What do we got against France

[Yahweh]

Seriously, what do we still have against France that would make people destroy wines or boycott Frech products. So they didnt exactly want to be drug into our war. I think the last the French want is to get into a war. France has been one of America's closest allies. I dont really think that boycotting French products is going to exactly cause them to cease to be one of our allies, but seriously is America going to alienate all countries who in the future might not appreciate what we do. Personally I like my French products. I like the moderately priced French wines and the Eau de toillette (I dont speak French so I dont know how to spell it), and everything about France. The only product I dont like is Tressemme Shampoo and Conditioner, that stuff lacks quality. Why would we go boycotting French products and continue to deminish tourism to France. Its a stupid thing for only stupid people to do.

[Tony]

I guess people boycott french goods for the same reasons that other people boycott american goods.

[Flo]

Originally posted by Tony
I guess people boycott french goods for the same reasons that other people boycott american goods.

Stupidity ?

[BobK]

Nothing better to do with their life.:rolleyes:

[athon]

'Boycotting' is a sexist term.

I hereby vote that we change the term henceforth to 'childcotting'.

Athon

(BTW, anybody know where the term comes from?)

[catbasket]

Charles C. Boycott (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=boycott), an English land agent in Ireland in the late 1800s.

[BillyTK]

So let's see, Bush'n'Blair went to the UN to get backing for a war to disarm Saddam. Chirac said, "Non", and wanted to carry on with inspections. So France became the bad guys.

Bush'n'Blair decided that the problem of Saddam's WMDs was so immeditate, they subsequently sent their forces in anyway. But currently troops are having a hard time disarming Saddam because they're having some trouble finding the weapons. But France are still the bad guys. Hmmm...

[Jon_in_london]

I ahve nothing against France...........
Its the french I have a problem with.

[BillyTK]

Originally posted by Jon_in_london
I ahve nothing against France...........
Its the french I have a problem with.

What have the French ever done for us? ;) :D

[iain]

Originally posted by BillyTK


What have the French ever done for us? ;) :D When I was a kid I failed to get off with a French girl. Sure, I was shy, socially inept and unattractive but it was her fault and, by extension, the whole French nation are to blame.

[BillyTK]

Originally posted by iain
When I was a kid I failed to get off with a French girl. Sure, I was shy, socially inept and unattractive but it was her fault and, by extension, the whole French nation are to blame.

Did you mean to post this here, or in the " The Growing Men's Movement is having an impact" thread? :D

[Richard G]

Appeasers, and cowards.

[KelvinG]

Originally posted by BillyTK
So let's see, Bush'n'Blair went to the UN to get backing for a war to disarm Saddam. Chirac said, "Non", and wanted to carry on with inspections. So France became the bad guys.

Bush'n'Blair decided that the problem of Saddam's WMDs was so immeditate, they subsequently sent their forces in anyway. But currently troops are having a hard time disarming Saddam because they're having some trouble finding the weapons. But France are still the bad guys. Hmmm...

Excellent point. Perhaps Bush should be issuing an apology to Chirac and the good folks in France.

Regardless, Bush is kissing some serious ass overseas right now in an attempt to defuse the whole WMD fiasco.

[Segnosaur]

Ok, so what do I have against France? Well, lets see:

- Obviously the entire Iraq situation is one thing. Personally, I think France's efforts to stand in the way of the invasion were self serving (they were owed billions, AND they were selling weapons to Iraq very recently.) Ok, they wanted inspections to continue... why didn't they offer to provide troops or money to help forces there? It costs money to station troops so far away, and Blix said that the main reason why Saddam was 'cooperating' as much as he did was because of American forces. So, France wanted expensive troop deployments to continue, but not have to pay for them.
- Does anyone remember several years ago, France was testing nuclear weapons in the pacific. This, despite pretty much every country in the world was opposed. (Note: I believe Russia and the US had decided to ban all nuclear testing by that time, and even if they hadn't, they certainly weren't doing it in other's territory.)
- The stereotype of the 'rude' frenchman... Ok, Americans might not like the French, but what are the attitudes of the French to the Americans?
- The whole WW2 thing... Many French people were quite willing to collaberate with the Germans
- This applies to Frances actions to Canada only: STAY THE F*CK OUT OF OUR INTERNAL AFFAIRS! Canada has a province (Quebec, mostly french) that wants to Separate. France has repeatedly taken actions to encourage that separation, from Charles de Gaulle's "Vive le Quebec Libre" to recent comments about how they'd recognize Quebec independence even if every other country said they wouldn't.

[Frostbite]

Originally posted by Jon_in_london
I ahve nothing against France...........
Its the french I have a problem with.

You've met all the french people alive today? Whoa, you've been around, haven't you...

[Giz]

Originally posted by Frostbite


You've met all the french people alive today? Whoa, you've been around, haven't you...

Hey Frostbite, heard about the "anyone making outrageous claims has the burden of proof on them"?

Well, you don't get much more outrageous than saying all Frenchmen are NOT all beret wearing, cycling, cheese eating, surrender monkeys!

Back up your claim or Jon_in_londons point stands! (And no quoting French sources thats just Argumentum ad populum and wont count!)

[Ladewig]

-The stereotype of the 'rude' frenchman... Ok, Americans might not like the French, but what are the attitudes of the French to the Americans?

Actually, that has been changing over the past several years as the French begin to understand the importance of tourist revenue.

- The whole WW2 thing... Many French people were quite willing to collaberate with the Germans

I'm 95 % certain that this one was just sarcasm, but if I'm wrong:
So does that mean that we have to be mad at the Germans, too? And all of Germany's allies in that war? What is the statute of limitation for being mad about a war? The U.S. has fought England, Spain, Mexico and a variety of other countries; is the time to be made at them over?

France aided the U.S. during its fight for independence.

[Segnosaur]

Originally posted by Ladewig

Actually, that has been changing over the past several years as the French begin to understand the importance of tourist revenue.


How much has it changed though? Got any statistics? (I don't either; I'm just wondering.) I've seen anecdotes on line about Americans treated badly in France in the past, but of course as you know, "the plural of anecdotes is not data".

And is it a case where they are being nice to our face, and then insulting the US once they have their tourist dollars? Is it only the tourism industries (and the ones that rely on exports) that are more favourable to the US, or is it something common throughout all french society?

Originally posted by Ladewig

I'm 95 % certain that this one was just sarcasm, but if I'm wrong:
So does that mean that we have to be mad at the Germans, too? And all of Germany's allies in that war? What is the statute of limitation for being mad about a war? The U.S. has fought England, Spain, Mexico and a variety of other countries; is the time to be made at them over?



Yes, it is silly to carry a grudge over war too long. Leaders change, attitudes change.

A difference between Germany and France is that everyone knows Germany was the 'bad guy' (including the Germans themselves). But, there seems to be this 'myth' of the heroic french resistance when the real events support a different view.

Just wondering, how do the French view their own history in WW2? Do they acknowledge their mistakes at all? (Note: I do acknowledge that all countries have a habit of 'white washing' their histories.)


Originally posted by Ladewig

France aided the U.S. during its fight for independence.

Actually, the French king was responsible for that, the same guy that was later killed in the revolutions that followed.

[iMoc]

Appeasers, and cowards.

IGNORAMUS, and, I'm sorry to say, goes to explain why US of A'ers are the most despised people in the world at large

[peptoabysmal]

I'm kind of glad France didn't join the coalition, as they likely would have just gotten in the way.

[athon]

I think I would have preferred that Australia be hated by the US than to have followed Bush. It's no great loss - we have no guarentee of additional security, indeed if anything we seem to be more susceptible now to terrorist attack than before according to some opinions. And looking at past situations, the US hasn't exactly been to happy to help when Australia has asked anyway.

I was happier when most Americans thought Australia was a small, cold country in the middle of Europe.

Athon

[ZeeGerman]

Originally posted by athon

I was happier when most Americans thought Australia was a small, cold country in the middle of Europe.



No worries,
I doubt that has really changed. How about a test?

To all our friends from the US: What's wrong with this picture?

http://www.holve.de/pics/CNN_map.jpg

:D

Zee

[Jon_in_london]

Originally posted by Segnosaur

Just wondering, how do the French view their own history in WW2? Do they acknowledge their mistakes at all? (Note: I do acknowledge that all countries have a habit of 'white washing' their histories

I went to the Musee de armie in Paris recently. They had an exhibition on about the Free French and the role of the French in the liberation of France.

Needles to say, there wasnt very much to see!

[BobK]

When did Switzerland invade the Czech Republic.:eek:

I must of slept through that one.

[Pad]

Originally posted by Segnosaur
Just wondering, how do the French view their own history in WW2? Do they acknowledge their mistakes at all? (Note: I do acknowledge that all countries have a habit of 'white washing' their histories
I'm just quoting Chirac :

France, the homeland of the Enlightenment and the rights of man, a land of welcome and asylum, on that day committed the irreparable.
Those dark hours dishonor our history for ever and are an insult to our past and our traditions.
Yes, the criminal madness of the occupying forces was supported by the French, by the French state.
Betraying the values, the genius and the mission of France, the French State and the Vichy Government would become accomplices to the unspeakable.

A year and a half ago, I insisted on the official acknowledgment of the French government's responsibility for the arrest, deportation and death of thousands upon thousands of Jews.

This duty to remember must be seen through to the end. We must shed all possible light on the role of Vichy and its representatives.

We must carry out the necessary investigations to find out what became of the property confiscated by the Occupiers and their accomplices. That is the role of the working group whose leadership has just been confided by the prime minister to Jean Matteoli, head of the Economic and Social Council.

Fifty years later, France, an adult nation, must come to terms with all of its history. To build the future, we cannot ignore the past.

[kedo1981]

The French are the root cause of a large number of the world’s problems.
The Napoleonic wars are (is one of the) cause(s) of the economic and social upheaval that lasted until WWI; the treaty of Versi (sic) pissed off the krauts so much they were willing to elect a psycho like Hitler.
Algeria, Vietnam, smelly cheese; when will it end?

[Pad]

Originally posted by kedo1981
The French are the root cause of a large number of the world’s problems.
The Napoleonic wars are (is one of the) cause(s) of the economic and social upheaval that lasted until WWI; the treaty of Versi (sic) pissed off the krauts so much they were willing to elect a psycho like Hitler.
Algeria, Vietnam, smelly cheese; when will it end?
It's very easy to hold a nation responsible for all evil in the world. Just have a look :

http://www.geocities.com/daveclarkecb/RealUSA.html

[Segnosaur]

Originally posted by Pad

I'm just quoting Chirac


Thanks for the quote. It was very interesting.

Where was the speech (or whatever) made? Has anything been done to follow up on his words with actions?

Originally posted by Pad

France, the homeland of the Enlightenment and the rights of man, a land of welcome and asylum, on that day committed the irreparable.

Ok, right there is probably one reason to hate the french.

Who declared them to be the 'homeland of Enlightment and the Rights of Man'?

The Renaissance (what I would consider the start of Enlightenment) started in Italy, not france. Britian had its Magna Carter long before the French Revolution, and America created perhaps the freest democracy while the French were still ruled by kings.

Sorry, that quote seemed to be extremely arrogant. I think France should be bombed right now, just because of that quote.

Originally posted by Pad

This duty to remember must be seen through to the end. We must shed all possible light on the role of Vichy and its representatives.

We must carry out the necessary investigations to find out what became of the property confiscated by the Occupiers and their accomplices. That is the role of the working group whose leadership has just been confided by the prime minister to Jean Matteoli, head of the Economic and Social Council.

Fifty years later, France, an adult nation, must come to terms with all of its history. To build the future, we cannot ignore the past.


Ok, so it took them 50 years to realize they had done stuff wrong?

I guess I shouldn't complain. Japan has been very slow to acknowlege their actions in the second world war. And it took took the Catholic church hundreds of years to acknowlege that Gallileo was right.

[Dancing David]

For darin to stand up and be free...

Do they really eat snails?

[iain]

Originally posted by Dancing David
Do they really eat snails? Them and most other nations; very tasty they are too, with a nice garlic sauce.

The trick is to use the proper utensil to get the snail out of the shell; if you just use a knife and fork you can have snails shooting all over the place.

[Flo]

Originally posted by iain
Them and most other nations; very tasty they are too, with a nice garlic sauce.

The trick is to use the proper utensil to get the snail out of the shell; if you just use a knife and fork you can have snails shooting all over the place.

Did you really have to go and explain that to the World ? :rolleyes: You should know one of the petty pleasure of the French is to see Anglo-Saxons fighting with the snails in their plate and getting covered in garlic sauce :D

[Mike B.]

Hey those darn Swiss attacking the Czechs...What is up with that? ;)

I like France...What the heck?

Hey if it wasn't for the Battle of Tours we would all be Muslim probably.

BTW
Is anyone really boycotting French products in America beyond some fringe weirdos?

I mean I doubt the people that buy French wine are going to suddenly stop.