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| Owens Tells Truth About French. PC Whiners in Media Complain | |
| 2004-05-25 | |
| Owens’ jokes get gonged Remarks at Michigan event offend Francophiles, embassy officials 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." After this we have the usual whining which takes up bytes, then this key line: Concerns about Owens’ jokes are "kind of bewildering," Duffy [Owens’ Staff Member] added, "because he had a standing ovation in the hall."
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| Posted by:BigEd |
| #21 Eric, me thinks Lance has the team to win it and Tyler does not. And also too. Tyler seems tender and cycling is all balls. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-05-25 11:53:31 PM |
| #20 With full apologies to JFM, whom I consider our best (almost only) friend in the enemy camp... Owens should check out this and this and this - then he'd make everyone, except the French, happy. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-05-25 7:17:30 PM |
| #19 Matt, we'll have a few tourists going to France soon. Lance Armstrong will be going for his sixth consecutive victory in the Tour de France. Frankly, I don't think he'll win this time. Tyler Hamilton will. If he could take win a stage and take fourth last year with a broken collarbone, what might he do if he stays healthy? |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2004-05-25 4:32:04 PM |
| #18 Owens is right. Dems are fools for not recognizing how their mewling dependence on French public opinion and UN approval will be the primary reason independents will shy away from voting for Kerry. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-05-25 4:12:32 PM |
| #17 #9, don't know about tourism stats this year yet. But re: 2003: French tourism down in 2003 -- The drop is blamed on the loss of American visitors March 04, 2004 - Thursday News : Foreign tourists dropped by 2.6 percent to 75 million last year from 77 million in 2002 in what was a poor year for global tourism, said junior minister for tourism, Leon Bertrand. U.S. visitors fell 18.3 percent to 2.4 million in 2003, when the dollar fell and relations between Paris and Washington soured over France's opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. That was a big blow because U.S. tourists spend more and stay longer on average than people from other countries, according to a report detailing the figures. "The drop in American revenues was particularly pronounced. For more than 30 years, the United States has been the country that has been the most profitable for France in terms of tourism revenues," it said. |
| Posted by: True, true 2004-05-25 3:29:18 PM |
| #16 I forgot to add that with Guiliani as Sec State for GW, he can slide into the VP for Owens. Start laying the foundation for republicans. I still haven't figured out how to get McCain to resign. I don't like or trust him. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2004-05-25 3:28:24 PM |
| #15 Matt # 10 I can't speak to that but I have a funny aside. The local liquor store has a prominent sale sogn for... French wines. Being an inquisitive sort, I ask the manager about it: "Let me guess, that stuff hasn't moved (off the shelves) in a while in the usual quantity". The basic response - dead on balls. |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-05-25 3:28:24 PM |
| #14 I'd make Guiliani Sec of State. Everyone knows him and for the most part likes him after 9-11. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2004-05-25 3:23:43 PM |
| #13 Angie: I don't know why Ted Rall is shocked (shocked I say shocked!) by all that anti-Americanism considering he has had a hand in creating it. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2004-05-25 3:21:58 PM |
| #12 Yosemite Sam, I like your plan. I had a similar one with Guiliani as VP, but Rudy could fit into a dozen places (Attorney General, Sec State, UN Ambassador). |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-05-25 2:41:55 PM |
| #11 Yosemite Sam---that sounds like more of a plan than GW's advisors have. Take the offensive instead of being wusses to wusses. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-05-25 2:35:46 PM |
| #10 In my grand plan I'd have Bill Owens run as GW's VP. Cheney can say he's not running due to health concerns. Its a two fold plan - the white house distances itself from the bad halliburon press and Owens has a stepping stone to running for Pres in 2008. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2004-05-25 2:27:58 PM |
| #9 Anyone know the projections for American tourism in France this summer? I want the Louvre so empty in July that the curator can hear the paint crack on the Mona Lisa. |
| Posted by: Matt 2004-05-25 2:10:20 PM |
| #8 Still, at least newer jokes would have given something new for the French Embassy to whine about. Wasn't this the same ambassador who was sobbing into his fois gras last month about the vicious French-bashing going on at all levels of the American government and media? |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2004-05-25 2:04:51 PM |
| #7 I like Bill Owens quite a bit. In fact, I'd like to see him make a run for the White House one day. I reckon it would have to do a lot with how GOP insiders/fundraisers like him, though. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-05-25 2:02:30 PM |
| #6 Look for there to be much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the French press, and not one hint of "Why do they hate us?" I have noticed that when we make a few isolated jokes about "freedom fries" and the "axis of weasels", that means that a shocking wave of anti-French hatred is sweeping across the US. But all those comically hysterical articles and cartoons in the French press? And the French schoolchildren who turned their artwork into an anti-American jubilee? Well, that's just the natural consequences of the policies of the Bushitler. It's free speech! And YS --- tell your gov to get fresher jokes. These have exceeded their shelf life. Peeee-ewwww. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2004-05-25 1:59:54 PM |
| #5 'at a boy Gov! |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2004-05-25 1:58:19 PM |
| #4 ruprecht - Oldies but goodies! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-25 1:45:12 PM |
| #3 Those jokes are decades old, you would think he could have dug up a new one or two. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-05-25 1:32:41 PM |
| #2 Thats my GOV! Love CO!! |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2004-05-25 1:18:21 PM |
| #1 Owens is the Republican Governor of Colorado. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-05-25 1:14:44 PM |