America doesn't believe in magic

Bernard Kouchner, zay foraaayn ministayr of France, says zat zay "Magic is over" for the United States after the George W. Bush presidency and Iraq war:

Asked whether the United States could repair the damage it has suffered to its reputation during the Bush presidency and especially since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Kouchner replied, "It will never be as it was before."

Yes, never as before -- like when American boys used to give their lives to liberate foreign nations (I dare say one of those nations was France) from the oppression of dictators. Ah, zay good old days (somebody give me a cigarette and an accordion).

I guess America is only "magic" when it's liberating the French; but zose brown people? -- hmph -- I don't sink so.

Kouchner began the 90-minute event with a speech that emphasized that "there is not just a new diplomacy; there is a new world."

Yeah, it's a world now where devils fly airliners into tall buildings full of people.

This is not new diplomacy, Mr. Kouchner. The diplomacy you speak of with terrorists is an old and dangerous one. Ask Chamberlain what his heralded diplomacy with Hitler got him.

America doesn't believe in "magic" -- no smoke and mirrors here -- just hard work and sacrifice as always.