« Going, going... the old man of Europe
(Chirac) the great survivor is on his way out, leaving France in a state of decline »
What do you call a great survivor at the bottom of the ocean? A good start.
I know, you're not in for easy jokes but I just couldn't help it. And because I'm the one pulling all the work here doesn't mean I should climb the walls, does it?
« Gaullism, tetchy in its defence of French interests, pining for grandeur, has moulded him.
One of its principal features is to lump Americans and the British together as "les Anglo-Saxons", and to mistrust both. Another (...) is the general's dictum that "with the English one must bang on the table and they will submit". »
Right. Tell that to Napoleon's horse, Charly.
« Forty years ago, de Gaulle described the Americans as "the greatest danger in the world today to peace". »
1. Now you know where Lefties and their Islamofascist allies borrowed their pathetic rhetoric.
2. Now you know why I regard de Gaulle as a great man up until, say, June 18th, 1940. Tops.
« Chirac is more circumspect. But he went out of his way to praise the philosopher Jacques Derrida, (...) as one of the "major figures of the intellectual life of our times". Derrida was notorious for calling America the "world's leading rogue state". »
1. Now you know where Lefties and their Islamofascist allies borrowed their pathetic rhetoric.
2. Now you know why I regard Chirac as a great man up until, say, November 28th, 1932. Tops.
And as a side note, I'll had that being called 'a major intellectual' by somebody like Mr. Chirac tells you a lot about what Derrida was, and was not. If you get my meaning, wink, wink.
« As to the British, the general once said that Churchill had told him: "Each time I must choose between you and Roosevelt, I shall choose Roosevelt." »
Which is one among many reasons why Churchill still is a great man.
« There is a tangible fear that the French vision of the EU, politically integrated, socially conscious, is being replaced by an English- dominated collection of loosely linked states with a liberal, free-market economy hostile to Gaullist notions of state-backed industries and étatisme. »
Fear? What do you mean fear? Gee, I can't wait for that glorious day.
All right, this is just an appetizer really. I do insist you go and read the whole thing, as it is addressing some key French issues, above and beyond Jacques C., King of the Thieves -- from de Gaulle to that quarter of the French workforce made of public sector employees rushing the country on the road to bankruptcy.
However, as the French expression goes, here's a last one for the road:
« The socialists under François Mitterrand misused public funds on a scale undreamt of by Juppé. They created a building consultancy, Urba, with 16 regional offices, in order to siphon money from public works contracts into party coffers. It contributed £2.4m to Mitterrand’s re-election campaign. Police and investigating magistrates were stymied when Mitterrand announced a grand amnesty for those being investigated for financial misdemeanours. This applied to all elected representatives, including himself. »
That's the French way: bribe and swindle your way to the top, and then pardon yourself.
www.fuckfrance.com
The Sunday Times -
Going, going ... the old man of Europe
As Chirac arrives in London this week, Brian Moynahan says the great survivor is on his way out, leaving France in a state of decline
After a crowded day of talks in London, President Jacques Chirac will be the guest of the Queen on Thursday evening at a special performance of Les Misérables at Windsor Castle. Musicals are not known to be his style — sumo wrestling is his favourite spectacle — so he will have the chance for some reflection.
He has much to ponder. Les Misérables is a good starting point. It is the final, and perhaps all too aptly named, celebration in this centenary year of the entente cordiale.
Anglo-French relations have not recovered from the low point they hit two years ago when Chirac accused Tony Blair of speaking to him as he had never been spoken to before during a row over European Union farm reforms.
Chirac’s forceful opposition to the war in Iraq caused renewed tensions and confirmed the Gaullism that is the bedrock of his political soul.
Seventy-two at the end of this month, he cut his teeth while General de Gaulle was still president. Gaullism, tetchy in its defence of French interests, pining for grandeur, has moulded him.
One of its principal features is to lump Americans and the British together as “les Anglo-Saxons”, and to mistrust both. Another, which may explain the spat with Blair, is the general’s dictum that “with the English one must bang on the table and they will submit”.
Forty years ago, de Gaulle described the Americans as “the greatest danger in the world today to peace”. Chirac is more circumspect. But he went out of his way to praise the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who died last month, as one of the “major figures of the intellectual life of our times”.
Derrida was notorious for calling America the “world’s leading rogue state”.
As to the British, the general once said that Churchill had told him: “Each time I must choose between you and Roosevelt, I shall choose Roosevelt.”
Iraq is taken as proof that nothing has changed. Blair’s instincts, like Churchill’s, are seen as Atlanticist and the special relationship as a replacement for the entente cordiale.
EU enlargement is another concern. A 25-nation EU is less easily influenced than the old. And the newcomers, conscious of the part the Americans played in their escape from the Soviet bloc, have no desire to cock a snook at Washington.
There is a tangible fear that the French vision of the EU, politically integrated, socially conscious, is being replaced by an English- dominated collection of loosely linked states with a liberal, free-market economy hostile to Gaullist notions of state-backed industries and étatisme.
Beyond Europe, Chirac has been a champion of la francophonie, the close cultural and sentimental ties between French-speaking peoples. Events in the Ivory Coast, long regarded as a model former colony, have given a hammering to this concept.
The north of the west African state is held by a rebel force that failed in an attempt last year to overthrow the government of President Laurent Gbagbo in the south. Under a French-brokered, UN-backed peace agreement, French troops have patrolled a “line of confidence” between them.
Gbagbo broke the ceasefire last weekend, bombing the rebel stronghold at Bouaké in the north. The jets also attacked the peacekeepers’ camp, killing nine French troops and wounding 22. Gbagbo claimed the attack, thought to be carried out by Belorussian mercenary pilots, was an accident. Paris said it was deliberate.
(Chirac) the great survivor is on his way out, leaving France in a state of decline »
What do you call a great survivor at the bottom of the ocean? A good start.
I know, you're not in for easy jokes but I just couldn't help it. And because I'm the one pulling all the work here doesn't mean I should climb the walls, does it?
« Gaullism, tetchy in its defence of French interests, pining for grandeur, has moulded him.
One of its principal features is to lump Americans and the British together as "les Anglo-Saxons", and to mistrust both. Another (...) is the general's dictum that "with the English one must bang on the table and they will submit". »
Right. Tell that to Napoleon's horse, Charly.
« Forty years ago, de Gaulle described the Americans as "the greatest danger in the world today to peace". »
1. Now you know where Lefties and their Islamofascist allies borrowed their pathetic rhetoric.
2. Now you know why I regard de Gaulle as a great man up until, say, June 18th, 1940. Tops.
« Chirac is more circumspect. But he went out of his way to praise the philosopher Jacques Derrida, (...) as one of the "major figures of the intellectual life of our times". Derrida was notorious for calling America the "world's leading rogue state". »
1. Now you know where Lefties and their Islamofascist allies borrowed their pathetic rhetoric.
2. Now you know why I regard Chirac as a great man up until, say, November 28th, 1932. Tops.
And as a side note, I'll had that being called 'a major intellectual' by somebody like Mr. Chirac tells you a lot about what Derrida was, and was not. If you get my meaning, wink, wink.
« As to the British, the general once said that Churchill had told him: "Each time I must choose between you and Roosevelt, I shall choose Roosevelt." »
Which is one among many reasons why Churchill still is a great man.
« There is a tangible fear that the French vision of the EU, politically integrated, socially conscious, is being replaced by an English- dominated collection of loosely linked states with a liberal, free-market economy hostile to Gaullist notions of state-backed industries and étatisme. »
Fear? What do you mean fear? Gee, I can't wait for that glorious day.
All right, this is just an appetizer really. I do insist you go and read the whole thing, as it is addressing some key French issues, above and beyond Jacques C., King of the Thieves -- from de Gaulle to that quarter of the French workforce made of public sector employees rushing the country on the road to bankruptcy.
However, as the French expression goes, here's a last one for the road:
« The socialists under François Mitterrand misused public funds on a scale undreamt of by Juppé. They created a building consultancy, Urba, with 16 regional offices, in order to siphon money from public works contracts into party coffers. It contributed £2.4m to Mitterrand’s re-election campaign. Police and investigating magistrates were stymied when Mitterrand announced a grand amnesty for those being investigated for financial misdemeanours. This applied to all elected representatives, including himself. »
That's the French way: bribe and swindle your way to the top, and then pardon yourself.
www.fuckfrance.com
The Sunday Times -
Going, going ... the old man of Europe
As Chirac arrives in London this week, Brian Moynahan says the great survivor is on his way out, leaving France in a state of decline
After a crowded day of talks in London, President Jacques Chirac will be the guest of the Queen on Thursday evening at a special performance of Les Misérables at Windsor Castle. Musicals are not known to be his style — sumo wrestling is his favourite spectacle — so he will have the chance for some reflection.
He has much to ponder. Les Misérables is a good starting point. It is the final, and perhaps all too aptly named, celebration in this centenary year of the entente cordiale.
Anglo-French relations have not recovered from the low point they hit two years ago when Chirac accused Tony Blair of speaking to him as he had never been spoken to before during a row over European Union farm reforms.
Chirac’s forceful opposition to the war in Iraq caused renewed tensions and confirmed the Gaullism that is the bedrock of his political soul.
Seventy-two at the end of this month, he cut his teeth while General de Gaulle was still president. Gaullism, tetchy in its defence of French interests, pining for grandeur, has moulded him.
One of its principal features is to lump Americans and the British together as “les Anglo-Saxons”, and to mistrust both. Another, which may explain the spat with Blair, is the general’s dictum that “with the English one must bang on the table and they will submit”.
Forty years ago, de Gaulle described the Americans as “the greatest danger in the world today to peace”. Chirac is more circumspect. But he went out of his way to praise the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who died last month, as one of the “major figures of the intellectual life of our times”.
Derrida was notorious for calling America the “world’s leading rogue state”.
As to the British, the general once said that Churchill had told him: “Each time I must choose between you and Roosevelt, I shall choose Roosevelt.”
Iraq is taken as proof that nothing has changed. Blair’s instincts, like Churchill’s, are seen as Atlanticist and the special relationship as a replacement for the entente cordiale.
EU enlargement is another concern. A 25-nation EU is less easily influenced than the old. And the newcomers, conscious of the part the Americans played in their escape from the Soviet bloc, have no desire to cock a snook at Washington.
There is a tangible fear that the French vision of the EU, politically integrated, socially conscious, is being replaced by an English- dominated collection of loosely linked states with a liberal, free-market economy hostile to Gaullist notions of state-backed industries and étatisme.
Beyond Europe, Chirac has been a champion of la francophonie, the close cultural and sentimental ties between French-speaking peoples. Events in the Ivory Coast, long regarded as a model former colony, have given a hammering to this concept.
The north of the west African state is held by a rebel force that failed in an attempt last year to overthrow the government of President Laurent Gbagbo in the south. Under a French-brokered, UN-backed peace agreement, French troops have patrolled a “line of confidence” between them.
Gbagbo broke the ceasefire last weekend, bombing the rebel stronghold at Bouaké in the north. The jets also attacked the peacekeepers’ camp, killing nine French troops and wounding 22. Gbagbo claimed the attack, thought to be carried out by Belorussian mercenary pilots, was an accident. Paris said it was deliberate.