Sarko sloshed shock

Just about everyone here with an interest in France must have seen this video by now. It features President Sarkozy's hilarious, apparently drunken, performance after a session with Vladimir Putin at the G8 summit in Germany last week. The first clip, broadcast by Belgian television, hit the internet on Sunday, creating a global phenomenon. It has become number one topic of gossip in France, but the main French television channels have yet to mention it and the press has barely touched it.

Is this French censorship and fear of offending the hyper-touchy head of state ? Or is it good sense in the face of internet-madness?

Here are the facts:

Sarko bowled up to a press briefing at Heiligendamm at 7.30 pm, half an hour late last Thursday evening. In the video of his opening, he slurs his speech, laughs excessively and appears unsteady. That was enough for Belgian television to report that Sarko, who does not drink alcohol, had visibly consumed "more than just water" at his session with Putin. As of now, the videos have been watched over three million times on Youtube and Dailymotion. There are 70 versions on Dailymotion alone, several of them remixes with French comic soundtracks. The deluge of comment in the blogosphere includes much French mockery of the new head of state.

So why barely a mention in the French media? Because they decided that it was not a story. They checked with reporters who were with Sarko and were told that they had noticed nothing unusual. So they did not touch "drunk Sarko" even though it had gone global and become a national talking point. France-Inter radio did mention the fuss on Monday in its 6.20 am slot on blogging but there has still been no mention in its news.

Libération, a newspaper that prides itself on cheeky irreverence, has stayed unusually silent in print. It belatedly posted the video on its site with an explanation. Sarko was not sloshed, it said, but the fuss around his apparent inebriation "had become the object of journalistic interest in itself". "An attentive viewing of the video seemed to us to show a Sarkozy who was short of breath, certainly spluttering, certainly not comfortable, but clearly not drunk."

The first published reader reaction was: "If the Libération journalist did not notice that Sarko was smashed, then get another journalist."

Today's le Canard Enchaîné, a respected satirical weekly with small circulation, reported: "Pictures of King Sarko I have been odiously censored by French television. This is all the more regrettable because they are funny." Journalists at France 3, a public network, had agonized over it but been told not to broadcast it, said le Canard.

Uninformed listeners must have been bamboozled today when "drunk Sarko" was picked up by Nicolas Canteloup, the brilliant impersonator whose breakfast radio slot is compulsory listening in the political-media world. On Europe-1 radio, Canteloup simply repeated Sarko's performance with barely any exaggeration. Listeners were expected to be in the know although the topic had been ruled unfit for the masses -- like Russians used to laugh at dangerous jokes about the Soviet Kremlin.

Sarkozy's people have said nothing about the fuss and the sound recording of his German press briefing has been left untouched on the Elysée Palace site. Listening to it -- and watching the fuller versions on video -- it is obvious that Sarko is in command of his faculties. But for some reason -- perhaps tiredness -- he gives an exaggerated display of his usual idiosyncratic verbal and and physical mannerisms.

Comments

[Jeremy Drake]

It may be good sense, but avoidance of this story comes primarily from the notorious servility of the mainstream French media with regard to the political class. It was an unexpectedly curious performance from Sarkozy, but we have no reason to believe he has broken his professed teetotality (or is it - to lurch into another domain - teetotalism/teetotalry/teetotalitude/teetotalitarianism?).

[Emilie]

The French media only make things worse by hiding subjects. Everyone at my work has been laughing at this video all week. But not a word on our television or presse. Bizarre

[Howard Grattan]

Maybe he just fell about laughing at something Vladimir Putin told him; coming from the Russian President, it must have been a really good joke. I hope he shares it with us.

[Helen]

It HAS been shown on French TV - on the "Le Petit Journal" section of Le Grand Journal (go figure) on Canal Plus. None of the panel (including a certain F. Hollande) passed any comment on it, however.

I'm still undecided as to whether or not he is tipsy.....there's definitely SOMETHING up with him, be it alcohol-related or not.

The bit where he's muttering when putting in his earpiece is priceless :) Sounds like "ouais, ouais...meh, allez"

[Terry]

Sarkozy was four sheets to the wind. It probably doesn't take much for a non-drinker.

Sarkozy looks like he might have been able to pass a U.S. Driving While Intoxicated roadside test.

Sir, please lean back, touch your nose and recite the alphabet backwards.

[Sandrine]

"Sir, please lean back, touch your nose and recite the alphabet backwards."

Excellent !! ;o)

[John Hornsby]

Bof! (So what?)

[PeterD]

If I got pulled over and lurched around like that you bet I'd be blowing up a baloon!
Either that or Old Vlad was slipping a little potato juice into his tea, or else it was the plutonium...

[Alain]

The video was also shown on FR3 last night and on TV8 (whatever it's called) belonging to V.Bolloré.
Censorship? Bof... He probably had a glass of Vodka and the teetolatter he is couldn't stand it. And then what?
Much ado for nothing...

[Vinaigrette]

all right, he is not drunk. But the video itself is the story and it is absurd for French media not to cover it. If it was Bush or Blair or Schroeder there would be no problem. Putin or Berlusconi could of course could count on a Sarko-style cover-up.

[Andy]

He was drunk - but on power, the excitement of mixing with the big boys (nothing to do with height), and was probably knackered.

[Baptiste]

"Le Canard Enchaîiné" is not a "small circulation weekly" but one of the soldest weekly in France.

[peter kinsley www.peterkinsley.com]

Maybe Putin ex KGB slipped something into Sarky's drink, whatever it was, but one thing it proves -- the gutless French Press are scared to report it! British journalists used to delight in reporting Foreign Secretary George Brown drunk, especialy when he attacked Kruschev and Bulganin at dinner, but they did not report his telling a French Countess that he wanted to have an affair with her, and said: "Wassa matter - haven't you ever been told that before? "Oui, Monsieur Brown, but never before the soup," she replied. Nor when he asked de Gaulle's wife what she would like when the General retired. "A penis? A penis?" he squeaked. "I believe, my dear that in English it is pronounced 'appiness," said the great man.

[Juliette]

This video is also on the Nouvel Obs website, on Liberation.fr

[Banquise Tropicale]

Censorship for what? For not showing a video of no interest at all in which some bloggers lacking scoops pretend to see someone drunk. Let's be serious a minut. Even the leftist newspaper Libération told that he certainly wasn't drunk.. And none of the journalists there noticed anything.

[Dominique]

I actually did see it in direct live on iTELE during the press conference. It is everyday on the canal+ zapping and shown before every journalist debate in order to know what they think about it.
We saw it again on all TV channels, day after day. Newspapers only talk about that by now in order to know why the french medias are hidding this. Now we go with the times.

but hidding what? what exactly has been hidden?

More, what is exactly the point? the problem? his usual idiosyncratic verbal and and physical mannerisms? well, it's been a while since we know about it. His ability to believe that he is at the center of the universe and that every one is always starring at him? well, we also knew about this, thanks!

This reminds me of those complaining on television about the fact that they can never talk about what they are actually talking about.

non event!

[Actu75]

As amazingly as it may seem, French medias may also have been simply and partially undereactive. And partially over-cautious and frightened. Wich is worse? ... The mixture of both, probably.
As for the Sarko Show, I would not suspect alcohol, the man takes pride in not drinking. But more probably a mix of tiredness as mentioned, and the equivalent of the "mal de l'altitude" causing troubles to alpinists even once they conquered their own Everest.
There he was, no longer shaving, no longer fighting his way, not even finally showing Chirac the way out, but much more than this: there he was with all the big guys, the top of the tops. Little Big Man at last. One might understand that the vapors of power therefore had some effect on his self control.

[Dominique]

More, the fact that it does not make TOP news in France as it would in the UK does not necessarily means that there is any kind of censorship. We don't have to be interested in the same kind of sensless events as our british friends are. Same as with sex.

By the way, i saw that the belgian paper is now making apologies...what a waste of time and energy

[azloon]

i agree with dominique -- who cares??? let's applaud the french for not 'giving a merde.'

wasn't NS, just prior to this video, with putin, also an alcohol abstainer? so waaasss up? maybe they were smoking a joint or two together. quien sabes??

personally, if they did take a toke together, this is all the more reason to like and trust NS. i always felt much better about clinton after i found out he was receiving oral sex in the oval office. now, there's a guy we can identify with !!!

[Anita Rieu-Sicart]

I watched, he merely appears to be very out of breath, annoyed perhaps at missing something important, trying to catch his breath, and hear what is going on. I can't hear slurring. He just looks as many do, when trying desperately to catch up on events.

[peter kinsley www.peterkinsley.com]

It is the job of newspapers to report what politicians do, especially the leader of a country. It was worth reporting, and experienced drinkers can see the signs immediately, the stumbling and slurring. It is not funny, it is serious, because if he did take a shot of vodka (as Russians tend to do!) out of politeness and he is diabetic, it would have this effect. Seems strange he was late: had someone stolen his 15,000 Euros watch? Or had it stopped? An explanation from him would help, and the French Press could print that. Britain's Foreign Secretary, George Brown, mentioned above, was a likeable figure of fun with his boozing - especially at a ball when the Bishop of Lima, dressed in a beautiful purple dress/cloak was asked by George for a dance (well, anyone can make a mistake...)

[Kyle]

Even if he was drunk (which isn't clear) he's just being a little silly, that's all. It's not like he opened up the briefcase containing the nuclear launch codes and asked the journalists if they wanted a peek. He could probably use to have social drinks a little more often, anyway - helps handle the liquor, and he could use to cut loose every once in a while. Maybe the current US president would make better decisions if he relaxed and had a drink from time to time.

[Thomas R]

Baptiste,

One normally says something along the lines "the most widely sold weekly" rather than the "soldest weekly in France" - but this isn't to correct you - I think "soldest" is a great word. We instantly know what you mean; I am going to add it to my vocabulary right away.

Oh, how I wish my French were just half as good as the English written by francophones here.

[Ian Varey]

Dominique RE "Non event". I aggree with you totally. What, however, I don't understand, after having watched the incident, is why the French press has basically tried its level best "not to talk about it" (no- matter how many times YOU say it has been shown on TV. Some of the other comments bear out my own feelings on the matter, the elitist French politicians in collusion with the French press are doing their best to pass the incident off as un-important. Yet, what strikes me as strange is, if it had been the leader of another country the French press would have been chattering about till the cows come home. Try not not to be "so above it all". You are not ("you" plural, aka the French, not "you" personally).

[richard jones]

It is my understanding that George W is an alcoholic in recovery, thus the imbibulation of a refreshing alcoholic beverage may not be the best thing for him to do. Anyway, too much alcohol blurs the time on one's wristwatch y'know.

[John Gregory Flinn]

I saw some of it on France 24,; M.Sarkozy did ramble a bit but ANDY probably has it right.

What was suprising and made me think that they were all well-oiled, or on something else, was the way all the threats and name-calling by Mr Putin before the summit were forgotten/dismissed in such gratuitous collective bonhomie!

[Paul B]

Canal+, F3, Direct8, iTELE, Libé, Canard Enchaine, 20 minutes... That's a lot of media coverage for a media cover up...

[D.Strohl]

I was not able to have a look at the video because my ADSL is down since several days (this is a recurrent disease ...). Therefore, I too will agree with Dominique who has watched the video scrupulously and who has made a balanced statement – Dominique can not be suspected to be a fanatic laudator of Sarkozy ...

May be some Anglo-Saxon gentlemen on this blog could possibly be interested to expand somewhat their technical French vocabulary regarding booze and its effects. If yes, please have a look hereafter :

Drunk = ivre, saoul, aviné, éméché, gris (adjectives, classical French)
= pompette, bourré, plein, pinté, rétamé, givré, pété, rond,
beurré, schlass, cuité, canné (adjectives, colloquial French)

May be a few expressions could also be helpful :
Il a du vent dans les voiles (he has got wind in his sails)
Il est dans les vignes du Seigneur (he is in the vines of the Lord)
Il en tient une, il en tient une sévère, il tient une bonne cuite, il est rond comme une pelle (colloquial French).

The above is of course not exhaustive, but is nevertheless a good sampling.

THOMAS R.

Yes, but standard English is much easier to learn than French. Our grammar is highly complex, with many rules and many exceptions. The spelling is also not easy at all ... Even native Frenchmen (some journalists included) make often errors.

[peter kinsley www.peterkinsley.com]

KYLE: Don't encourage him!
A good Bush needs no Wine***
The Olde English sign of the "bush" hung outside wine shops in Ye Olden Days elicited the comment:
***"A good wine needs no bush..."
He now follows the lines of Rudyard Kipling: "But when it comes to s l a u g h t e r you must do your work on water...."

[Dominique]

Ian Varey,

I am afraid all of this sounds very paranoïac. I live in France and i know exactly what i see and don't see in the medias and on television.

Your "own feelings" about what you believe I see or do not see are, as you say, just "feelings", and have little to do with reality, but maybe more with stereotypes you read. Come here and see. You may prefere listen to those who actually don't have a clue of what is shown on french medias...up to you, i don't mind.

More, you say that this was a non event, but then call it an incident that french media prefer "not to talk about". what is exactly this "incident" they don't talk about? the non event? so, should they talk about "non events"? non events are incidents? I know plenty of non events....

- the train arrived on time,
- my meal was good,
- i think Sarko has a strong ego,
- he might be mad (btw, no paper actually talks about that!)
- I believe Bush is not smart

Gosh! i said Bush was not smart and i heard that no US news magazine dares talking about it! censorship maybe? ellistist journalists?

- Merkel has a bad haircut.
Gosh! i said Merkel has a bad haircut and i heard that no German news magazine dares talking about it! censorship maybe? ellistist journalists?

All of this does'nt make sens... the worst is that the media did actually lost plenty of time and energy talking about it instead of trying to anderstand the pros and cons linked to the project of TVA sociale!!! More, they'd better talk about the real incest relationship between politicians and there fellow journalist wifes.

and you know what? i also go on talking about it! i blame myself for that! poor me, turning in circle...

[Dominique]

D.Strohl,

"schlass" sounds german or alsacian to me. I had never heard it before!!

and, about spelling, even teachers do make mistakes!

[rocket]

I knew I had seen the burp somewhere. Check out this video which in fact does show the burp. It's about in the middle of the video.

http://tinyurl.com/yoysyr

[Valentin]

Thomas R :
"...but this isn't to correct you - I think "soldest" is a great word. We instantly know what you mean; I am going to add it to my vocabulary right away."

This could never happen in French. If you make this kind of mistake, native speakers will look at you like at a newly landed martian, completely lost as to what you mean.
It's a great advantage of the English language, to tolerate this type of situations, a foreigner can speak bad and still make himself understood.

[Monika]

Dominique:
"- Merkel has a bad haircut.
Gosh! i said Merkel has a bad haircut and i heard that no German news magazine dares talking about it! censorship maybe? ellistist journalists?"

Actually we DO discuss her hairstyle :D

Nonetheless, this non-event and the treatment it gets from popular art is simply hilarious. And even if he actually wasn't drunk it is so good that I just wish to believe it!

When I see him shrug in this wavering manner and smiling he reminds me of a boy who is deeply embarrased by something and who tries to apologize for it without clearly saying it.

I love it!

I wished I could see Angie that way once :D

[tateishi]

To my surprise, France is not so free and democratic. Policemen hide their identity (no badge) so that they may do illegale things without being accused.

[Pascal]

for your information, cher Charles : Le Canard Enchaîné is not exactly what i'd call a "small circulation weekly", with a circulation of 420 000 issues in 2006 (and without any ads)

[christopher muir]

It's impossible not to bump into the G8 Sarkozy video while surfing the net. Having viewed it several times, I generously give him the benefit of the doubt. However, if one day he can't restrain himself and tears away from the official party to conduct a brass band, I won't be so kind in my assessment.

[azloon]

VALENTIN --

i thought the french just PRETENDED not to understand you if your french wasn't sufficiently fluent. are they "completely lost as to what you mean," as you say, or just culturally arrogant?

i can remember "sparring matches" in Paris with native french speakers who insisted their crappy english was better than my crappy french and therefore we should conduct our nearly illiterate conversation in english. no accomodation to my feeble attempts at french, whatsover.

i live on the border of mexico and have the wonderful priveledge of spending much time in that hospitable country. mexicans truly appreciate an english speaker's attempts to speak spanish. they coach and cajole, as you speak, then praise your meagre efforts. they seem to feel pride that someone from another country would want to try to speak their language. obviously, the french do not share this enthusiasm for foreigners speaking french unless the speaker has perfect grammar and accent. and even then, it's not enthusiasm, simply that they'll pay some degree of attention to you.

as i remember twenty years ago or so, the french government launched a campaign to attempt to convince its citizens that pleasantness, good manners, and kindness towards non-french folks were a good idea, not to mention goods economics. it seemed to me that it actually had an effect. on a subsequent visit to paris, i had a stranger or two approach me in the metro and ask if they could help me. this didn't happen during the late 60s when i was first in france.

i too like "soldest," though i am not adding it to my vocabulary (i don't like it THAT much). unlike france, however, if enough people do start using it, it will be in english dictionaries in a few years.

[isobel]

"This could never happen in French. If you make this kind of mistake, native speakers will look at you like at a newly landed martian, completely lost as to what you mean. " (Valentin referring to "soldest")
Oh Valentin, how true!I speak reasonable Italian and Spanish and have never had any problems being understood in Italy or Spain, and in addition often been praised for my efforts. In Paris (maybe it's different in the provinces) I sometimes wonder why I bother as people are rarely complimentary and sometimes really rude about my efforts.If it wasn't for the help of some friends here I would never have got anywhere with French. In addition the French teachers who teach French as a foreign language to adults are often (there are exceptions)unsympathetic and way too demanding.

[BT]

Who cares? This is a blabla mediatic. Last time all newspapers had published Sarko's pictures in Malta, Sarko's doing his jogging, Sarko's doing this & that. Pff boring ! Journalists are good at stirring the shit to sell their papers. But why did the belgian journalist send his apologies to the Elysée? Anyway, the positive thing is that the franco-russian relationship is getting warmer after what the media called a new "cold war" a couple of weeks ago.

[richard jones]

In Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece any attempt at those languages is treated with pleasure and a gratitude that you are trying.
This is less true in France, especially Paris, where paranoia steps forward and any inability to speak French perfectly is taken as an insult.
We Swiss and Belgians are in receipt of this regularly because we have a slightly different numbering approach (much more logical) involving septante et nonante.
I believe this is the attitude that abbreviated France's chances of their tongue being the world lingua franca.

[Dominique]

All these posts are so typical!

If we ask our counterparts to speak french, then we are blamed for being arrogant and for not speaking foreign languages,

If we try to speak the language of the foreigner, then we are blamed for being arrogant and for not letting foreigners speak OUR language,

If we try to help the foreigner and correct his mistakes, then we are blamed for being arrogant and having an "ellitist" view of our language,

If we let the foreigner make mistakes, then we are blamed for being arrogant and believing that foreigners are not smart enough for speacking our "sophisticated" language,

I am sure that if we were pleased to ear foreigners speaking french, we would be blamed for being arrogant for taking for granted the fact that the foreigners do speak french...

my question is : what should we do for not being blamed? maybe stop being french?

all of this fits in a few words : french bashing, francophobia, prejudice. You choose

BTW : I was often blamed on this blog for spelling mistakes in english and also in french, but i certainly did not blame the one who told me! You all sound really very paranoïd about these language things...

[Dominique, please don't stop using French if you prefer and don't listen to the pedants who criticise. It's good to have the variety even if not everyone understands. CB]

[Terry]

Dominique:

I think it's bad form for anyone to criticize your English grammar or spelling. Your English is better probably better than most "anglo's" french (certainly better than mine). Hopefully, people will quiet down on that.

It's open season on your silly socialist notions though!

[Monika]

Actually French people I met never showed a sign of being annoyed when I spoke French and I often got compliments for it (though I rather think it was in order to say something nice and encouraging since I know much more foreigners who speak French much better than I do)

[D.Strohl]

DOMINIQUE,

Schlass is an adjective (colloquial) which was still commonly used after WWII. It has almost disappeared nowadays. I have made some research in my various dictionaries, and didn't find it, with the exception of « Le Maxidico » Editions de la Connaissance, 1996. The first occurrence of the word is in 1873; its origin : « schlass » = « tired » in German, says le Maxidico. But my big German « Duden » dictionary does not « know » the word « schlass ». So may be « Le Maxidico » has mixed up « schlass », which does not exist, with « schlapp », which exists and means « tired » (« las » en français).
Conclusion : if teachers and, of course, common bloggers make errors, this may happen to (good) dictionaries as well. Cela me console ...

In most blogs - Charles' one included - spelling checkers are not available. But one may enter texts in a standard word processor (Open Office in my case) and have them checked by the software. After that, it is quite easy to copy and paste them – CTRL C, CTRL V – into the blog.

A big advantage of this method, at least for me and my eyes, is that one may magnify the character size in the word processor – this is not possible in the blog window.
BTW, the spelling checker of Open office « knows » schlass !

[Dominique]

Terry,

Don't call "french" notions such as liberté-égalité-fraternité "socialist". You're being a french basher again! ;=)

[Valentin]

MONIKA:

"When I see him shrug in this wavering manner and smiling he reminds me of a boy who is deeply embarrassed by something"

LOL that's exactly why I couldn't help watching it again and again ! :))

AZLOON:

i thought the french just PRETENDED not to understand you if your french wasn't sufficiently fluent. are they "completely lost as to what you mean," as you say, or just culturally arrogant?

I've seen all situations. Some pretend, because they hate the way the language is tortured. Some understand something, but they end up hating to make the effort to understand your twisted phrases. They get tired and the conversation must be fluid.
Finally, some so identify with their tongue, almost physically, that they're really lost if you make a mistake or even use an expression upside down (without being grammatically or semantically wrong). This happens in the large majority of cases, especially when they're not used to foreigners.

Then there is also an excess of exigence. You're more likely to be corrected by a French than praised for your efforts, because your French sounds ugly to his ears. It's not mean though, just very very demanding :)
(French school is that way; a student once told me the story of her road through highschool and preparatory into a well known commerce school: dreadful)

A tip for foreigners studying French: try to get the spirit of the language rather than the grammar. It's all in the spirit of it - this also means the general attitude.

DOMINIQUE:
"You all sound really very paranoïd about these language things..."

They are :) LOL They badly want to speak French and they don't feel helped and praised and cocooned :D
Oh come on, Dominique, don't you see how much love is hidden in these criticisms ? :)

PS1 : btw, please, try to write UNderstand, instead of AN-, I'm having the reaction someone used to have when I was writing noone in one word :)

PS2 : I second Charles, any French having problems to *fully* express in English should by all means use his native tongue.

[azloon]

Dominique:

"methinks, you protesteth too much."

i think the posts to which you were referring must have hit a nerve.

[D.Strohl]

MONIKA,

If you happened to be an ugly man with a big belly you possibly would not get much compliments for your French...

[Sigrid]

I have lived in the Paris suburbs for 3 1/2 years now.
All that is written about how the "French" are arrogant, not willing to understand foreigners who speak poor French, the lack of customer service etc. etc. is all true, but this is mainly only true for Parisiennes! Drive 30 minutes or more out of the Paris suburbs zone and you meet very helpful people in shops and neighbourhoods who are delighted that we try to speak French at any level and are even willing to try to pratice their English.
Sarko "sloshed" - Funny video. He let his guard down. So what?

[Monika]

Sigrid, I am completely with you!

Me, too, I percieve Parisians (with a few exceptions) as generally arrogant, cold hearted, narrow minded, uninterested in other people's culture, conservative, backward looking, with blown up self esteem, aggressive and egoistic. If it weren't for the French coming from or living in the country who are the most marvelous and nicest people I couldn't have stayed that long in this country.
They are all what the average Parisian is not:
open minded, interested, showing hospitality, honest, humble and simply loveable.

Many Parisians look down towards those from the provinces but in my opinion it is these 'simple' people that make the French as a whole so loveable.

The problem is that most tourists will rather visit Paris where they meet Parisians and don't learn that they are not representative.

[terry]

Monika:

I have heard the same thing from others. People from the countryside are much friendlier, openminded, etc. than Parisiens. Also, Parisiens look down on those "simple" people (country bumpkins). Parisiens think they are more sophisticated than those in the countryside. Thinking about what you said, I thought I could have substituted New Yorkers for Parisiens. I find that people from the city of New York exhibit the same attitude. But I did not seem the same attitude in Boston, near where I went to college. I wonder if it is a mega city attitude.

[Dominique]

Terry is making progress!

No longer french bashing! we now have megacity bashing! That spares 80% of the french population!

But, i am in the 20%...

[Terry]

Mon Dieu!

Dominique could be right. I might be going native.