To all the snarky Brits and Euro-weenies:
This picture is for you!
Posted on 11/07/2007 1:51:08 AM PST by Cincinna
Sarko to GW, "I am a great admirer of Ronald Reagan who broke the air traffic controller's union. What are you doing to break the writers' union?"
yitbos
Love that look. Ah finally their is someone alive and breathing leading France. :-)
What the hell?
We British are very glad Sarkozy is friendly with America. Why wouldn’t we be?
If Hillary is elected President, Sarkozy will be the leader of the free world.
The Telegraph has certainly gone over to the dark side.
During the clinton years, they were almost the only newspaper that actually investigated clinton, and constantly attacked him. Maybe that was just anti-Americanism, too? They’ve certainly been most unpleasant about Bush and the WOT.
And, by the way, Blair was never really that fond of Bush. He liked clinton much better, and famously modeled himself after him. But Blair understood the importance of the Special Relationship to the UK, and did what was necessary for the good of his country. Apparently Brown is too stupid to figure that if he kicks the special relationship away, it might not be easy to recover it.
If push comes to shove, Britain needs the US as a friend. I hope their politicians realize that.
More from the snarky Brits and snarky Americans from Art Goldhammer’s new Blog on French Politics, an interesting read.
http://artgoldhammer.blogspot.com/
Sarko Kisses Hand, Bush Speaks French
As you can see from the picture, la rupture has not affected one ritual of Franco-American relations: the presidential kiss of the First Lady’s hand. Someone will have to explain the protocol. As I recall, Sarko kisses Angela Merkel on the cheek but doesn’t kiss her hand. Bush, in any case, doesn’t look any more pleased than when Chirac kissed Laura’s hand, though France is now our “staunchest ally,” according to the briefing Nick Burns gave yesterday to L’Express—in French, for a while, until he ran out of clichés and switched to English, the language in which his unctuous mastery is more fully on display. Bush, too, spoke French, long enough to say Bienvenue à la Maison Blanche.
Meanwhile, Cécilia is also doing her part for Franco-American relations. The New York Post ran a photo of her emerging from a Manhattan restaurant named Orsay. Note, however, that the quai d’Orsay was conspicuously absent from the higher echelons of Sarko’s entourage, unless you count Rama Yade, whose extraordinary beauty seems to bump her up a few protocol notches above the place her status as a junior minister would otherwise entitle her to. She, along with Christine Lagarde and Rachida Dati, accompanied Sarko to a state dinner, demonstrating to admiring Americans that the French have learned to manage “diversity” as glibly as their American hosts. Sarko also brought a chef with him, and the director of the Louvre. All of this connotes a “return to normalcy” in Franco-American relations: hand-kissing, elegant women, haute cuisine, haute couture, and high art—these are the things that represent “the good France,” “our oldest ally,” in the American psyche, and as long as the French content themselves with the finer things of life and don’t meddle in the serious business of war and finance, we can get along just fine.
Sarko seems willing to play along. He is even finding time in his brief 26 hours in the US to meet with what The Times delicately describes as “American Jewish leaders”—and no doubt his advisor Jean-David Levitte has told him how heated things were with that group just a few short years ago. All is forgiven if not forgotten, and The Times even finds space to mention [I’m correcting an error in my original post here] that Sarkozy’s mother is partly Jewish (for la petite histoire; la grande will remember only that “France is back”).
More from the snarky Brits and snarky Americans from Art Goldhammer’s new Blog on French Politics, an interesting read.
http://artgoldhammer.blogspot.com/
Sarko Kisses Hand, Bush Speaks French
As you can see from the picture, la rupture has not affected one ritual of Franco-American relations: the presidential kiss of the First Lady’s hand. Someone will have to explain the protocol. As I recall, Sarko kisses Angela Merkel on the cheek but doesn’t kiss her hand. Bush, in any case, doesn’t look any more pleased than when Chirac kissed Laura’s hand, though France is now our “staunchest ally,” according to the briefing Nick Burns gave yesterday to L’Express—in French, for a while, until he ran out of clichés and switched to English, the language in which his unctuous mastery is more fully on display. Bush, too, spoke French, long enough to say Bienvenue à la Maison Blanche.
Meanwhile, Cécilia is also doing her part for Franco-American relations. The New York Post ran a photo of her emerging from a Manhattan restaurant named Orsay. Note, however, that the quai d’Orsay was conspicuously absent from the higher echelons of Sarko’s entourage, unless you count Rama Yade, whose extraordinary beauty seems to bump her up a few protocol notches above the place her status as a junior minister would otherwise entitle her to. She, along with Christine Lagarde and Rachida Dati, accompanied Sarko to a state dinner, demonstrating to admiring Americans that the French have learned to manage “diversity” as glibly as their American hosts. Sarko also brought a chef with him, and the director of the Louvre. All of this connotes a “return to normalcy” in Franco-American relations: hand-kissing, elegant women, haute cuisine, haute couture, and high art—these are the things that represent “the good France,” “our oldest ally,” in the American psyche, and as long as the French content themselves with the finer things of life and don’t meddle in the serious business of war and finance, we can get along just fine.
Sarko seems willing to play along. He is even finding time in his brief 26 hours in the US to meet with what The Times delicately describes as “American Jewish leaders”—and no doubt his advisor Jean-David Levitte has told him how heated things were with that group just a few short years ago. All is forgiven if not forgotten, and The Times even finds space to mention [I’m correcting an error in my original post here] that Sarkozy’s mother is partly Jewish (for la petite histoire; la grande will remember only that “France is back”).
I am very glad we have some months left in this Presidency to completely drive them nuts :)
George W. Bush has only one year left, Sarko has 4 1/2 years left.
Huh, I had thought that the kiss of the hand of a lady was meant to recognize her “Grace and Feminity” and no doubt discern the eau de parfum that she wore?
I will say that Sarko’s speech was very good, he is on his way to winning over more then a few skeptical Americans on the value of a working relationship with France and Sarkozy.
And let’s face it, Merkel is burlap. Sarko may have been playing at the courtier, typical French, what’s expected role.
BTW Cincinna, I had thought that “pommes” was to be taken in the sense of “roundish”?
Yes, I know. I was merely thinking of having Bush as president during the remaining months while this wonderful friendship fourishes.
May Sarko never have to kiss the hand of the Hildebeast.
It would be good if GWB went to France for a visit as well.
Sarko had the stones to come here, GWB should reciprocate IMO>
That is a great idea.
I was taught that kissing a lady’s hand is entirely proper as long as you don’t turn it over when you do it. Can’t remember where I learned that, maybe the Scarlet Pimpernel or something like that.
The gesture is meant as an acquiesence to the Feminine, an acknowledgment of the Female charms as it were.
It’s a gesture to the superiority of the feminine, as indicated by the bow. It’s origins are similar to kissing a cardinal’s ring, or pledging fealty to a king or a noble by kneeling and kissing his hand.
Rama Yade est secrétaire d’Etat aux Affaires étrangères et aux Droits de l’homme auprès de Bernard Kouchner. Portrait de cette étoile montante de l’UMP repérée par Nicolas Sarkozy.
yitbos
New French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to shake up and renew France when he took office. And he started with his cabinet, which includes 11 women -- three of them from minority backgrounds. They're women, they're from minority backgrounds and they're feminists. Until recently, those weren't exactly trump cards for someone striving to build a political career in France, even less so when they were trying to build that career in the conservative UMP party.
yitbos
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