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| Europe |
| Chirac loves American junk food |
| 2003-02-17 |
| President Jacques Chirac, a man so partial to good grub that he once sent an Elysée palace sous-chef to Spain to learn how to make a decent oxtail soup, yesterday admitted that he had a soft spot for American junk food. Wonder if he likes pretzels? Savaged across the Atlantic for his opposition to the US march to war in Iraq, Mr Chirac said in an interview with Time magazine that he was more saddened than angry when he heard people say that his stance was inspired by anti-Americanism. "I know the US perhaps better than most French people, and I really like the United States," he insisted, adding: "I've made many excellent friends there, I feel good there. I love junk food, and I always come home with a few extra pounds." "Mon Dieu! You should see me when I'm having a Big Mac Attack!" Mr Chirac has been a self-confessed fan of America since he spent a summer at Harvard in 1953, worked in a fast-food joint and enjoyed a passionate (if brief) love affair with a Carolina belle. And you just have to wonder how she feels today. He reminded the magazine that his personal involvement with the US went back a long time. "I've studied there, worked as a forklift operator for Anheuser-Busch in St Louis and as a soda jerk at Howard Johnson's," Mr Chirac said. So what went wrong? We tried our best. The guy had honest work, good beer, cheeseburgers and was getting laid regularly. What else could we have done? But his affection for the US way of life did not stop him feeling concerned about its ambitions. "Any community with only one dominant power is always a dangerous one and provokes reactions," he said. "That's why I favour a multipolar world." "In which France is first among equals." It is a sad irony that Mr Chirac, who made improving transatlantic ties one of the main planks of his foreign policy, should now be presiding over the current crisis. It's just plain sad that Mr. Chirac is presiding over anything. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #10 Uncle Ho Chi Minh used to wash dishes when he lived in the U.S.A. He also went on to an illustrious career in his homeland. |
| Posted by: Tresho 2003-02-18 00:03:19 |
| #9 Boy, is that condescending! That racist twit thinks America is about good old boys and junk food. That corrupt bastard forgets our people have won more Nobel prizes in the last five years than the French have in their entire history. And to make matters worse, Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon routinely beats the best Bourdeaux in blind tastings. Junk food, my ass! This guys living in some kind of neo-fascist dreamworld. |
| Posted by: Rodger Dodger 2003-02-17 14:28:23 |
| #8 Jacques used to be a St. Louisian. Worked at AB, probably knocked back a few in the bleachers at Cardinal games. I'll bet he made 4:00 in the morning White Castle runs too. Lovely. I don't think that little fact is going to turn up in our tourism brochures any time soon. |
| Posted by: Christopher Johnson 2003-02-17 12:16:31 |
| #7 So I guess this makes him a "cheeseburger eating surrender monkey"? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-02-17 12:00:07 |
| #6 Chirac could always grow a spine and take the lead on things. The unipolar world run by the US could be led to do the right thing if Chirac had any brains. Instead of fighting the flow of history join up with it, guide it, as Tony Blaire got the US to go to the UN first Chirac could be the one pointing out targets and reasons. ah, there is the nut because then people would question French rationals for everything instead of American rationals. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-02-17 10:35:19 |
| #5 Was it the French who first coined the term "americanization" after the Civil War? They saw what we would become then. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-02-17 09:59:02 |
| #4 And I really like you guys too, Jacques... Just between you and me... I secretly crave French horse meat, snails, and frogs every once and a while... And don't forget... french wine, clarified with cow's blood...! |
| Posted by: -----------<<<<- 2003-02-17 08:55:22 |
| #3 don't listen to him: it's a backhanded compliment saying 'i understand your culture and your food is sh*t' |
| Posted by: anon 2003-02-17 07:49:23 |
| #2 "Any community with only one dominant power is always a dangerous one and provokes reactions," he said. "That's why I favour a multipolar world." Point is, Chirac, you've made the western alliance look divided, corrupt and weak. The world's very much bipolar, and your waving the banner for despots and repression the world over puts you at odds with whose of us who are making the world a safer place. Wonder what the frogs would have thought in '44 if the Iraqis had marched in Baghdad protesting allied plans for Normandy... |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-02-17 03:37:55 |
| #1 "- Any community with only one dominant power is always a dangerous one and provokes reactions," he said. "That's why I favour a multipolar world." Well,there you have it.France wants to prop up Saddam so he can be a "counterweight" to the U.S and Israel.You're still a disgusting frog,Jacques,but thanks for "coming clean". |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-02-17 02:01:36 |