Posted on 01/26/2007 8:12:17 PM PST by aculeus
Another day, another diplomatic headache for Ségolène Royal. This time, though, the blunder lasted 11 minutes and came courtesy of a professional prankster.
Gérald Dahan, an imitator known for his phone hoaxes of public figures, fooled the French Socialist presidential candidate into believing she was talking to Quebec premier Jean Charest. The stunt compounded a comment Ms Royal made earlier in the week in which she appeared to call for independence for Canada's mainly French-speaking Quebec province, provoking an unusually strong rebuke from the Canada's prime minister. It also exacerbated a bad week for Ms Royal and provided more ammunition for rivals who claim her verbal blunders demonstrate she is not a natural diplomat.
Some of the call has already been aired. In it, Dahan, picking up on her remark about "the sovereignty and liberty of Quebec" made during a meeting with the head of the Parti Québécois - which wants Quebec to secede from Canada - said "it's as if we said, "Well, Corsica, it should be independent."'
Laughing, Ms Royal replied that not all French people "would be against that". But she was quick to add: "Don't repeat that. It will create another incident ... in France." Her centre-right opponent, the interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, weighed into discussions about the gaffe, saying that even if her remark was a joke, it was still "in bad taste". He added: "For me, Corsica isn't a joke ... It is the Republic." The head of Corsica's assembly, Camille de Rocca-Serra, said "even if Ms Royal's words were the result of a humorous gag, I don't think Corsicans will take it with humour".
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
A Socialist said something stupid, eh? Gee, I am shocked.
great photo
Yes, and I've been waiting for an appropriate thread to post it. (Makes you wonder what they were laughing at.)
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