French / U.S. relations

[YankBastard]

Who do French people want to be the next U.S. president?

[guignol]

screamin' jay hawkins would have been my choice but he up and died... no one i guess, that would be best.

when you have jesus in your heart, you don't need a president. everyone knows that guvmint is the devil's tool!

[guignol]

http://a69.g.akamai.net/n/69/10688/v1/img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/rsz/434/x/x/x/medias/nmedia/18/65/12/54/18830774.jpg

now is that a president or WHAT???

[Pierre-Henri]

Who do French people want to be the next U.S. president?

Scarlett Johanson. Or maybe Natalie Portman.

Jokes aside, Obama is by far the most popular candidate here.

[guignol]

Scarlett Johanson. Or maybe Natalie Portman.neither of them are eligible. first, one must be born in the united states (that's why arnold can't be presidentor) and i believe these two lovelies were born in denmark and israel. second you must be 45 years old to run, and they're both still in their twenties.

[Lensois]

neither of them are eligible. first, one must be born in the united states (that's why arnold can't be presidentor) and i believe these two lovelies were born in denmark and israel. second you must be 45 years old to run, and they're both still in their twenties.

The age is actually 35 so they do still have to wait but not quite as long. Also, you have to be a natural born citizen of the US meaning that if you have one or both parents who are US citizens but are not born in the US yourself you qualify. Arnold is a citizen by law (naturalized) while Natalie (Scarlett was actually born in the US) would be considered a citizen by birth assuming her birth was registered with the US Embassy.

I always told my parents those history degrees would come in useful!;)

[from the plaines]

Obama is by far the most popular candidate here.

I was curious why is that?

[Pierre-Henri]

The media just need somebody to make the highlights. Obama shows well on TV, and he's black, so the easy "can an African-american be president ?" lines come automatically. Easy, cheap buzz.

Funny how the French marvel at such things. The first time Harry Roselmack anchored the news, it was some sort of national event (in 2006 !). We are still very backward for that matter. If you except the Caribbean Islands, we don't have any Black or Arab mayor, congressman, major politician... Sarkozy was to first to offer an important ministery to a woman from Morrocan origin, Rachida Dati.

I heard recently an interview of Rama Yade. She was rather annoyed by the weird presuppositions she is victim of. First, people always assume she is a leftist because she's black. Problem : she always was UMP. Plus, reporters always ask her silly questions ("what it is like, to be a black politician ?"). She keeps answering : "hey, what's the deal ?".

So, Obama's campaign is rather exotic for us. Twice. A) because he's black and B) because people (and himself) don't seem to bother that much about it.

[Catfish]

I'm an independent voter and from Obama's state of Illinois.
He is inspiring, but his lack of experience concerns me. He has
only been a US Senator for a few years and before that was only
a State Senator. I think that could be a refreshing thing or scarey.

[from the plaines]

I just don't get what all the fuss about him is. I voted for him when he ran for Senator. But I wont next time. As far as I have seen he more or less won the Senate race and went almost right into running for the White House. To me he seems to have turned his back on the Illinois people. Plus I am trying to see how he is going to make a difference but the only thing I hear is change. But if you look at his platform it is more or less the Democratic platform. which isn't a huge change. Also I don't think he really has the experience needed. Its not like he had a hard time wining the Senate seat. The guy he ran against was crazy, and the Republican party hated him and didnt bother voting for him. So all and all I think he has charisma, but I think he is going to pull a Howard Dean.

[Pierre-Henri]

I'm not American, but I would find weird to vote for Clinton. After the father and son gig, now the husband and wife ?

Maybe you should rename your country "United Kingdoms of America" ?

[NicolasN.]

I'm not American, but I would find weird to vote for Clinton. After the father and son gig, now the husband and wife ?

Maybe you should rename your country "United Kingdoms of America" ?

Carla Bruni for president :D

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/4353/carlabruni12nv6.th.jpg

Sorry, that's stupid.

[lefutur]

Carla Bruni for president :D

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/4353/carlabruni12nv6.th.jpg

Sorry, that's stupid.


or bruni's kid in 35 years

[from the plaines]

I'm not American, but I would find weird to vote for Clinton. After the father and son gig, now the husband and wife ?

Maybe you should rename your country "United Kingdoms of America" ?

Yea it is kinda weird, and it does have a lot of people talking. Since we have had either had a bush or a clinton in the white house since the 80s.

[Catel]

I hope Reagan and Carter's sons are not willing to become president :D

[YankBastard]

I hope Reagan and Carter's sons are not willing to become president :D

Reagan's son is homosexual, I believe.

[Catel]

Reagan's son is homosexual, I believe.
A Black and a woman are among the main candidates today. Maybe he'll have a chance in 2012. :p

(if he's for the democrats, of course)

[guignol]

you mean for the republicans... because if the electorate is madashellandnotgoingtotakeitanymore at the GOP now, in 4 years they'll be in the exact same mood against the dems. that's one of the major constants in american elections, the predisposition to discontent. in calmer periods of our history it's possible for an incumbent to be reelected due to endemic apathy, but nothing like that is on the horizon for the 21st century's answer to the ottoman empire.

there is of course the possibility of buying, gerrymandering or stealing an election by means that short circuit the electorate, but moonbat democrats fail to grasp the american-ness of that, the greater fools they.

http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/34/63/22856334.jpg

[guignol]

but politico-ridiculosity shows no favorites. france can hold its head high here too. take for example the motion by louis giscard d'éstaing, a chinless wonder who has made a career on his father's name (or rather the name his father borrowed to make a career on)...

he wants to have notes for 1€ and 2€ replace the coins actually in circulation. why?

reason n°1: that's what they have in america!

a great reason obviously, but he either doesn't know or won't say that the fed has been trying like hell to get rid of the $1 bill for 30 years because it costs the taxpayer a fortune to keep in circulation (average life <1 day), nor that the average american citizen won't touch a $2 bill with a bargepole.

reason n°2: the present coins are a real inconvenience. if you go to the baker's for a baguette with a five euro note you'll get back coins as change.

true enough, but if you pay with a 1€ in paper, you'll also get coins in change. but let's not be too hard on petit louis, like most of today's politicians he doesn't know how much a baguette costs. and certainly can't be expected to know that most families buy more than one baguette at a time, or that bakeries sell more than baguettes... a giscard standing in line for bread??? shirley you jest!

reason n°3: having notes would make it easier when you travel abroad, because coins are not exchangeable.

not exchangeable? i suppose that's why about 2/3 of the 1€ and 2€ coins you see come from other countries. but here again, you have to forgive his ignorance. money is noble in the absolute, but to touch it with your own hands it's grubby, dirty stuff... he has a man for that.

reason n°4: it would be anti-inflationary. the unwashed would finally realize the value of their hard earned and it's much more uplifting to get notes in change than coins.

a matter of taste i suppose, but the clinking of a big shiny coin has always appealed to me more than the rustle of a crumpled piece of paper... one of the little things that first endeared me to france were those coppery 10 coins... lovely they were.

but the reason that must ABSOLUTELY NOT be considered as any kind of reason....

the coins are made by the mint in paris, the notes are made in a printing plant in his jurisdiction in the puy-de-dôme.



i have a suggestion for le petit mitron: have a nice wad of monopoly euros printed up at his own expense... and stick them where the sun never shines.

[Pierre-Henri]

Guignol, you're probably the only one person living in France today who :

A) knows that Louis Giscard d'Estaing exists
B) knows what he actually thinks
C) cares about what he thinks

No, a really funny political decision will soon come. According to the buzz among les milieux autorisés, the funding system of universities should change. Today, universities are funded according to the number of students. In the future, they may be funded according to the number of diplomas they stamp.

Oh, oh, oh... if academics are paid according to the number of papers they stamp every year, you'll have to avoid walking near an university or you'll be knocked-out by flying diplomas. The stamping machine will know no rest. Non-selective universities alone are an absurdity. Add the stamp-or-die policy, and you get a 100% sovietic system. Soon, you'll find Phd's on flea markets.

But, the Comrad Valery Pecresskova will be able to show perfect statistics, proving the excellency of our academic system. That's Sarkozy's definition of "success", I suppose : to artificially create nice stats out of nothing. Stakhanov is still alive, and he's French !