1914 - 1918: America sits out 3/4 of the Great War while a quarter of France's draft-age men are killed defending their country. Finally, when it is realized that an allied loss might mean the default on huge JP Morgan loans, the U.S. enters the war.

1940: France surrenders to a vastly superior Nazi force after losing "only" 10,000 men. (I wonder how many Americans would casually dismiss the loss of 10,000 troops in Iraq as if it were nothing, or cowardice.)

1942: Roosevelt tries to undermine de Gaulle in favor of the traitor Pétain, "leader" of Vichy France, rounder-up of Jewish children, deporter of French Jews to the death camps.

The present: France, aided in her post-war recovery by the U.S., now enjoys the best health-care system, the best public transportation system, a meaningful retirement for every worker, important roles in medicine, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, fashion and design while the U.S. has let its infrastrucure, health-care system and social security rot.

And they have the nerve to disagree with us??