quote:

Originally posted by x0225095:
About the oldest “joke” on here. And it’s never funny or original...or accurate for that matter.

We likely wouldn’t even exist as a free country without the intervention, aid and support of the French.

You can't possibly believe the French MONARCHY supported us in the American Revolution because they believed in our cause or in democracy in general. No they did it for the classic reasons the French do anything.... to give a big FU to the English, to stick a finger in their eye and to be a giant pain in the ass.

quote:

Originally posted by x0225095:

About the oldest “joke” on here. And it’s never funny or original...or accurate for that matter.

We likely wouldn’t even exist as a free country without the intervention, aid and support of the French.

Agreed.
Its one thing to skewer and jibe the French when it comes to policies that blow-up in their face such as their immigration problems that are now manifesting themselves with domestic terror attacks or, when they dig themselves-in on being independent and/or uncooperative, such as OP Eldorado Canyon or, their half-hearted participation in GWI.

In this case, the French and us are in alignment when it comes to a nuclear navy; does it happen a lot, not always. They're the most independent minded of the European partner nations and very much resemble us in many ways, there are times when we don't align, in that case they should get all the scorn deserved.

quote:

Originally posted by JoseyWales2:

quote:

Originally posted by x0225095:
About the oldest “joke” on here. And it’s never funny or original...or accurate for that matter.

We likely wouldn’t even exist as a free country without the intervention, aid and support of the French.

You can't possibly believe the French MONARCHY supported us in the American Revolution because they believed in our cause or in democracy in general. No they did it for the classic reasons the French do anything.... to give a big FU to the English, to stick a finger in their eye and to be a giant pain in the ass.

I didn't say anything at all regarding what France's mindset was when they supported us in our revolution against the British. You did.

But since you brought it up, it is interesting to consider that it was the enormous national debt incurred by the Kingdom of France in support of our revolution to defeat the British monarchy which exacerbated/created many of the conditions which bore the seeds of the French Revolution which, ironically, ended their monarchy.

No good deed goes unpunished I suppose. In this case, building a nuclear aircraft carrier. To suggest they are cowards for doing so is silly.

quote:

Originally posted by x0225095:
I didn't say anything at all regarding what France's mindset was when they supported us in our revolution against the British. You did.

But since you brought it up, it is interesting to consider that it was the enormous national debt incurred by the Kingdom of France in support of our revolution to defeat the British monarchy which exacerbated/created many of the conditions which bore the seeds of the French Revolution which, ironically, ended their monarchy.

No good deed goes unpunished I suppose. In this case, building a nuclear aircraft carrier. To suggest they are cowards for doing so is silly.

That's right I did say it because you imply it, and I'm refuting it. You essentially say that we should lay off the jokes because somehow we owe them. Their motives weren't as altruistic as you seem to think or want us to believe. Motive matters. They only "helped" us because it gave them an excuse to be a thorn in the side of their eternal enemy England. If the American Revolution wasn't happening, they would have found some other reason to war with England one way or the other like they had for centuries before. It wasn't about our cause or Democracy at all. Sure some individuals came over on their own and fought, and yes I believe they did so because they believed in the cause.

It's ludicrous to suggest a monarch will support a war or revolution to help another people end the very system of government that gives himself ultimate power. So their "good deed" isn't really so good, considering they did what they did for their own selfish reasons more than anything else. In the end I guess that resulted in some really bad karma for French royal class. Too bad, so sad. But whatever we owed them, if anything, has been more than repaid a million times over. I also suspect there are a multitude of reasons for the French Revolution besides whatever debt they incurred in the American Revolution. I could just as easily say it was the outrage of the Elites telling the masses to "eat cake" or perhaps it had something to do with the generations of oppression and abuse of individual rights.

If there is any country we should lay off the WWII jokes on, it's Poland. They fought the Germans and the Russians on two fronts in 1939, both being surprise attacks. Then millions of their people were killed for religious, ethnic and political reasons, again by both Russia and Germany. The Russians persecuted the Poles right up to the day where the Germans pushed them out, and then the Germans continued it. When one thinks of collaborators in WWII, there is only one country that comes to mind.

Humor is humor. To those who find it hurtful, tough. I grew up with a Polish surname in the Midwest at a time when Pollack jokes were told on tv, and my panties aren't twisted.

^^^

Yeah not sure how “Polish” jokes originated, as an adult I find it perplexing the Poles seem pretty awesome.

quote:

Originally posted by JoseyWales2:
You can't possibly believe the French MONARCHY supported us in the American Revolution because they believed in our cause or in democracy in general. No they did it for the classic reasons the French do anything.... to give a big FU to the English, to stick a finger in their eye and to be a giant pain in the ass.

That, and the love they had for Ben Franklin, who was our ambassador there.

Franklin did yeoman work there, and without his success in getting loans from the French for us to buy arms/ammo and then getting French direct military support....we'd all be speaking English right now.