Here's an idea- why don't we send Den Beste to give the speech?

It would do much to help support the adult diaper industry in France at the very least.

I would GLADLY donate to the "send Den Beste to speak at the Normandy Reunion" fund......

Let Vic Hanson go with him.

Ok, maybe I'm getting a little overrealistic.

A man can dream, right?

Obviously neither you, nor the pompous Den Beste have seen the care and devotion lavished on the American cemetaries across France, or the annual commemorations in which the Star-Spangled Banner is sung by generations that remember, and generations who only know from memories passed down.

As for the notion that Den Beste should give the speech? Really. He doesn't leave his basement.

And Blah obviously didn't read Den Beste's post.

For that, and the name-calling, Blah is now on the banned list.

Blah,
The "care and devotion lavished on the American cemetaries across France" is provided by the American Battle Monuments Commission (www.abmc.gov)

The ABMC is "a small independent agency of the Executive Branch of the federal government. It is responsible for: ... designing, constructing, operating and maintaining permanent American military burial grounds in foreign countries;"

Well, since blah's been banned, I can't answer his claim of indignation that (gasp!) the French have been insulted for their lack of support for the US. But I'll do it anyways.

Laying a few wreaths around a memorial is nice, and I am grateful that the residents of Normandy and the surrounding area remember all too well the sacrifice put forth by those soldiers to help liberate there country.

However, The French apparently forgot that the same principles that applied to the Normandy Invasion apply to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

So the're freaking hypocrites. It's ok to take unilateral action when it protects there interests, but if not- "screw that". Let them suffer.

Anyone who believes that Chirac won't take the oppurtunity to remind everyone what a popous jackass he is is crazy.

He can't avoid it any more than Moore can avoid a free buffett....

The French have made an announcement:

"French officials fear George Bush will inflame anti-American sentiment in France this weekend by linking the D-Day landings with the invasion of Iraq."
"Advisers close to Jacques Chirac have let it be known that any reference to Iraq during the 60th anniversary of the Allied invasion of France on Sunday would be ill-advised and unwelcome."

OK, that last one there -- whoof! It actually took my breath away.

"The French have made an announcement:"

Boy, I bet that has GWB shaking in his boots. Not.

The only thing I could think of to improve on Mr. den Beste's offering would be for GWB to begin to walk away after finishing it, then to turn back and hand Chirac a slip of paper while whispering in his ear, "Oh--and here's a bill for France's share of the Marshall Plan, with fifty-eight years of compounded interest. Certified checks only, dickhead."

If GWB wants to go down in history as a war hero he should be able to prove it by his own actions.

The Old European:

Older, but not wiser.

It happens....