I hate the french!!!!

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Americans, and most particularly the Right, hate the French because they're so much like us. They're nationalistic, believe that others should speak their language, and tend to believe in their own exceptionalism. Moreover, they told us that invading Iraq was a bad idea and they were right. The nerve.

I've traveled through France dozens of times and have never had an issue. In fact, I find it a pretty exceptional country - great food, great wine, great art, great skiing, great sights and beautiful women. What's not to like?

I was being facetious in the OP. I was in the South of France for two weeks back in the '80s. Cannes, Nice and Toulon. Even Toulon wasn't bad, if you didn't behave like a jackass. Cannes and Nice were beautiful.

The dislike of the French most recently, I believe, was fomented by our own government over instances when we found ourselves at odds with them. Over the Iraq war, etc. Rightwingers fall for it more readily because...........well, they always seem to need foreigners to loathe.

I was once told that the French were why we "...ended up in Vietnam. To take care of something they were too weak to finish."

Ummmmm....... We never "finished" Vietnam, either.

Dave

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

I was being facetious in the OP. I was in the South of France for two weeks back in the '80s. Cannes, Nice and Toulon. Even Toulon wasn't bad, if you didn't behave like a jackass. Cannes and Nice were beautiful.

The dislike of the French most recently, I believe, was fomented by our own government over instances when we found ourselves at odds with them. Over the Iraq war, etc. Rightwingers fall for it more readily because...........well, they always seem to need foreigners to loathe.

I was once told that the French were why we "...ended up in Vietnam. To take care of something they were too weak to finish."

Ummmmm....... We never "finished" Vietnam, either.

Dave

Probably because both militaries tried to fight a conventional war against an enemy that was anything but conventional.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

I was once told that the French were why we "...ended up in Vietnam. To take care of something they were too weak to finish."

Ummmmm....... We never "finished" Vietnam, either.

Dave

It's also important to remember that the French collapse in Indochina was precipitated in part by a broken promise. We had agreed to assist the French military at the siege of Diem Bien Phu. We promised to send US aircraft to assist the French forces being decimated there but, somehow, we just sorta didn't.

John

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by Boreas

It's also important to remember that the French collapse in Indochina was precipitated in part by a broken promise. We had agreed to assist the French military at the siege of Diem Bien Phu. We promised to send US aircraft to assist the French forces being decimated there but, somehow, we just sorta didn't.

John

I guess we wanted to see them fail so we could take over the show.

[Dondilion]

Dave I believe the reason you hate the French is Charles De Gaul...he was
a pompous bastard.

He felt everyone and everything were inferior to the "French".

Anyhow I love the French they gave sanctuary to a lot of our musicians and treated our
non white troops - especially in WW1- with respect.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

Dave I believe the reason you hate the French is Charles De Gaul...he was
a pompous bastard.

He felt everyone and everything were inferior to the "French".

Anyhow I love the French they gave sanctuary to a lot of our musicians and treated our
non white troops - especially in WW1- with respect.

In WW1 the French took our black troops, notably the 369th Regiment of the New York National Guard, away from duty as stevedores or other types of manual labor and put them in the line. Even though these soldiers had been trained for combat, the higher ups in the US Army felt they couldn't be trusted in the line. The French even had to give these American soldiers French rifles and French helmets.

At the end of the war the French awarded the French awarded the entire regiment the Croix de Guerre for their service to France. When it was time to return they had a tough time finding an American ship that would carry them and, when they got here, they weren't allowed to march in the official 1919 Victory Parade.

Sometime between the wars, the black American dancer, Josephine Baker moved to France and established her life and career there. At the outbreak of WW2 she was recruited by French intelligence to spy on the Germans. When France fell, she began working for the Free French. After the war she was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Rosette de la Resistance (Resistance Medal) and the Legion d'Honneur.

Many American Jazz musicians, like Lester Young and Dexter Gordon, moved to France after WW2 to escape Jim Crow and white racism. Some returned but many stayed.

John

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by Boreas

In WW1 the French took our black troops, notably the 369th Regiment of the New York National Guard, away from duty as stevedores or other types of manual labor and put them in the line. Even though these soldiers had been trained for combat, the higher ups in the US Army felt they couldn't be trusted in the line. The French even had to give these American soldiers French rifles and French helmets.

At the end of the war the French awarded the French awarded the entire regiment the Croix de Guerre for their service to France. When it was time to return they had a tough time finding an American ship that would carry them and, when they got here, they weren't allowed to march in the official 1919 Victory Parade.

Sometime between the wars, the black American dancer, Josephine Baker moved to France and established her life and career there. At the outbreak of WW2 she was recruited by French intelligence to spy on the Germans. When France fell, she began working for the Free French. After the war she was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Rosette de la Resistance (Resistance Medal) and the Legion d'Honneur.

Many American Jazz musicians, like Lester Young and Dexter Gordon, moved to France after WW2 to escape Jim Crow and white racism. Some returned but many stayed.

John

PBS had a very complete documentary series on theat rigimennt and other blacks who fought in WW II. I recall one sailor who was assigned as a cook's helper. When the gunner handling one of the AA guns was killed this sailor took over and got himself a Japanese aircraft.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by merrylander

PBS had a very complete documentary series on theat rigimennt and other blacks who fought in WW II. I recall one sailor who was assigned as a cool's helper. When yj gunner handling one of the AA guns was kille this sailor took over and got himself a Japanese aircraft.

Yes, he was a mess attendant, basically a bus boy. That was at Pearl Harbor. I think there may be a famous photo of that, probably restaged like the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima.

Yes, here it is.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

Dave I believe the reason you hate the French is Charles De Gaul...he was
a pompous bastard.

He felt everyone and everything were inferior to the "French".

Kinda like the type of Americans who profess to hate the French (i.e., the ones who harp on American exceptionalism) without having set foot in France.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Dondilion

I guess we wanted to see them fail so we could take over the show.

Then proudly claim glorious defeat ourselves. "Mission Accomplished" anyone?

Dave