Got this in my Inbox

[Protoclown]

I'm not going to take the time to copy all of the pictures into this email, so I will just describe them as they come up. The real thing that pissed me off came at the end anyway (not that the typical annoying email chain letter rhetoric didn't annoy me plenty).


Subject: Fw: FRANCE - Now I am Understanding the Anger!!!

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I was 7 when WWll started, and 11 when it ended. I guess that's an age when things make a big impression on you that last a lifetime, but I know I've never forgotten the images and stories. The thing is, those of us who lived through it are getting older, and won't be around forever, so I'm sending this to all my kids to remind them it's up to them to keep the memories alive, and never forget the rows and rows of white crosses.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...young people also need to realize that each of those white crosses represents a young person that died who had dreams of growing up and basking in the freedoms of America, which we now take for granted without a thought, and they were such good and brave Americans who eagerly fought to help others. Young people need to never forget and to be stand-up citizens of and for America.....there but for the grace of God go we ...

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Trying to understand this issue with the French government!

I have to admit that I didn't fully understand the anger at the French and I was preoccupied with the many prayer needs. But now I am heart broken and may never buy another French product.



There are ELEVEN American Cemeteries in France
Maintained by the US Government
Honoring 66,033 Americans Killed Fighting for the French

Here are some photos that are worth a thousand words.

What follows here are a bunch of pictures of cemetaries in France from World War II, you know the ones that are fields of white crosses. Each picture gives the name of the cemetary and the number of American soldiers buried there.

Okay, so far, I've got no MAJOR problems here. I disagreed with the war (though I am glad to see Hussein gone), I disagree with all this anti-French sentiment (aside from those of us who already bore an anti-French sentiment that had nothing to do with this war on Iraq ;) ). I mean, the whole thing is annoying, but hey, if people want to say this kind of stuff I can try to ignore it.


66,033 Americans are Buried or Missing in France.
Many thousands more died fighting for France
but are buried and honored here in the US.

Thanks France

Now the picture that followed right here is so absolutely "WHAT THE FUCK??" that I had to post it. A mere description just wouldn't have done it justice.

http://protoclown.homestead.com/files/images/ATT00046.jpg


For the first time, AMERICA was seeking help from France. . .
but France turned her back!!!

Please remember these Dead Americans , when you go shopping as the French seem to have forgotten them.

All American and proud

THIS is the part I have a major problem with, right at the very end. What in the FUCK does SHOPPING have to do with remembering dead soldiers???? (Nevermind the fact that this is NOT the first time we have seeked help from the French)

Now the problem is that I got this email from my grandmother, and she just LOVES to forward any kind of shit that comes her way, no matter what it is. And it is very, VERY difficult for me to hold back and NOT go off on her for sending this email. Or not necessarily go off on her, but go off on the email itself. But you know, it's my grandmother. I can't just send her an angry rant.

So I did the only thing I could, I replied back to the huge list of people she sent it to and asked what exactly shopping had to do with remembering a bunch of dead American soldiers.

I just had to vent and share the stupidity of this email, and since I can't really express myself as freely as I'd like when replying to her, I'm putting this shit here. Enjoy.

[Vibecrewangel]

I'm just impressed your grandmother can use a computer.

Mine still doesn't understand that voice mail is like an answering machine.




You'll have to let me know when you find out about the shopping thing. I'm a bit stumped myself.

[Protoclown]

I'm even more interested to learn what she and her entire mailing list think of the "Why the Anti-War Stance Was Right" article that I just sent them... :) (thanks Kevin!)

[Ronnie Raygun]

The whole shopping thing has to do with not supporting people who don't support us.

It's that simple.

[FS]

"AMERICA UNDER SEIGE"

I'm sorry, that made me :lol

Not shopping is part of boycotting France, I suppose. Putting a stick in their economy by not buying French products anymore (or aptly renaming them with "freedom" of course ;) ).

The comparison is laughable, in my opinion. As if Europe under strain of the nazis is in any way comparable to America and Iraq. "Help, France! We can't hold Iraq off much longer!"

[Ronnie Raygun]

Hitler and Saddam comapre easily.

With Saddam, it was just obvious that we had learned from our mistakes.......well, the allies that is.

[Protoclown]

Ronnie, how often do you buy French products? Seriously. How often does ANY American buy French products? And what the hell kind of difference is that going to make?

How many fucking idiots are going to look at that email and stop buying French's Mustard because they think it's French? Or stop ordering french fries when they go to McDonalds? Or stop buying French bread because they think it's France's biggest import into our country?

I mean, for fuck's sake, Ronnie, they misspelled "siege" in the UTTERLY INSANE graphic that was part of the email. I don't think most of the people who are getting and forwarding this email are rocket scientists (I mean, I love my Grandma, but she really does send all kinds of inane email forwards).

I could respect the fact that this email is trying to respect these dead soldiers. If it actually WERE respecting them. Rather than trying to say that if we stop buying things that we think are French but actually aren't, they'll be smiling down on us from heaven. And if it weren't so LAUGHABLY stupid.

[AChimp]

I think I've only seen "Made in France" ONCE. Ever. And it was on a shitty toy car.

Hitler and Saddam comapre easily.
:lol How utterly moronic, Ronnie. You really are trying to beat Vince, aren't you? You're probably as green as the dollar bills you wish you didn't have to pay in taxes over all the attention he's been receiving.

Hitler and Saddam may both be evil people, yes, but they have one important difference: ambition. Hitler's ambition is what made him a threat; he wanted to take over the entire world and started to enact his plans. If he hadn't had ambition, he would have just been another dictator that sat in his palace and ate peeled grapes all day.

Saddam's only ambitions were to harass his neighbours and kill Israel, but only because it was fashionable to do so. He didn't have any overwhelming superiority complex and I think it's safe to assume that he didn't want to take over the world, or he would have already tried.

So really, all you can say is that Saddam is a really bad dude, like Hitler. But Saddam posed no real threat.

With Saddam, it was just obvious that we had learned from our mistakes.......well, the allies that is.
Even stupider. Words escape me on this one.

So the fact that France helped out in World War 2 makes them less favourable allies now? What past lesson has America learned from France's actions?

Perhaps you should bundle up the Statue of Liberty and send it back in disgust. It WAS a gift from France, afterall.

[VinceZeb]

I'm even more interested to learn what she and her entire mailing list think of the "Why the Anti-War Stance Was Right" article that I just sent them... :) (thanks Kevin!)

...that you are devoid of any bullshit detector when it comes to political commentary. That is probably what they will learn.

[Protoclown]

I don't know about that. I mean, I have to put the noseplugs on every time I read one of your posts...

[Jeanette X]

The whole shopping thing has to do with not supporting people who don't support us.

It's that simple.

No it isn't. Just because the French government doesn't support us doesn't mean that every single French business feels the same way.

[Zebra 3]

(from Email) There are ELEVEN American Cemeteries in France
Maintained by the US Government
Honoring 66,033 Americans Killed Fighting for the French.
:confused - Can anyone provide an official U.S. or French government Website that states that the U.S. government is maintaining U.S. War Cemeteries in France.

[AChimp]

The American Battle Monument Commission
www.abmc.gov

The ABMC takes care of foreign cemeteries because the ARE American property. Going by the information on that site, there are 11 cemeteries in France. The have a budget of about $30 million.

[Zebra 3]

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/emoticons/banana.gif- Some great pics at that site. Looking at those WWII cemeteries makes me think of the recent WAL-MART shill I run into (their Juno Beach memorial centre involment)...Thanks for the link Chimp!

[Sethomas]

I think it is a horrendous tragedy America blatantly ignores the 25 million Russians that died taking out Hitler in fuckwitted rants like these. If Saddam and Hitler are so comparable, why don't we adopt Russia's stance? They learned the price of "freedom" in a degree of brutality unfathomable to today's America.

[AntiMaster]

With all due respect to the soldiers dead or alive, when did any of our soldiers die protecting us? When did we ever have an intrusion by a foreign force Since the American Revolution? How have my rights been protected by these guys? It seems that these soldiers gave their lives defending or supporting American interests abroad which = the agenda of the ruling administration(Corporate or special interest groups).

I love how some people make it sound as if politics is all about acting neighborly. Yes we entered the world war just to be nice, you know 'give a helping hand' & now those Frechies they owe us.

Our very foundation is rooted in capitalism; ladies & gentlemen, we are a nation of businessmen & conduct in business with other countries, which is why we fight other people's fights or create new ones of our own.

I have to go now since I feel guilty for not feeling guilty for eating those 'French Fries'.

[James]

It's quite obvious what the shopping remark had to do with:

You see, dead Americans are a cheap source of labor. After all, what do they need to get paid for? So in the afterlife, they make roughly 75% of the goods that France has in their commerce. The other 25% is made in France, imported from China, or brought back from trips to the center of the Earth.

So these products are then flown in by angels and sold in France.... But not anymore. So when all those Frenchies go shopping, and see most of the shelves barren from the American dead people refusing to make anything for them, they will remember all the dead American soldiers who fought and died for them.

[mburbank]

French company Michellin is a huge US employer. I think it will serve our economy and send a message to France if we can get all those folks fired. Taking a paycheck from frances is as unamerican as putting on of their statues in a harbor in New York.

[kellychaos]

When did we ever have an intrusion by a foreign force Since the American Revolution?

War of 1812 (Britain)

Spanish American War (Pancho Via/Mexico)

Pearl Harbor (Japanese)

<shrug> Just sayin'

[Skulhedface]

Does Pearl Harbor count as an invasion? I always saw it as more of a "hit-and-run" scenario. No Japanese ever set foot on the soil, the planes just flew overhead and bombed.

But yes, it is relevant because it was an attack on U.S. soil. However, I see it more like 9/11 than an actual invasion.

[AntiMaster]

When did we ever have an intrusion by a foreign force Since the American Revolution?

War of 1812 (Britain)

Spanish American War (Pancho Via/Mexico)

Pearl Harbor (Japanese)

<shrug> Just sayin'


I think of the civil war, Spanish American war & our emancipation from the British as the building of America as it is today.

Since then we have not been invaded nor attacked by a foreign army. 9//11 is a terrorist act the likes of which can & does happen in just about every nation.

My point is that the soldiers that were killed in Vietnam, Korean war, etc etc did not die protecting us from invaders.

[Sethomas]

Just as a side thought, I bet the guy in the email was seven when Pearl Harbor was attacked, not when the war was started. Just given the American way of thinking, you know.

With the War of 1812, British instigation happened in international waters UNTIL, I think, we invaded Canada.

I also thought that Pancho Via was Mexican. I seem to remember that all of the Spanish American War was fought abroad in Cuba and the Phillipines, and the Mexican American War was fought entirely in the Republic of Texas--not then American soil. Likewise, Pearl Harbor was not yet a state at the time, so I would call it an American interest but not an invasion of America.

I could be wrong. I was always bored by American history class.

[The_Rorschach]

AntiMaster. . .You have already been showed up by ChaosKelly -this means you blow goats. Press Alt-F4 for the reward you truly deserve.

"I think of the civil war, Spanish American war & our emancipation from the British as the building of America as it is today."

Which goes to show how much of an idiot you really are. Our way with Spain was as stupid as it was unecessary; The war between the States was illegal and unconstitutional -The 1860 South Carolina Declaration of the Causes of Secession quoted the states 1852 declaration, which said that "the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United States by the Federal Government, and its encroachments upon the reserved rights of the States," would justify the state in withdrawing from the Union. Neither of these in any way compare to the revolutionary war which granted us our Independance from Britain.


"Since then we have not been invaded nor attacked by a foreign army."

Are you really this fucking slow? Do you remember the Alamo? How about Pearl Harbour? Or do these 'not count?'

"9//11 is a terrorist act the likes of which can & does happen in just about every nation."

Sure buddy, alot of country's have lost 3,000 citizens in single strikes by terrorists. Happens every fucking day doesn't it?


"My point is that the soldiers that were killed in Vietnam, Korean war, etc etc did not die protecting us from invaders."

My point is that you are a moron with a third grade understanding of United States history, and that the Mock would be better if you hung yourself. Immediately.

[AChimp]

With the War of 1812, British instigation happened in international waters UNTIL, I think, we invaded Canada.
And we kicked your ass, too! :P

[kellychaos]

And we kicked your ass, too! :P

That's true. :( At first, anyway. :)

[kellychaos]

I also thought that Pancho Via was Mexican. I seem to remember that all of the Spanish American War was fought abroad in Cuba and the Phillipines, and the Mexican American War was fought entirely in the Republic of Texas--not then American soil.


My mistake was in linking the incident to the Spanish American War circa 1898 or so. The invasion of Pancho Villa was in 1916 and New Mexico was indeed a state at that time. It sounds like the result of the U.S. sticking it's nose into the Mexican Revolution and bringing itself into a dispute that probably could have been avoided. I blame the foreign policy of Teddy Roosevelt. It's still counted technically as the last foreign invasion onto the soil of the contiguous United States. Here is a pretty detailed website of the what led to the incident:

Pancho Villa (http://www.jsri.msu.edu/museum/pubs/MexAmHist/chapter14.html#eight)