Lefty: thanks for posting this compliment in a (globally) civil way, despite your self-professed dodgy political beliefs that — no argument here — certainly conflict with mine. I'm glad you enjoyed my stunt, and I'm sure we can both agree to disagree on the rest. Politely it seems - and that certainly makes you stand out when one considers the manners usually displayed by the crowd on your side of the political spectrum.
I'm always amazed however by the distinction people on your side seem to make: you hate war (I quote) and thus imply that I, somehow, love it simply because I support it. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
If you allow me to risk the guess that you are a US citizen, and have been so by birth, then I'd say I probably hate war even more than you can possibly do: after all, being native French and the grand-child of native Frenchmen, I'll remind you that we've seen - and lived - the ravages of war at home (and not thousands of miles away from our homes) less than two generations ago. In fact, the last one was particularly ugly, since it managed to combine a "regular" war with the occupation by a foreign army, and a civil war that tore down French society up to this day between collaborators and resistants (and their descendants).
Incidentally, I'd like to point out that all the warmongers who managed to set my native continent ablaze all over the 20th century (setting up concentration & death camps, political polices and so on) were "committed lefties" of one collectivist brand or another. I hope you can take that fact in consideration if you ever fancy understanding why I came to hold "dodgy political beliefs"... and why I consider yours the same (worse in fact, if I may say so).
The only difference between your hostility to war and mine however is that I know that war can be a solution sometimes. Please note that I'm not saying "I think", "I guess" or "Well, I suppose war could be a solution, etc."
I know that. For a fact.
And I can assure you that despite their reflexive anti-American posturing, and their outrageous display of phony pacifism in the run up to the second Iraq war, most of the French wouldn't deny it either.
At least none of those who can remember (or imagine) the sound of German troops patrolling the streets of their towns and villages at night.
Almost forgot: as for my musical choices, and your surprise, well... I'll just say that I frequently do not live up to many people's stereotypes (I'm not trying to be a smart ass here, that's just a fact I've observed time and again). In that occurrence, I understand that a gun-toting right-wing warmongering French redneck that happens to have a certain Bollywood culture might come as a shock to you. I'll sincerely hope however that this will help you realize that just because I'm fiercely in favor of defending Western civilization and personally kill some of the meat I eat doesn't mean you can necessarily deduce I have brown people's babies for breakfast and advocate ethnic cleansing at lunchtime.
Lefty: thanks for posting this compliment in a (globally) civil way, despite your self-professed dodgy political beliefs that — no argument here — certainly conflict with mine. I'm glad you enjoyed my stunt, and I'm sure we can both agree to disagree on the rest. Politely it seems - and that certainly makes you stand out when one considers the manners usually displayed by the crowd on your side of the political spectrum.
I'm always amazed however by the distinction people on your side seem to make: you hate war (I quote) and thus imply that I, somehow, love it simply because I support it. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
If you allow me to risk the guess that you are a US citizen, and have been so by birth, then I'd say I probably hate war even more than you can possibly do: after all, being native French and the grand-child of native Frenchmen, I'll remind you that we've seen - and lived - the ravages of war at home (and not thousands of miles away from our homes) less than two generations ago. In fact, the last one was particularly ugly, since it managed to combine a "regular" war with the occupation by a foreign army, and a civil war that tore down French society up to this day between collaborators and resistants (and their descendants).
Incidentally, I'd like to point out that all the warmongers who managed to set my native continent ablaze all over the 20th century (setting up concentration & death camps, political polices and so on) were "committed lefties" of one collectivist brand or another. I hope you can take that fact in consideration if you ever fancy understanding why I came to hold "dodgy political beliefs"... and why I consider yours the same (worse in fact, if I may say so).
The only difference between your hostility to war and mine however is that I know that war can be a solution sometimes. Please note that I'm not saying "I think", "I guess" or "Well, I suppose war could be a solution, etc."
I know that. For a fact.
And I can assure you that despite their reflexive anti-American posturing, and their outrageous display of phony pacifism in the run up to the second Iraq war, most of the French wouldn't deny it either.
At least none of those who can remember (or imagine) the sound of German troops patrolling the streets of their towns and villages at night.
Almost forgot: as for my musical choices, and your surprise, well... I'll just say that I frequently do not live up to many people's stereotypes (I'm not trying to be a smart ass here, that's just a fact I've observed time and again). In that occurrence, I understand that a gun-toting right-wing warmongering French redneck that happens to have a certain Bollywood culture might come as a shock to you. I'll sincerely hope however that this will help you realize that just because I'm fiercely in favor of defending Western civilization and personally kill some of the meat I eat doesn't mean you can necessarily deduce I have brown people's babies for breakfast and advocate ethnic cleansing at lunchtime.