Posted on 05/25/2004 12:12:37 PM PDT by quidnunc
France's U.S. Embassy blasted Gov. Bill Owens on Monday for "unfortunate and ill-informed" jokes about the French.
Keynoting Saturday at the Michigan Republican Party Convention, Owens quipped, "You know why they planted those big trees along the boulevard in Paris? So the invading armies could march in the shade."
And, he continued, "You know why the new French navy has glass-bottom boats? So it can see the old French navy."
C'est dommage, responded Nathalie Loiseau of the French Embassy in Washington. She admonished Colorado's two-term governor for "uselessly practicing French bashing for the purpose of playing politics." Owens delivered his riffs to a crowd of 2,000 Michigan Republicans after contrasting President Bush's leadership with that of likely Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Kerry, he said, "would wait for a permission slip to be filled out by the United Nations and initialed by France" before rebuilding Iraq.
Owens was unavailable Monday to explain his bon mots against the French.
Communications director Sean Duffy said the governor "has been very concerned about European and other nations who have been not only unsupportive, but actively antagonistic in the conduct and the run-up to the Iraq war."
"He was pointing out how America has sacrificed for other nations. So, historically, he was trying to point out that America has done a lot for France," he continued.
Concerns about Owens' jokes are "kind of bewildering," Duffy added, "because he had a standing ovation in the hall."
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at denverpost.com ...
Hilarious!
Jokes worth remembering!
When did he say he was sorry?
How can you tell a Frenchman has been in your bedroom?
The white sheets are missing.
OWENS 2008!
The French can give Michael Moore an award for the most rabidly poisonous anti-Bush film and absurdly false "documentary"... and yet they get their truffles in a twist because a Republican cracked a joke about their less than stellar battle history.Perhaps a movie called "Nous Rendons" should be entered at next year's Cannes contest.
-Eric
Wow, funny funny stuff.......and just wrong in so many ways...I love it! It's nice to see that therre are places where PC hasn't killed comedy.That dates back to the late 70s, when PC was non-existent. A "Best of the National Lampoon" volume from when P. J. O'Rourke was editor would probably sell massively, but no publisher would touch it because it would attract more whiny protests than the simultaneous disbandment of ATF and DEA.
-Eric
"Trust the French"
-- Gen. Pershing
I have no idea of what Gen. Pershing was really saying...but the quote
just sounds great these days...pur irony and sarcasm.
There's a reason why the French fighter jet is called a Mirage... (if you think you see one in actual combat, that's a mirage.)
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