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Kerry speaks French

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TastesLikeChicken

TastesLikeChicken

Lifer
Sep 12, 2004
16,852
59
86
http://slate.msn.com/id/2108379/

ORLANDO?Let's see: Your opponent is characterizing you as an effete internationalist willing to "turn America's national security decisions over to international bodies or leaders of other countries." In particular, he suggests, in all seriousness, that you want to call up Jacques Chirac for permission before deploying the military. At the Republican National Convention, you were portrayed as a beret-wearing poodle named "Fifi Kerry." How should you defend yourself against these slanders?

By speaking French on the stump, of course. Click here to hear John Kerry's foray into the language of Paris during a Monday rally here. I wasn't watching Kerry on stage when he made his remarks, but from the context he appears to have seen someone from Haiti and decided to acknowledge the person in his or her native tongue.

What does Kerry say? My knowledge of French is limited to the lyrics to "Lady Marmalade," so I consulted my friend John Wilkerson, a Washington journalist and French speaker. He translates the first part as, "You're Haitain? OK," but says the rest sounded like gibberish. "I think at that point he was just a character on Saturday Night Live," Wilkerson says.

Readers? Can anyone make it out? Post your explanations, serious or otherwise, in the Fray. Slug them "Kerry's French translation."

Scotland's Sunday Herald called Kerry's French fluency a "campaign secret" yesterday. Looks like the secret is out. Here's some suggested spin for the Kerry campaign: He wasn't speaking French. He was speaking Freedom.
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PingSpike

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,758
603
126
Originally posted by: Shelly21
Originally posted by: conjur
Originally posted by: Shelly21
Hmmm... French pastries are delicious...
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Like a fine French whine.
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Meh, almost read that as French whore. As in the one from SNL Jeopardy skit.
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Audience in unison: "OLD!....FRENCH!....WHORE!"

"I think my whore is dead."

"Yeah, my whore is definately dead."
 
M

Maximilian Kolbe

Member
Oct 11, 2004
34
0
0
ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT KERRY

NAACP
ACLU
Rainbow Coalition
Gay and Lesbian Alliance
American Muslim Association
Muslim Brotherhood
Abortion Rights Groups
Euthanasia Rights Groups
Communist Party USA
Tree Huggers
Arab League
EU

Glad to see Kerry is so in touch with the "average" American.
 
Pliablemoose

Pliablemoose

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
25,195
0
56
Well, considering Kerry's Irish should be no big problem with his poor command of French;)

You really have to dig through the Globe to find the articles that used to be linked, but they're still there in the archives...

The question before the jury is whether Kerry has systematically sought to con Massachusetts voters (a great many of whom are Irish) into thinking that he's Irish. Kerry's spokesperson, Kelley Benander, told the Globe the erroneous Senate floor statement was staff-written and that Kerry neither recited nor saw it. (It's common for members of Congress to submit written floor statements in lieu of going to the Senate floor and saying the words out loud, and these statements are indeed often written by staff members.) Neither Kerry nor Benander nor Jonathan Winer, the Kerry aide who wrote the draft remarks prepared for Kerry when he was lieutenant governor, recall the speech being used. (But they don't seem specifically to recall it not being used, either.) As for the Irish-themed Kerry campaign paraphernalia, Benander said it was meant to attract Irish-American voters, not to con people into thinking Kerry was Irish.

Still, it's striking that the Globe was able to find two separate instances where Kerry's own staff thought he was Irish and a third where Kerry's campaign invited the public to believe he was Irish. (Benander's explanation about the hats and T-shirts fails to persuade because Kerry wasn't visiting an Irish neighborhood. He was at a state convention attended by people with all sorts of backgrounds.) And it is striking that Kerry has never attempted to correct various references to his Irish ancestry that have appeared in the Globe, which is the most important newspaper in his state.

Chatterbox's bottom line is that a political candidate and officeholder is responsible for whatever goes out under his name. So the Senate statement alone qualifies this as a Whopper. As to the larger question of whether Kerry habitually tells opportunistic lies about his background, or anything else, the jury's still out. But you can bet the Globe, and everyone else, will be watching.
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BTW, he speaks fluent French, something the campaign has been very careful to keep quiet, something about the mansion in France, etc...
 
TastesLikeChicken

TastesLikeChicken

Lifer
Sep 12, 2004
16,852
59
86
Originally posted by: lozina
What was the point of this thread? :confused:
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The point?

The point is identical to the many 'OMG. Look what stupid thing Bush did!' threads commonly posted in P&N. iow, there isn't one.
 
PingSpike

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,758
603
126
Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
Originally posted by: Forsythe
A bit more educated than Bush then...
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Actually, no. Bush speaks a second language, Spanish, fairly passingly.
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He also speaks English, fairly passingly.

Sorry...I couldn't resist. :D
 
Todd33

Todd33

Diamond Member
Oct 16, 2003
7,842
2
81
Huh?

I even listened to the mp3 and still have no clue what kind of attack this is. Is this like the Kerry looks French thing?
 
PingSpike

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,758
603
126
Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Originally posted by: lozina
What was the point of this thread? :confused:
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Good question, but the subtitle made me chuckle a bit, even if it is a played-out over-exaggeration.
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Yeah...that is a tired joke. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me crack a smile.
 
F

Forsythe

Platinum Member
May 2, 2004
2,825
0
0
Except the "stupid things Bush does threads", actually prove something! This thread is just, not silly, inlack of a better word, absurd!
 
TastesLikeChicken

TastesLikeChicken

Lifer
Sep 12, 2004
16,852
59
86
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken
Originally posted by: Forsythe
A bit more educated than Bush then...
Click to expand...
Actually, no. Bush speaks a second language, Spanish, fairly passingly.
Click to expand...

He also speaks English, fairly passingly.
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If you said "barely passingly" instead I'd agree with you. ;)

Sorry...I couldn't resist. :D
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No need to apologize. Bush's diction (or lack thereof) irks me to no end. C'mon Dubya, hire a coach and straighten that crap out. At least learn proper breathing and speaking techniques.
 
K

Klixxer

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2004
6,149
0
0
Heat wave, french, horrible... surrenders, freedomfries, weasels for oil.

Isn't it amazing how bad the French really are, JUST because they didn't support the US (THAT is the real reason behind all this bullcrap).

So says the nation that relabeled FrenchFries to FreedomFries and don't realize that the entire world is still laughing at them about that.
 
B

BBond

Diamond Member
Oct 3, 2004
8,363
0
0
Originally posted by: Maximilian Kolbe
ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT KERRY

NAACP
ACLU
Rainbow Coalition
Gay and Lesbian Alliance
American Muslim Association
Muslim Brotherhood
Abortion Rights Groups
Euthanasia Rights Groups
Communist Party USA
Tree Huggers
Arab League
EU

Glad to see Kerry is so in touch with the "average" American.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a broad spectrum of Amerians to me. Trying to paint Bush as a populist is ridiculous.

ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT BUSH

The Energy Lobby

Glad to see Bush is so out of touch with the "average" American.

 
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