Chirac's Influence Sinks To New Low

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 11-28-2005 | Henry Samuel

[Suzy Quzy]

Schadenfreude!

[JRios1968]

Jacques Chirac: perceived as a lame duck weasel

There, it's fixed in the spirit of Truth in Advertising.

[Sacajaweau]

"Wee Wee", said Jacques!!

[Smedley]

The pair appear to have gained political credit from the riots - Mr Sarkozy for his tough stance, and Mr de Villepin for his statesmanship

Well, its easy to take a tough stance when you're powerless, and apparently "statesmanship" is the new Frnch word for the eloquent and inept

[Cicero]

The prevailing view is that the president will stop at nothing to block Mr Sarkozy's rise to power - even if it means backing a socialist candidate.

In point of fact, there don't seem to be any good choices on offer in France. Chirac is a Conservative. de Villepin appears to be even further to the left and more corrupt than he is. Sarkozy is not the strong leader he has been mistaken for. When he said that the rioters were "racaille," what he was trying to say was that it was not a Muslim uprising, as some people might think, but only a bunch of juvenile thugs and scum. Apparently he has a record of doling out welfare goodies to these people and that would be his solution to the problem.

The only alternatives appear to be genuine nut cases on the extreme right--who, moreover, are also America-haters.

The prospects don't look good.

[ncountylee]

Condemnation came from all age groups and corners of France.

Gee...that's too bad.

[DustyMoment]

Chirac's Influence Sinks To New Low

He actually HAD some?

[Brilliant]

They are blaming it on "bad health."

[JasonC]

Lame duck or overcooked vegetable?

[sit-rep]

Everyone fears the last roar of the old lion

Ya right...

[blam]

"The only alternatives appear to be genuine nut cases on the extreme right--"

Le Pen?

[JasonC]

Alain Madelin is the best politician in France, by miles. Sensible (and pro-business) economics, sensible (and pro-US) foreign policies, mainstream on all other issues of any consequence. He is probably headed for some technocratic appointed position, though. In the presidential elections he got only 4% of the vote. It is a measure of how disfunctional French electoral politics are, that he is not an international figure. In any other country he'd be considered a national treasure.

[Brilliant]

Bad health.... Maybe he caught HIV from Arafat.

[Cicero]

I confess I never heard of him. Which, given the state of our press, means nothing, of course.

I did a Google search, and every article cited on the first two pages was in French, except this one, from Answers.com:

Alain Madelin

Alain Madelin (born March 26, 1946) is a French politician and a former minister of that country.

Madelin, a strong supporter of laissez-faire economics, was a candidate in the 2002 French presidential election as the leader of the Démocratie Libérale party, where he scored a meager 3.91% on the first round. He is now a member of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire party and a deputy in the French National Assembly.

He was minister of Industry in Prime Minister Jacques Chirac's cabinet from 1986 to 1988, a minister of Business in Prime Minister Édouard Balladur's cabinet from 1993 to 1995, and a minister of Economy and Finances in Prime Minister Alain Juppé's cabinet.

He has been continuously re-elected as Ille-et-Vilaine's representative at the National Assembly since 1978.

Madelin is the French major politician the most in favor of the international policies of the United States, and supported the United States-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Because of this, he has, in the past, generally been considered with favor by the US press.

In the late 1960s, he was a member of the Occident far-right group before joining the UDF center-right party. Occident had fascist leanings, engaged in violent assaults on political opponents, especially Communists, and sought to overthrow the democratic government of Charles de Gaulle.

[Cicero]

Madelin is the French major politician the most in favor of the international policies of the United States, and supported the United States-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Because of this, he has, in the past, generally been considered with favor by the US press.

So a naive person might think. But actually the opposite seems to be true. See my comment above on the google search. Any French politician who favors America and the Iraq war is bound to be deplored and ignored by the American press.

[Joe Boucher]

How can the people of france not see or understand how they are turining their backs on one of their great leaders of the century?
Should give an indication of just how bad the others were.
France and the french, just so irrevelant and that's what drives them bannanas.

[JasonC]

As for the description of Occident and his student activist days, it is a typical commie smear. He opposed De Gaulle over the Algeria war, thinking he was wrong to abandon the country. He opposed the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese during the US war there (itself of course a continuation of the French war for the country a decade prior). The largely imaginary "violence" involved consisted in disrupting French communist demonstrations in favor of the Viet Cong, and in support for the 1968 strikes that lead to De Gaulle's departure. All were simply instances of supporting the west in cold-war era wars and believing we ought to win them, and are denounced by the left for the same reasons George Bush is hated today.

[wayoverontheright]

"Unless some spectacular event occurs....

I predict a catastrophic terror event on French soil.

The jihad is BEING DEFEATED in Iraq. France is thus no longer needed by the jihad, and their unwillingness to stand and shed blood in Iraq makes them the softest of targets.

The jihadis' warped thinking will in the end need someone to blame for their defeat, and they will lash out, I wouldn't plan any trips to Paris......

[kidd]

I predict a catastrophic terror event on French soil

I agree.

Dozens of nuclear power plants. A government that seeks to appease terrorists. A significant fraction of youths are unassimilated Muslims. An incompetent military.

It really is a recipe for disaster.