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Was Sarkozy in Washington?
November 8, 2007
The historic visit of Nicolas Sarkozy to the nation’s capital, to address both houses of Congress and seal a new rapprochement ("bringing together") of France and the United States, caused no undue excitement in the New York Times and Washington Post. The Times’s front page had market jitters, Pat Robertson’s endorsement of Giuliani, Musharraf, protections for gay workers, and "Ohio Goes After Charter Schools That Are Failing". The new Franco-American alliance made page 10. Not even page 3, opposite the news summary, you say? No, that was "Romanian Premier Tries to Calm Italy After a Killing".
In the Post it made page 2–albeit as an amuse-gueule ("tasty morsel") all about how Sarkozy is not Lafayette and Bush is not Washington:
Sarkozy picked up the theme yesterday. "What could possibly have brought together two men who were so different in terms of age and of origin, Lafayette and George Washington? It is their common values," he declared. Sarkozy was so eager to please his hosts that he neglected to mention a word about Iraq.
From there, the neo-Lafayette left for Mount Vernon, where the stage for the press conference was as cold as winter at Valley Forge. Fortunately, the two leaders, unlike Washington and Lafayette, had propane heaters to keep them warm as they traded platitudes.
"We want a democratic Iraq," Sarkozy said.
"Freedom’s happenin’ in Iraq," Bush said.
Bush liked what he heard from the new French leader. "I have a partner in peace," he concluded as he cut the press conference short.
Departing in Marine One, Bush and his entourage spewed dust and fumes on Sarkozy and his entourage as they took off.
It was a 21st-century end to an 18th-century day.
History in the making.
Now that the US is giving France (which is a one-man-band right now, Sarkozy) standing ovations, perhaps it is time for
Washington correspondents to delve deeper into the mood in French politics.
I warmly recommend the blog of the French Prime Minister. Btw - has anybody ever heard of him or know what he looks like even?
His name is Francois Fillon, he is married to a woman from Wales, whose sister is married to Fillon’s brother. Some of Fillon’s movements in the corridors of government buildings etc have been followed by TV cameras and his asides / remarks to aides etc accompanying him have been “deciphered” and all was on TF1 News yesterday.
www.blog-fillon.com
Posted by: FH | November 9th, 2007 at 9:55 am | Report this comment“Freedom’s happenin’ in Iraq,” Bush said.
Exactly!
Iraq is a shining beacon for the libertarian utopia - minimal state and an armed citizenry - if only we had the courage to celebrate this!
BTW: watching two inadequate men with something to prove trying to out-swagger each other must have been entertaining at least…
Posted by: David | November 9th, 2007 at 3:45 pm | Report this commentWhatever agreements Messrs Sarkozy and Bush (and in fourteen months, the latter’s successor) reach, and whatever disagreements they may end up having, the present arrangement is far more productive than the days when Mr Chirac auto-defined France’s position according to what will be opposite America’s.
Whether France, Britain, Russia or China, superpowers–present, past and wannabe’s–must remember “If you cannot or will not help, do not hinder.”
Posted by: J Michael, private banker, 38 | November 10th, 2007 at 3:38 am | Report this commentThe NY Times burried / ignored Sarkozy because he wandered off the reservation and is not a “good” French. A good French opposes the US, opposes the Republicans (the two are not synonymous, they are rather concentric circles of thought), is dedicated to grow the power of the state, favors bureaucracy and planning over markets etc.
The irony is that Sarkozy may end up not being all that different in substance to previous generations of Fr leaders (after all he has to work within the framework of the enarques and the culture of trade unions) but he seems different and talks differently (he claims to admire American institutions; favors market-friendly reforms; talks about war w/ Iran!). After la chiraqui he is the anti-Chirac, and that is enough for the Times’ strong immunity to reject him.
Contrast the Times’ consistently hostile coverage of Sarkozy ever since he popped up on American radars (during the campaign) with the warm parting to Chirac (not limited to, but best embodied by Tony Judt’s oped of April 22, 2007):
“With the departure of Jacques Chirac, we are saying goodbye to the “last semblance of statesmanship” from a generation that remembered where an unraveled Europe could lead. I fear we shall miss him.”
Posted by: All the news that's fit to print? Yeah sure. | November 10th, 2007 at 9:24 pm | Report this comment