[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Griff

Those are all French instances of anti-democratic and / or poor international acting. Through several threads we've seen commentary from A D about our poor record which I readily admit and questions about our stability which I also have. Assuming he's French, I just want to be sure he isn't holding France up as a model for stable democracies.

I agree. The French and the U.S. have very similar pedigrees. We were both created by revolution from monarchies. We are both Republics. We both annexed colonies or territories. We both are struggling with immigration issues.

The reason that the French appear to annoy Europeans more than Americans do is

a) Proximity - France is not quite in the middle of Europe
b) Military - The U.S. has one of the largest armies in the world. We currently have only one loss due to forfeit (Vietnam) and one tie (Korea). The French have pretty much lost any conflict in the past 100 years to any country that had access to gunpowder. In spite of this many people feel they are as arrogant as the US. If a bulldog growls and barks it gets respect. If a miniature poodle does the same it gets annoyed looks.

That being said, they do have great food, nice music, grand architecture, and some of the most beautiful women in the world.

I'd also trade GWB in for Sarkozy in a heartbeat. The man has even managed to out-Clinton Clinton in the mistress department. Instead of a chubby intern, the man is screwing a supermodel!