Help me respond to "The World's Thinest Books"

[ceile]

My good friend sent this to me (probably just to get my goat-which she did) and I just can't let it go without a response. I thought this would be fun for all, so let's show her what we got!

The World's Thinnest Books....

--------------------------------------

FRENCH WAR HEROES

by Jacques Chirac
______________________________________

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY COUNTRY

by Jane Fonda & Cindy Sheehan
Illustrated by Michael Moore
________________________________________

MY BEAUTY SECRETS

by Janet Reno

_________________________________________________

ALL THE WOMEN I HAVE LOVED BEFORE

by Barney Frank (D-Mass)

____________________________________________

MY CHRISTIAN ACCOMPLISHMENTS &
HOW I HELPED AFTER KATRINA

by Rev Jesse Jackson & Rev Al Sharpton
_______________________________________

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT BILL

by Hillary Clinton
_________________________________

Sequel:

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT HILLARY

By Bill Clinton
___________________________________

M Y LITTLE BOOK OF
PERSONAL HYGIENE

by Osama Bin Laden
___________________________________

THINGS I CANNOT AFFORD

by Bill Gates

____________________________________

THINGS I WOULD NOT
DO FOR MONEY
by Dennis Rodman

_________________________________

THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE
by Al Gore & John Kerry

_______________________________________

AMELIA EARHART'S
GUIDE TO THE PACIFIC

___________________________________

A COLLECTION of
MOTIVATIONAL SPEECHES
by Dr. J Kevorkian

________________________________

ALL THE MEN I HAVE LOVED BEFORE

by Ellen de Generes & Rosie O'Donnel

____________________________________

GUIDE TO DATING ETIQUETTE
by Mike Tyson

______________________________________

DELICIOUS SPOTTED
OWL RECIPES
b y PETA

___________________________________

THE AMISH PHONE DIRECTORY

_______________________________________

MY PLAN TO FIND THE REAL KILLERS
by O.J. Simpson

_________________________________________

HOW TO DRINK & DRIVE OVER BRIDGES
by Ted Kennedy

___________________________________

MY BOOK OF MORALS
by Bill Clinton
with introduction by The Rev. Jesse Jackson


Now to be fair to my friend, she's very pro-choice and pro-environmental action (she loved An Inconvenient Truth), but she thinks Regan is god and war veterans shouldn't speak out against the war or run for political office because it's disrespectful to *. She is truly an enigma....

[China_cat]

1. Thinnest books?

Good things I've done...G.W. Bush

[Fresh_Start]

2. Intelligence under the Bush administration

Competence in the George Bush White House
Honor and Integrity by George Bush
Following the Gospels By George Bush

[Davros]

3. Here are some

TRAVEL GUIDE TO UNDERAGED ENCOUNTERS
By Rush Limbaugh

THE BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE
By George Bush

HOW TO REALLY TALK DIRTY AND SUPRESS PEOPLE
By Bill O'Reilly

1985 THE SEQUEL
By Karl Rove

DENY! DENY! DENY!
By Dick Cheney

[Lautremont]

8. But those would all be really thick.

[walldude]

4. Here's a few:

The Republican Guide To Ethics by Duke Cunnigham

Hunting Safety by Dick Cheney

The Book of Christian Morals by Ted Haggard

Public Speaking Tips by GWB

How To Stay True to Your Wife by Bill O'Reilly

Compassion For The Ages by Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin

Intelligent Conversation by Sean Hannity

Fair and Balanced Reporting by First Amendment award winner(no joke) Roger Ailes.

[AnneD]

5. Location of Weapons of Mass Destruction...

Geo. Bush.
Planning to Fight, Our Iraq war plan-Donald Rumsfeld.
The New Bill of Rights Alberto Gonzales (abridged)
Making Every Vote Count-Ney
How to win friend and influence elections-Kathy Harris...


the list is so long but you are welcome to these...

[Sweet Freedom]

6. Okay

VietNam WAR HEROES

by George W. Bush
______________________________________

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY COUNTRY
by Prescott Bush
________________________________________

MY BEAUTY SECRETS

By Barbara Bush

_________________________________________________

ALL THE WOMEN I HAVE LOVED BEFORE

by Rush Limbaugh

____________________________________________

MY CHRISTIAN ACCOMPLISHMENTS &
HOW I HELPED AFTER KATRINA

by George W. Bush
_______________________________________


M Y LITTLE BOOK OF
PERSONAL HYGIENE

by Paul Wolfowitz
___________________________________

THINGS I CANNOT AFFORD

by Dick Cheney

_________________________________

THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE
by George W. Bush

_______________________________________

Laura Bush's
GUIDE TO Intersection Safety

___________________________________

A COLLECTION of
MOTIVATIONAL SPEECHES
by George W. Bush

________________________________

ALL THE MEN I HAVE LOVED BEFORE
by Ann Coulter

____________________________________

GUIDE TO DATING ETIQUETTE
by Bill O'Reilly

______________________________________

HOW TO DRINK & FLY A FIGHTER JET
by George W. Bush

___________________________________

MY BOOK OF MORALS
by George W. Bush
with introduction by The Rev. Ted Haggard

[jmowreader]

24. Laura Bush's Guide To Intersection Safety! LMFAO!!!

[SoCalDem]

7. Just tell her you don;t appreciate right wing humor and to not send you any more

You migth tell her it was as humorous as a book called "I Like Them Young and Supple" by P. Edophile

[we can do it]

9. My Thoughts - By GWB

[Cabcere]

27. Not just thin...non-existent! n/t

;)

[we can do it]

39. Ha - Even A Ghost Writer Wouldn't Help

:7

[NewJeffCT]

10. OK, here are a few

The George W. Bush Library of Extremely Thin Books:

OUR EXPERIENCE ON THE FRONTLINES
by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
with a forward by William Kristol

HOW I PICKED MYSELF UP BY MY OWN BOOTSTRAPS
by George W. Bush
with a forward by his brother Jeb

GETTING AHEAD THROUGH HARD WORK
by George W. Bush

RAISING A CHILD TO MAKE ANY PARENT PROUD
by George W. Bush

APPLYING THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS TO MY EVERYDAY LIFE
by George W. Bush
with forwards by Pat Robertson and Ted Haggard

[featherman]

11. Since an actual book of French War Heroes would far exceed the

length of that of any other European or North American nation (dating back to Vercingetorix), this person's entire mind set indicates such a deep ignorance of either truth or history that he (she) is not worth the trouble of a reply.

French war heroes as a "thin" book??? What an ignoramus!!!!

[Pendrench]

15. This always bothers me...in fact, I heard someone on the radio earlier today making a snide remark

about the French (basically calling them cowards). From what I've read, the French lost a large portion of their male population during WWI, and therefore there wasn't a great number of male children born who would be of military age by the time of WWII.

Using the logic of others, should we then consider the American soldiers from the Bataan Death March cowards because they surrendered??? Sometimes the numbers are just against you (and surrender is the best option).

Tim

[rockymountaindem]

26. 90% of French families lost one male family member during WWI

It was a terrible war for France. In fact, by 1916, the French government was in such a panic over the plummeting birthrate they started to issue the first major round of leaves (after two whole years of fighting). This was combined with an effort to reduce the use of condoms with the aim of allowing French troops on leave to impregnate as many women as possible. Of course, by the end of the war, so many French men of prime child-producing age had been killed that the birthrate could not recover. Consequently, many of the young men who would have been in the French army during WWII were never born. With this in mind, the French army adopted a defensive posture during the 1920s and 1930s, adopting the motto "they shall not pass" and constructing the Maginot line. There were two flaws:

1) Nobody could concieve of an offensive through the Ardennes Forest on the border with Belgium. Thus, no defenses were constructed there in an effort to save money. This turned out to be a critical mistake, and in 1940 the Germans shocked the world by launching an armored offensive through the Ardennes. This would be repeated in 1944 in what would develop into the Battle of the Bulge.
2) Due to the great depression, France ran short of funds before they could fortify the whole border with Belgium. This allowed the Germans to make a repeat of the 1914 invasion, sweeping through Belgium and outflanking the Maginot Line. Thus, the line was never truly tested against the Germans. However, the "Little Maginot Line", along the Italian border, repelled the simultaneous Italian invasion even as French forces in the north were experiencing a total breakdown in the face of a mobility war they had never planned for. Also, French forces on the Little Maginot Line were outnumbered by six divisions to nearly forty. Nevertheless, the French repulsed the Italians and even counterattacked across the Italian border. Thus, the concept of static defenses was somewhat vindicated.

Had France not run out of funds to complete the Maginot line, the whole war might have ended differently. Keep in mind that this was a huge investment of capital to construct defenses the likes of which had never been seen. All this was to conserve precious manpower, as France had a dearth of military-age men due to the losses suffered in WWI. Thus, after France lost tens of thousands of men in the six weeks of fighting in 1940, their decision to surrender and avert a second demographic time bomb in as many generations is somewhat more understandable. One should also not forget that other Allied static defenses, such as the Gazala line in N. Africa, suffered a similar fate to that of the Maginot line for the same reasons. Apparently, the "silly, cowardly" French were not alone in trusting bunkers and emplaced artillery against mobile tanks. The Battle of El Alamein could have ended in another Axis victory if not for the Qattara Depression, an impassible pit of swampland which prevented the Germans from outflanking Montgomery's forces and forced Rommel to attack direclty into the British defenses. If France had a problem in WWII, it was a lack of capital and manpower, not a lack of courage.

[Flying Dream Blues]

30. Excellent, rmd! I never knew the whole story...even my history

books seemed to be using a derisive tone when discussing the Maginot line. I never understood the full context as I do now. Thanks for taking the time to share what you know.
:hi:

[Flying Dream Blues]

31. self-delete...posted in the wrong spot nt

[rockymountaindem]

38. Happy to help

If it's not obvious, WWII history is a passion of mine. In any case, the Maginot line has gone down in history as a byword for "fighting the last war", which IMHO is not the proper context to evaluate the plan. The line was designed specifically *avoid* a replay of the battles of WWI which had put France in such a precarious demographic position. True, the Maginot Line was designed for static warfare, but it could hardly be said to resemble the ill-fashioned defenses of the Great War. I'm talking about concrete bunkers hundreds of feet underground, steel turrets like a battleship dug into the earth at regular intervals etc. all connected by hundreds of kilometers of underground railway lines to move troops and supplies to the most critical points. The Maginot Line was no joke, the only problem was that France ran out of money after construction due to the Great Depression, which they could not have forseen when they were making the plans for the line.

Secondly, France also built up the 4th largest navy in the world. The purpose there was to utilize the new fleet to join a British blockade of Germany should war breakout. Basically, the German Army was supposed to be pinned down against the Maginot Line along the Franco-German border, and the Royal Navy and the Flotte Francais would have strangled Germany just as the RN had during World War One, thereby forcing Germany capitulation on economic grounds before France's borders could be breached. All the while, the French Army was to be safely underground in their mammoth defenses, avoiding the wholesale slaughter of 1914-1918. Of course, the French Navy was of no use during the brief conflict that developped, although it's ships at Toulon did menace the Italians for awhile. I'm sure that in June 1940, the French government would have traded every franc they spent on battleships to have extended the Maginot line all the way to the English Channel. Alas, they could not.

A note on the Italian defeat against the Little Maginot Line: As much as I defend the French defense policy of the interwar period (which made perfect sense from the French perspective), it would be unwise to read too much into the success of France's anti-Italian defenses. The Italian army of WWII was numerically massive. By 1939 it was the largest in the world, with over seven million men under arms. However, it was led by a cadre of incompetants and laughably equipped. Later in 1940, the Italians invaded Greece from their possessions in Albania. Now, Greece had an army that looked like it walked out of a photograph taken in 1905. It was tiny, and had practically no modern equipment. Even *Greece* managed to defeat the Italians in short order. The Greeks, very admirably, played to their strengths and used the rugged terrain of their country to fight a masterful defensive campaign. The Greeks were also motivated by fighting on their own soil, sometimes literally for their very childhood homes. Eventually, Mussolini had to go crawling to his little friend Hitler and ask for the Germans to come in and smash the Greeks. At that point nobody could defeat the Germans, so the Greeks never had a chance. Nonetheless, they did their best with very little, and in my mind provide one of the most inspiring stories of World War Two. The lesson here: if you've got to fight a fascist on the cheap, beat up on Mussolini.

[Flying Dream Blues]

40. Another interesting piece! You should be a teacher, RMD.

Seriously, I would love to listen to you explain more of this stuff that I never understood. The "whys" were very overlooked in my history lectures. You make it all make sense. I'm a person who can't stand not knowing "why" in case you missed that!
:hi:

[twilight_sailing]

20. I love France

If we had not had the support of the French, we would not have won our independence.

People who mindlessly bash the French are messing with people I still love, people who helped us gain our freedom.

[sarge43]

12. We Were Soldiers by Dick Cheney with introduction by Tom Delay n/t

[Hav]

13. .

Bleh, rightwing humour is always so...well, unfunny and simply lacking any intelligence. And some of them are really low.
Post 6 as a reply was good though.

[tandot]

14. How to make smart decisions by George W. Bush

How To Avoid Hunting Accidents
By Dick Cheney

Successful War Planning
By Donald Rumfeld

Ethical Standards for Politicians
By Tom Delay

Lawful Lobbying
By Jack Abramoff

Taking No Bribes
By Randy “Duke” Cunningham

How to Protect Your Child From Sexual Predators
By Mark Foley

How To Emphasize With the Poor and Needy
Barbara Bush

How to Raise Smart Sons
George H. W. Bush

[nam78_two]

16. ..

"The ways in which Halliburton supports our troops" by Dick Cheney

"Filthy, deceitful tactics I will never stoop to" by Karl Rove {That one will be a blank page honestly}.

"Ways to protect the environment" by Gale Norton & Christie Todd Whitman

"Why I respect the Bill of Rights" by Albert Gonzalez

"Why war profiteering is wrong" by Dick Cheney

"Why it is wrong to offer impoverished people $1000 & a t-shirt so we can experiment on their kids" by Stephen L Johnson (current head of the EPA)

"How to make friends and influence people" by Ann Coulter & Michael Savage

[Goat or Panic]

17. Some More

"Making Marriage Last"
by John McCain, Rudy Gulliani and Newt Gingrich

"What I Believe"
by John McCain

"How Not to Break up with Your Boyfriend"
by Laura Bush

"Cancer Survival, It Takes a Family"
by Newt Gingrich

"Saving it for Marriage, Abstinence and You"
by Jenna and Barbara Bush

"Tales of Vietnam"
by George W. Bush and Saul Rosenblatt D.D.S.

"May I Suck That, Mr. President?"
by Joseph Lieberman

[ceile]

18. LOL!

Love the last one!

[brentspeak]

19. A History of College Republicans In The Military

[deadmessengers]

21. "Deadmessengers' complete guide to relationships" n/t

:rofl:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. "Shotgun Safety" - Dick Cheney, "Winning ThroughDiplomacy" - G.W. Bush

"Deciphering Intelligence Reports" - Colin Powell

"Gandhi - A Voice for Our Times" - Paul Wolfowitz

"A Community of Nations" - John Bolton

"Women's Liberation" - Laura Bush

"Proper Pronunciation in Public Speaking" - George W. Bush

"The Plain Truth" - Snow & Fleischer

"Civil Discourse" - Rush Limbaugh

[Benhurst]

23. BEAUTY SECRETS by Barbara Bush

THIS I KNOW by George W. Bush

LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLOSET by Senator Lindsay Graham

HEART TO HEART by Dick Cheney

FAMILY PLANNING by George Herbert Walker Bush

[Bluebear]

25. That has to be one of the most unfunny things I have seen "passed along" nt

[zbdent]

28. American Conservative Revolutionary War Heros

Republican Vietnam Medal of Honor Winners

Conservative Inventors

[Toucano]

29. "What I Did in Vietnam" by Dick Cheney & Don Rumsfeld

"My Christian Deeds"
by G.W. Bush

and it's sequels, "Truths I've Told" and "Hard Work"


"What I Know About Integrity"
by Karl Rove



"The Female Sexual Mystique"
by Rev. Ted Haggard


"Human Sexuality & the Adult Male"
by Mark Foley


"My Predictions that Came True"
by Pat Robertson


"Companies I Didn't Sell My Vote To"
by Bob Ney


"Boyfriends"
by Condi Rice


"Rational Thinking"
by Antonio Scallia

[Flying Dream Blues]

32. Here ya go....

Here ya go....

My Compassionate Acts
By GW Bush

My Sober Life
By GW Bush

Great Oratory for Statesmen
by GW Bush

My Favorite Chapter Books (No Pictures)
by GW Bush

Growing Up and Being Accountable
by GW Bush

[tabasco]

33. List of WMDs found in Iraq. n/t

[HannibalBarca]

34. heres one

Go F*ck yourself

By Dick Cheney

[ulysses]

35. Lafayette, we've lost our minds.

"French war heroes"? Tell your friend to read up on Verdun, 1916.

[Little Wing]

36. The BugMan Cometh - My life as Giggolo, by Tom DeLay

[SOteric]

37. 'Feminine Charm' by Ann Coulter

[LSK]

41. Dogfights over Alabama - G W Bush

[LSK]

42. The Post Iraq War WMD Inventory List

[LSK]

43. Securing a Country by Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Bremer

[LSK]

44. The Truth by Dick Cheney

[LSK]

45. USO Tour Stories by Rush Limbaugh

[LSK]

46. Diagnosis by TV - Dr Bill Frist

[LSK]

47. Balancing Budgets by the 109th Congress

[LSK]

48. I told you so (predictions on Iraq that came true) - Paul Wolfowitz

[mikelewis]

49. Only one real book needed... My Pet Goat

[LSK]

50. How I Rebuilt the Intelligence Community - Peter Goss

[rpgamerd00d]

51. Things the Republicans did to Improve the United States

[rpgamerd00d]

52. Conservative Morality

[LSK]

53. Diplomacy by George Bush and Condi Rice