Cowards are rude to their friends because they know they can get away with it. Cowards are deferential to their enemies because they are afraid of getting hurt. The latter behavior gives cowards a sense of inferiority, which they try to dispel by being rude to their friends.
France is a nation of cowards.
http://www.ambafrance-us.org/comment.asp
Anyway to forward this post and it's threads to the above? It's the Main French Embassy in DC