Letters to the Editor
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Why not get your facts straight??
Maybe you thought it would be cool to hang around the Luxembourg Gardens and then spout out platitudes about the new French president. But you clearly lack a deep understanding of French politics. And you did not do enough fact checking.
For example, you are clearly incorrect when you say that Sarkozy only used the word "racaille" (scum) in response to a question that referred to the rioters as such. In reality, M. Sarkozy was proud to use that word over and over again, and repeated it when he appeared on a television show ("A vous de juger") on France's channel 2, days after the first time he said it. Sarko said very determinedly: "Ce sont des voyous [hooligans], des racailles, je persiste et je signe." (See the article entitled "Nicolas Sarkozy continue de vilipender "racailles et voyous" [translation: "Nicolas Sarkozy continues to vilify "scum and hooligans"] published on 11/11/05.)
Certainly Sarkozy is more liberal than Dubya as he has always opposed the war in Iraq, and continues to state his disapproval, even as recently as this week. But to say that he would be in the left flank of the Democratic Party is going way too far. He has always taken extremely harsh positions on immigration (despite the fact that his parents are immigrants), he is is NO WAY labor-friendly, and the jury is still out as to whether he is pro-environmental. (Many French leaders of environmental groups in fact suspect that he is not.)
In November 2005, the celebrated French director and actor Mathieu Kassovitz (who created the film "La Haine," among others) wrote an entry in his blog comparing Sarkozy to Bush stating that both men do not represent an ideal, but rather prey upon the fear among the general public, and exhibit a complete disregard for human rights.
Again, Sarkozy is certainly better than Bush. But you need to dig deeper before writing your next article on the subject.