Sombre Sarkozy opens tough new season

 

France began the new year today. The children don't go back to school until September 1, but for most others, the last Monday in August is la rentrée. The summer is almost over, the government is back and the big event is the debut tonight of la Ferrari.

Laurence Ferrari, 42 (below), is taking over as presenter of the TF1 Journal Télévisé, Europe's the most watched TV news programme. The firing last June of Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, the "Pope" of the JT for the past two decades, was something of a national trauma, as you may recall. 'PPDA' got on many people's nerves but his daily communion with the nation has been missed. Ferrari, a friend of Sarkozy, has to prove quickly that she can fill his shoes.

The new season also means year two for President Sarkozy. Not that the hyper-president has taken much of a break, with August trips to the Beijing Olympics, to Moscow and Georgia to negotiate a ceasefire and to Afghanistan to comfort French troops after they lost 10 men (video below). Here's a quick view of Sarkozia at the opening of season II:

France felt different 12 months ago. Hopes for change were high and the newly elected Super Sarko was basking in 69 percent approval but suffering from the breakdown of his marriage. A year on, a slightly more humble Sarko has a new super-model wife, the economy is down, his promises appear unfulfilled and 59 percent disapprove of him.

For some, Sarko has become a hate figure, a self-obsessed showman who tricked voters with promises of prosperity, threw money at the rich and unleashed a whirlwind of reforms that has torn through cherished institutions. These include the hospital system, the 35-hour working week, unemployment and retirement benefits, the law courts, the universities and so on.

As François Hollande, leader of the moribund Socialist opposition, put it: "He is not reforming France. He is shaking it up, creating mayhem, unbalancing it. Sarkozy divides, stigmatizes and then destroys." Sarko's sin, Hollande told Le Parisien, is that he is trying to make France 'Anglo-Saxon'. "His project is to individualise social relations: everyone must now take care of themselves all alone." 

The latest embarrassment for Sarko is this clip from his visit to Kabul last Wednesday. It drew little comment on the TV news last week but it has taken on a life of its own, feeding the Sarkophobes of the internet who say he is sneering with a misplaced joke. 

Sarkozy's words to the comrades of the fallen soldiers were not especially striking. People are irked because he seems to make light of the Taleban ambush that befell the French paratroop patrol near Kabul.  "If it had to be done again, I would do it," says the president, adding with an awkward smirk "Not the patrol..."

I disagree with the criticism. This video shows Sarkozy's awkward side, not contempt for the soldiers. The little smirk is one of his many nervous tics.

To balance the view on Sarkozy's record,  the results are far from negative. He made big blunders near the start, mainly with his self-regarding style and his muddling of his love life with the affairs of the nation. But he has pretty much stayed on course with his reforms, even if they sometimes look incoherent. Hollande is right that he has "bousculé" the country -- jolted it, or shaken it up. People do not like the trimming of public services and welfare benefits but there is a grudging acceptance of their necessity.

Sarko has also suffered bad luck, taking over when France has fallen victim to the global down-turn. With recession looming, he is held responsible for the severe pinch that his citizens are feeling as they return from a gloomy summer.

Yet.... the latest Ifop rating, published yesterday by le Journal du Dimanche, shows Sarkozy's approval edging back up to 40 percent, its highest since last Christmas when his glitzy romance with Carla Bruni sealed the end of his electoral honeymoon. The pollsters say that he has been regaining credit with a more statesmanlike image. Despite the video, his peace-broking in the Caucasus and his dash to Afghanistan were well received.

Even Dominique de Villepin, his defeated rival, praised him yesterday, saying the president's conduct was showing "a pared-down simplicity" (une simplicité et un dépouillement dans sa démarche).

Sarkozy is benefiting from the lack of opposition. The Socialists are beating themselves up over who takes over the bedraggled party this autumn, with no likely leader in sight.

This has left the field open to young Olivier Besancenot and the romantics of the "anti-capitalist" left. Besancenot (picture below), who polls as France's second most impressive member of the opposition (after Mayor Bertrand Delanoe of Paris) is on a roll as he prepares to launch a "New Anti-Capitalist Party" (NPA). The idea is to draw former communists, Trotskyites, Greens and disillusioned Socialists into a broad coalition for revolution.

That would sound like a joke in the parts of Europe where leftwing parties long ago abandoned Marx and made peace with the market. But radical ideas of far left and right have retained a hold in France, which has a history of regular revolts.  Besancenot and his mates believe in le grand soir, the great overthrow of the existing order that was the dream of 19th century revolutionaries.

Their new left party has no chance of winning power and no intention of playing the parliamentary game. But their rise will be an asset to Sarkozy because it ensures the continuing enfeeblement of the Socialists. In the 1980s and 1990s, the far right National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen similarly sapped the strength of the centre right under Jacques Chirac. 

The hard part begins for Sarkozy now -- keeping up his reforms, notably to the labour market, while handling discontent and steering through an economic slump. The first casualty is likely to be François Fillon, Sarko's long-suffering Prime Minister. More on him here soon.

--

[Top picture: Sarkozy commemorates the August 25, 1944, massacre by the Nazis of 124 villagers at Maillé, an event obscured by the liberation of Paris the same day.} 

 

Comments

[Robert Marchenoir]

"Sarkozy's project is to individualise social relations: everyone must now take care of themselves all alone", says Socialist François Hollande.

This is a hell of a confession. The leader of the French socialist party does not believe one has to take care of oneself (say, starting when childhood ends).

The implication is that it is the state which is supposed to take care of you, from cradle to grave. The individual bears no responsibility for himself. The mama-state will provide for everything.

This comes from the man who also confessed on television, one year ago: "I must admit I don't like the rich".

And now, we have Barack Obama who, according to this very interesting analysis in New York's City Journal, is walking in Hollande's steps, so to speak, and wants to mummify the American government:

http://www.city-journal.org/2008/18_3_obama.html

[qwerty]

Charles, even though Sarkozy gives me nettle-rash (urticaire?), I really don't care how many different sorts of tics he has just as long as I don't have to watch him too long or too often and he does what he was elected for: give France its edge back. And the trimming-down of the public sector & the encouragement of entrepreneurial spirit partake of that, and there are some results: see recent article in the Economist.
BTW, his popularity rate is up again, to a giddy 40%.

[Daisy]

Maybe if he invaded Belgium and took control of the breweries...it's a thought!

[rocket]

Lest we mention two national tragedies.

One, Johnny has not reestablished residency in France and any French tennis player that makes it to quarterfinals money of a tennis tournament for the first time sets up residency in Switzerland.

[Rick]

That tic-snigger-wince, wasn’t it the micro-second when Sarko thought ‘Heads will roll’? Fortunately he didn’t blurt it out.

[Terry]

"Ferrari, a friend of Sarkozy, has to prove quickly that she can fill his shoes."

Sexist as it may sound, I rate broadcasters (and French Justice Ministers) on their ability to fill a bikini. Melissa and Ferrari make the cut. These people, after all, read off a teleprompter. If they were slightly less intelligent, they'd be holding up Turtle Wax on The Price is Right.

[Valentin]

can't help noticing the similarities in CB's and other anglo-saxon media attitude towards Sarkozy. I was reading in the Economist the other day an article almost confession-like, in the line "maybe we dismissed him [Sarko] as a mere joker a bit too quickly" and continuing on an almost positive note, about what are the biggest challenges to come, what his chances and options... So maybe I was wrong too criticizing Charles' "anti-Sarko" stance, maybe it was simply his anglosaxon self speaking. And since le Seigneur ne veut pas la mort du pécheur, mais qu’il se convertisse et qu’il vive... :)

[Blendi Progri]

Sarkozy doesn't do gravitas or sombre quite well. For cases like this Chirac seemed more suited.
I too don't think he was moking or trying to make an akward reference, but it is clear that he is ill at ease in situations like this.
What can't be expered as a regret over coffee with friends can't be delivered on a podium also.

N.S. is more himself on the move, talking and gesticulating and the momement he stops, well he Stops as if blocked, he seems a little lost.
Same problem was here with Tony Blair, natural and completely in command on medium-to-lighter side of things, the moment something 'stronger' was needed, he was left trying...it is more a question of personality, than character - I think - people who are born that way know this and often make it worse by their efforts to appear as others want them to, it can't be changed.

So some twitches come on, some impulses will have to be surpressed and the person, depite being there, looks like he might want to run away. People can sense that you are uncomfortable and based on their feelings towards you then add this on top of their basic judgement, some may he isn't statesman like, others simply accept that's how the person is.

Going in person in Afghanistan straight away is the best thing a leader can do, he did just that.
We all want a grand leader suited for times like these; for catastrophes, deaths, wars, disasters, emergencies etc by being calm, controlled and in command, but not everyone can be a Churchill.
It was said that even he sometimes had bad days.

[richard.jones]

Sarko, whom I openly admit has driven me from dashed hope to growing enthouiasm and often in the same speech or photop, needs a period of concrete political and policy progress now.
He needs to pick a very short list of reforms that he promised that are palpably doable avant la rentrée prochaine (2009). AND DO THEM, otherwise all is lost. He also needs to get his PM and others to gently blow the Sarko horn. After all 'term limits' for the president and stengthening the lower house are not to be forgotten.
Does TERRY also rate leaders of the opposition of their CBF - Coefficient of Bikini Fulfilment!! :-)

[Marguerite.]

Moi, elle m'a choquee,la phrase de Sarko , en Afghanistan.C'etait de l'ironie tres maladroite. Mais il faut dire qu'il n'a pas l'air particulierement delicat.
Quant a la rentree, elle va etre chaude. Mais difficile de savoir comment cela va tourner. Attention Sarko, ne dit pas : "qu'on leur donne de la brioche ".

[azloon]

interesting that sarko's nervous mannerisms are similar to Bush's involuntary 'alfred e. newman/what me worry' smirk that often 'leaks out' in quite non-funny situations.

where did we find these guys, anyway?

laurence ferrari? i guess lawrence is a french female name, unlike the english lawrence/larry. does anyone call her larry? is she italian too?

how about the newsbabe from grenoble? she ought to be ready for prime time before too long, don't you think? is it time for another follow-up on her yet, CB? one of your home-made videos featuring her (with you and your mellifluous voice off-screen) would work great for me. it's a sure fire ratings boost for your blog. legions of american men (la legion etrangere american?) await (breathfully).

[rockinred]

@ROBERT MARCHENOIR "The implication is that it is the state which is supposed to take care of you, from cradle to grave." No, that's not the implication, and it's not what he said. Nor is it the objective of socialism. I would remind you of the words "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" and challenge you to explain precisely what is wrong and unfair about this idea - without resorting to lies, obfuscations, irrelevancies and monomaniac right-wing rants.

[paul]

Yes the show goes on. N acquires presidential status with a few dead of his own plus those pinched from WWII. The left bank worships at the feet of the D Lama and his baubles and the Elysée kowtows to Peking. In the meantime the French media celebrate the olympic 'triumph' of the French team with my local ex MP RB. The French are too individualistic to complain about high prices, eroding pensions, loss of worker's rights. And the PS won't pull itself together (viz Moscivici at my local party meeting). Let the Sarko carry on dead or alive...

[alan morgan]

The quotation from Karl Marx by RockinRed is part of a criticism of the Gotha Programme in 1875. Like everything connected to Marx it is out of date, out of time and out of place. We are in a different century.

[Romain]

I believe it was a wrong move to rush to Kabul, sending a wrong signal to the talebans on France's sensitivity. Did Sarko want to make up for is lashing at the militaries after the Carcassonne incident ?
The coming parliamentary debate on French troops engagement will be quite interesting. Politicians will be obliged to spell out whatever their position is.
"Sarko has also suffered bad luck, taking over when France has fallen victim to the global down-turn"
Yes, like most governments, but it seems French banking system was less affected than the US, UK, Or Swiss system. Nuclear energy is also a very big advantage in these times of expensive costs of fuel.
Altogether, I would consider his situation is more enviable than that of Gordon Brown, especially as French opposition is in some sort of vacuum.

[Robert Marchenoir]

Rockinred: "I would challenge you...".

No.

I'm not interested in a pseudo-discussion with a sectarian troll who pretends to engage into intellectual debate, then proceeds to warn that any opinion different from his will be deemed void ("without resorting to lies, obfuscations, irrelevancies and monomaniac right-wing rants").

It seems to me that you're rather the one who ought to explain your criminal beliefs, since you have the gall to quote straight out of the marxist book ("from each according to his ability, to each according to his need") after said book has been proven, by history, to bring poverty, oppression and death to the masses.

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" is exactly the problem, not the solution, you monomaniac, left-wing ranter.

[Thierry Depasse]

What really matters is that 10 French soldiers were brought back home in a "Sarkophage" ...

[rockinred]

Robert Marchenior:
Temper, temper. I didn't actually think you'd be prepared to enter any sensible discussion, but I thought it only fair to give you the chance to do so. You resort instead to name-calling and unfounded assertions. I would agree that Stalinism and Maoism - both of which deviated sharply from Marxism - led to poverty, oppression and death. But in what what way does that invalidate "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" as a basis for a just and fair society?
Alan Morgan:
Agreed, we are in a different century. Which could just as well show that Marx was ahead of his time. Can I take it that you also think that Jesus, Buddha, Descartes, Ghandi etc - take your pick - are also "out of date, out of time and out of place"?

"The idea is to draw former communists, Trotskyites, Greens and disillusioned Socialists into a broad coalition for revolution.
That would sound like a joke in the parts of Europe where leftwing parties long ago abandoned Marx and made peace with the market. But radical ideas of far left and right have retained a hold in France"

http://www.leparisien.fr/une/siege-du-pc-a-louer-26-08-2008-171714.php
Siège du PC : à louer

http://cncu.fr/spip.php?article118
Siège de l’Huma à vendre
http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/instantanes/chiffre/294949.FR.php

http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2008/08/12/le-siege-du-front-national-vendu-a-une-universite-chinoise_1082621_3224.html
Le siège du Front national vendu à une université chinoise

[dot king]

"laurence ferrari? i guess lawrence is a french female name, unlike the english lawrence/larry. does anyone call her larry?"
Azloon

Laurence is the female version of the male Laurent (the "t" is not pronounced). From it come other names: Laure, Laura - hey isn't that the name of the US First Lady? Does she spell it "Lawra"? Does anyone call her Larry?

Marguérite, absolument d'accord avec vous sur "le tic nerveux" de Sarkozy. Il ne sait pas se comporter dans trop de situations publiques (pour un président élu d'une nation), ici il a fait preuve d'une telle péoccupation avec lui-même, qu'il a semblé (même si on peut admettre que ce n'est pas intentionnel) manquer de sensibilité à la peine des autres et la gravité du choix des mots et sa façon de les dire dans de telles circonstances.
Il a du chemin à faire AMA.

[Valentin]

If I didn't know it was Marx, I would have sworn Rockinred's quote was from some holy preaching :) Socialist utopias and idealismus are impossible to fight, by their very idealist and utopic nature.
Beautiful words like those above have been stained by their use as a cover for reprehensible actions. Condemning the words alone would be political correctness of the type african-american vs black.
Which is why any effective criticism attacks the real-life ACTIONS of those people (leading to poverty, oppression, genocide etc.)

[Rick]

The ‘perfect storm’ brewing up and threatening to engulf financial institutions might offer Sarko’s reform programme a helpful ‘coup de pouce’. Then again, in certain quarters, the clouds might be interpreted as heralding ‘le grand soir’: the ‘Bright New Dawn’, obviously!. BTW, ‘Le Grand Soir’ was the title of the 2005 Belgian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. (One wonders what the ever-forbearing Flemings had to say about that.)

François Hollande is an extremely intelligent chap, clever enough to make a decent fist of pretending he’s… well, a bit thick. So, when he accuses Sarkozy of trying to make France ‘Anglo-Saxon’, François is being disingenuous. As for, ‘His project is to individualise social relations: everyone must now take care of themselves all alone’, well, here one’s impulse is to reach for the… violin to underscore the pathos of the moment. It’s not as if French ‘social relations’ were Michelin 3-star: aren’t they Europe’s biggest crunchers of anti-depressives?

You mention Olivier Besancenot and the romantics of the ‘anti-capitalist’ left. So, they want to float a new party and scupper their own team. It’s like substituting the goalkeeper for another who’s fast over the ground… but one-armed. He’s a lovely boy though, not the shiniest apple in the pile perhaps… Is that why the Left does it? Self-immolate? Shoot itself in the foot? Or is it because of a ‘death wish’? Is it – and not too secretly at that! – scared, ‘frit’, of taking up power? (The exception proving the rule is, of course Ségolène: quite different - and equally unelectable. Or Mitterand, the Godfather.)

That France’s ‘progressives’ should be Europe’s most unregenerate speaks of deep, ingrained ‘mauvaise foi’… as you suggest, a streak of ‘romanticism’, a lack of ‘sérieux’, a ‘half-baked-ness’ in a league of its own. The Lord only knows what the ‘Hexagone’ has done to deserve so many ‘poseurs’.

[thinknoworpaylater]

If i may make apoint or two in this noisy debate - MARCHENOIR- of course that isnt the implication of his (ROCKINREDS) remarks - hes merely saying that we need to look after each other. The Health Service , education the infrastructure has to be dealt with in a communal sense. Of course we also have to maintain our personal obligations and manage them but the bigger picture has to be based on the state. I agree with ROCKINRED that a balanced community has to accept that remark of Marx ( though it was novel in itsday ). As he said later - are all earlier ideas out of date? Some Greek strike me as relevant today: questions about tyranny; how democracy is actually organised (say in America where corporations fund presidential candidates - for what kind of kick-backs ? etc. ) By the way (as Marx well knew ) nothing is proven by History except mans inhumanity to man. But ROCKINRED has a point: War and Death are stil important instruments of Capitalism ( the unspeakable Word ) but today its mainly exploitation of people who work by Finance Capitalism.

[Terry]

RockinRed:

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"

I'll bite. The evil behind this statement is quite clear.
People who cherish this concept dont believe in private property. The notion is that someone that it is okay to take someone else's property by force and give it to someone else. Of course, who decides what people need? Usually pointed headed intellectuals who feel they can't compete in a market society. Yes, they always say that they feel for the poor. My experience is that they are merely jealous of the fact that some people have nicer homes and cars than they do. That seems to be the basis of your philosophy. Envy.

Your notion of "from each according to his ability" has already been tried out. By Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, just to name of few. How did you like the results so far?

The problem with that sentiment is that it flies in the face of human nature. People act out of self-interest. There is nothing evil about that. (unless they intrude on the rights of others). People will work hard when they receive the rewards of their labor, not when others do. This benefits everyone in the end. See Adam Smith.

The only peaceful application of your philosophy has been in the Israeli kibbutzim. However, this has turned out to be a failure due to the "freeloader" effect which I have discussed here before. Certain hardworking kibbutz members noticed that others were not pulling their weight yet, were receiving the same benefits. These people have been leaving the kibbutz in droves.

Now, why dont you tell us what is so fair about your favorite Marx quote?

People have a right to keep what they earn. No one has the right to take away someone's property to give it to someone else.
T

[azloon]

[From it come other names: Laure, Laura - hey isn't that the name of the US First Lady? Does she spell it "Lawra"? Does anyone call her Larry?] Dot

hey , don't be so snippy. i was just asking.

btw, i call our laura bush, 'larry.' but i'm the only one as far as i know. and she doesn't seem to mind.

[rocket]

I've always believed in Lennon and Marx

http://superbeans.com/images/marx_lennon_01.gif

[alan morgan]

Only you Rockinred are out of time, out of place and out of date because your comments are irrelevant to what is happening on the ground. Sarkozy lives in the present. You from your comments live in the past.

[Daniel Strohl]

RICK,

"François Hollande is an extremely intelligent chap"

Yes - very true. But in my opinion, he (and many of his chums) overestimate somewhat their intelligence, and underestimate the intelligence of their potential electors - and of the French generally speaking; otherwise they would have changed their "discours misérabiliste" and replaced it by more plausible ideas. This of course is difficult, due to the economic situation, and also due to the heavy propaganda they have submitted us for many years. ...

"The Lord only knows what the ‘Hexagone’ has done to deserve so many ‘poseurs’".

LOL !

[Rick]

I thought the main points on the Marxist debate got answered a while ago: in 1945 and 1949, with the publication of ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘1984’. I thought the caboodle had imploded in '89 at the latest.

[Daniel Strohl]

Marguerite,

"Attention Sarko, ne dit pas : "qu'on leur donne de la brioche ".

Beaucoup ont sous-estimé l'intelligence de Sarkozy (Vous
pensez ! - un avocaillon inculte - i.e qui n'a même pas fait l'ENA!).

Maintenant, dans l'opposition, ils ont le temps de réfléchir à cela. En attendant, ils devraient s'estimer heureux de ne pas être à sa place pour prendre les décisions difficiles et impopulaires.

[dot king]

"hey , don't be so snippy. i was just asking"

didn't mean to be snippy, I had to type it twice as I mistyped one of my fewer-and-fewer-each-day legible keys, and the first message disappeared . . . pooff - gone!

when I retyped, I forgot the smiley

"each according to his/her need"
I need a new keyboard, obviously :)

[rockinred]

Terry:
I had drafted a long reply to you, but somehow lost it all... I thanked you for at least making an attempt to put forward a point of view, rather than simply pouring scorn. At the same time I did point out that your reply was confused and irrational, and in the main post hoc ergo procter hoc; you also seem to be confusing the maxim of 'property is theft' with 'each according to...' which was Proudhon, not Marx, a wholly different proposition. However, I'm not going to change your mind any more than you're going to change mine and it's a bit late for bandying Marxist dialectic with a proponent of the politics of selfishness, so I can't be arsed to rewrite it all. Incidentally, Adam Smith, oft misquoted and (deliberately) misconstrued by fans of unfettered capitalism, had more in common with Marx than with Milton Friedman.

[Terry]

RockinRed:

Yes, the dog ate my homework excuse. Just as I thought.

Like most reds, long on wind, short on argument and facts.

This was my favorite part of your reply, Rockin..

"At the same time I did point out that your reply was confused and irrational,"

LOL. Oh, so you pointed that out in your reply you lost? How nice of you to repeat your claim that it was confused and irrational without demonstrating to us how that's so. Obviously, you hold very strong views with very little understanding.

As for changing minds, that was not my purpose for replying. It was to allow you to demonstrate your intellectual laziness to everyone else. You did all the work for me.

[dada]

Beaucoup ont sur-estimé l'intelligence des français (Vous
pensez ! - un peuple si cultivé - i.e qui a même fait l'ENA!).

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=6H9jQh44p3w&feature=related

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=TW6QiI7hHGA&feature=related

[rockinred]

Terry: Póg mo thóin.

[Judith]

I thought the nervous tic in Kabul was very unfortunate. It is a quality expected of a leader that they be able to adopt the most appropriate demeanor for all occasions, no matter how wretched they are feeling inside. National tragedy is the most important time for striking just the right note. It's particularly important for the families and friends affected by the disaster.

Sarkozy did better at the funerals of the soldiers but he is in a difficult position having sent more troops to dangerous Afghanistan without widespread community support.

Jacques Chirac was a wonderful 'mourner in chief' but it takes more than that to be a good president.

[dot king]

DADA I always try to make sense out of your posts - perhaps I'm wrong and the "Dada" of your pseudo is short for "Dadaisme" - minimalist and absurd - an apt representation of our times (not our Times :) quoique parfois . . .:)).

I've decided that from the two interpretations of "Et maintenant" I should retain:-
"je vais en rire, pour ne plus pleurer"

On this morning's news I heard that an interpreter who should have accompanied the ill-fated patrouille went awol just before they set off. The suggestion seems to be that he was au courant of what was about to happen.
Et maintenant . . . ?

[John Gregory Flinn]

Sarkozy must be wondering what has hit him!
He has appeared on the scene at one of those strange junctures in history when everything seems to be changing, when all the previous received wisdoms seen in doubt, when politics seems increasingly polarized and when many unscripted events occur.

For example the strength of the euro and commodity boom has conspired to render France's 'pouvoir d'achat' among the least effective in Europe. And Hollande, as an opposition has some grounds for criticizing the government on this theme.

At least Sarkozy is sticking with his laudable reforms although they have interlinks which impact on each other in unexpected ways - often adversely. Which of course provides a rich source of criticsm for the socialists.

The death of 10 french soldiers in one attack was a blow Sarkozy did'nt expect and France does'nt deserve. The Taleban specialise in targetting particular nationalities to play on its public opinion! They did it with the Brits and the Germans.
Although I doubt the Taleban have ROCKINRED's thoughts in mind for their politics. I fear that one day the west must treat with them (sic Vietnam).
BTW ROCKINRED is another that speaks Erse.....!

Usually I find the teletext better on France 2, but I must see if Lawrence Ferrari can fit TERRY's criteria...!

[Valentin]

"Nor is it the objective of socialism. I would remind you of the words "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" and challenge you to explain precisely what is wrong and unfair about this idea"

The problems start when the question "who decides how much is anyone's ability and how much anyone's need" is answered wrongly. Socialism says its the state, or the community, the ones entitled to decide that - and that's where the path to dictatorship commences.

[Terry]

John Gregory Flynn:

Oh, she does. Which one would you rather watch read off a teleprompter.

Melissa Theuriau

http://www.starsnues.tv/galeries/presentatrices-tv/melissa-theuriau1/01982_38833_melissa_theuriau02.jpg

Laurence Ferrari

http://thegutterblogspot.blogspot.com/2008/08/laurence-ferrari-topless-french.html

and Patrick Pauvre D'Arvor

http://www.stars-actu.com/public/ppda.jpg

I'll throw in the Justice Minister too.

[Terry]

John:

The Justice Minister

http://www.paperblog.fr/media/images/articles/38/383251/1-rachida-dati-bikini-large.jpeg

BTW: Still think I am a valuable contributor to this blog, Charles. :)

[Roger Goodacre]

Keep it up Terry (so to speak), you've been a bit quiet lately. Maybe you were otherwise engaged.

[Valentin]

No topless Rachida photo ! "valuable", yeah right

[dot king]

TERRY I think your aptly-named "gutter" blog has got its pics mixed up - i think the woman on the telephone looks more like Claire Chazal - check the nose (if you can manage to consider such an option!:) - I know your eyes have been elsewhere, but it seems to me the whole build and face are different and if I'd clicked on to that photo without a title, I'd have immediately said (with conviction) Claire Chazal.
You can also see the telephone woman's teeth which are in an uneven line, so that's another checking point.
That's TWO whole OTHER checking points.
;D

[dot king]

here's laurence ferrari showing her nice even teeth

http://www.gala.fr/var/gal/storage/images/les_stars/leurs_bio/ferrari_laurence/images/laurence_ferrari/216238-1-fre-FR/laurence_ferrari_reference.jpg

and here's claire chazal whose teeth are nice but not as straight

http://www.dontmiss.fr/userfiles/Image/claire-chazal.jpg

like i said, check the nose and the teeth - maybe it takes another woman to notice such things - after all breasts are commonplace to us ;)
(God I hope i'm right after all that!!)

Dot:

What teeth?

[azloon]

Terry

you relentless effort to inject rachida dati into various blog strings has me a little worried. have you told your wife about her? melissa theuriau, now there's an obsession i could understand. but your fellow attorney dati? it must be a lawyer thing.

is PPDA one of the naked men in the group sex photos on gutterblogspot? i think we can't make a fair comparison of whom we wish to read our news without an equivalent photo of him (bottomless).

Dot:

"TERRY I think your aptly-named "gutter" blog has got its pics mixed up - i think the woman on the telephone looks more like Claire Chazal - "

I examined the picture. Thoroughly. And it looks like Ferrari to me. I believe the picture comes from a magazine that spotted her on the beach. I did notice a scar under her navel area. Does she have kids?

As for "gutter" blog, I am just admiring the female form. But now you know my only weakness. A woman in a bikini is my kryptonite.

[Damien]

Do they still have people beleiving in communism in France ? Do they have access to internet and are they able to read ??? Let's send them all to North Korea. I heard life is quite good there.

The French want reforms, except when it is touching their own little interests. Sarkozy will change France like Tatcher changed England. Hopefully he will made of Iron just like her...

Bonne Chance Monsieur Sarkozy.

Damien
Hong Kong

[thinknoworpaylater]

J G FLINN - ROCKINREDS point is that we already DO economic mutuality ( leave America out of this) and that is its rationale - taking care of the poor the old the ill is an obligation that I think we all accept but its under threat as Hollande says. TERRY - no this is not your most valuable contribution you can do better. Like your inability to deal with argumennts (or even references to ) other ideas than your own. Evidently AYN RAND lives and pulling up bootstraps is the only way forward; you are a complete puritan in the classical sense - go and read Religion and the rise of Capitalism (TAWNEY) an old book but well researched from which much of modern American thinking today derives. VALENTIN - No, its not dictatorship: we elect the state at least in europe and managing economic mutuality is part of its function.