Secretary Rice said today that on her first trip to France in 1989 she accompanied “President George Herbert Walker Bush to the bicentennial celebration of the French Revolution and the Declaration of the Rights of Man.”

She added: “The founders of both the French and American republics were inspired by the very same values and by each other. They shared the universal values of freedom and democracy and human dignity that have inspired men and women across the globe for centuries.”

She diplomatically neglected to mention that the American Revolution was a success. The French Revolution, by contrast, was a failure – and a very bloody one, culminating in the Reign of Terror (1793-4).

Entertaining digressions:

1) One good result of the French Revolution: Lobster Thermidor.

2) Asked about whether the French Revolution was a success, Mao reportedly said: “It’s too soon to say.”