Is it Chirac's Fault?!!?

Jacques Chirac is a moron (in a different way than George W. Bush is one, though...), and he has proved it once again. I woke up this morning to the news that London had won the bid for hosting the 2012 Summer Olympic Games -- a bid for which Paris had been its strongest rival. And London's Victory against Paris may have been, even if indirectly, caused by Monsieur Chirac. Read on...

According to an article published in the French daily Libération on July 4, 2005, while meeting recently with Chancellor Gerhrard Schröder of Germany and Vladimir Putin of Russia in the Russian city of Kaliningrad, French President Jacques Chirac started poking fun at the Brits, unaware that his wireless microphone was not off (those damn things are getting so small that it’s easy to forget that one is wired.)

First, according to Libération, he declared that « la seule chose qu'ils ont faite pour l'agriculture européenne, c'est la vache folle” (“the only thing that they have ever given to European Agriculture is mad cow disease”.) He did not stop there, and added that, anyway “on ne peut pas faire confiance à des gens qui ont une cuisine aussi mauvaise… Après la Finlande, c'est le pays où on mange le plus mal” (“you can’t trust people who cook as badly as that… After Finland, it’s the country with the worst food.”)

Finally, he mentioned the time when Lord Robertson, a Scotsman who used to be the Secretary General of NATO, had made him try an “unappetizing” Scottish dish (most likely Haggis) which, he claimed, explained France’s difficulties with NATO ever since (keep in mind that the G-8 meeting is taking place this week near Edinburgh, Scotland.)

Tony Blair replied to those insulting jokes by stating that “there are some things that are just not responded to.” But -- and here is the Olympics connection -- it was also hinted both in London and on last night’s NBC News that Chirac’s faux pas could only hurt Paris’ bid for hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics. NBC News mentioned that two of the judges who would decide which city was going to host the 2012 Summer Olympics were from Finland! A little revenge on their part might have gone a long way...

Finally, for your entertainment, I am posting below what the Daily Mirror, a London newspaper, published in response to Chirac's insults to the U.K.:

10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT JACQUES CHIRAC

French President Jacques Chirac has ridiculed Britain during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder - accusing us, among other things, of having lousy food. But here's a few things you might like to know about Chirac...

1) CHIRAC is the most unpopular president in French history. Opinion polls published last weekend showed just 21 per cent of the country have faith in him.

2) HE regularly cheated on his wife Bernadette. His nickname among female staff when he was Paris mayor was "three minutes, shower included".

3) SATIRICAL puppet show Les Guignols has created a Chirac character called Superliar.

4) HE peppers his speech with swear words and tells dirty jokes. He said of Margaret Thatcher: "What more does that old bag want? My balls on a platter?"

5) CHIRAC claimed to have spent £1.4million on groceries in his eight years as Paris mayor. This was £100 a day on fruit and veg and £35.70 on coffee, tea and jam.

6) HE was accused of taking cash for contracts when mayor. From 1988 to 1997, £30million was pilfered from contracts worth £2.5billion and given to his party.

7) CHIRAC'S 10 years as president have achieved nothing. Unemployment is virtually unchanged at almost 10 per cent.

8) BETWEEN 1992 and 1995 he paid for luxury family holidays worth £240,000 with cash delivered in brown envelopes.

9) IN 1978 as Treasurer of the Claude Pompidou Foundation he persuaded the charity to pay £50,000 for land next to his chateau preserving his tranquillity.

10) CHIRAC uses presidential immunity to avoid investigating magistrates, meaning he cannot be be charged until he retires in 2007.

All of this is pretty funny, in a way, and goes to show that politicians, who should really watch their P's and Q's when it comes to political correctness, are prone to have lapses and indulge in ethnic jokes that always prove offensive to their targets.