Posted on 08/11/2007 10:06:02 AM PDT by traumer
US President George Bush has welcomed his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, to his family home in Maine for an informal lunch.
Officials have stressed the meeting is not a summit but instead a chance for the two men to get to know each other over hot dogs and hamburgers.
France's former President Jacques Chirac's opposition to the Iraq war saw Franco-US relations fall to a new low.
But Mr Sarkozy has made it clear that he will adopt a more pro-US stance.
"The good thing about Mr Sarkozy is you know where he stands," Mr Bush told reporters on the lawn of the family home in Kennebunkport, on the US east coast.
'American picnic'
Despite protestations that the meeting is just a casual lunch, some observers have remarked that it was impossible to imagine Mr Bush issuing a similar invitation to Mr Chirac.
In addition to the Iraq war, disagreements over trade and climate change further strained the relationship between Mr Bush and Mr Chirac.
In contrast, Mr Sarkozy has made it clear, from the outset of his presidency, that America can count on his friendship.
US officials have pointed out that the countries are already working closely on issues such as Iran, Lebanon and Sudan.
"It looks like we're on the verge of a new era of relations with the French, which is a good thing," White House spokesman Tony Snow said earlier in the week.
The lunch will include hot dogs and hamburgers, "traditional American picnic fare", said another White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino.
No mention was made of whether french fries would be on the menu. Some Americans started calling chipped potatoes "freedom fries" after Mr Chirac opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The French president's wife, Cecilia Sarkozy, was meant to be at the lunch but phoned First Lady Laura Bush to say she and her children were feeling unwell and would not attend, Ms Perino said.
The Sarkozys have been on holiday in nearby New Hampshire.
Mr Sarkozy's decision to take a holiday in the US has led to some negative comments at home, especially from critics who believe he would like to see the French economy overhauled to follow the American free market model.
L
Well, duh. I'll bet the writer didn't even have to get up from the desk to hear someone make that observation.
I love Tex-Mex at picnics! Oh, you were trying to hijack the thread. Sorry.
Or Mr. Chirac accepting. I remember when Bubba hosted a G7 summit in Colorado or Wyoming he gave each of the other leaders a pair of cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. The other leaders put on the hats, but Chirac just disdainfully passed his to an aide. Stuck up pr*ck.
“The French president’s wife, Cecilia Sarkozy, was meant to be at the lunch but phoned First Lady Laura Bush to say she and her children were feeling unwell and would not attend, Ms Perino said.”
This would have been unconscionable if it had Been Jackie Kennedy.
It wasn't just Chirac's opposition to the Iraq war. It was because he was a lying, scheming, duplicitous, Saddam-supporting, anti-American weasel.
DeGaulle: I would like pheasant under glass.
Kennedy: We’re just ordering sandwiches, President DeGaulle.
DeGaulle: Then I would like a pheasant under glass sandwich.
Adenauer: I would like a Western sandwich.
Khrushchev: If Adenauer has a Western sandwich, then I want an Eastern sandwich.
Kennedy: There is no Eastern sandwich, Premier Khrushchev.
Khrushchev: Then I want the eastern half of his Western sandwich!
No coincidence that the late, great, Vaughan Meader was a resident of the great State of Maine himself.
It's just as well. Mr. Chirac is unable to live up to a cowboy hat anyway.
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