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THIS IS WHAT THE OBAMAS WILL BE UP AGAINST:
Posted on 03/29/2010 9:44:55 PM PDT by Cincinna
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France travels to the United States on Monday for a two-day trip designed to underscore his close cooperation with President Barack Obama on Afghanistan, Iran and other issues, and apparently to make a statement about their personal relationship.
The trip, culminating in a news conference Tuesday and then a private dinner at the White House, comes at a crucial time for both.
Mr. Obama has just scored two major victories — the passage of historic health-care legislation and agreement with Russia on a new strategic arms control treaty — and is heading into a period of heavy international engagement.
Mr. Sarkozy, for his part, has seen his popularity fade and his party suffer stinging defeats in regional elections. At the same time he is preparing for a crucial stint on the world stage as France takes leadership of both the Group of Eight and the Group of Twenty.
As the newspaper Le Parisien put it, “This meeting could not come at a better time” for Mr. Sarkozy.
The closeness of the Sarkozy-Obama relationship — and for that matter, of Mr. Obama with other European leaders — has been questioned, based on issues like Mr. Obama’s decision in February to skip an annual U.S.-European summit meeting.
But in an interview here last week with the International Herald Tribune and three French correspondents, the national security adviser, James L. Jones Jr., repeatedly rejected the notion of any strains.
He called Mr. Sarkozy a “very helpful and steadfast ally” on Iran and “a strong adviser and supporter on the Middle East.” If Mr. Sarkozy sometimes urges the American president to push harder in both areas, said the general, Mr. Obama appreciated the “honest exchange of views.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Dr. Jack Wheeler is editor of ToThePointNews “an online geopolitical intelligence service”.
He has had two parallel careers: one in the field of adventure and exploration as the owner of Jack Wheeler Expeditions; the other in the field of political and economic freedom as president of the Freedom Research Foundation.
Wheeler’s articles are also published by WebNetDaily.
Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Paris, France. It is very cool to be a French intel guy. A spectacular meal at a Parisian bistro with $90 entrées and a $200 bottle of Bordeaux? No problem. I’d known this fellow since he got me out of a jam in Sudan years ago. His James Bond days are over, but still, riding a desk for the DGSE – Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure (General Directorate for External Security), France’s military intel agency – in Paris has its decided benefits.
One of them is not being infected with Obamamania. “My agency considers him a joke,” he confides. “Every day there is some fresh lunacy that we cannot believe. Mr. Bush would often make us angry. But at this man we just laugh.”
“In truth, it also makes us sad,” he continued. “French resentment towards America is strong, so being able to laugh at your country feels good. But it is such a sad and strange thing to see America – America The Great! – do something so crazy as to elect this ridiculous man.”
“There are many people in America who think he isn’t a legitimate president as he wasn’t born in the US and isn’t a natural citizen. What do you think?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had reason to make an inquiry.”
“There are a lot of people convinced he is a traitor who hates America and is actively determined to destroy it. Any opinion on that?”
He didn’t shrug at this. After a long slow sip of wine, he mused, “I would not go that far. Many of his actions, however, are very puzzling because they are so counter-productive regarding America’s best interests. There seems to be a consistent pattern in that direction.”
“What does Sarkozy think of him?”
“Nothing but contempt.”
After a pause he asked, “And Langley?”
“Well, if you thought the war they waged against Bush was intense, it was nothing compared to how they’re going to screw Obama. He has tried to gut them with the ‘torture memo’ release and slashing their budgets. The morale is depressed, sullen, and enraged. You know what a left-wing outfit Langley is. They thought he was their boy and they feel betrayed. All kinds of damaging stuff on him will be appearing via their media friends.”
He nodded. “And in Tel Aviv City?”
He was referring to the huge underground city complex of Langley’s underneath the US Embassy in the Israeli capital. “That’s an interesting question. You know how vast and deep the relationship is there. Langley is making every effort to overcome the total and massive distrust their Israeli colleagues have for Obama, whom they know is selling them down the Jordan River. So far though this effort is in words. The Israelis are waiting to see what Langley does.”
He said nothing. I smiled. “You guys wouldn’t be Langley’s cutout for thwarting BO regarding Israel, would you? I’d never suspect that…”
He continued to say nothing, gave me only a slight smile in return, and poured me another glass of wine. “The Bordeaux is good, yes?” I nodded.
“You know, the French media worships this man the same as yours in the US. All of this ‘100 days’ talk, it is impossibly stupid. Most anyone in the French elite, the business leaders, Sarko’s people, they all know this. They all think this is some crazy joke of the Americans. But it is a very, very dangerous joke. For 100 days your president has been a laughingstock among the tout le monde of Paris. No one may be laughing 100 days or 10 months from now.”
He leaned forward. “The world can go – how do you say – sideways with this man very quickly. No one he has working for him knows what they are doing – possibly excepting Mrs. Clinton – and he certainly does not. All of us in our little community are worried – us, our friends in Berlin, London, Tel Aviv, and Langley too as you say. It is not like the barbarians at the gates. It is every barbarian horde in the world being told there are no gates. The Somalis, Chavez, Iran, Putin, Beijing, the ‘Norks” as you call them, the list is long and it is growing. We are not sure what to do.”
It took me a moment to respond. “The best thing that has happened now is Obama making Langley his enemy. They will be cooperating with you more, be more a part of your worried community. Working together, you can undermine his efforts more effectively, block and maybe even repair the damage.”
It was my turn to lean forward. “Then again, all together you could be more pro-active. The man is a mystery. Nobody can make public his actual birth certificate, or even the particular hospital he was born in, or his college grades, or how he got into Harvard, or how he made editor of the Harvard Law Review and never wrote a single article for it. It goes on and on. He really is a Zero. I think all of you guys should find all of this out and make it known.”
I added, “The quicker the better, before the laughing stops and the real dangers begin.”
“What is that phrase you use?” he asked. “Something to consider?”
I laughed. “Yes, there is much to consider – and much that you can do. I mean, really, if the Soviet Union could be dismantled, so can this presidency.”
It was a beautiful April afternoon in Paris. He walked me back to my hotel. It could be that the times we live in may get even more interesting.
If Barry intends to impress Sarkozy in the same manner as England’s Gordon Brown, Nicholas can look forward to box set of Gomer Pyle DVDs.
Dumbo will probably hand Sarko some “Pink Panther” DVD’s because he’s “French”.
Of course, it’s always time for the Beauty and the Beast segment...that’s when Bruni and Me-Chelle stand together for pictures.
SARKO’S SPEECH AT COLUMBIA
French president, first lady take on New York
— With a lectern flown in from France and his fingers firmly entwined with those of his smiling wife, French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a splash Monday even before he opened his mouth for a no-holds-barred speech at Columbia University.
Amid blogger reports of strains in their marriage, Sarkozy and ex-supermodel Carla Bruni-Sarkozy made every effort to appear the happy couple, walking closely together and clasping hands as they mounted a staircase into an auditorium packed with students, faculty and other spectators.
The French first lady, elegant in a swept-up chignon and form-fitting black top with gray skirt, at times threatened to upstage her husband, who scolded his American hosts about health care and for not paying enough attention to the rest of the world.
French Web sites immediately picked up on the message. “Carla Bruni et Nicolas Sarkozy amoureux a New York” read a headline on the online site of entertainment magazine Voici, which mentioned the “electric atmosphere” of the Big Apple and its effects on the French presidential couple.
Sarkozy is in hot water at home. His poll ratings are at record lows of around 30 percent and there are widening cracks in his conservative party. In New York, though, he basked in the rapt attention of hundreds of Columbia students and even jettisoned a prepared speech.
“Speeches kill off creativity,” he said. “I’m going to speak from the heart.”
And he did.
“Welcome to the club of states who don’t turn their back on the sick and the poor,” Sarkozy said, referring to the U.S. health care overhaul signed by President Barack Obama last week.
From the European perspective, he said, “when we look at the American debate on reforming health care, it’s difficult to believe.”
“The very fact that there should have been such a violent debate simply on the fact that the poorest of Americans should not be left out in the streets without a cent to look after them ... is something astonishing to us.”
Then to hearty applause, he added: “If you come to France and something happens to you, you won’t be asked for your credit card before you’re rushed to the hospital.”
Despite the strident words, the mood was celebratory — and Bruni-Sarkozy held the spotlight, with more than 100 members of the media focusing on her every move.
Columbia President Lee Bollinger introduced Sarkozy, but before the French leader could utter a single word, Bollinger asked the audience to give the French first lady “a special welcome.”
Hundreds of students, professors and members of the public obliged, giving Bruni-Sarkozy a rousing ovation, which she acknowledged by rising, turning toward the audience and smiling.
She then listened to her husband speak, nodding supportively in the front row as Sarkozy called on the audience to “reflect on what it means to be the world’s No. 1 power.”
“The world needs an open America, a generous America, an America that shows the way, an America that listens,” he said, calling on the U.S. to champion firm regulations of financial systems, from tax havens to hedge funds.
Columbia organizers said the French provided their own white lectern and light gray rug for the speech, and also requested a special espresso machine.
The podium and rug complimented the color-coordinated French first couple — including his black suit and white tie and her wraparound black top, gray skirt and black-and-white umbrella.
In a change from the usual protocol, Sarkozy entered the Low Library by walking up the middle of the grand staircase that faces the Columbia campus, instead of from behind a gold curtain like most other speakers.
After arriving in New York on Sunday, the presidential couple left their hotel with arms wrapped around one another, smiling for cameras and kissing before going to lunch at the Boathouse restaurant in Central Park with Sarkozy’s son from his second marriage, 12-year-old Louis, who goes to school in New York.
Sarkozy met later Monday with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, discussing such issues as Iran, Chad, Ivory Coast, the upcoming donors’ conference for Haiti, and the follow-up to the Copenhagen climate change conference, the U.N. spokesperson’s office said.
Sarkozy and the French first lady will join the Obamas for a private dinner in the White House on Tuesday.
(Mainichi Japan) March 30, 2010
ATTENTION FASHION PING LIST
ALL HANDS ON DECK FOR THE CARLA v MICHELLE REMATCH TOMORROW NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE
WHAT WILL AUNT ESTHER WEAR?
WILL THE BOOB BELT MAKE ANOTHER APPEARANCE?
STAY TUNED!
Whos this Langley person?
Muck & Schmuck verses Cool & Beauty.
Just pinging a couple of you.
(Sorry for all the troll alert pings today, RS!)
IIRC “Langely” means the CIA, it’s their location or something. Maybe someone will post it better.
(Best to you and your son!!! Must be wild and rainy there, it’s bad enough here 45 miles from the coast.)
Love the p[ics. Are they photo shopped?
ALL HANDS ON DECK FOR THE CARLA v MICHELLE REMATCH TOMORROW NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE
WHAT WILL AUNT ESTHER WEAR?
WILL THE BOOB BELT MAKE ANOTHER APPEARANCE?
STAY TUNED!
LOL! Keep us posted, Cincinna... ;-)
;o)
What a great picture! I’m sure we will see a repeat tonight at the WH dinner.
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