Bush*, Chirac Will Skip Louisiana Purchase Celebration

[kskiska]

The 200th anniversary festivities fall victim to the souring relationship between U.S., France.

Dashing Louisiana's hopes that it would be the site of a public rapprochement between President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac, representatives for both men said this week that they will not attend a ceremony marking the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase.

(snip)

Louisiana plans to stage an elaborate ceremony Dec. 20 at the Cabildo, a historic building in the French Quarter of New Orleans that was once the seat of the Spanish government and is now part of the state museum complex. The ceremony will take place in the same room where representatives of France signed over the land on Dec. 20, 1803.

(snip)

The event took on greater importance in recent months, as diplomats staged a delicate dance in an effort to get both presidents to attend, and piece together a public reconciliation of sorts between the men and the two countries. Representatives have said Chirac, who lived in New Orleans twice in the 1950s and has fond memories of the city, would have liked to have attended.

The diplomatic effort got far enough that a tentative script had been proposed for a September exchange between the presidents in New York, in which Bush would have invited Chirac to join him in New Orleans. But the invitation never came.

French officials declined comment. At the White House, spokesman Ken Lisaius noted that Bush receives thousands of invitations each year; he said a busy schedule prevented the president from attending.

more…
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rift3dec03,1,5412238.story?coll=la-home-nation

[madrchsod]

1. what can you say?

there are no words at all to describe him.... what an insult to the people of the united states and the people of france,who thru out history, have been friends. it took one man to disgace our centuries of friendship between france and the usa...

[Tempest]

2. Want to know the real reason * won't attend?

He can't turn it into a fund raiser.

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. Snubbing allies seems to be a Bush habit

. . why not just build a wall around the USA and be done with it !!

. . Then the BFEE can just sit behind their wall and lob bombs wherever they please.

There is only one force that can "fix" the USA without major global war

The American Voter

[KansDem]

4. Bush is probably still waiting for France's check to clear...

This is an insult!

At the White House, spokesman Ken Lisaius noted that Bush receives thousands of invitations each year; he said a busy schedule prevented the president from attending.

The magnitude of the Louisiana Purchase should far outweigh a vast majority of his "thousands of invitations each year." Bush is still POed at France for not going along with his imperialist plans for the MidEast. Have the city or state invite Pres. Chirac anyway, and to Hell with His Royal Flatulence.

Can anyone give Bush some "growing up" lessons?

[Retrograde]

5. well, I wasn't a history major but

wasn't the Louisiana Purchase a major pivotal point in US history? Commemorating the transfer of control of a large piece of real estate with no fighting and with good intentions, at least at the start, would make me clear my calendar: why wouldn't Bush want to- oh, never mind.

linda

[whirlygigspin]

6. *Bush snubs Louisiana

How insulting for all the people who are proud of their
long history and contribution to this great nation.

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/purchase/map.html

[dflprincess]

7. As the Louisiana Purchase

included a lot more territory than what is now the state of Louisiana, let's really confuse Shrub and invite him to a "Louisiana Purchase Celebration" in some part of the territory that is not currently part of Louisiana.

[Johnyawl]

8. Lots of reasons for that arrogant, petulant ass to not attend

Chirac
Landrieu
Blanco

You know how that twit HATES not getting his way.

[DivinBreuvage]

9. This is sad. The 200th Anniversary of this major historical event...

SHOULD have been commemorated. For the sake of America, a real president would have swallowed his ego for an hour, taken a few smily pictures with the king of the frog people, and gotten the hell out. At the very least it would have been a GREAT photo op! They could have had actors portraying Lewis and Clark, Sacagawea, and the chiefs of the various tribes/nations the expedition met along the way shaking hands with the Greatest Warlord of All Time. They could have fashioned a soundbite about the sacrifice and courage of the expedition and drawn a comparison to our own glorious War on Terror! And it all would have been wrapped in the beautiful amber glow of old American history, which everyone has warm-and-fuzzies about but no one really understands.

On the other hand, this could be good news in that it is another proof of their indulging their overweening pride and arrogance at the expense of their own self-interest. That is Hubris, and we all know what happens to Hubris.

Francoise

[Lisa]

12. Biography on Canadian PM showed he's had disputes with the French Prez ...

But the two men have been able to work around their differences and genuinely respect each other. Of course Bush will try to imply that M. Chirac is to blame for this, but clearly if Jean Chretien (who is no silver-tongued diplomat!) can get along with the President of France, so could Bush, if he tried.

[KoKo]

10. He has no sense of the history of our Country.....He the CEO of

just another Corporation. This shows the kind of jerk he is. He doesn't even feel he has to pretend anymore, not that he really tried to pretend to be a REAL President, and not that he really is a President.

Can you imagine Clinton, Carter, JFK? Even St. Ronnie could have gotten something out of it just reading a speech. Not Shrub.

Who cares what Louisiana or the World think. "I'm Da Man" according to his view. "I rule the WORLD." :puke:

[kskiska]

11. Clinton should go.

And Chirac should go, too, and show up the Chimp. Imagine Clinton wading through the cheering crowds! The Chimp would have to be put into a bulletproof cage. I read where the King of Spain (or was it the PM) would have gone, too, but not without Chirac.