TIME - Charles Krauthammer - Why the French Act Isn't Funny Anymore: "It is easy to make fun of the French and their pompous pretense to the grandeur they shed a half-century ago when their loss of honor under Vichy, and then their loss of empire, relegated them to the rank of second-class power. But the fun is over. Before Sept. 11, France's Gaullist anti-Americanism as a form of ostentatious self-aggrandizement was an irritant. With a war on -- three, in fact: Afghanistan, Iraq and the larger war on terrorism -- France's willful obstructionism becomes dangerous and deadly. "
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The French have been arrogant and dangerous for centuries. Sometimes their arrogance has been useful, however. Charles V was not able to crush the Reformation in the early days because he had to defend Europe from the Ottoman Turks [Islamic] who were allied with...[drumroll]..the French! France has always looked out for her own perceived interests. Francis I was sometimes allied with Rome against Charles V, when he wasn't coming to an "understanding" with the Turks.

Later on, the French under Napoleon would ally with the Ottomans against Britain. And so it goes. What has principle to do with foreign policy in these days of Machiavelli triumphant? But it has always been very French to be suavely, sophisticatedly immoral--or is that sophisticatedly immorally suave? Or does it matter anymore what a third-rate power does?

The comfort for the saints is this: God cannot deny Himself and will always act according to His glory and character. No comfort for those who presume on His longsuffering.