The Republicans or The French?

Gail Collins begins her column with the question:

If nothing else, the president’s trip overseas helped resolve the longstanding question of who can be more irritating, the Republicans or the French?....Before the summit began, Sarkozy had threatened to walk out unless he got his way on financial regulation. (When considering our French-versus-Republican contest, note that they both like to go into negotiations announcing that whatever happens, the answer is no.) But once Obama and he got together, the French leader said that despite their differences, his American counterpart was still “entirely in line with what we want.”

Here at the Great Awakening we are well aquainted with the Republican variety of retardedness. Lately, I've been reading Tony Judt's history of Europe after WWII, "Post-War", and I agree with Collins: what the heck is wrong with the French? Time after time, they are the most pig-headed, arrogant people. They have never really gotten over the fact that Napoleon failed, and France has not been the world's leader for the last 200 years. In this way they are much like America, but kind of like looking at a mirror at a more bizarro, secular and cultured version of ourselves.

Now, sometimes their stubborness pays off, such as when they refused to go along with the Iraq War. Most of the time, all we can do is look at them and go, ah, the French. Interesting individuals, fun country, great health care system, but ridiculous foreign policy.