Jogging Politique Sarko the American

The New York Times ^ | December 9, 2007 | AARON RETICA

[Cincinna]

Nicolas Sarkozy, who was elected president of France in May, likes to make a political point of personifying the idea of vigor. Heckled from a balcony by a striking fisherman, he yelled back,

[2ndDivisionVet]

Brigadier General de Gaulle was an intemperate ass that we had to watch like a hawk all through World War II. After the war, to show his independence from us, he broke away from NATO military supervision with his Force de Frappe. The less President Sarkozy is like de Gaulle, the better!

[Mobile Vulgus]

de Gaulle was a jerk.

But, only the fetid french can make jogging an issue of national import. We have a world awash in islamofascism and they have a nation being burnt to the ground and what are these effete idiots prattling about? Jogging!

[Cincinna]

Baloney!

This is the reason they hate him, and his running:

SARKO RUNS IN N.H. SPORTING NYPD TEE SHIRT

It's a good thing they elected Sarko. Among other reasons, these French effete elites need to be dragged kicking and screaming from the 19th century into the 21st century.

Art Goldhammer's Blog French Politics http://artgoldhammer.blogspot.com/ is interesting for French watchers and French policy wonks...just discount the Leftist perspective. Art is far from a Conservative, but does make an effort to be fair, and is very knowledgeable about French politics and economics.

[SunkenCiv]

thanks Cincinna.

Arthur Goldhammer - French Politics
http://artgoldhammer.blogspot.com/

[HAL9000]

It will be interesting to see how Sarkozy’s meeting with the leader of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya goes today. I understand they’re buying a nuclear reactor from France.

[sheik yerbouty]

M*rde alors!

[bruinbirdman]

NYT: "The French language itself distinguishes between two kinds of politique: la politique is the politics of horse-trading; le politique its more philosophical counterpart. Even presidents who came up through party ranks, like François Mitterrand, have tried hard to seem like men of le politique. Not so Sarkozy, who is sometimes referred to in the French press as “Sarko l’Américain” and whose finance minister recently told her countrymen to think less. “It’s a generational division within French society,” Goldhammer says. “The older generation thinks that things like jogging are alien to statesmanship."

NYT thinks of itself as soooo le politique. Il n'est pas digne d'une volière.

yitbos

[Truth29]

The obvious slow pitch joke: Running is seen at non-French? The left always seems to define itself as the opposite of what it is.

[aimee5291]

Thank you for posting...

I think I’ll look up his address on his website

[The Great RJ]

"Addressing a cabinet member with the familiar tu...."

I'm sure the Cabinet Member was shocked as using that form is reserved only for one's most intimate friends. Charles De Gaulle was addressed in the familiar "tu" form only by his wife and his aide de camp of some 40 years. Sarko may be just the fresh air France needs.

[Starwolf]

I disagree with your statement about the use of “tu”. It is also collegial, and used between friends. Its use is automatic among the younger crowd. A friend living in Paris recently complained to me that Gen X and Gen Y there seem to have forgotten how to use “vous”.

Its also a subtle point that few if any English speakers grasp.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

I spent a week in France - getting there just after the greve stopped. Watched Sarko give his national address on purchasing power and the riots and read the newspapers everyday.

My conclusions (as unexpert as they are)?

I like Sarko’s style but having said that so far all I see is that - style.

Sure he’s full of himself, sure he’s ambitious and politically incorrect and fully able to see what is wrong and what needs to be changed.

What I’m not convinced about is whether, in the end, he’s going to be able to pull it off or whether he’ll be defeated by the vested interests that want to keep everything the same.

Aside from the bluster and the long working hours (he got straight off his plane from China to head straight to the hospital where the injured Gendarmes were) has he mastered the art of realpolitik enough to push his agenda through? I truly don’t know. The “resolution” of the greve as well as other mini-triumphs are touted by some as indicative of a powerful political presence. As much as I would like to believe that I still remain unconvinced.

[Winniesboy]

There does seem to have been a marked cultural change in the use of ‘tu’ in recent years. I was, to say the least, startled when the 40-something couple who owned the holiday cottage in the Tarn region where I stayed a few months ago insisted that we used ‘tu’ to each other from day one.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

At least they asked or insisted as opposed to just saying it - that in and of itself is somewhat traditional, n’est-ce pas?

[Sarah]

RE: tu vous...
A few months back I was in a bus in Paris and a woman came in the back doors with her baby stroller. She accidently ran over the foot of an older man and didn’t apologize, so he said something under his breath. She then said ‘qu’est ce que t’as dis?’ pretty loudly (”what did you say mister?’ with the ‘tu’ form), anyway, he started yelling at her concerning her impertanence in refering to him as ‘tu’ and totally dropped the foot issue. This argument lasted at least 4-5 minutes. He was really offended.

[VirginiaConstitutionalist]

Heckled from a balcony by a striking fisherman, he yelled back, “Come down and say that.”

Awesome. Other than wifebeater Jim Moran, could you imagine any of our folks willing to say that?

[Starwolf]

That is exactly the kind of subtlety that few English speakers understand.

Once in Paris a middle aged french woman with her dog took offense at some of us at a cafe, and started scolding us, not realizing that several of us were quite fluent in French. My Dutch girl friend looked over at her and in a loud voice proclaimed “Tais Tois!”. The woman went silent in shock at being addressed that way in public. However her dog continued to yap until I pointed at it and said “vous aussi”, after which it shut up and sat down. The cafe went silent for several seconds and the the conversations resumed. Never mess with students on the Rive Gauche.

[Cincinna]

I’m happy to hear you had a nice trip, despite the greve.

Thanks for your back.