it's the fries' fault(s)

[E Geist <i_scoobysnak at yahoo_com>]

i'd really like to pour both sheila jackson lee and
bob ney a tall glass of whogivesashit.  

***

9/16
Lawmaker Wants 'French' Back in Fries 
 
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON - With America needing all the help it can
get in Iraq, it's time to swallow our pride and give
the French back their fries, a House lawmaker said in
a letter to her colleagues. 

   

House Republican leaders last March, angered by French
opposition to U.S. plans to take military action
against Iraq, ordered that all restaurants in the
House replace the french fries on their menus with
"freedom fries." But now, said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
D-Texas, we need to bring the French back to the
table. 


"President Bush is now urging that all parties put
aside 'past bickering.' Delays in rebuilding
international good will are costing Americans lives in
Iraq, and billions of dollars to the American
taxpayers," Lee wrote last week in a letter first
reported by the congressional newspaper Roll Call. "A
symbolic start to that effort would be reinstating
foods in the House cafeterias and dining halls and
their traditional 'American' names — french toast and
french fries." 


The House should show civility and respect as
Secretary of State Colin Powell embarks on the
difficult task of garnering international support for
efforts to stabilize Iraq, Jackson Lee said, adding
that the President's chef, "after months of dodging
the question," recently acknowledged to the chefs of
other world heads of state that french fries were
never taken off the White House menu. 


But House Administration Committee Chairman Bob Ney,
R-Ohio, who initiated the menu change with Rep. Walter
Jones R-N.C., said they'll continue to fight for their
freedom fries. 


Ney said that the day after Jackson Lee wrote her
letter the French came out with an untenable timetable
for elections in Iraq, confounding U.S. efforts to win
United Nations backing for the reconstruction effort.
"They were noncooperative and arrogant then," before
the war, "and they are again noncooperative and
arrogant," Ney said. "I haven't seen a huge change." 


Ney said that was originally a gesture toward the
French "has become an international food fight. It
means something to a lot of people." 


"The whole premise behind the gesture was to support
our troops in Iraq," said Lanier Swann, spokeswoman
for Jones. "The congressional passion in support of
them has not waned and the French position has not
changed."


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