All is forgiven, tout est oublie.

November 7, 2007 11:28 AM

Sarko l'Americain addresses US Congress. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has told the US Congress it can count on France's support against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iran's nuclear plan. [Full Text here PDF]. Here also, is a recent take on Franco-American relations

From the French and Indian Wars, to the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Louisiana Purchase, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War<>, the Cold War and through de Gaulle, Giscard-d'Estaing, Mitterrand, Chirac and Freedom Fries, there has never been a dull moment in this long and complicated relationship between two of the world's great powers.

posted by psmealey (32 comments total)

If he thinks bush is so great he can send troops to Iraq. Somehow I don't expect that anytime soon.
posted by delmoi at 11:32 AM on November 7, 2007

So he's the new Blair then?

Enjoy having a bootlicker for boss, France.
posted by Artw at 11:43 AM on November 7, 2007

You know what would improve Franco-American relations? A little slow-roast beef gravy. Mmmm. Diplomatic-a-licious.
posted by GuyZero at 11:52 AM on November 7, 2007

You know who else supported a war criminal in invading sovereign nations on false pretexts? That's right, the Vichy French.
posted by stet at 11:53 AM on November 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Oh, fer fuck's sake, people. George Bush is not the United States. The U.S. Congress is not George Bush. And Sarkozy, like most anybody with a brain, can look forward to a time about a year from now when a Republican won't be president in the US. This is a good thing.

Good post, by the way.
posted by koeselitz at 11:56 AM on November 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

... between two of the world's great powers

They absolutely wish.
posted by Aloysius Bear at 11:56 AM on November 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

I think all the countries were already invaded by the time Vichy was set up.
posted by psmealey at 11:57 AM on November 7, 2007

July 1940? Naw, the Wehrmacht hadn't headed East yet.
posted by pax digita at 12:09 PM on November 7, 2007

Sorry. Brain cramp.
posted by psmealey at 12:12 PM on November 7, 2007

I wonder who wrote his speech. Peut-être Guaino ? He complains that he would write less and make more money as a journalist. Here's a study on the subject of the (too) many speeches of Sarkozy. It states that anaphoras usually betrays that Guaino is the author... the first link of the post includes a link towards the pdf of the whole speech. Thanks for the post.
posted by nicolin at 12:14 PM on November 7, 2007

sorry, here's the study.
posted by nicolin at 12:15 PM on November 7, 2007

do some web searching for France, Sarkozyk, Iran and OIL and you will better understand what is going on
posted by Postroad at 12:16 PM on November 7, 2007

Sarkozy won points from me for this.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:28 PM on November 7, 2007

Oh, fer fuck's sake, people. George Bush is not the United States. The U.S. Congress is not George Bush. And Sarkozy, like most anybody with a brain, can look forward to a time about a year from now when a Republican won't be president in the US. This is a good thing.

And he can't hold his tongue for a year? Because right now it looks like Bush licking to me.

There is a difference between supporting a country and supporting it's leadership.
posted by delmoi at 12:38 PM on November 7, 2007

Well the position of "Bush's poodle" *has* been vacant since Tony Blair's retirement. And it's not like Angela Merkl was going to jump at that opportunity...
posted by clevershark at 12:47 PM on November 7, 2007

Does this mean that my pals in the Midwest can start liking France again now?
posted by the dief at 1:24 PM on November 7, 2007

It's not "France" anymore, it's "Freedomland"! You must have missed the memo.
posted by clevershark at 1:41 PM on November 7, 2007

Will you want some Sarkozy fries with that?
posted by CautionToTheWind at 2:00 PM on November 7, 2007

So he's the new Blair then?

Enjoy having a bootlicker for boss, France.

Yes. You're either with us or against us. Oh wait.
posted by gyc at 2:03 PM on November 7, 2007

delmoi: "There is a difference between supporting a country and supporting it's leadership."

There is a difference between telling the president publicly that you support him and his policies, and telling congress that you support them and their policies. A big difference; at least in this country.
posted by koeselitz at 2:39 PM on November 7, 2007

re:walking out of 60', I'm not sure how I feel. On the one hand, calling American media on their obsession on the personal lives of political leaders: good. On the other, the refusal to deal with a journalist who asks anything but pre-approved questions: bad. It's unfortunate that in America we've so readily accepted the latter.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 2:56 PM on November 7, 2007

"Why would a company called 'Franco-American' make Italian food?"
posted by First Post at 3:00 PM on November 7, 2007

You need to take off your uniform.
posted by airguitar at 3:14 PM on November 7, 2007

My understanding from reading stories about the 60 Minutes incident (stories that seem to have disappeared) is that Sarkovy told them beforehand that he would not answer questions about his marriage, and that he labeled his press secretary an idiot for setting the interview up in the first place. When Sawyer asked about his wife, he walked out.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:12 PM on November 7, 2007

Stahl, not Sawyer.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:15 PM on November 7, 2007

Yep... knew that Sarkozy would turn out to be a toerag.

Ce la vie...
posted by pompomtom at 6:58 PM on November 7, 2007

The most interesting part of his address, I thought, was the list of symbols of America that he says he was brought up admire: John Wayne, Elvis Presley, MLK, Ernest Hemingway, Charlton Heston. Talk about clichés.
posted by Lezzles at 12:29 AM on November 8, 2007

What's wrong with Bootlicking ? In France, there's a song about it : Lèche-bottes blues. Towards the end, it compares the average bootlicker to a "collaborateur" (i.e. the French "traitors" who "helped" German army during WWII. The singer, Eddy Mitchell, has begun his career like that. What's wrong with clichés ? (just a proof that sarko (or his pen friend) isn't that wrong). But today, even if clichés about the U.S.A. are much different for the majority of us (there's a lot of criticism about the leaders, about the whole way of life, not to mention foreign affairs), your land still evokes a lot of idealistic images.
posted by nicolin at 3:10 AM on November 8, 2007

Btw, I think that the most interesting part of the speech is about the U.S.A. as a leader in the struggle against global warming (the translation mentions alongside with France, but the speech says "among the leaders" too). I didn't check what's going on in the states, but here, even the members of the government have begun to tell people to change their habits and to go to their work using bikes instead of their cars.
posted by nicolin at 3:16 AM on November 8, 2007

Ratatouille
posted by Artw at 10:50 PM on November 8, 2007

Gordon Brown attemptsto re-establish suck-up status.
posted by Artw at 1:26 PM on November 12, 2007

France, China sign $30 billion in nuclear, airliner deals

"The sales appeared to be a reward to France for respecting Beijing's sensitivities on such matters as Tibet. Sarkozy, unlike his German and American counterparts, hasn't received the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, whom China condemns as a separatist."
posted by homunculus at 9:53 AM on November 27, 2007