Sarko The American

If you haven’t stopped boycotting French products, now’s the time.

I think we can consider the people who elected a man who’s more pro-American than many Democrats, our friends.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy blew into Washington DC, yesterday, and is taking the town by storm. He hailed the friendship between France and the United States, and paid tribute to American sacrifices in WWII, in a rare address before congress:

“Since the United States first appeared on the world scene, our two peoples, the French and the American people, have always been friends,” Sarkozy said, as he emphatically drew a veil on years of cross-Atlantic tension.

Arriving for a joint session of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, the French leader received a lengthy and warm applause, including several standing ovations, as he praised the United States for its world influence.

“We may have differences, we may disagree on things, we may even have arguments, as in many families,” he said, “but in times of difficulty, in times of hardship, one stands true to one’s friends, one stands shoulder to shoulder with them, one supports them, and one helps them.”

French-US ties had soured badly under Jacques Chirac, who firmly opposed the War in Iraq. No kidding, see the Oil for Food Scandal for reasons why. As Roger L. Simon said:

It’s not just about graft. It’s about the preservation of fascism for money. You down with that, liberalists? Think about it in your hearts. This isn’t about Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives and all the rest of that left-over Eighteenth Century sports terminology. This is about real human beings who were living in a country where the dictator tossed people in paper shredders while his minions bought him protection on the UN Security Council. No thriller writer could get away with a plot like that, but Saddam Hussein did… with the help of his buddies Jacques Chirac and Kofi Annan.

So yeah…you could say relations had soured somewhat.

Enter Sarkosy who is one of the most pro American French leaders, ever, and clearly aims to prove it.

“The United States and France remain true to the memory of their common history. Our duty is to remain true to the blood spilled by our children on both sides of the Atlantic in common battles.

 

“France will never forget the sacrifice of your children,” Sarkozy said, referring to US involvement in World War II and the arrival of American troops on the beaches of Normandy to liberate the France from the Nazi occupation.

“At a time when my country had reached the final limits of its strengths, the time when France was exhausted, had spent its strength in the most absurd and bloodiest of wars, France was able to count upon the courage of american soldiers,” he said.

“I have come to say to you on behalf of the French people that never, never will we forget that,” he said.

Predictably, liberals have already labeled him, “Bush’s Poodle”. Any leader, who doesn’t reflexively oppose United States’ interests, and despise the “Chimperor in Chief” automatically earns that title. Tony Blair must be relieved.

Yesterday, he was asked about the War in Iraq:

Mr. Sarkozy, calling France’s opposition to the American-led war in Iraq “a disagreement,” told the French American Business Council: “I never quite understood why we had to fight with the United States. I never quite got it.”

“I come to Washington to bear a very simple message, a message that I bear on behalf of all Frenchmen,” he said in a toast at a formal White House dinner in his honor. “I want to reconquer the heart of America.”

You’ve won my heart, Sarko.

Take it boys!