EUROPE [sic] REMEMBERS RICE'S 'PUNISH FRANCE' QUIP

Well, we doubt very much that the inhabitants of, say, Portugal much care much less remember. Same for Poland. We don't think the Danes are bothered. Nor the Italians. Nor Romania. Nor the Czech Republic. We imagine all manner of Europeans have little or no recollection and those who do, well, they most likely remember fearlessly.

Except the French.

Here is what Ms. Rice is purported to have said, not quipped:

Punish France, ignore Germany, forgive Russia.

If Ms. Rice did not in fact pronounce this formulary, it is uncanny how well it captures subsequent U.S. foreign policy.

Mr. Powell tried to "quip" the line away:

“It's a great line a journalist came up with and repeated quite a bit.”

And now Mr. Powell is gone. And Ms. Rice is in charge.

Ça vaut son pesant de cacahuètes.