Bush's Lunacy?

[vidcc]

Originally posted by j2k4@29 June 2004 - 17:39
Not everyone is blessed with my patience and/or willingness to educate.

............................ :helpsmile: ....................................... ..

[BigBank_Hank]

Originally posted by vidcc@29 June 2004 - 19:23
Actually i would put you in an entirely more sophisticated league j2....

Come on now I feel so left out

[j2k4]

Originally posted by vidcc+29 June 2004 - 19:56--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (vidcc @ 29 June 2004 - 19:56)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-j2k4@29 June 2004 - 17:39
Not everyone is blessed with my patience and/or willingness to educate.

............................ :helpsmile: ....................................... .. [/b][/quote]
Yep.

Stick with me, kid.

I&#39;m detrimental to your ignorance.

[clocker]

Beware vid....

J2 is a Lord of the Dark Side.

A cute dimpled one maybe, but a terrible threat to the Force.

[j2k4]

Originally posted by clocker@29 June 2004 - 21:42
...but a terrible threat to the Force.

The Farce, you say?

[Biggles]

Talking of farces, I saw the subject matter of the thread give a speach in Istanbul. He appeared to be exhorting the EU to allow entry to Turkey. The inclusion of Turkey would take the population of the EU over the 500 million mark and take our markets right into the heart of Arabia. It is an idea that has considerable long term economic merit and is definitely on the cards. However GW&#39;s enthusiasm was a touch surreal.

I could not determine whether he wished to irritate the French and encourage the Turks, or irritate the French so they would block the Turks in revenge for the latter&#39;s lack of cooperation over Iraq. It was all very strange - particularly as it is the Greeks not the French who have certain reservations. I believe Chirac merely warned the previous day that such matters are for the EU, not outside bodies.

The EU will of course allow the Turks in at the appropriate juncture - once the Greeks are relatively content differences are settled and once it is clear that the small matter of human rights for the Kurds are secure. The poor Kurds, rarely ever do they get a second thought.

Can anyone enlighten me as to the thinking behind this latest Whitehouse policy of EU enlargement? Does the US wish to join too?





I, of course, jest on the last.

[Rat Faced]

Its support for the Turks that doesnt cost him anything.

If it falls on deaf ears, which it has, then EU doesnt get larger...which is ok by the US

If they join in the future, which they will (after they clean up on Human Rights...and they&#39;re well on the way to that now)...he claims a victory.

Win:Win speech, once the spin is put on it

[j2k4]

To be perfectly frank, I don&#39;t think it matters who is allowed to join the E.U., at least in the short run, because inter-E.U. dissension is rampant at the moment (which is, of course, to be expected); question being, how long will it last?

It will be a while before the E.U. sorts itself and becomes the behemoth it will eventually be; a move to admit Turkey would, I think, hasten the process considerably.

Odd that Bush&#39;s remarks re: Turkey are met with derision, and Chirac&#39;s are not:

Here we are hearing that Chirac is all but cuddling with Bush behind closed doors, but is publically cool (witness his remarks vis a vis the Turkey/E.U. proposal) to him so as to play profitably to the home front.

There is a bridge for sale in Brooklyn, too.

Chirac is as full-of-shit as a Christmas goose, and an impediment to every process he joins.

I imagine he should be turned out on his ear, come election time.

[Biggles]

I am not exactly sure, but don&#39;t French Presidents sit for a couple of hundred years or somesuch figure. As this is his second term I don&#39;t think he can stand for another term once this one is up anyway.

I think, if Chirac were to lecture Bush on who should be in any Americas union he might get a hostile reaction from the US press. On the other hand he merely has to smile at the camera to get a hostile reaction.

I would state, however, that I would like to see a leftist French politician replace Chirac and not another Conservative; so I am not adverse to regime change there. Unfortunately, he has earned considerable kudos for his stance and may well get to handpick his successor. This is, of course, (and I know you will understand J2) the fault of the US.

[j2k4]

Originally posted by Biggles@1 July 2004 - 14:33
I would state, however, that I would like to see a leftist French politician replace Chirac and not another Conservative; so I am not adverse to regime change there.&nbsp; Unfortunately, he has earned considerable kudos for his stance and may well get to handpick his successor. This is, of course, (and I know you will understand J2) the fault of the US.&nbsp;

I do understand, but I don&#39;t think even a "leftist" government could have a less cordial relationship with the U.S. than Chirac does, and therefore I have the corresponding "Anyone but Chirac" attitude.

I feel he is very genuinely anti-U.S., and also pro-France to the detriment of the rest of the E.U.

When I stop to ponder his status as a "Conservative" on the French political menu, I am reminded that, perhaps after the U.S. Presidential election, we should have another more lengthy discussion defining the "world" political spectrum, as it is obvious our previous attempts have been a total waste of effort.