Thursday, November 17, 2005

In Defense of the French

I make fun of the French all the time, but that doesn't mean I hate them personally. I'm not saying I like them. I've just never really met anyone from France, and I'm sure there are nice French people, just like there were nice Nazis. I do think Americans go a little overboard on the French-hating, though. I think America suffers from an inferiority complex when it comes to France. "Yeah, France, you've got all that culture and art and you're thinner and healthier and have better food and your cities are more beautiful than ours...but you're all cowards! We saved you in World War II!"

But during the second Gulf War...oh, yeah, we're still in the second Gulf War...anyway, I stumbled across a popular pamphlet published by the US military defending the French. Yes, by the US military. Not the modern military, of course. Apparently, during the second World War...which I'm pretty sure is over...a lot of US soldiers stationed in France hated the French just as much as the rest of us. So the US military published a pamphlet called 112 Gripes About The French listing and debunking some of the more popular anti-French sentiments. The pamphlet was re-published and sold like hotcakes in France in 2003 during the run-up to Gulf War II. Good points. But I still love a good French joke.

Q: Why do the French tanks have a forward gear?
A: In case the enemy attacks from behind.

3 comments:

Nigel G Mitchell said...

Dear Sir,

Going to war without France is like going duck hunting without your accordion.

Signed,
Donald Rumsfeld

P.S. That's a real quote.

glomgold said...

Donald Rumsfeld must have a lot of friends.

Maurice Mitchell said...

HAHA! Man that thing is funny. I've only read the first twelve so far butmy favorite so far is...
"We are not welcome in French Restaurants."
Why should we be ? We are supposed to eat in army messes. Every meal we might eat in a French restaurant would use up just that much food from the Frenchmen's limited supply.