Posted on 03/24/2011 9:22:11 PM PDT by Cincinna
The Libyan uprising has given French President Nicolas Sarkozy an opportunity he has long coveted: to lead a risky international mission that holds out promise of ultimate glory. For Gen. Charles de Gaulle, the founder of the Fifth Republic, the pursuit of what the French call la grandeur was the primary raison d'être of a head of state. His successors have by and large shared the general's view, tenaciously defending French national interests and independence.
Sarkozy's idea of grandeur differs from de Gaulle's or Mitterrand's, however. The two former presidents saw themselves as students of history, men with long views of the national interest. Sarkozy is a creature of the moment who has always lived by the daily news cycle. Risk quickens his pulse and whets his appetite. He first came to prominence as mayor of the Paris suburb of Neuilly, when a madman with a bomb held a preschool classroom hostage. Sarkozy entered the room, talked the bomber into surrendering, and emerged to waiting cameras with a child in his arms. Crisis is his element.
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
That being said, in the upcoming 2012 Election battle shaping up between Sarko, the Euro-Socialist head of the IMF and the neo-fascist Marine le Pen, my support is for Sarko.
In this partisan hastily thrown together article in the Leftist publication 'Foreign Policy' the author, supposed expert on French Politics Arthur Goldhammer who runs a Blog on French Politics where he routinely trashes Conservatives,
He is so full of Leftist knee-jerk anti-Sarko venomous hatred it makes the author's anti-Libya intervention position unintelligible. He never mentions the total incoherence and lack of leadership in Obama's war in Libya. Psycho-babble is nonsense when discussing foreign policy & political motivation. All that is missing here is an analysis of Sarko's short stature. Napoleon complex? Why not?
Goldhammer's undisguised contempt for Nicolas Sarkozy, to the point of suffering from SDS blinds him. He has also written extensively, ranting against Conservatives, GWB & Sarah Palin at length on his Blog.
He is suffering from a severe case multi polar PDS - Political Derangement Syndrome, BDS PDS SDS & now MLPDS his fear and trembling at the possible election of Marine le Pen.
As a supposed historian, his misinformation about Sarko's political & personal history is mind-boggling.
His facts are all wrong about Sarko & the Human Bomb story. Obviously he was not there, never read the newspaper accounts, never watched the video on YouTube widely used in the 2007 campaign. It caught it all on tape.
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He reminds me of Napoleon.
I shudder to think of what would happen to France if a full blown socialist became President.
Hey Cinc LTNS
My son was assigned this crap in his French class. When he told to the teacher it was leftwing bias, the teacher assigned something else. My son is 11 and he and his brothers and sister are all Rush babies and know BS when they see it.
They are studying the French elections so sign me up to your list.
I saw on that blog where they are comparing Marine to Sarah. Are they nuts?
PDS Ha! Can I steal that one?
Loved your post about the Catherine Palace amber room mystery. Where do you find this stuff?
This is fine for France and may God save Sarkozy, but Obama’s getting involved sans a Congressional declaration is sheer treason. I can’t wait for this nightmare of national nonsense to end.
There really is cause to worry. France had a full blown Socialist, Francois Mitterrand for 14 yrs.
(1981-1995). It darn near wrecked and bankrupted the country.
The likely candidate for 2012 is the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He is an elitist International Euro technocrat.. Really bad news.
I agree RedNeck. The POTUS is supposed to be the leader of the Free World. Alas! Less free with every passing day.
With an inexperienced slacker who is a hard core Commie and weak and lazy to boot in the Oval, strong leaders with real cahones like Sarko and Bibi have stepped up to the plate to fill the void.
May God bless and protect America!
Steal away, PJ
Hard to believe the Leftist garbage our children are forced to study in schools paid for with our hard earned tax dollars.
Go to that blog
http://artgoldhammer.blogspot.com/
and speak out. This Harvard elitist thinks Conservatives and Tea Party people are far right extreme wack-a-doodles. Any posts about real American Conservatism are deleted.
So happy you all liked the articles on the Amber Room from the Catherine Palace at Tsarskeloe Selo , outside St Petersburg.
I can’t take all the credit. Most of the glory goes to FReeper Sunken Civ and his outstanding Ping List GODS, GRAVES & GLYPHS.
FReepmail him to sign up.
Actually, in recounting his career, this article increases my regard for Sarkozy. Impulsive and academically lacking, perhaps, and more than a little vain he may be. All the same, the man possesses personal courage, raw intelligence and good instincts. Above all, he possesses a real character and true commitment to his ideas and beliefs. The comparison between him and the blank screen that is ‘leading’ us is painful.
As is too often in historical writing, it’s not the facts but who interprets them and in what context. Maybe Mr. Goldhammer prefers bloodless diplomatic manuevering and academic hair-splitting to the world of action and consequences, but the latter arena is where real history is made. Maybe Mr. Goldhammer needs to spend less time in the Quay d’Orsay and more in the arrondisements-or an army barracks.
Sarkozy takes a strong but wrong approach to Libya. In general he has been a strong leader for the French. I for one hope he stays in. They would be stupid to put in another socialist, or Nazi type like le Pen’s daughter. But hey, they’re French. She’s a totally fabricated candidate from her phony name, her real name is Marion, to her speech and clothes.
That blog is a pompous POS. Gonna go over there and set him straight. Wasting time hating Sarah and Bush when France is going down the toilet.
Thanks, Tanuki for your insights. I agree that Sarko is a man with nerves of steel & great person courage & conviction.
Perhaps Sarko didnt
go to Harvard or ENA or Sciences Po like the other elitist bureau/technocrats, but he is a lawyer, and has more political common sense & leadership experience in almost every area of government than any other French politician.
Comparing him to the neophyte slacker Zero in the WH makes me sick.
Yes, this Goldhammer seems to have little to contribute in the way of understanding French politics.
Let’s not forget Jacques Chirac who was deep into the UN Oil for Food scam, and who is presently on trial for corruption charges when he was mayor of Paris.
It’s an unfair portrayal of Sarkozy. But I must say that Sarkozy has made a gigantic mistake with the Libyan business. And unfortunately Obama jumped on board, seeing his chance to help out al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. So Sarkozy can’t easily back off.
Now what? They’ve managed to railroad Turkey into agreeing to pretend that NATO is in charge. Who is going to stop these idiots? Boehner? I think Angela Merkel is showing good sense, but I doubt if she will do more than quietly stay out of it.
You’re right about MLP as they Marine le Pen in France. What a phony! Her name is Marion? Part of the makeover to fool people. She is just her father in drag, but slicker & more dangerous
The Left in France, & people like Goldhammer & his Harvard -centric blog are too out of touch with regular people to understand.
In his Blog http://artgoldhammer.blogspot.com/ he expresses such political ignorance.
Don’t these Liberals realize that by focusing their energy on demonizing Sarko, it benefits MLP? .
As FReeper Tanuki pointed out, the Goldhammer hit piece in FP made him more sympathetic to Sarko.
They also don’t face the fact that the Socialists and the many other Leftist parties from the Communists to Trotsyites, Greens, Ecologists, New anti-Capitalist Party. They are all in total disarray with no strong electable candidate.
Your point is well taken, but we should remember that it was Sarko who kept Turkey from joining the European Union, mainly because Turkey is not European. He should be given credit for that.
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re:JACQUES CHIRAC
Unfortunately, Jacques Iraq Chirac’s trial has been postponed indefinitely. I doubt if the trial will ever take place. I also thing there was some kind of deal made with Chirac protege Dominique de Villepin (you remember that weasel-in-chief of the Axis of Weasels at the UN) . They deal may have been not to oppose Sarko ‘in 2012.
Chirac has become one of the most beloved popular political figures in France.
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