Les Jones

"a supranational bureaucratic monster"

Yeah, but it's no match for Godzilla!

an attack on basic human freedoms behind a smokescreen of propaganda.

Yeah, Russia's a real model for the world of human freedoms and an open press.

When one of Putin's henchmen spews incredibly hypocritical and santimonious BS, you repeat it without comment.

But when someone in the French government dares to even breathe in public, you pop a gut at how wretched and vile the entire country and population are.

Why is that?

"But when someone in the French government dares to even breathe in public, you pop a gut at how wretched and vile the entire country and population are."

Golly, Steve, that sure is a fair representation of my views. (You're right: I do need a rolling-eyes icon.)

If you want to talk hypocritical, look at Putin's decision to sign onto Kyoto (against this guy's recommendation). You know why Russia signed Kyoto? Because their economy has gone downhill so far since the benchmark CO2 emission year that they don't have to do anything to comply, and will get paid for exceeding their obligation. Once their economy picks up and they have to do something to comply, my guess is they'll drop the whole thing.

But, yeah, if you want to talk about the French government, look at the video of French troops shooting protestors in the Ivory Coast, or this abridgement of the free press in France related to a political corruption scandal. That link I'm sending you to has information that would be illegal if printed in the French press.

For the record, I don't hate the French people, though I was very pissed off at a pre-war poll that basically found them rooting for Saddam Hussein over the U.S. I do think that the French government is horribly corrupt (see the Oil for Food scandal), and routinely steamrolls civil rights (witness the ban on Muslim headdress, Jewish Stars of David, and "large" crucifixes).