I post this for my liberal friends who get all snippy whenever a joke about France is made. We're better than the British, says Chirac By Henry Samuel in Paris President Jacques Chirac celebrated Bastille Day yesterday by insisting that France had no need to "envy or copy" Britain. Whether the point of comparison was food, health, education or science, France was in far better shape than its old rival, he said. President Jacques Chirac, surrounded by Republican Guards, waves to the crowds lining the Champs Elysées Mr Chirac, embattled by a run of crushing defeats and record low ratings in the polls, had clearly decided that the best form of defence was attack. "I have a lot of esteem for the British people and for Tony Blair," he said. "But I do not believe that the British social model is a model that we should copy or envy."
So, in other words, Chirac is displaying the sort of blind patriotism that is representative of today's Republican Party. Gotcha. I'm not exactly seeing where he mocked Britain.
fvck you Chirac we beat you for the Olympics remember that? oh Chirac is a conservative and Blair is a liberal
To put things in context, you have to know that there's a media frenzy in France about how France is screwed (media redactions as business leaders were overwhelmingly for the yes), how Great-Britain is trendy and all. You don't really expect him to say on his Bastille Day official meeting with the Press or other I.V. on this occasion : "France is utter crap, I screwed everything, next time vote Blair, Vive le libéralisme !" And I do remember Blair saying Britain is best in the world at this, at that, etc... My point is, even if I don't particularly crave for our Jack'O, sounds like the anglo-american media like to hold their prey pretty firm...Silly me...
I think Ian is just ignorant in thinking Chirac is a liberal when he isn't, Blair is more of a liberal than Chirac
What would the article look like if the title sprung from the actual quote: I have a lot of esteem for the British people and for Tony Blair," he said. "But I do not believe that the British social model is a model that we should copy or envy... Chirac holds Brits in esteem, doesn't envy/want to copy them] ...would THAT have been the headline... But wait...if that had been the headline, we all might have said "That's not ********ing news! That's a waste of ********ing TIME!" Right. Exactly.
Am I the only one who thinks this is a silly think to make a thread of? I mean, every country usually thinks they are the best... hell, I do, I'm entitled to my dose of nationalism.
I gotta say, Mel has a point. If we are going to have standards in this forum, whatever they may be, it should go for everyone. Not a select few. This thread needs to be binned. No point at all. Obvious attempt at trolling, however pathetic the attempt may be. Bin it.
Oh, I don't want the thread binned. I want the "journalism" exposed. Ian's already been exposed, his thinking discredited. But the so-called "reporting," the so-called "news"... that's the standard we ought to be interrogating, everyday.
Well, had you bothered to click on the link, you'd have seen that the title for this thread is EXACTLY the title from the website.
Hence Mel has a valid point concerning journalism standards... I can't wait for the next : CHIRAC reportedly SAYS HE DOES NOT LIKE CHEDDAR while in his bedroom. Plus, do not forget the supreme form of info, this scrolling days and days on the bottom news bar...
My bad. I thought Mel was implying I created a title that did not fit the story. I see now that he's referring to the original title from the article website. When I'm wrong, I say it.