Letters to the Editor
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Hope springs eternal
Nicolas Sarkozy and some in France and some here in the good old USA are genuinely on the same plane, evidentally. Thank you, Mr. Levey, for your words of encouragement. I take them to heart as I watch my grandson swallow some french fries...from McDonald's. 'après la pluie, le beau temp'
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It's sad though
that 99% of Salonistas will determine he's 'right wing' and therefore somewhere to the right of Hitler, Somoza and Ghengis Khan. Never mind that 'conservative' in France is to the left of Clinton or that his new FM is the founder of Doctors w/o Frontiers and who was too radical even for those guys. Nope. He's a conservative. Screech and whine, bring your pitchforks and torches to the windmill at 10pm sharp.
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Funme2 -- après la pluie, le beau temp?
Maybe après la pluie, le beau temps (after the rain, good weather) or après la pluie, les bons temps (after the rain, good times)?
I was lucky to spend considerable time working in Paris in 1999 and 2000, and got to know the city, and the people, somewhat. Last summer when I was back, it seemed a less cheerful place -- more paranoid, more concerned about the economy. The French have always had a love/hate relationship with America -- they love the culture we export there and admire our brashness from afar. Up close, when the only people on a crowded city block who are audible to passers by are Americans, blabbing their flat-voweled English as though no one around them existed, not so much.
But France will endure, and with luck, so will America. As to whether either will ever really understand the other? Perhaps. We can all hope for what my favorite metro stop is named after: Bon Nouvelle.
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@RealName
Pot, meet kettle. Shake!
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chaircrusher
Thank you (?) for the correction. Were you just proudly showing your French knowledge or being genuinely gracious? Let us know. Nul besoin de priver votre chien pour son bien.
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Wishful thinking
Mr Levey is greatly exaggerating Sarkozy's positions for the sake of his argument.
"it is important to recognize that in the U.S. he would fit squarely in the Democratic Party, perhaps even toward its left flank."
This of course assumes that politics in either country fits neatly on a left-right continuum, AND that these continuums match up perfectly. They don't.
"His policies, relative to American politics, are strongly supportive of social welfare"
No.
"labor-friendly"
Hah!
"and pro-environmental"
Wait and see. Alain Juppé, the new "sustainable development minister" has never shown any interest in environmentalism.
"France is a country where even illegal immigrants automatically get free healthcare"
Made more difficult under Sarkozy when interior minister.
"where there is a statutory 35-hour work week"
For a minority of workers, and a measure whose elimination was a major campaign promise by Sarkozy.
"and where personal tax rates can run as high as 60 percent."
Not sure which one he's talking about. In any case, he has promised a cap on all direct taxation.
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They Speak German now in France...
...don't they? Oh, no, that's right. Self-hating Americans went over and saved their asses. We're still good people. Despite what salonistas think.
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Nah we suck
We're evil and deserve to suffer. I read it somewhere. Allahu Duct Tape!
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Sarkozy and drinking
He said, only half tongue-in-cheek, that people in his industry were distrustful of Sarkozy because, like George Bush, Sarkozy doesn't drink.
Well many speculated that he was drunk here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uxb0JHqzlA
It's actually a bit funny. Of course one of the reporters that made a reference to him possibly being drunk recanted a day later. With what little I've followed up on the French elections, I have wondered if some of the French rushed to judge Sarko and if some of the reporting on him were more speculative-based as opposed to reality-based (aka his "skum" comment - that sounded like it was taken to another level). However we have yet to see how Sarkozy's agenda pans out. Maybe we should withhold judgement till we see more of where his plans lead France. Who knows? It may not be so bad after all.
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Stop the French hating already!
Whoever mentioned that we saved France in World War II, please remember that without France we probably wouldn't even exist as a country. French support during the Revolutionary War was essential, in the form of financial aid as well as military aid.
As for the article, while I do not know enough about French politics to judge the accuracy of the characterization of Sarkozy, I share Levey's optimism. The United States and France have shared interests on the world stage, and it is foolish to not be cooperating. It is sad that it takes new presidents on both sides to realize this, but if anything this demonstrates how much inept leaders (Bush, Chirac) can poison relationships that stretch back centuries.
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Correction.
"It was planted by the president of the French Senate and the U.S. ambassador, 'as a symbol of Franco-American friendship,' on Jan. 30, 2002 -- not exactly the warmest time in that transatlantic relationship."
What?
That was, in fact, a very "warm time" in the relationship between the U.S. and France. Only 3 1/2 months earlier, Le Monde, for instance, had run the headline "We Are All Americans." There was tremendous widespread international support for Bush and the U.S., and for our invasion of Afghanistan.
This sentence suggests that our country's damaged relationship with France was somehow an inevitable result of the attacks of 9/11. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
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It's a tragedy Stalin is dead
then Salon could have a real hero to get behind.
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Ghosn I want a Renault Megane!!
And better brie, faster trains to Chicago, free wine and that wonderful Pineau de Charentes, Cheap flights with good food, no more anti-semitism and language lessons. For my part I will pay dollars for the car, lose 20 pounds so as not to look the part of the ugly American, if I ever get to Paris, continue to learn french and enjoy the music and joie de vivre that the romantic in all of us wants to so deperately find after 6 years of Bush the Impaler.
Ciao,
Bill
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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.