"I read in the paper this morning that Finland was one of the critical swing votes in the election for host of the 2012 games."
Oh, I so hope this is true. The French people, when they get wind of this, will turn on Chirac bigtime, because he opened his big mouth. He will be eating crow, which is much worse than either British or Finnish cuisine. Crow seems to be France's new national dish. They dished it out and now they have to eat it. C'est dommage.
Finns prefer British cuisine to French insults....
I agree with you, if this turns out to be the case Chirac is beyond toast politically, he'll be a national disgrace and embarrassment. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.