Sarkozy the American

The other Afghan poll

2009-08-19T10:36:00.003-04:00

Le Nouvel Obs is trumpeting a new poll showing nearly two thirds of the French public against French military involvement in Afghanistan, a not very surprising result considering the heated parliamentary debate over permission to extend the mission and continued casualties. Sarkozy has already flip flopped on the issue, being less than enthused during the campaign but later sending some reinforcements as he was courting the Bush administration over supporting EU defense and providing posts for French generals after a full integration into NATO. The next election cycle will start to heat up over the coming year in preparation for the 2011-2012 campaign, and considering past experience, this is one issue where he might flip again if the winds still aren't blowing the right way.

D-Day this Sunday

2009-08-15T16:42:00.002-04:00

Le Figaro previews tomorrow's changes due to the Maillé law. The AP also has a lengthy writeup.

More baby news

2009-08-12T12:12:00.001-04:00

One way to keep the media alive in August - make up news: Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni 'to have baby in 2011'.

More hot air coming soon

2009-08-11T18:32:00.002-04:00

Libération interviews Pierre Moscovici on the status of the perpetual rethinking of what the PS stands for. More questions, discussions, consultations, fancy web 2.0 interaction. In other words, nothing new.

Sunday papers

2009-08-09T07:39:00.003-04:00

Today's Washington Post has an article on (surprise) Muslim veils in France. Meanwhile, the UK's (er, Irish) Independent prefers to stick to the traditional French bashing.

Bucking Trends

2009-07-31T10:03:00.002-04:00

Carla might be already fretting that at 41 she is about to become a step-grandmother, even younger than Sarah Palin when she became a grandmother. According to this site, the average age of French mothers at their first childbirth was already 29.2 in 1997 and projected to increase for the foreseeable future. The mother in this case is 23. Not that anything is necessarily wrong with having a kid while many of your French peers are still in school, but those six years could've given Carla a bit more time to prepare for this with her psychiatrist. Besides, it makes Carla's hope for a child a bit awkward now the niece or nephew is older than any aunt or uncle.

Grandpa Sarko

2009-07-30T08:12:00.002-04:00

In today's hard news, the site PurePeople reports that Sarkozy could be a grandfather by years end.

More Sarko from the Times

2009-07-28T16:35:00.002-04:00

The Times brings us a rigorous empirical analysis of why "Sarkozy is not fond of being a Frenchman."

You can't win

2009-07-27T17:48:00.001-04:00

Middle-aged joggers like Nicolas Sarkozy have longer, happier lives and Carla's diet 'made Sarkozy faint on jog'

FT on "sex dwarf" author

2009-07-27T06:00:00.003-04:00

Remember the writer who a a month ago dubbed Sarkozy a sex dwarf in the pages of Prospect? Now the Financial Times has come out with a short review of her book The Secret Life of France - an "engaging book" - but "the writer’s apparent obsession with Sarkozy, who appears on every other page, is unsettling."

Sarko Back (and blog)

2009-07-27T05:35:00.008-04:00

Early this morning eastern time Sarkozy was released from the hospital (see this very terse AP alert), though he has not gone back to work in Paris. In a refreshing surprise, this story has been reported quite widely in the US, even making the local evening news where I live. Some media outlets are already making wild pronouncements, with the UK Independent declaring that "The aura of youth and indestructible energy cultivated by President Nicolas Sarkozy was dealt a severe blow..." Meanwhile, the geniuses at Google who deleted this blog while I was away have brought it back from the dead!

Back in mid-July

2009-06-19T14:02:00.001-04:00

Sorry about the abrupt leave. I'm spending 6 weeks around the Middle East - back in late July just in time for all of France to pack her bags!

Some competition...

2009-05-29T15:15:00.003-04:00

Le Figaro's headlining a new OpinionWay poll that finds Nicolas Sarkozy second in popularity behind Angela Merkel among major European leaders. Quite an accomplishment, considering the competition - Gordon Brown is struggling with one of the largest parliamentary scandals in modern history (and that economy), José Luis Zapatero is facing forecasts of 25% unemployment, and Silvio Berlusconi is openly cavorting with minors. No wonder the communist youth and sex dwarf maintain public confidence.

Once you look at the numbers, the poll appears to be a much better measure of national mood than of anything substantive about these political figures. For each leader, a greater percentage of Italians have a good opinion compared with any other nationality, whereas the Brits have a lower opinion of each leader than everyone else.

Not your average op-ed

2009-05-27T12:37:00.003-04:00

Sarko the sex dwarf - (the author tries to explain her choice of terms on her website...don't you know when to stop digging?!)

Back to Iran

2009-05-27T11:51:00.006-04:00

With North Korea dominating the news recently, it's another reminder of how complicated things could become if Iran constructed a nuclear weapon, setting off regional consequences that could seriously destabilize global security. For all his tough talk Sarkozy has done little visibly on Iran except to accept Obama's new outreach and just recently to install the French military in the UAE, which led to some oddly belligerent quotes in Le Figaro:

Voilà pour la partie émergée de l'iceberg. L'autre partie, sur laquelle les discours officiels glissent volontiers, a pour nom l'Iran, dont les rives sont à 225 kilomètres seulement d'Abu Dhabi. En prenant position de manière permanente au bord du détroit d'Ormuz, les Français espèrent acquérir une «position dissuasive» vis-à-vis de Téhéran. «Si l'Iran attaque les Émirats, il attaque aussi les Français», résume un diplomate. (...)

À Paris comme à Tel Aviv et à Washington, on n'exclut pas qu'un échec des négociations ouvertes entre la nouvelle Administration américaine et Téhéran se solde un jour par un bombardement de l'Iran. Et dans le domaine militaire, comme en diplomatie, il faut toujours préparer le coup d'après…

If Israel goes it alone it is laughable to think the French would join in, and the possibility of American-led intervention is now smaller than ever. What is much more important than a new desert fort and selling some Rafale fighters is to prepare more sanctions if the Obama outreach fails, as Hillary Clinton alluded to several weeks ago.

Despite Rusian or Chinese recalcitrance, it's the EU that is still responsible for 40% of Iranian imports, and could thus help shutdown much Iranian trade without something as dangerous as a blockade. Expanding on Obama's linkage between the Iranian issue and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one would hope that Sarkozy and the rest of the EU would encourage Israel to pursue the local peace track by promising such crippling sanctions if Iran failed to come to some reasonable agreement. Unfortunately that would require EU leadership, unity, and foresight, which sadly is not always in great supply.

But there is always room for pleasant surprises. Just the other day Reuters and the Jerusalem Post reported that such EU sanctions are at least under discussion. Certainly to be continued.

Royal misstep?

2009-05-27T01:23:00.003-04:00

Several British papers (or at least the Sun, whatever that is...) are calling out Sarkozy for a supposed "snub" in not inviting the Queen to the upcoming D-Day anniversary.

(Ok, the Daily Mail has it too)

Picking on the French

2009-05-26T16:03:00.001-04:00

First the US during the Iraq War, then China over Tibet, and now Israel over Jerusalem...

Press across the Channel

2009-05-25T15:53:00.003-04:00

An interesting essay on the unfolding House of Commons scandal (initiated and fueled by the Daily Telegraph) and how the French press might have reacted. What the author doesn't bring up is that the UK has some of the toughest libel laws, and yet the press normally still manages to do some entertaining muckraking. One comment noted another example of the difference between press cultures being the way the DSK scandal was covered in the US and UK versus France - certainly true, but let's remember that the entire US mainstream media ignored the campaign-destroying John Edwards scandal even while the National Enquirer was spilling the beans.

Playing politics with D-Day

2009-05-24T15:13:00.004-04:00

Daniel Cohn-Bendit:

Trouvant «formidable qu'Obama vienne», la tête de liste Europe Ecologie en Ile-de-France a déploré sur Radio J que «Sarkozy le Grand veuille utiliser ça un jour avant les européennes». Il propose donc que l’ensemble des têtes de listes soient invitées, arguant que le Débarquement «n'est pas quelque chose de franco-français» mais «le début de la naissance de l'Europe, un patrimoine qu'on a tous en commun».

Not that Sarkozy isn't playing politics as well, it's the advantage of incumbency, but this sounds a bit like Rachida Dati demanding Obama's cell number.

AP on strikes

2009-05-20T11:12:00.003-04:00

The Associated Press has picked up on the still stumbling along strikes, interviewing several students at the Sorbonne. Not exactly good PR, especially this last quote:

"I left my country hoping to have a better situation than at home," said Issou Mayela, from Mali, a first-year Sorbonne student in applied foreign languages, "but I found it's just the opposite."

When is a choice not a choice?

2009-05-20T06:23:00.002-04:00

When there is no choice. This from Jean-Marc Ayrault:

Le président des députés PS Jean-Marc Ayrault a de nouveau dénoncé mardi ce qu'il a qualifié "d'obsession présidentielle", en évoquant le retour, à l'ordre du jour de l'Assemblée, d'un texte sur le travail du dimanche auquel son groupe est toujours opposé.

"Le texte qui arrive est minimaliste, mais ne change rien au fond: c'est un choix de société, une brèche qu'on veut ouvrir", a jugé M. Ayrault lors du point-presse hebdomadaire du groupe.

Something for Sunday work

2009-05-18T12:38:00.008-04:00

A new text on Sunday work has been set forward, covered with as much red tape, convolutedness, and government micro-managing as possible. There are some good worker protection provisions, but one is a bit strange. It says that in certain cases, an employer cannot refuse to hire somebody who does not wish to work on Sunday...what if an employer needs to hire somebody to fill in on among other days, Sunday, and a person unwilling to do so submits an application?

Hmm, what happened to all that church and state stuff?

Le texte réaffirme l’attachement de la Nation au repos hebdomadaire, «principe humaniste» issu de «la tradition chrétienne»...

And from Le Figaro, the CFTC denounces the bill as a Trojan horse (kind of pagan, no?):

La CFTC a estimé aujourd'hui que la proposition de loi...était "un véritable cheval de Troie permettant à terme de généraliser le travail le dimanche". (...)

Enfin, la centrale chrétienne "réaffirme son attachement au dimanche, jour privilégié pour le lien social, le travail bénévole, la vie familiale, personnelle, associative et spirituelle".

Shut it off!

2009-05-18T12:21:00.002-04:00

Some in the PS are demanding the CSA to pull a TV ad encouraging people to vote in the upcoming European parliament elections because it includes pictures of Nicolas Sarkozy. Better yet, why is the government wasting tax dollars on such a stupid public service announcement?

No more BHL

2009-05-17T11:35:00.002-04:00

Now he's writing for Politico?!

The Crash

2009-05-17T08:23:00.003-04:00

Several recent Obama decisions have led to articles suggesting he's losing support among members of what Howard Dead would call the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, but if he's disappointing some liberal Americans, you know it's going to be worse among the left overseas. A recent article in Libération entitled "Obama recule encore sur les droits humains" generated the usual crazy comments, but this one at the top was a bit more lucid:

On nous avait un peu endormis avec le charisme d'Obama, le charme d'Obama, la femme d'Obama, les filles d'Obama, le chien d'Obama (!). On a voulu nous le faire passer pour le nouveau Lincoln, le nouveau Martin Luther King, on nous a bercés d'espoir avec la fermeture annoncée de Guantanamo, le prochain retour des soldats d'Irak, l'avènement d'une Amérique non raciste (tu parles...), la poignée de mains à Chavez... Maintenant on se réveille, on réalise qu'il n'a jamais prétendu mettre fin à la peine de mort, ni à l'embargo sur Cuba, ni au lobby pro-israëlien... On avait rêvé, ou pas voulu voir.
C'est tellement plus beau, le rêve !

This can't be seen as unexpected. Everyone knew that 80% support in France or Germany wasn't the result of everyone carefully reading his campaign pledges. Just as certain differences between the US and Europe that were exacerbated in the first Bush years were in fact continuations from the Clinton years, certain differences will outlive the Bush years into the Obama years. Luckily he can probably still pull a larger crowd in any European country than that state's own leaders, which suggests despite the inevitable disappointment in come corners of the continent, there's still plenty of room for closer cooperation and progress.

Surprise, there's no credit

2009-05-15T01:09:00.002-04:00

A handful of universities are struggling to figure out what to do after nearly a semester full of strikes. But if, in certain cases, there were almost no courses held, how can consider holding exams with a straight face? What's wrong with making the course scheduling flexible enough that students can stay on an extra semester? And as for the "la valeur des diplômes mise en doute" headlined by Le Figaro, they shouldn't forget that that problem, mor generally, is not caused by the latest strikes.

Oui for Hadopi

2009-05-12T12:43:00.003-04:00

The National Assembly voted for the Hadopi law today with a final tally of 296 for and 233 against. This included 6 UMP defections and a divided Nouveau centre. Better get that last minute downloading in before the fall!

Some more creative protesting

2009-05-10T09:53:00.002-04:00

This at a McDonald's in Paris. Apparently Ronald McDonald speaks French with a strong accent:

La prof a réapparu entretemps en clown Ronald McDonald's. Elle vérifie avec un fort accent américain le niveau des connaissances. Les questions ne sont pas vraiment difficiles. Mais il y a des pièges.

A la seconde - "Le mépris est ?" -, les trois réponses proposées sont bonnes. Notamment, la B: : c'est "un trait de personnalité bien ancré dans le gouvernement actuel".

French bashing university style

2009-05-09T13:36:00.004-04:00

The website American Thinker warns ominously that if Obama gets his way on expanding federal college funding, "More federal control, less state oversight, and no doubt a union for university professors will make our schools emulate the French system in no time at all."

Of course, that neglects to mention that for the foreseeable future there will still be a second requirement to wanting to go to college: being smart - and as long as individual colleges and universities are allowed to choose from amongst their applicants, problems like overcrowding and drop-out rates can be kept under control.

A false and non-religious hope

2009-05-08T10:38:00.003-04:00

An op-ed in today's Le Monde appears to believe that Obama is inaugurating in a new secular America...wasn't McCain the less religious one?

Another hit on the nuke front

2009-05-07T09:53:00.006-04:00

Just several weeks ago, leaks from the Elysee were particularly scathing regarding Obama's commitement in Prague to a nuclear free world, and other reports indicated that the French were less than happy with the just confirmed US ambassador to NATO, who has previously written about France and nuclear disarmament. Now this tidbit from a Reuters report on the agenda concluded for 2010's NPT review conference:

The agenda agreed on Wednesday includes a review of disarmament commitments made by the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia in 1995 and 2000...

The disarmament commitments have been very divisive in recent years after former President George W. Bush decided he was not bound by those pledges and insisted they be dropped from the agenda. The French supported that position.

"The Obama administration did an about-face and agreed to bring those commitments back on the agenda," a diplomat said, asking not to be be named. "The French were still trying to block it but gave in overnight when they realized they were alone and isolated."

Media offensive (against who?)

2009-05-06T16:14:00.004-04:00

France 24 is extending its Arabic programming to 10 hours per day (2:00 pm to 12:00 am French time), but instead of starting off on a positive note, Christine Ockrent apparently needed to lash out at somebody:

The French are intent on presenting their view of world current affairs to the Arab population that is in the grip of the "Anglo-Saxon" media, said officials from France 24 news channel while announcing the expansion of its Arabic-language broadcast from four hours to 10 hours daily. (...)

This, announced at a press conference yesterday, will enable the public-funded TV station to "provide the French perspective as opposed to the American-British point of view", according to Christine Ockrent, CEO of France 24. "We want to show that Western media does not only mean American or British."

Grip of "Anglo-Saxon" media...When did we invade Al Jazeera? Honestly, between French commentary and Arab commentary, it's sometimes hard to know if it's the Anglo-Saxons or Zionists who control everything.

Comedy in the Times

2009-05-06T01:24:00.002-04:00

The New York Times is running an article on French political comedians. A week or so ago I got the chance to see Nicolas Canteloup do his schtick live on Europe 1, and not surprisingly he was all the crowd seemed to care about at that early hour of the morning.

More on Sunday work

2009-05-06T01:16:00.001-04:00

Libération proves Brice Hortefeux wrong, and in doing so proves the absolute stupidity of the current Sunday work rules:

L’avenue des Champs-Elysées hémiplégique le dimanche ? Ouverte d’un côté et fermée de l’autre ? Ce serait peut-être d’une «stupidité absolue», comme le dit Brice Hortefeux, si c’était vrai. Comme d’autres lieux de la capitale classés par la préfecture «zones touristiques à affluence exceptionnelle» (la rue des Francs-Bourgeois, dans le Marais, ou une partie du boulevard Saint-Germain), les Champs-Elysées bénéficient d’un régime spécifique autorisant, le dimanche, les activités culturelles et de loisirs. Le Virgin Mégastore, la Fnac sont ainsi autorisés à ouvrir le dimanche. Les enseignes de textile sportif sont également ouvertes au titre de leur activité de «loisir», mais pas celles de luxe ou de prêt-à-porter, de vente de parfums (Sephora) ou de café (Nespresso). Ainsi, Louis Vuitton, qui avait bénéficié d’une dérogation en 2005 pour ouvrir son magasin des Champs-Elysées, vient de se voir, à la mi-mars, prier de fermer ses portes le dimanche par le Conseil d’Etat. La règle n’a donc rien à voir avec les trottoirs : on trouve d’ailleurs des magasins ouverts le dimanche de part et d’autre de la plus célèbre avenue du monde.

Faint signs of life

2009-05-05T14:31:00.000-04:00

...from Club Med.

Take Two

2009-05-04T10:13:00.001-04:00

Bremner on Sarkozy's two year anniversary.

Great Poll to star the week

2009-05-04T01:52:00.003-04:00

More people disappointed with Sarkozy. While it has never been back to the glory days right after the election, you know, when Sarkozy was jetting off on vacations and giving press conferences every hour in between (is that what the French really want?), the bump he received during his tenure at the head of the EU proves at least that his numbers are still flexible within a certain range.

BHL pops up again...

2009-04-28T12:57:00.003-04:00

...and aparently as a blogger for the Huffington Post. According to his bio:

Lévy’s cultural commentary, novels and journalism have continued to stir up such excitement that The Guardian noted he is ‘accorded the kind of adulation in France that most countries reserve for their rock stars.’

French students get creative

2009-04-27T07:52:00.003-04:00

An email message sent by a university still undergoing some blocage problems:

Tentative de désinformation > Réaction de l'équipe présidentielle

Cher(e)s collègues, cher(e)s étudiant(e)s,

Ce samedi 25 avril, à cinq reprises entre 16h18 et 16h47, des personnes ont tenté de diffuser via le serveur de messagerie des listes de [university], un message ayant pour objet "[Présidence] 25/04/09 > Déroulement du référendum du lundi 27 avril 2009" , faussement co-signé par [university leaders], le tout depuis, entre autres, une adresse mail usurpant celle habituellement utilisée pour la diffusion des messages aux étudiants et aux personnels de notre établissement.

Il va de soi que ce message n'est en rien un message de la présidence et si par extraordinaire il était parvenu jusqu'à vous par d'autres moyens que ceux précédemment mentionnés, nous vous demandons de ne pas en tenir compte.

Sur le fond, les initiateurs de ce message ont tenté de déstabiliser l'université et l'équipe présidentielle en prêtant à cette dernière des moyens qu'elle réprouve et des méthodes qu'elle abhorre.

Ces faits sont répugnants et déshonorent leurs auteurs.

L'équipe présidentielle.

Sarkozy's plan for economic growth

2009-04-27T04:05:00.004-04:00

= A French alternative to Desperate Housewives.

(Note: I've never actually seen the US show)

How things (don't) change

2009-04-27T01:56:00.004-04:00

Today's New York Times profiles Châteauroux's hosting of an American military base until the mid-1960s. The article included this amusing quote:

For many here in Châteauroux of the older generation, the years at the NATO base were the good old days, with well-paying jobs plentiful at the base and splotches of color — as off-duty Americans sported Hawaiian shirts and tooled around in their brightly colored Chevrolets and Oldsmobiles — in the dreary grayness of postwar France.

I got to say, from observing the last several months, few people venture from wearing black, brown, or gray, and had I brought one of those bright red North Face winter jackets I would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

More work on Sunday work

2009-04-26T13:40:00.003-04:00

Brice Hortefeux let it be known that the government will take another stab at Sunday work this summer, with a new bill being presented in weeks.

The Daily Show on Monday

2009-04-25T05:24:00.003-04:00

Watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Monday - Christine Lagarde, or as their website spells it, "Legarde", will be the guest.

Help is not on the way

2009-04-23T03:58:00.003-04:00

One would hope somebody at the Elysée occasionally looks up from Le Figaro to glance at the Wall Street Journal: "Europe's Grim Outlook Challenges World Recovery".

No, it's just the ego

2009-04-18T05:40:00.002-04:00

The website Talking Points Memo suggests in light of recent reports that Sarkozy may be "hitting the bottle", apparently unaware that the man doesn't drink anything stronger than orange juice.

More on Sarkozy's (un)diplomacy

2009-04-17T08:28:00.005-04:00

Le Nouvel Obs' Affaires étrangères blog wonders why the Elysée hasn't denied this article, and also has a good roundup of the current controversy.

Meanwhile, the French press seems to sharing the same headlines:
Sarkozy l'arrogant épinglé par la presse internationale,
Sarkozy juge-t-il Zapatero pas "intelligent" ? La presse européenne s'interroge,
La presse étrangère s'offusque des propos de Sarkozy,
Sarkozy épinglé en Europe pour des propos sur ses pairs, malgré les démentis,
Sarkozy raillé par la presse européenne

...and not, "Why the French press often criticizes Sarkozy about pointless matters and tends to ignore serious diplomatic faux pas that must be picked up by foreign papers for French papers to then report on."

Update: Now from Libération: Le «sniper» Sarkozy irrite la presse anglophone...still doesn't "irrite la presse française"?

Sarko on the G20

2009-04-17T01:31:00.004-04:00

From Libération yesterday:

En plat de résistance, les premiers pas de Barack Obama sur la scène internationale. «Obama est un esprit subtil, très intelligent et très charismatique. Mais il est élu depuis deux mois et n’a jamais géré un ministère de sa vie. Il y a un certain nombre de choses sur lesquelles il n’a pas de position», assure Nicolas Sarkozy. Et il «n’est pas toujours au niveau de décision et d’efficience», dont lui-même ferait preuve. Exemple : la taxe carbone. Compte rendu, version Sarkozy, de son échange avec Obama sur le sujet : «Je lui ai dit : "Je crois que tu n’as pas bien compris ce qu’on a fait sur le CO2. Tu as fait un discours, il va falloir des actes." Le pack énergie-climat que j’ai fait adopter sous la présidence française [de l’Union européenne, ndlr] prévoit en 2020 une baisse de 20 % des rejets de 1990. Nous, en Europe, il y a des sanctions contre les Etats et les entreprises. Lui, il s’engage seulement à revenir au niveau de 1990 et il n’y a pas de sanction.»

Is he reading Republican talking points? As for one one of Sarko's observations, it is true that Obama had little "management" experience in a conventional business or political sense, but it's not usual (nowadays) for US presidents to have previously been cabinet members in charge of a federal government department.

Update: Ouch - this from the Times diplomatic editor:

There is one leader whom the “hyper-president” claims to admire: Silvio Berlusconi, despite his constant stream of gaffes. But Mr Berlusconi is a buffoon, not a bitch. Well might Mr Sarkozy aspire to his heights. If he had an ounce of Mr Berlusconi's boundless self-confidence, he would not need to sneak around like some pint-sized Iago dripping bile into ready ears.

Libé on Sarkozy

2009-04-16T06:50:00.003-04:00

Libération trying to pick up were Bremner left off. Just noticed that when the September G20 summit takes place in New York, that could be a possible time for Sarkozy to visit Washington for the first time with Obama in office; Obama would have already been to France twice as president plus once on the campaign.

TIME on Chirac

2009-04-16T05:39:00.003-04:00

Time magazine reports on the popularity of Chirac and Sarkozy, repeating the completely speculative suggestions that Obama's letter to the Chirac foundation was secretly praising him about his opposition to the Iraq war.

Club Med dead in the water

2009-04-15T07:13:00.002-04:00

A half-baked idea neutered by the Germans and launched with great fanfare is not surprisingly "half-frozen", as Robert del Picchia describes in an interview on the Union for the Mediterranean.

Voting isn't a crime

2009-04-14T14:29:00.002-04:00

Jean-François Copé to Le Figaro:

Il ne faut pas se méprendre. C'est d'abord le résultat d'une petite manœuvre des socialistes. La presse s'en est d'ailleurs largement fait l'écho. Mais cela ne nous exonère en rien de nos propres responsabilités. Et je le dis très simplement en tant que président du groupe UMP : je considère être le premier responsable et le premier fautif, au moins pour défaut de vigilance. Je vous l'avoue : jamais je n'aurais imaginé que les socialistes, sur un texte aussi vital pour les artistes français, allaient nous tendre un piège aussi tordu en fin de parcours législatif alors qu'il n'y avait plus aucune disposition conflictuelle dans le débat. À tel point que les sénateurs PS, plus tôt dans la matinée, n'ont pas voté contre ce texte!

In fairness, he does take responsibility, but really. Copé later dismissed the idea of a mandat unique, though left the door open if members aren't present from Tuesday morning to Thursday evening. Instead of wading into that proposition, why not just extend the work week, or better yet, force politicians to spend every extra moment of their waking life raising campaign cash...

Be Careful What You Wish For

2009-04-14T14:00:00.005-04:00

What French Politics calls "hot air" comes Charles Bremner's continuing take on the Sarko-Obama relationship. Coincidence or not, Mr. Bremner's paper has been on the front lines in reporting the disagreements between the two men, though others, including Le Nouvel Observateur, have done their part to corroborate. But let's get down to the hypocrisy. From Bremner:

The French presidency is pouring cold water on President Obama's efforts to recast American leadership in the world, depicting them as unoriginal, unsubstantial and over-rated...The American President's call "to free the world of the menace of a nuclear nightmare" was hot air, said a report to Sarkozy by his staff. "It was rhetoric, not a speech on American security policy but an export model aimed at improving the image of the United States," they said.

Sarkozy to Condi, summer 2007:

'Improve your image in the world. It’s difficult when the country that is the most powerful, the most successful—that is, of necessity, the leader of our side—is one of the most unpopular countries in the world. It presents overwhelming problems for you and overwhelming problems for your allies. So do everything you can to improve the way you’re perceived—that’s what you can do for me.’ [Jean-David Levitte]: I think it’s entirely possible; the reservoir of good will has been drained somewhat, but it is far from dry. Look how much the image of France has changed in the United States in eight weeks.”

Is not a thanks in order?

Turkey poll

2009-04-13T15:28:00.003-04:00

Turkey EU poll: 50% against, 35% for, 15% uh, "I've heard of Turkey, but... (1:56)".

About that European defense...

2009-04-10T11:24:00.005-04:00

Le Figaro reports that the Charles de Gaulle, France's only currently serving aircraft carrier, will be in for repairs for four to six months. Other than scrapping a French-British carrier project last summer, Sarkozy has yet to definitively decide on future construction. Not that carriers are the be-all and end-all of military might, but it's tough to claim a partnership of equals in NATO, as Sarkozy and Obama spoke of last week, when you can't even get a boat in the water. If Sarko wants to take on the national security legacy of de Gaulle once more, he could stop leaking French disapproval of Obama's nuke-free world to the media, realize that French nuclear weapons have little to no relevance to French security, and put some cash into conventional defense.

Krugman vs. "Anglo-Saxons"

2009-04-10T00:56:00.003-04:00

Paul Krugman has been a noted critic of Europe's efforts (or lack thereof) in confronting the financial and economic crisis, but today's op-ed sounds a bit more Sarko/Merkel like.

Obama's Nuke Speech...

2009-04-09T15:41:00.000-04:00

...seen from the Élysée.

The other veil

2009-04-09T01:17:00.003-04:00

Another great idea from the UMP:

Le député UMP Didier Julia a déposé aujourd'hui une proposition de loi visant à interdire, comme en Allemagne, «le port de cagoules et de tout autre moyen de masquer le visage lors de manifestations ou attroupements» sous peine d’amende et d’emprisonnement.

And it's already gotten the support of Xavier Bertrand and some interest from François Fillon. First no veils in school, now perhaps no masks/hoods on the streets - why don't we just cut to the chase and institute a public dress code? Uniforms anyone?

A Sarko critique

2009-04-07T09:23:00.002-04:00

From Canada's Globe and Mail:

On a number of issues, notably wages, employment liberalization and reform of the judiciary and secondary education, programs announced with tremendous fanfare have had to be delayed or withdrawn. Almost invariably, Mr. Sarkozy has blamed the minister in question, then moved on to the next subject to strike his interest. Meantime, his obsession with dominating the daily news cycle continues unabated. He has even appeared at crime scenes - not urban riots, but private crimes of passion, where no reason of state could possibly warrant a president's presence.

Given the pathetic state of the opposition, it is difficult to see what price Mr. Sarkozy will pay. But his style virtually guarantees that little of real importance can be accomplished.

At a recent press conference, U.S. President Barack Obama said he was loath to comment immediately on matters of great public importance before being certain he knew the subject in question. Many French wish such self-discipline could rub off on Mr. Sarkozy. Given his temperament, however, that hardly seems likely. As a result, an administration in which many had placed high hopes is lapsing into demagoguery and ineffectiveness.

Hostage taking? Yes we can!

2009-04-07T04:49:00.004-04:00

A CSA-Le Parisien poll says it all. When asked if "les séquestrations de patrons par des salariés protestant contre les fermetures" are acceptable, 45% of respondents say yes against 50% who say it's unacceptable. When asked if this surprised him, Benoit Hamon responded "Pas vraiment !" By political grouping, the results were Left (48% acceptable 48% unacceptable) Right (29% vs 67%) MoDem (49% vs ?).

Kouchner's state of mind

2009-04-07T02:19:00.004-04:00

Bernard Kouchner wonders whether he's still in favor of Turkey's EU aspirations. Meanwhile, Obama's support of Turkey's candidacy is criticized over at Libération. As he rightly points out, "l’Union d’aujourd’hui n’est plus celle d’il y a dix ans et encore moins celle d’il y a vingt ans. En clair, l’Union est bien autre chose qu’une simple zone de libre échange style ALENA" but considering the outstanding success of the EU constitution and Lisbon treaty, the EU's united front during the Russia-Georgia War, and the EU coordination and cooperation during the financial crisis, it is pretty absurd to declare that Turkish entrance would suddenly upend this European (Dis)Union.

Le Monde getting ahead of itself

2009-04-06T06:18:00.003-04:00

Le Monde has a long take on Obama's first trip to Europe and what it means for his outlook and foreign policy. But after stating "Les journalistes américains ont noté qu'il [Obama] avait beaucoup parlé des erreurs commises par les Etats-Unis, ce qui lui permet de plaider plus efficacement que la page est tournée" the article goes on to say:

Devant les étudiants de Strasbourg, il a parlé d'Abou Ghraib, l'ancienne prison américaine en Irak, un nom qui ne revient pas souvent dans le discours public américain, en essayant de les convaincre qu'ils peuvent désormais se joindre aux Etats-Unis sans avoir peur de "se regarder dans la glace".

Lors d'une conférence de presse à Londres, il a dit que les Etats-Unis polluaient à un rythme tel que si Indiens et Chinois usaient autant d'énergie, "nous aurions déjà tous fondu". A Prague, il a rappelé un fait qui lui non plus n'est pas souvent dit en ces termes : les Etats-Unis sont les seuls à avoir lancé une bombe A. Ce qui leur donne, selon lui, "l'autorité morale" pour proposer un désarmement complet.

When has Abu Ghraib not been spoken of? Perhaps Le Monde's only watching Fox and not MSNBC. And when has anyone ever tried to hide the fact that the US is the only country to have used nuclear weapons in war? Most Americans, I would venture, tend to agree with that decision. Perhaps it's just so refreshing to hear an American president speak with an appreciation for reality, that it seems like a long apology.

Le Monde on Obama trip

2009-04-05T15:11:00.003-04:00

Did Le Monde just hint at Obama's promised speech in a Muslim capital? It would be out of the 100 days however.

M. Obama n'aime pas être bousculé, comme il en a l'impression quand ses partenaires font des effets d'annonce. Le voyage en Normandie est un cas d'école. Annoncé, reporté. Vendredi, Nicolas Sarkozy a encore évoqué l'anniversaire du 6 juin 1944 et les " plages du débarquement" que les deux présidents pourraient "fouler ensemble" et l'accueil "magnifique" qui serait fait à l'Américain. Barack Obama n'a pas relevé. Le voyage est pourtant acquis. Ce serait à l'occasion d'une visite au Proche-Orient.

Thanks for the guitar

2009-04-04T15:33:00.002-04:00

People is all over the latest news from Europe: Michelle Obama gave Carla Bruni "an acoustic Gibson guitar". I'm sure Sarko's thrilled - every time I think of Bruni playing at the Elysée I imagine the guitar scene in Airplane...

Sarkozy keeps trying

2009-04-04T07:30:00.000-04:00

Today from Politico:

In contrast, during brief social intervals Mr Obama and Mr Sarkozy seemed to be “yakking it up” with each other, in the words of one photographer, with the US president even slapping his French counterpart on the back.

Background on NATO

2009-04-04T05:16:00.009-04:00

Nouvel Obs with a more complete story on Sarkozy's decision to rejoin NATO, which was communicated to the US as early as his 2007 picnic with the Bushes, and which began as an internal process nearly as soon as Sarkozy came into office. This is not exactly new; later that August and September he and Herve Morin were already hinting publicly of such a reintegration. In late September the FT's Philip Stephens wrote a great op-ed entitled "Sarkozy and the prize of a grand transatlantic bargain":

There are the outlines here of a grand bargain, of a division of responsibilities that strengthens rather than weakens western security. France reconciles itself to an enhanced global role for Nato (while incidentally assuming important military commands); the US lifts its objections to expansion of Europe's capabilities.

And the Washington Post's Jim Hoagland basically laid out today a year and a half ago:

...France has launched an ambitious effort to split the difference by reaching a final agreement with Bush on terms for rejoining NATO's military command -- and then have the deal formally adopted by the alliance shortly after Bush's successor has been inaugurated.

That would be accomplished at a spectacular 60th-anniversary NATO summit being planned for the spring of 2009. The meeting is to be hosted jointly by Germany and France, according to diplomats involved in the previously undisclosed planning. It would provide a powerful symbol of the alliance's contribution to the durable peace that has been created between two nations that sparked two world wars in the 20th century.

But as the Nouvel Obs confirms, Sarkozy's initial goal to get at least one of three European commands were summarily rebuffed, and the creation of a European HQ was stonewalled by the Brits. In the end the US did lift its opposition to a more independent European defense (which the article attributes to the 700 extra French troops sent to Afghanistan), plus the US gave up two of its own commands to the French. Sarkozy may have been disappointed not to have jetted off to Chicago the night of Obama's election, but Jean-David Levitte did apparently rush over to see James Jones, who approved of command transfers.

In retrospect, the long planned event has not worked out as it should have, neither for France nor the US. Sarkozy is fully in NATO, but he could not avoid a de Gaulle debate at home, has received lesser commands than he had hoped for, and other than an attitude change in the US, has obtained little on EU defense. Obama, while happy to see France's NATO exception end, is left with fewer NATO posts, no more European troops for Afghanistan, little buildup in European defense capabilities, and a France unwilling to consider a more global NATO. While US problems stem partly from France, it is problems with the rest of Europe that appear to have hindered things most of all. Unless Europe does begin to build up defense capabilities and takes responsibility for itself, France's dreams of strong EU defense will remain just that, and the US necessity for a strong global partner will move it towards new friends and allies.

Sarkobama Debrief

2009-04-03T12:28:00.007-04:00

Le Monde summarizes.

Le Figaro's headline looks like a copy/paste between Bush and Obama.

Nouvel Obs declares he got nothin.

Town hall transcript.

Only Germans and Americans please.

Sarkozy makes Obama uncomfortable.

Bremner's take.

For some reason Obama videos are always immediately on the Elysée website.

If it's Friday it must be Obama in France

2009-04-03T03:35:00.022-04:00

Politico lays out Obama's schedule for today. At 10:45 am French time he will land in the country at Entzheim airport and at 11:35 am he will meet with Sarkozy (presumably not in a corner about tax havens) at the Palais Rohan. The two will then answer a few media questions at 12:35 pm, and at 1:25 pm Obama will hold a town hall meeting of 3000-4000 at Strasbourg's Hall Rhenus (see Europe1 for more), mainly students. If all goes according to schedule, he should leave for Baden-Baden Germany around 3:00 pm for a meeting 45 minutes later with Merkel. Their press event will take place at 4:45 pm. In the evening, Obama will attend the "NATO Concert" at 7:00 pm (all French time again), with a working dinner at 8:15 pm. He will then leave Germany and be back in Strasbourg by 11:20 pm. France 2 is planning some special coverage for the day to begin at 10:50 am.

2:50 Perhaps I should write for the Sun, they seem to pick up the same meaningless details.

1:40 It's over. A bit lethargic, though nothing really negative. Obama even referred to "Nicholas".

1:15 And the press conference finally starts.

12:10 The BBC's Europe Editor labels this "The awkward relationship". I guess that whole Anglo-Saxon smearing didn't help. At least the US President isn't Mitt "we're-turning-into-France" Romney. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail and NY Daily News focus on the important stuff.

11:51 National anthem. For the conspiracy theorists, the Obamas do have their hands over his hearts. Sarko seemed relieved when the Marseillaise finally ended.

11:48 The Obamas meet the Sarkozys. No kisses from Carla to Barack, but Sarko's already giving him finger jabs. Huh, Hillar Clinton was just kind of standing there - where's Kouchner?

11:21 He finally descends from Air Force one into the Beast.

11:00 Obama lands a bit late.

9:49 Iraq on the mind? A BFMTV anchor just stated that NATO has deployed troops in Afghanistan since 2003.

Ouch, the Chinese again

2009-04-02T09:57:00.005-04:00

Another Update: If you watch part of Obama's post-G20 press conference, he basically calls Sarko/Merkel's game "quirks" of each country. No wonder the praise. (Start 5:00)

Update: And Obama stopped the spat?
Once again, Sarkozy has had no luck on China policy. This time, they are delaying the release of a blacklist of tax havens:

Sarkozy was forced to tone down his position after a frosty overnight encounter with Hu Jintao, the Chinese president. Hu is concerned that a blacklist may undermine the financial centres of Hong Kong and Macao, which are now under Beijing's rule.

The two presidents sat next to each other at the G20 leaders' dinner in Downing Street last night. But their more significant encounter came afterwards when they held a private bilateral meeting.

Beijing only allowed the meeting to take place after Paris issued a statement moderating its position on Tibet. A diplomatic rift opened up between Paris and Beijing last year when Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama. In a statement France agreed not to back Tibetan independence in "any form".

Hu told Sarkozy that China was deeply sceptical about a tax haven blacklist. The Chinese president also indicated his unease that it would be monitored by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, known as the rich countries' club. China is due to join the OECD later this year, though Hu is said to have asked dryly what the OECD is.

A very bad Le Figaro op-ed

2009-04-02T01:15:00.004-04:00

Un test pour Sarkozy et Merkel:

Le front uni que Nicolas Sarkozy et Angela Merkel présentent aujourd'hui au G20 est le seul moyen de faire entendre la voix de l'Europe et de défendre ses intérêts dans la nouvelle gouvernance qui se met en place en pleine crise économique.

That's funny, last time I checked the UK was part of the EU, and wasn't repeating the same lines. Let's not proclaim unanimity were some division actually exists.

La France et l'Allemagne, les deux principales puissances continentales, se serrent les coudes pour arracher des décisions concrètes en vue d'une régulation efficace du système financier international. Elles le font parce qu'elles y trouvent un intérêt commun et qu'elles doivent convaincre un président américain encore tâtonnant, soumis aux pressions des intérêts de Wall Street, comme Gordon Brown est soumis à celles de la City.

Ah yes, Obama's just a rookie fumbling around, and worse, under the influence of the financial industry cabal. When all else fails, go to the conspiracy theories. Please read Obama's speeches and books over the past 4+ years, and you'll find that everything he's done is pretty consistent with what he believes.

Derrière la France et l'Allemagne, l'Europe est inexistante, la démission du premier ministre tchèque Mirek Topolanek ayant sabordé ce qu'il restait de présidence du Conseil européen et compromis encore un peu plus la ratification du traité de Lisbonne.

Way to marginalize every other country in Europe, most of which are obviously not directly represented at the G20.

Pour le président de la République, le G20 est l'occasion de prouver sa capacité à combattre la crise et à conduire à son terme le processus qu'il avait lancé en suggérant le précédent sommet de Washington, en novembre dernier. Le retour de la France dans l'Otan, qui sera célébré samedi à Strasbourg, rehausse son autorité et le pousse, sans doute, à élever la voix face aux États-Unis.

How the G20 and NATO are related escapes me, except that in one forum Sarkozy decided it was time to stop throwing a 43-year-old tantrum whereas in the other he's keeping it up.

Ces convergences ont amené Nicolas Sarkozy et Angela Merkel à rallumer le moteur franco-allemand. Au sortir de la présidence française, c'était la seule façon pour Paris de continuer à peser sur une Union européenne à la dérive. L'arrivée au gouvernement du germaniste Bruno Le Maire a facilité ce virage, crucial pour l'avenir des relations avec l'Allemagne et pour l'Union européenne dans son ensemble.

This actually makes a decent point on Sarkozy's incentive to realign with Germany on this issue, but considering their history over the past couple years, it is mildly amusing.

Ainsi, dans ce G20 où se mettent en place les nouveaux équilibres mondiaux, Angela Merkel et Nicolas Sarkozy jouent enfin la partition européenne que leurs prédécesseurs avaient jouée en leurs temps. Pour l'avenir de l'Europe et pour l'avenir de relations transatlantiques rénovées, il faut espérer qu'ils réussiront.

How does throwing a public media tantrum improve the future of trans-Atlantic relations? Even Sarkozy was toning it down a bit yesterday.

Sarkozy in the UK

2009-04-01T15:20:00.000-04:00

And 10 minutes late to boot:

2009 The BBC's Ross Hawkins at Downing Street says: France's President Nicolas Sarkozy has turned up for the meal 10 minutes late. It's always hard to tell where the line is between fashionably late and rude.

Dean in France

2009-04-01T14:58:00.004-04:00

The apparently exiled Howard Dean will be in Paris this weekend on a visit organized by the Terra Nova Foundation. I was also told that he will having some kind of meeting with a group from the PS (don't know if it's the same thing). Kind of funny the timing with Obama.

Taking a page from the Obama book

2009-04-01T09:14:00.004-04:00

Following Barack Obama's global op-ed, Sarkozy has published his own, "Priority 1: World Growth", which appeared in, presumably amongst others, The Washington Post and El Pais.

Those darned Anglo-Saxons

2009-03-31T16:07:00.004-04:00

Bremner keeps at it with an article on Sarkozy's prickliness ahead of the G20 and his up and down relationship with the new Obama administration. At one amusing part, Bremner has to define for the English-speaking readership what Sarkozy means by "Anglo-Saxons" as "The term is standard in French for the white English-speaking countries" which I suppose is true, but only further highlights how devoid of any real meaning it is. Not only are the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. populated by immigrants from everywhere in the world including natives (only a small percentage of Americans are of British descent), but where do you draw the line? South Africa? The Scandinavian countries fit the requirements.

If we're going to blame someone for the economic mess, and Sarkozy and Merkel appear to be enjoying that, let's be straight and name names. Yes, the US bears a large part of the responsibility for the crisis. But European countries had their own property bubbles and over-stretched banks (Iceland anyone?), and as the AIG payments revealed, many European banks had made bad bets that were essentially bailed out by the US taxpayer. Sarkozy, regardless of his domestic approval, has done quite a job in changing Americans' view of France and turning himself and his wife into household names. For all the hoopla over the Anglo-Saxons and the need to reform and regulate their "casino" economies, let's not let that get in the way of a good photo-op.

Only the best from Drudge

2009-03-31T15:25:00.002-04:00

...which links to the AFP's hard hitting article "Michelle and Carla bring star power to NATO summit". For all I know the two may get along fine, but for some reason it seems that their backgrounds have absolutely nothing in common, unless Michelle posed for some Princeton fashion show that we don't know about.

Sarkozy benefit by default?

2009-03-29T02:24:00.003-04:00

Sarkozy has not been a big helper in terms of bridging the fiscal stimulus divide with the US, but compared comments made by Merkel and her Czech soulmates, it hasn't been terrible. In terms of foreign policy, Germany has also been much more reluctant on Afghanistan and Iran, as this new criticism underlines. One conclusion: so much for that summer speech in Berlin.

Later: Then again, maybe not.

Obama will speak in France

2009-03-28T14:51:00.002-04:00

The AP, reporting on Obama's recently released schedule for Europe, states that in France "He also will deliver an address on the United States' trans-Atlantic alliance and take questions from students." This will somewhat dovetail Kouchner's speech in Washington several months ago, which was meant to layout France's view of future trans-Atlantic relations.

Let's not blame the Jews

2009-03-26T15:57:00.008-04:00

French politics has quite a lively debate on the collection of racial statistics in France, which is actively being considered by Yazid Sabeg. Inevitably it seems in this debate arises the registration of French Jews during World War II, which is often used as a throwaway argument for why religious/racial/ethnic statistics should not be collected today. "Just ask the Jews." But let's keep one thing clear. The registration, however twisted and antisemitic it happened to be in motivation and implementation, didn't kill the Jews. It was the active and sometimes self-initiated collaboration of the French government with the Germans to exclude, round up, and deport, that killed the Jews. The only way this is possibly analogous or relevant to today's situation is if people truly fear that the French government and its functionaries are prepared to target an individual group and recommit such atrocities. If they are, then that is a much bigger problem than the collection of statistics. Otherwise, if I may make a slightly stretched analogy, it's like arguing we should ban the Star of David, because we know what the Nazis did with that. Just ask the Jews.

No more King Sarko

2009-03-26T10:36:00.002-04:00

It's not every day that the French president threatens to renounce his nobility over banking laws, but Andorra is apparently pushing it.

It's confirmed for Obama

2009-03-26T10:26:00.005-04:00

Reuters just confirms that Obama will be in Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Two stops in France just two months apart will hopefully make up for that extremely abbreviated stop during the campaign.

How do you say déjà vu in French?

2009-03-25T16:16:00.002-04:00

From the AP:

French workers burned tires, marched on the presidential palace and held a manager of U.S. manufacturer 3M hostage Wednesday as anger mounted over job cuts and executive bonuses...

And we wonder where the French girl in Mexico learned this.

Get a life European papers

2009-03-24T02:16:00.003-04:00

First the British papers worked themselves up beyond a healthy blood pressure because of a supposed "snub" to Gordon Brown by Barack Obama. Now the French press and part of the blogosphere is doing a repeat over a letter sent by Obama to Jacques Chirac, supposedly a snub to Sarkozy, and first reported by Le Figaro. As the Christian Science Monitor calmly lays out, this was merely a response to a letter Chirac had sent the President, written not to Chirac the former president but Chirac the head of the Jacques Chirac Foundation. And the idea pushed by Le Figaro, that Obama was sending secret messages to a former French president for his protest of the Iraq war is, uh, simply ludicrous.

Fillon in Washington

2009-03-23T09:07:00.005-04:00

Francois Fillon is in Washington today along with Christine Lagarde to prepare for the upcoming G20 summit in London. On the schedule is lunch with Larry Summers and a 3:45 pm meeting with Joe Biden (according to Politico). There will also be a meeting with Barney Frank and a (snobby/invitation only) speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International peace entitled "la vision française de la réponse à la crise".

Update: And the Elysee assures that Sarko will phone his pal "Barak" tomorrow.

Between a possible trillion dollar Geithner plan, the budget talks, and that minor thing called 2 wars and the rest of foreign policy, the enthusiasm among the Obama team for rewriting capitalism in a weekend isn't going to be too high. One thing you can put a number on: the G20 summit will cost an estimated £50 million, and that doesn't include the carbon footprint.

It's the means not the message...

2009-03-23T01:24:00.002-04:00

...after a rather pathetic turnout at the Zénith:

Mauvais calcul ? Toujours est-il que les militants socialistes ne se sont pas mobilisés massivement. Selon la direction, plusieurs facteurs expliquent cet échec. «Les outils de mobilisation n'existent plus, ils sont à réinventer», estime ainsi François Lamy.

French nuclear worry?

2009-03-22T04:14:00.004-04:00

Apparently France isn't too pleased with the US choice for ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, who wrote about abolishing nuclear weapons last winter in Foreign Affairs. The offending passage:

More challenging will be to convince the other four long-standing nuclear powers—France, Pakistan, Israel, and, of course, Russia. France,which insists on retaining a nuclear force to protect its vital interests against any threat, has firmly embraced the logic of nuclear deterrence rather than the logic of zero. But as other nuclear powers move in a different direction, Paris’ ability to remain a holdout will diminish—as became clear in the 1990s when France finally decided to sign the NPT and, once again, after two last series of nuclear tests, when it signed on to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. A democracy like France can remain an international outlier only for so long.

On Iran

2009-03-22T03:41:00.005-04:00

Sarkozy and Kouchner worried about it, but the time for talks between the US and Iran has finally arrived. Haaretz reports:

In talks with the American officials, Israel has learned that the U.S. is planning to conduct a "parallel" approach - beginning a dialogue with Iran, while working with Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain to formulate new sanctions against Iran.

The U.S. will coordinate its efforts with Israel and with moderate Arab states as well.

The goal is to combine talks with pressure in order to convince the Iranian leadership to respond to western demands that it curtail its nuclear program.

Once again, it will be an open question on how many sticks will be provided to ensure Iran goes for the carrots, which are likely being formulated in Dennis Ross' office right now. China may be a lost cause, Russia will be difficult, but Germany will be key. Hopefully Sarkozy's newfound appreciation for the Krauts will help push Merkel, and Berlusconi for that matter, into actually doing something useful on sanctions. Netanyahu or Lieberman might not do much good for Israel's international profile, but they should also play a role in convincing Iran's European trade partners that threats of real sanctions are safer than Jericho missiles.

France needs a 911

2009-03-21T16:03:00.006-04:00

First we have executives taken hostage. Now Libération deplores "Par une action irresponsable et brutale, une fraction du syndicat des NMPP a bloqué vendredi soir, pour la deuxième fois, la sortie de «Libération»." Huh, grow up. Either call the cops if there's law-breaking, which unfortunately too many seem unwilling to do, or ignore the idiots and do your job. Also, not to take accuse anyone of hypocrisy, thankfully it's not like you guys have been egging on nationwide strikes with wall to wall coverage. I wonder where they get the idea?

Obama says Bienvenue to Sarko; NATO

2009-03-21T15:44:00.006-04:00

How does Aubry/Royal/Bayrou/...(every other wannabe Obama supporter and NATO critic) explain this:

OBAMA: I enthusiastically welcome the decision made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to fully reintegrate France into the NATO Alliance.

President Sarkozy's leadership has been essential and is much appreciated. France is a founding member of NATO and has been a strong contributor to NATO missions throughout the Alliance's history. France's full participation in the NATO military command structure will further contribute to a stronger Alliance and a stronger Europe.

And later:

I also welcome the further strengthening of European defense capabilities. During my upcoming visit to France and Germany for the 60th Anniversary NATO Summit, I look forward to discussing ways to ensure that our strengthened Alliance, with France as a full participant in all its structures, will be as important in the 21st century as it was in the 20th century.

Ouch, that hit all the right buttons, but this time, the praise isn't coming from Bush with hamburgers in Kennebunkport. And now with Le Parisien reporting that Obama will actually be on the Normandy beaches on June 6... Some critics said Sarkozy was making a bet that he could influence NATO and European defense from the inside, whatever that result, he's already getting some payoff.

Econ news

2009-03-21T02:04:00.002-04:00

Bad economic news from Insee, which implies that government predictions of just a 1.5% GDP drop for the year are hardly realistic. Hopefully the ECB will now do something to get the exchange rate back down.

The Craziness!

2009-03-20T12:39:00.003-04:00

Analyze this. Paris Match is forced to pay 16,000 euros to Segolene Royal for snapping and publishing some photos of her walking in public - so Le Figaro, writing about the story, republishes the cover photo. Why again do these privacy laws exist, except to continue this constant cat-and-mouse game and provide a little extra income for the pols?

Déjà vu all over again?

2009-03-20T06:16:00.002-04:00

Politico accuses Obama of being a hyperpresident. I bet this one doesn't end in divorce, a courtship worthy of a TV soap opera, and 30% approval.

Never waste a crisis

2009-03-19T08:38:00.003-04:00

Obama is taking these words to heart, despite some public rebukes from his own party. Sarkozy has slowed down, and at least on the education front, pulled back several times. Of course cutting the public workforce and the rest of the inefficiencies might not be the best recession policy, but that also frees up resources to actually have a responsible fiscal plan to get a recovery going. And getting rid of some of the ridiculous regulations, be it on Sunday work or contracts, would set the stage for a sustained and stronger growth afterwards. Then again, that would require a hyperpresident.

WSJ praises Sarko

2009-03-19T06:45:00.004-04:00

This might not win much support in France, but the Wall Street Journal came out today praising Sarkozy's defense of the bouclier fiscal. Ironically, while the article ends with the line "as supply-side theory is being buried in the country of its birth, some of its principles may yet help create wealth in an unlikely place called France", it begins with "Just as President Barack Obama is trying to tax the U.S. into an American version of France..." So according to that logic, wouldn't they be glad if the US became "an American version of France"? They were against France before they were for France, all in the same article.

And BHL makes his comment

2009-03-18T10:42:00.002-04:00

Bernard-Henri Levy writes on the NATO debate in The New Republic:

Pavlovian anti-Americanism? Systematic, unnuanced, irresponsible opposition? Or yet again, the inability to understand the post-Cold War world? Everyone will evaluate the situation. And will then implore, as I am here, his friends to pull themselves together.

D-Day Minus One

2009-03-18T06:33:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow's the next big we're-mad-as-hell-and-won't-take-it-any-more day, which according to one poll receives significant, indeed overwhelming public support. What destroying another day of French GDP will achieve is hard to tell. The lack of economic plans for the whole EU, as Paul Krugman has been harping at, is cause for worry, but this appears to be just another hodgepodge of blame and unconstructive criticism. But heck, it's fun!

If you make enough noise, they will come

2009-03-16T16:12:00.003-04:00

The Independent becomes one of the few English outlets to cover the university strikes. And this account of a Canadian student studying in Lyon:

Ratis said she spoke to her contact at Lyon, who said that international students would not be penalized for the strike. She has been informed that even if all she does is write a final exam, she will get a mark for the courses she has been enrolled in. “I don’t know how I feel about that yet, but it’ll have to do, I guess,” she admitted.

Although frustrated, Ratis admitted that being abroad and witnessing how other universities strike and picket has been a fascinating experience. “Seems like every French person owns a megaphone,” she joked.

Meanwhile, the Erasmus co-ordinator at the Sorbonne university, whose email was apparently sent to the Independent by a student, seems full of helpful advice:

In an email to students, Alfonso Mostacero said: "Some of you will have to consider going home if there is a possibility that you can complete the second semester in your home university. I am not telling anyone to return, but I think that I should give you all the available information so that you can decide what to do for yourselves."

Imagine if Obama sued like Sarko...

2009-03-16T12:26:00.002-04:00

...Der Spiegel: A German frozen food company hopes to raise sales with a new product: Obama fingers. The tender, fried chicken bits come with a tasty curry sauce. The company says it was unaware of the possible racist overtones of the product.

Another NATO view

2009-03-16T04:02:00.003-04:00

Jean Quatremer brings some common sense to the NATO debate, and notes the absurdity of it all:

Alors qu’à l’époque, les socialistes et les chrétiens-démocrates (ancêtres du Modem) avaient déposé une motion de censure contre ce fait du prince gaullien, les voilà qui aujourd’hui se réclament, sans crainte du ridicule, de « l’héritage gaulliste » pour défendre « l’exception française ». Dans une alliance improbable, frémissante d’anti-impérialisme (l’effet Obama est semble-t-il passé), on retrouve côte à côte les gaullistes historiques, les chiraquiens, la droite souverainiste, l’extrême droite, les socialistes, les communistes, la gauche radicale et même le Modem !

What's the strategy?

2009-03-15T15:40:00.003-04:00

The left-right attack on Sarkozy's NATO decision continues tonight with Laurent Fabius, who adds his voice to the national "consensus" Sarkozy is intent on breaking. But other than turning this into a Sarkozy against everyone, or Sarkozy against de Gaulle debate, what's the political strategy? Polls show a clear majority of the French behind Sarko on this, and if all goes according to plan, he will have the last laugh with the Obama photo-op in Normandy.

I see cops walking the streets, do they do anything else?

2009-03-14T13:16:00.002-04:00

From the Times:

The two Sony executives had travelled to Pontonx-sur-l'Adour to meet the 311 workers at the plant before its closure next month as part of the Japanese group's 100 billion yen (£730 million) cost-cutting drive. However, they found themselves locked inside a meeting room while workers barricaded the factory with tree trunks.

Patrick Hachaguer, a representative of the Confédération Générale du Travail union, said: “We are all going to be fired. We want to be treated in a dignified manner.”

Chantal Omiciuolo, 50, said that the detention of Mr Foucher was “our last chance - we didn't have the choice”.

I wonder if a jury would agree with that.

Sarkozy the American-post-Gaullist-prez

2009-03-14T12:14:00.003-04:00

The BBC's Allan Little on de Gaulle, WWII, and Sarkozy.