Only the ignorant dare call french cowards

[skywalker]

Originally posted by Ronn_Bman: As is normal for this forum, I find the article interesting and informative, but I must say that I've never heard insults hurled at the French (people) as (a) whole at the seeming behest of the Bush Administration.

Well Ronn the "seeming behest" would my personal take on it, not necessarily yours or anyone else's. It is my interpretation that the Administration was slightly pleased by the epithets.

If there are any articles about Bush denouncing the French insults I would be interested in reading them.

However, I do recognize and respect your view on the situation. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Mark

[Memnoch]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: I never said they were cowards. They're the best and bravest bunch of losers in the whole world. Some people just lose a battle or a war. Not the french. The French do it with aplomb. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/kidding.gif[/img]

We give yellow cards out to smartasses too, TL. Especially if it could be loosely construed as flamebaiting. Did you know that?

I know you're trying to be funny, mate, but leave the smart-assedness at home, willya? You're making life harder for us with this kind of shite, not to mention insulting people like Moiraine and the other French who visit here, not to mention casting out a line for people like Rokenn to bite at. That mouth of yours is going to earn you a holiday from here one day.


Now enough of this crap about the French! They play damn good rugby, not to mention giving the world the gift that is Laetitia Casta, and I won't let anyone slander their name.

[ 11-05-2003, 07:46 AM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]

[Davros]

Originally posted by The Hierophant: quote: Originally posted by Rokenn: Have you no class TL? How can you say shit like this even in jest after reading this article?

Easy big fella Timber has class, in abundance, he just gets a little carried away with smart-assedness sometimes, as do alot of folk
I've lost count of how many times I've publicly apologised on IW for rash, heated statements. But then again, maybe I have no class...
Heh heh. It's all good. I've always tipped my hat to every aspect of French culture and history (except nuke testing in the Pacifc, grrrrr!!! [img]graemlins/1pissed.gif[/img] ). Beautiful folk, with beautiful ways... [/QUOTE]While I thought it was in poor taste as well (considering the article), I think TL was just doing his "sticking up for the underdog" thing. Let's face it there has been a step to the left around here lately with a large percentage of the neo-cons absenting themselves lately. Life gets kinda dull if there is only one take on life.

[Ronn_Bman]

Originally posted by skywalker: It is my interpretation that the Administration was slightly pleased by the epithets. If there are any articles about Bush denouncing the French insults I would be interested in reading them.

I've no doubt they were slightly pleased, but that doesn't mean they publicly encouraged it. Of course any articles that prove they did would be interesting reading as well. [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Davros]

C'mon Ronn - cough Freedom Fries cough cough cough .

[Donut]

I see that Fox "News" (and I use the word news in the loosest possible sense) is still being even handed in their treatment of the French:

Here

France: Much More Friend Than Foe

Wednesday, November 05, 2003

By Melana Zyla Vickers


Maybe the U.S. should think twice about considering France an adversary in the war against Saddam Hussein and the remnants of his regime. Paris may be helping more than it hurts.

Among the beans that Baathist mouthpiece Tariq Aziz has been spilling lately is the news that French and Russian advisers told Saddam that he didn’t need to fear a rapid ground offensive from the U.S. Looks like he took the expert strategic opinion to heart, considering how quickly his crack troops got rolled.

Quite possibly, the U.S. should thank French government officials for advising their fraternal socialists in Baghdad not to worry. Because with advice like that, who needs disinformation?

One is left wondering how the NATO member could be such a poor student of U.S. military tactics and capabilities. Russia’s bad advice is equally perplexing. Perplexing, that is, until one reflects upon both countries’ rather rich legacy of military screw-ups.

It’s not the first time Paris has let Baghdad down. President Mitterrand supported the U.S. in the 1991 Gulf War. Afterwards, Saddam sent through an intermediary a stinging rebuke against French officials. He reminded the French government of the two countries’ longstanding socialist ties and warned that if France failed to protect him again, he would make public in France the lengthy list of shady benefits derived by French government officials doing business with Iraq.

We might never know whether Saddam was pleased with France’s advice this time. His acolytes are evidently getting some use out of the French missiles given to Saddam in violation of the U.N. embargo. But the “don’t worry, be happy” counsel reported by Aziz may be something of a sticking point.

Not that Saddam, if alive, would be able to make the French pay: The U.S. in recent days seized Iraq’s intelligence archives, a move that suggests the French and American public alike will know about Baghdad-Paris coziness even sooner than Saddam intended.

[Rokenn]

Originally posted by Memnoch: I know you're trying to be funny, mate, but leave the smart-assedness at home, willya? You're making life harder for us with this kind of shite, not to mention insulting people like Moiraine and the other French who visit here, not to mention casting out a line for people like Rokenn to bite at. That mouth of yours is going to earn you a holiday from here one day.

Sorry about losing it last night Memnoch. I was feeling a bit grumby when I got home and when I read the thread I sorta blew a gasket [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Timber Loftis]

It was just a joke, people, a joke. If you can't take a frikkin joke, give me a vacation. It was meant to lighten the mood of a very HEAVY article. This [img]graemlins/kidding.gif[/img] little smilie has a meaning. Davros called half of it -- the left-leaning ways of IWF have run off a few long-time members lately. (Guess I'm just next in line.) The other half was completely an attempt at tongue-in-cheek. I give things here the Jay Leno/David Letterman test. If they are things those guys could say in their monologues, and I get yellow-carded for them, then that is a failing of IWF, not me. I think you guys give our members too little credit for their ability to laugh at themselves and recognize a simple joke. The PC-ness is killing me.

Memnoch, mate, the only time you even bother to converse with me any more is to give me yellow cards. It's a shame I have to go to those lengths to get your attention, when I once liked you so much. Well, I've got a few now. How many before you give me a vacation or just ban me?

On a more serious note. This is not a yellow card instance. It's a joke. I really don't appreciate it. You're villifying me when I'm simply joking? Unfair. Absolutely unfair.

[ 11-05-2003, 01:12 PM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]

[Rokenn]

Yup the deaths of nearly half a million people is always worth a laugh or two. Lets start a 9/11 joke thread and see how far that goes

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by Rokenn: Yup the deaths of nearly half a million people is always worth a laugh or two. Lets start a 9/11 joke thread and see how far that goes

Well, that's a good point, and I obviously wasn't looking at it that way. It would have been helpful if you had said that rather than insinuating I'm classless. I have a history here, and one can only assume that by insinuating I'm classless, you (another long-time member) would be factoring all the things I've said over time into your querry. Or you should. So, was it just a one-off at me, or have you been led to believe over time that I lack class?