. . . but that's just to be expected. After all, I'm a self-proclaimed war-monger -- to some (perhaps all) of your responders, anyway.

I think it's a bit over the top on the blame-game (i.e., "Chirac has an inferiority complex. Most Frenchmen do"), and historical record (i.e., "Of course, the delicious irony that Latvians hugged, kissed and celebrated with Hitler's Nazi soldiers and troops as emancipators and liberators is entirely lost on these EU types."), though.

I personally cannot say that Chirac has an inferiority complex, or that most Frenchmen do, as I do not know Chirac, have not met most Frenchmen (though I see that Jason has a direct connect to whomever "most" is), and have never seen a serious report on the topic. Nor do I think that the children should suffer the crimes of the parents, so what happened in the '40s, while important and world-shaping, should not enter into choices for unification.

Otherwise, a pretty good write-up. Particularly that last line.

Cheers, Tech1,
Dan