed to us on a silver platter. We earned it. We're not perfect and we've made mistakes along the way, but truth be told, we're a maturing nation that is realizing its global obligations, especially as the lone super-power. Unfortunately, we sometimes take this to the point of arrogance and that causes problems for us. Just because we help solve major global issues doesn't give us a right to gloat about it. Be proud, but be humble. Anyhow, back to that global obligation -- the world is turning into more of a "neighborhood". And for matters of our own national security, we have to take a stake in other parts of the world (our neighborhood) to ensure peace -- not just for us, but others in our neighborhood who want to live free.

personally, i'm not for war. can't stand it, don't believe in slaughtering of innocent people, BUT, the world hasn't matured to a point where it can resolve a conflict of this magnitude through peaceful means. This isn't Hiroshima -- the US is not going in there trying to raze the city of Baghdad. I'm hoping, just hoping (and maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part) that the presence of our forces, once inside Iraq, will spawn a collapse of Iraqi resolve and morale. If the Iraqi military ultimately fears Saddam more than anyone else, once Saddam is gone, the fear factor is gone and they can have a moment to rethink their future. That's what I'll pray for at night . . . that if war happens, it begins and ends relatively quickly, so that the rebuilding of that part of the world can resume, in hopes of trying to achieve REAL peace.

just remember . . . PEACE does not = the absence of WAR

[evil nick]

Darius great post...i agree with you 100%.

I've been very critical with this administration's war on terror, but I am thankful that we have a president who is committed to fighting this war. I don't 100% agree that Iraq should be the focal point but if we can win this war quickly, uncover Suddam's bloody secrets, and stablize the region then we'll once again regain the international support. Wishfull thinking on all three but this would be the best case scenario.