Obama: The average American loves the French enormously

Hello Fellow Debaters,

Well I'm just dropping in to speak my peace. I wanted to add something just to add balance and to defend guys like me.

I'm Ultra Conservative.
I love George Bush
I'm for taking the fight to those who would oppress me, you or anyone. Waiting for them to come to you is a mistake (My opinion).

I was disappointed when the Government of France didn't back us to the fullest in the GLOBAL WAR on terror. But I didnt dump my french wines like some did. I laughed at the signs that said freedom fries but I knew they were momentary jokes. I've been to France and Why I cant say they were the friendlies people I've ever met they didnt suck (My opinion). That commercial where the french waiter smackes that guy in the head and say's "she said nice pants" was funny if not a bit exagerated but it did have a hint of truth.

France is directly responsible for our very existence. They supported us (though for not entirely altruistic reasons) during our revolutionary war. In case I never said it in the the past Thanks. From what I've been hearing through the military grapevine the French Troops currently serving in Afghanistan are doing a great job. Considering the Germans are refusing to fight I think this is momentous. The French kicking Butt and the Germans are pacafists?

While I do love G.W. Bush I will concede that he does not generally garner the love from Europeans that I would hope he would. This is dissapointing because we need each other and I would only want the very finest of relationships with the europeans. So the fact that he is leaving in just a few short months, and the French / Europeans may relax their rhetoric, maybe thats the silver lining for me. I dislike Obama but I will support him as my president if he wins. So maybe we can all jump on the love bus at that time.

Viva la France
God Save the Queen
And God Bless America

And I like the rest of you guys too. especially the Aussies!

Will

French are good at that. When Britain was fighting the continental European Catholics, French Cardinals always made sure that the Rulers of Britain had the best of French wine. Maybe playing for the best of both worlds.....

well as the french guy in talladega nights said, the french introduced democracy, exostentialism, and the bj to the world. and as cal naughton jr said, those are 3 pretty cool things, especially that last one

reply to post by Rigel

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Yeah, we the French people like Obama a lot. He represents to our minorities an example the French democracy should follow.

Obama represents a huge hope for the average people. John McCain represents a new Bush, nothing more. I cross my fingers for Obama to be elected. Whatever he does , he'll be better than George W !

I would not say I "love" the French. I don't think about them all that much to be honest. Who the hell really does? I am not French and except for 1 trip to Nice I am not ever going back. Not that big on bread, cheese, and cream on everything.

I'm an American who loves France! I think the attempt to vilify France by this administration was directed at people who know very little about the history and culture of it's people. Sadly, that probably includes the majority of people who voted for Bush. How can we know who would be best to represent us to the world around us, if our average citizen knows next to nothing about the world outside their own country? Find someone who says they dislike France, then ask them why, and a few basic questions about the country. Their answers are almost always very telling; ignorance fuels hate.

I love the French -- I love the fact that they helped us achieve our freedom!
I love the food and the bread.
I admire the fact that the French under ground fought so hard against the Nazis after they got their butts kicked.
Now this does not mean I like every French person, not possible ...

This is my opinion,,,
If the goal of this thread is to promote anti French sentiment then I think that is

:

Further more, I think Obama saying this is not a bad thing because it speaks for me personally.




[edit on 26-7-2008 by mental modulator]

reply to post by William Marshal

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Nice Will - I can say we have different political views but I am glad
to read your thoughts, I admire your candor and fortitude.

If you drunk french wine in france you wouldn't say that.

Equivalent of 1 - 4 $ a bottle for reasonable and a little bit more for the "posher" stuff.

Depends where you are!

American wines are REALLY overpriced if you come here. (Why bother when we live in the heart of the vines and it's on our doorstep.)

Find a bottle of our "Baron de Lestac Reserve"....you will not be disappointed. If you do find it, it costs about 3 and a half euros. 10$ minimum for you in USA I imagine.

All relative.

And of course "Cognac" is world famous but like water round here. The town of Cognac is 15 minutes away.....local distillers are plentiful and the REALLY good stuff....well, you'll only get it in some fancy presentaztion box in USA. Here, you get an unlabeled bottle handed over in a "chai" (wine room) by some quaint little granny with a huge smile!

As for americans liking the french, that's easy to say and do without visiting.

What's Obama trying to accomplish by saying this? I doubt he knows much about the french at all.

Come visit.....(hic!)

[edit on 26/7/2008 by nerbot]

reply to post by Rigel

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The guy does have a few screws very loose, nobody loves the French, nobody can even tolerate a French...even the French don't like the French!!!

And this idiot wants to become President of The USA???

If it weren't for the French, there would be no United States of America (for at least two different reasons I can think of off the top of my head).

It bugs me how short this country's collective memory can be sometimes.

It's not like I love french people - all the ones I've encountered were a little too, you know..French, for my liking. Still, theirs is a great country, and we owe them a lot.

The Global War on Terror is a joke, an unwinnable farce designed solely to funnel taxpayer money into the accounts of illegitimate contractors, and keep the population too afraid to better their own lot. I applaud the French (and much of the rest of the world), for not supporting this mess.

All that said, I think Obama is wrong. The average American has an IQ under 100, speaks only one language (poorly), and can't be counted on for their knowledge of world affairs (or even domestic affairs). What sort of yardstick is that for measurement of anything?

reply to post by Rigel

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The average American is an apathetic sloth, who cannot see beyond the HDTV. What do they care about the French unless they have a new Reality TV show showing how rude the French are to their fellow American tourists...

reply to post by William Marshal

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It's sad how some people develop this "selective Amnesia" and just block foreign influence in the foundation of the US.
How can people be so quick to discredit France's involvement in the foundation of the US and their culture.

How quickly we forget....

The French were the third largest colonist group in the US after the Germans and English; they fought side by side with Colonial forces, they detested King George's Imperialistic stranglehold on the colonies.
They helped America free itself from oppression by the English (now the US's best buddy).

Were it not for the French you guys would have had a much harder time during the War of Independence to say the least.

And American culture is so heavily influenced by the French it's not even funny.
1/3 of English is French. The Anglo-Saxon culture originated in France and spread to the British Isles when the Duke of Normandy invaded in 1066 and brought the Norman (French) language, culture and customs along with him.
A lot of things you take for granted are French:

Your Statue of Liberty, a global symbol of the US.
The diesel engine.
The stethoscope.
The altimeter.
Human friggin' flight - the first powered flight was a French hot air balloon.
Parachutes
Sewing machines.
You could go on and on about France's contributions to humanity...

The French made the Americans, they put them on their feet and now not a shred of respect left for them or their culture...

Sad to say the least.

I guess he thinks he's already president. He's presuming to speak for us.

Thanks for asking, Obama.

I think we have a misunderstanding of what truly is an average american. lol I would say the average american knows almost nothing about the French and couldnt care less.
Yep we have so much pounded into our face in our huge country we have no time for the world right? lol

And the average american is a sad affair indeed. So guess what...its the same for the whole world.

Freedom Bread, Freedom Silk Pie, The Freedom District/Quarter, Freedom Toast, Freedom Dressing, Freedom Babes lol

The french i met have been pretty cool

I was with you for a second until you started the hate America part.

America? Wow look around you man. America Rocks, We have everything any other country has including intellect! Hell we got them from other countries! we took the best from the world and voila' The greatest nation known to man.

Will

reply to post by LLoyd45

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I have to agree with you there.

The people of France, and Europe are our best allies in the world and should be treated with our respect. I honestly believe they still like us, and know that not all Americans need to be perceived as hawkish war-mongers. We have a place in the world that opposes tyranny, yet the world sees us as the tyrants.

I personally have no ill will towards them, or any country because of their lack of support for a war that was a very BAD idea.

Actually, if you didn't know, the World Loves Americans. Read that, AmericaNs. Not America, as the Bush Admin has done its best to piss the world off.

But AmericaNs? They love us. Every foreign exchange student I've talked to says the AmericaN is loved. The America is a threat to world security and hated.

Be proud to be an AmericaN in other countries. Unless you support the Bush Admin, then you may want to stay in the south with the rest of your kind.

BTW, India, Japan, and Poland top the list for most friendly towards AmericaNs. They didn't include England or Canada or Australia as they are exempt. Why? We came from England and are sisters with Canada and Australia so it is no surprise we get along.

Oh, almost forgot, one of them was from France, she really "loved" Americans. J'aime ausi les Francois.(No idea if that's spelled right, and probably need a couple of those accent thingies)

Also, on the France helped the Colonies break from England, so true. What I love is when I hear...
"If it wasn't for AMerica you'd be speaking German!" My Response?
"If it wasn't for France we'd be speaking English!"

[edit on 27-7-2008 by Krieger]

I just think Obama overstepped his bounds here when he said "the average American loves France".

Either he's really out of touch or hasn't talked to an average American in quite a while.

That's not the case, there's still a lot of misconceptions and mutual distrust to Europeans as a whole, but particularly France (what with all the French jokes and all).

Obama should really stop pretending he voices the average Joe's concerns, because he doesn't for a minute.

The average American may have loved the French in the 1780's when they fought and died together (hell France lost more men in the War of Independence than the Colonials) but not today.

reply to post by Krieger

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Haha I wouldn't be so quick to make that call.

You'd be surprised what some Aussies think of Americans down here.

The fear and misunderstanding works both ways, sadly...