BS: France elects a french GWB

Subject: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Donuel
Date: 07 May 07 - 10:42 AM

"Muslim rioters are scum" quote right wing Nicola the winner of the French Presidency.
We need a strong police state yada yada yada

He won out over his female opponent who did not know exactly how many nuclear subs France has.

He is a mixture of George Bush with the rhetoric of Newt Gingrich.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Amos
Date: 07 May 07 - 11:24 AM

Me semble qu'on va voir le fin de "liberté, egalité, et fraternité", dans les annees prochaines. C'est un peu effroyant qu'il insiste que sa nation est "un ami" avec ce de Monsieur Boosh. Ils ont tous les deux des nations completement imagináires, ma foi.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Wolfgang
Date: 07 May 07 - 11:39 AM

No, he's much more intelligent.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Amos
Date: 07 May 07 - 11:50 AM

That could be quite a good thing for la belle France, but it could also be scary as hell, depending on the direction along which he applies his intelligence.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: katlaughing
Date: 07 May 07 - 12:02 PM

Someone who used to live in France, who now lives in the US, said it will probably be good for the US in that we tend to have a more liberal government when France is more conservative. Not that that makes it any better they have voted in such as him.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Peace
Date: 07 May 07 - 12:36 PM

"France elects a french GWB"

Bush can't speak English. Is he any better in French?

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 07 - 12:55 PM

No, because the problem isn't rooted in the speaking, it is rooted in the thinking. He can't think in any language.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 07 May 07 - 12:57 PM

Shouldn't that be "Il me semble"?

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Peace
Date: 07 May 07 - 01:10 PM

I don't want to piss off my Amnerican friends--all four of them--but WHY did he get elected? It boggles the mind. There must be people out there who believe he makes sense. Does anyone else find that scary, or is it just me and my natural paranoia?

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 May 07 - 01:18 PM

Right - at least GWB stole the election!

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Riginslinger
Date: 07 May 07 - 01:19 PM

If the truth were known, I'll bet his preceived stand on immigration is what won it for him.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 07 May 07 - 01:58 PM

I'm sure his stand on immigration was a big factor but he also has some other good policies, which will appeal to a lot of people, such as his policies on overtime and inheritance tax.

It's interesting that he is the son of an Hungarian immigrant. He seems to see this as his opportunity to repay France for what it has done for him.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Alice
Date: 07 May 07 - 02:36 PM

Some day it will be shown that GWB stole both elections making him president.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Amos
Date: 07 May 07 - 03:05 PM

Richard:

Yes, formally. Colloquially, the "il" often gets dropped. Cf. "Seems to me..."


A

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: dianavan
Date: 07 May 07 - 03:42 PM

Now Americans can stop calling french fries, freedom fries.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Peace
Date: 07 May 07 - 03:46 PM

Des frites, s'il vous plait.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 May 07 - 03:51 PM

Somehow I don't think Sarkozy will start a war in the Middle East.
We will have to wait and see, but no way is he as ignorant as Bush.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Riginslinger
Date: 07 May 07 - 04:17 PM

"Now Americans can stop calling french fries, freedom fries."


                     That's embarrassing.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 07 May 07 - 06:57 PM

That got a lot of press, but nobody in the US calls them anything but "french fries" or, more popularly, "fries".

We tend to think the French are snobbish and insulting. We like their wine. They tend to think we are crude and aggressive. They like our whiskey. I don't think Sarkozy will change that. Bottom line is we are both democracies with much more in common with each other than our differences might imply. With Sarkozy coming in and Bush going out, I'm hopeful France and the US will have a new chapter of good relations.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Riginslinger
Date: 07 May 07 - 07:29 PM

"With Sarkozy coming in and Bush going out, I'm hopeful France and the US will have a new chapter of good relations."


                   The problem with all that is, we've still got another year-and-a-half with Bush.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 May 07 - 08:29 PM

A French Bush? No. Sarkozy may be a jerk - well, he clearly is a jerk - but he's not an embarrassing buffoon.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 07 - 08:32 PM

I switched to French wine when Bush started his nonsense. Maybe I'll drink more Italian, German, and Spanish for a while, see how it goes.

SRS

Peace: only four?

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: beardedbruce
Date: 08 May 07 - 07:57 AM

"And where Royal won by almost 3 to 2 among public-sector workers (she also carried students and the unemployed), she lost private-sector workers (as well as the retired). The left can't win without a better showing among workers in the private economy.

In fact, Royal's biggest problem was reflected in another Ipsos finding: While 42 percent of her voters said their ballots were aimed primarily at keeping Sarkozy out of the presidency, only 18 percent of Sarkozy's voters said they cast negative ballots against Royal. The left is in trouble when its campaigns are based more on anxiety about the right than on the hopes that progressives inspire."

from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/07/AR2007050701223.html

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: bubblyrat
Date: 08 May 07 - 08:26 AM

I don"t know what all the fuss is about !! For years, France, like the United Kingdom, has suffered terribly under Socialist governments, with many problems being exacerbated by, if not actually caused by, uncontrolled immigration and the frightening increase in the numbers of government-employed "civil servants " ( Little Hitlers,as we call them here ). If France has, in M.Sarkozy, a strong,determined,self-assured leader who is genuinely able to address some of these problems, and effect a change, for the better, for all the people of France, then I for one will give three cheers !! ( whilst fervently hoping for such a leader here in England !! ). In case anyone is still wondering---SOCIALISM DOESN"T WORK !!! OK ??

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 08 May 07 - 08:50 AM

Whereas, under Thatcherwasm, it was people who didn't work.

Bubblyrat, you embarrass yourself. Or at least you should.

And for the benefit of the ignorant above, whisk(e)y is Scottish or Irish. The stuff Americans make from rye is Glen Catspey.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: redsnapper
Date: 08 May 07 - 10:13 AM

It est un vrai branleur!

MALPT!

RS

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Grab
Date: 09 May 07 - 05:42 AM

Socialist government? Not seen one of those in the UK since the 1970s...

Having said that, they *are* in the same position the UK was before Thatcher, and in the same position the US partly is. Unionisation *can* work if the unions recognise that if the business doesn't make money, they go under and everyone's out on the street. Unions in the US and France still haven't figured that out, and the governments of both countries are busy tapdancing to try and prop up their failing, over-unionised heavy industries.

Graham.

PS. SRS, wine-wise you're mostly wasting money on French and German. Argentinian and Chilean are much better for the money, and Australian if you like Shiraz.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 09 May 07 - 02:04 PM

"the same position the UK was before Thatcher" - those were pretty good times, looking back. Far better than what followed. "Winter of discontent" was a good phrase, but it even that brief enough episode conmpared pretty favourably against the decades of despair - and against a corruption of private and public life which has largely carried over into the Blair years.

And if anyone thinks that President Chirac is on the left of politics they are pretty clearly pretty out of touch. Unless they think Bush is on the left.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Amos
Date: 09 May 07 - 02:13 PM

B'rat,

When you say "Socialism doesn't work", what kind and degree of socialism are you thinking about? For example, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, are all more "socialist" than, say, the U.S., but they seem to be doing all right. Do you think that --for example -- Social Security systems don't work? How about government-sponsored interstate highways? Federal Air services?

That's an awfully large portmanteau of a word to dismiss in one sentence.


A

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 09 May 07 - 02:33 PM

And France ain't perfect, but it's still a pretty good country to live in. Better than most in all kind of ways.

And I think it's about time for some kind of apologies for all the insults that were hurled at France from across the Atlantic when they tried to stop the USA and its hangers on from making a terrible mistake over Iraq.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: GUEST
Date: 09 May 07 - 06:03 PM

Hooray! Vive la France.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 09 May 07 - 06:06 PM

Here's an article pointing out some of the aspects of French society that knock spots off us, and predicting that Sarkozy is likely to back off from trying to go down the "Anglo-Saxon" road too far.Goodbye to la belle France?

And here are some statistics from the article which indicate why the American model is one the French would be advised to emulate with extreme caution:

America v France
How the two countries compare

Population
US: 301m. France: 61m

Life expectancy
US: male 75.15 years, female 80.97 years.
France: male 77.35 years, female 84 years

Median age
US: 36.6 years. France: 39 years

Working week
US: approx 46 hours. France: usually 35 hours

Population living below the poverty line (for two adults and one child)
US: 12%. France: 6.2%

Minimum wage
US: varies widely from state to state - no such thing in Alabama. France: €8.27

Usual retirement age
US: 65-67. France: 60

Prison population
US: 2 million plus. France: 50,500 plus

Number of murders a year
US: 16,692. France: approx 1,000

Number of overweight citizens
US: a little more than two thirds. France: a little under one third

Public transport
US: bus, train and subway are all hit and miss. France: train, metro, bus and tram are all notoriously punctual.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: dianavan
Date: 09 May 07 - 06:24 PM

France is a great country. Life is good for most. The statistic I like the best is:

Working week
US: approx 46 hours. France: usually 35 hours

Wouldn't that be great!

Seems to me they have more holidays, as well.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 09 May 07 - 07:08 PM

Yes indeed - from that article: "There is something called making "le pont", which means that if a national holiday falls in the middle of the week, French workers will take off enough days before or after it to extend it all the way to the nearest weekend. Not since Edward Heath's three-day week have the British managed to work so little. And there is none of this American rubbish of two weeks' leave a year in France either: Paris, in particular, is massively depopulated from Bastille Day (July 14) until September as the French head off for at least two months of well-earned eating, drinking, romancing and dozing.

And that's not counting those public holidays that don't fall in that summer period.

Subject: RE: BS: France elects a french GWB
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 09 May 07 - 09:09 PM

"And for the benefit of the ignorant above, whisk(e)y is Scottish or Irish. The stuff Americans make from rye is Glen Catspey."

I don't know about Cat's pee but the stuff we make from corn is whiskey, and the best of it is Bourbon Whiskey, which more than holds its own against the Scotch and Irish stuff. We haven't made much rye whiskey here since the whiskey rebellion pushed whiskey distilling out of the Eastern Seaboard and into the limestone water and corn-rich country of Kentucky.