The French at war: some quotes

"I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one behind me."
— General George S. Patton

"The last time the French asked for 'more proof' it came marching into Paris under a German flag."
— David Letterman

"The only way the French are going in is if we tell them we found truffles in Iraq."
— Dennis Miller

"They've taken their own precautions against al-Qa'ida. To prepare for an attack, each Frenchman is urged to keep duct tape, a white flag, and a three-day supply of mistresses in the house."
— Argus Hamilton

"After what they say was an exhaustive investigation, the Defense Minister of France said today that Osama bin Laden is either still in hiding in Afghanistan, he may have escaped to Pakistan, or he may be dead. Hey, France, thanks a lot. We'll take it from here. Hard to believe they were invaded twice."
— Jay Leno

"What do you expect from a culture and a nation that exerted more of its national will fighting against DisneyWorld and Big Macs than against the Nazis?"
— Dennis Miller

"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion. You just leave a lot of useless noisy baggage behind."
— Jed Babbin, former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense

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War is over for The Brits?

According to The Sun, war is over for the British troops. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has saidhe wants his troops home. Soon. Click here to link to the full article.


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President Carter calls Dick Cheney a "disaster"

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In an interview on Wednesday with the BBC World News America service, one time U.S. President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, denounced Vice President Dick Cheney as a "disaster" for the country and a "militant" who has had an excessive influence in setting foreign policy.



Cheney has usually been on the wrong side of the debate on many issues, including a current "internal White House discussion over Syria" in which Cheney is pushing a bellicose approach, Carter said. [ed. note: With Iraq blown up in his face, does he hope to save face by going to war with Syria or Iran?]

"He's a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military and he has been most forceful in the last 10 years or more in fulfilling some of his more ancient commitments that the United States has a right to inject its power through military means in other parts of the world," the former President told the reporter.

"You know he's been a disaster for our country," Carter said. "He's been overly persuasive on President George Bush and quite often he's prevailed."

In an interview in May, Carter called the Bush administration the "worst in history" in international relations.
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Alan Greenspan: "The Iraq War is largely about oil"

Alan Greenspan with his wife, the very talented journalist
and commentator Andrea Mitchell

This book is going to be great! The Republican Alan Greenspan, in his memoir, praises Bill Clinton for his financial restraint and for elminating deficit spending. He roasts President Bush for his profligate spending.

In my favorite part of the book so far, Greenspan writes:

“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."

The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World by Alan Greenspan goes on sale tomorrow.
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The Weeper:

POTUS at a Medal of Honor Ceremony for Marine

Corporal Jason Dunham in January, 2007

In Robert Draper's forthcoming book, "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush," taken from several extended interviews in late 2006 and early 2007, President Bush is quoted as saying, "I've got God's shoulder to cry on. And I cry a lot. I do a lot of crying in this job. I'll bet I've shed more tears than you can count, as president. I'll shed some tomorrow."

"I try not to wear my worries on my sleeve" or show anything less than steadfastness in public, especially in a time of war.

"I fully understand that the enemy watches me, the Iraqis are watching me, the troops watch me, and the people watch me," he said, "I do tears."

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V.P. Cheney: "I was wrong"

For perhaps the first time since he shot his friend, Austin attorney Harry Whittington, Vice President Dick Cheney acknowledged on Tuesday that he has made a mistake. He said that he was wrong in 2005 when he insisted the insurgency in Iraq was in its "last throes."




It was Cheney's first real public admission of what everyone else seems to already know: The Administration badly bungled in their estimation of the strength of America's enemies in the unpopular war in Iraq. The architect of the war, and Shadow President made the admission in an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live."



Other articles on All This Is That about the Vice-President:

Painting: Menage a trois - Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Vice-President Richard B. Cheney, President George W. Bush
Follow-up: Victim of VP's attemped assassination suffers coronary
That's no blood clot: The new Dick Cheney cover-up
White House nude intern scandal―VP Cheney may be implicated
The Time Has Come For George W. Bush And Dick Cheney To Pay The Piper
Dick Cheney Arrives In Iraq To Straighten Out The Warring Factions
Republicans abandoning Bush Bush And Cheney's Cursing Cited In FCC Enforcement Case...NEWSWEEK Poll: Bush hits All-Time Low; 28%...
Cheney to have heart defibrillator replaced...
Some of the players in the Ford Administration
Veep Dick Cheney threatens to resign (again)

White House, Cheney's Office, Subpoenaed
CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT OF CHENEY AT GEPHARDT EVENT
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If I were the President of this land. . .I'd stick my head in the oven

I'd stick my head in the oven and crank open the jets if I was in POTUS's boots today. There have been a few other similar periods, but the torrent of bad news in the last two weeks has to have the President openly weeping in the West Wing. I mean, if you studied statistics in college you probably know that no matter how bad things are, statisically, some things will break your way. . .once in a while. Au contraire, mon frere. The President has faced a relentless monsoon of bad news over the last few weeks. And not one thing has broken his way of late. Here is a quick sample of just what has gone wrong in the last few days:

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Republicans abandoning Bush
Bush And Cheney's Cursing Cited In FCC Enforcement Case...
NEWSWEEK Poll: Bush hits All-Time Low; 28%...

Bush invokes executive privilege...
CLASSIFIED REPORT: AL QAEDA AT PRE-9/11 STRENGTH

Iraq surge a failure, top Democrats tell Bush

Cheney to have heart defibrillator replaced...
White House, Cheney's Office, Subpoenaed
Chertoff bases warning of terror risk on 'gut feeling'
CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT OF CHENEY AT GEPHARDT EVENT
Bush Orders Miers Not to Testify
Much of US favors Bush impeachment: poll

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Cindy Sheehan now outside the tent, pissing in

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From Jack in Newport Beach, California:

"Good riddance, attention whore," wrote Cindy Sheehan on Monday's Daily Kos blog, "I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such "liberal blogs" as the Democratic Underground. Being called an "attention whore" and being told "good riddance" are some of the more milder rebukes." Her rambling and raving screed blamed just about everyone, and ended with her "resigning" as the face of the anti-war movement. How do you resign from that post??

The last straw for Sheehan was what liberal blogs are calling the "Memorial Day Betrayal," where the Democratic-majority congress voted to continue funding the Iraq War with no real restrictions.

“There is absolutely no sane or defensible reason for you to hand Bloody King George more money to condemn more of our brave, tired, and damaged soldiers and the people of Iraq to more death and carnage,” she wrote in another diary entry on Saturday.

As she was leaving the now pretty big anti-war tent, he couldn't resist whizzing on her former peace pals: “I have also tried to work within a peace movement that often puts personal egos above peace and human life. This group won’t work with that group; he won’t attend an event if she is going to be there; and why does Cindy Sheehan get all the attention anyway? It is hard to work for peace when the very movement that is named after it has so many divisions.”

That seems just a little disingenuous since Sheehan helped engender plenty of factionalism herself! She had a falling out with Move on!--they were too moderate! She ended up working with Code Pink, a left-wing anti-war group.

So now the anti-war movement is eating its own. But hasn't it ever been thus? The bottom line, however, seems to be that Cindy Sheehan had no stomach for politics. She was a passionate mother who suffered a great loss. Yes, if you speak as loud, as vitriolically, and as up front publicly as she did, you are going to be attacked. They will try to marginalize you like a Michael Moore today, or a Jane Fonda in 1971. Not being as poltical as they were--or maybe they were just immune to the politics?--Sheehan just couldn't take it any longer. I don't really blame her. But then, I am not really going to miss her much either.

Previous stories on Cindy Sheehan on All This Is That:

Cindy Sheehan rides again

Cindy Sheen picks up the cudgel again

Matt "Sleazeball" Drudge Strikes Again

Sheehan arrested at President's speech

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More photos commemorating MISSION ACCOMPLISHED week

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Photo: "Mission Accomplished!"/Day Four Of Mission Accomplished Week

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Day Three Of All This Is That's MISSION ACCOMPLISHED WEEK

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Ungawa! A parable of George Bush's failed "mission" in Iraq

A Texas business man traveled to Japan for some business meetings and a few rounds of golf. He arrived in Tokyo the night before his meetngs.

Feeling lonely that evening, he employed a gorgeous young Japanese girl as his companion. The girl spoke very little English and the honky businessman. of course, spoke no Japanese. Over the course of the night, the ended up making the beast with two backs. . They made passionate love, and in the heat of the moment she began yelling "Ungawa! Ungawa!"

The Texan knew he had pleased his hot Japanese friend and soon fell sleep.

The next day, Mr. Businessman was playing golf with his Japanese hosts. One of his Japanese partners made a hole-in-one shot from 170 yards away! Everyone went crazy and began yelling excitedly in Japanese. Wanting to impress his friends, the Texan joined in and began yelling, "Ungawa! Ungawa!" Suddenly everyone became quiet.

After a moment of silence, one of the Japanese turned to him and asked "Wrong hole? What do you mean wrong hole?"

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