Débâcle as women duel over French opposition

After a weekend playing statesman in Washington, President Sarkozy must be toasting the Socialist party today. France's main opposition group spent the past three days tearing itself to pieces over a new leader.

They gathered in Rheims, the champagne capital, to pick a chief and revive the party that was last relaunched by the late François Mitterrand in 1971. They failed and the upshot from the disastrous congress is a showdown by ballot next Thursday between two women who loath one-another:  Ségolène Royal (above right) and Martine Aubry (left).

A third candidate, Benoît Hamon, a leftwing member of the European Parliament, remains in the race. He is a distant third, so it is likely that the party will come under the command of either Royal, 55, its failed presidential candidate last year, or Aubry, 58, who gave France its 35-hour working week when she was Labour Minister a decade ago.

The congress did achieve one thing. It ended the national ambitions of Bertrand Delanoe, the Paris Mayor, whom everyone was betting on until a couple of weeks ago. Whoever wins Thursday's vote -- or more likely a second round run-off on Friday -- the Socialists are set for long-term civil war. The differences between the Royalists and the orthodox camp are too great to heal soon. 

For the moment, the betting is on Royal although most of the party elders hold her in contempt. They see her as incompetent and border-line insane with her evangelical, emotional discourse. She is known as Saint Ségo, Jeanne d'Arc or, more recently, la Sarah Palin du Parti Socialiste. 

Royal's hectoring, poetic, self-dramatisation sends her detractors into a rage. Among them is François Hollande, the outgoing leader, father of her children and her partner until she hijacked the presidential candidacy in the autumn of 2006. Hollande said yesterday that he was ashamed of his party. Some, such as Michel Rocard, a veteran former Prime Minister, are threatening to leave the party if "the usurper" wins.

Yet Royal enjoys strong support from of the party's 230,000 membership, or "militants" as they are annoyingly called. She came out several points ahead of her rivals in a preliminary vote before the congress. Much of the grass roots adore her for her charisma, her spiritual, almost religious rhetoric and also because she is the victim of so much hatred among the party upper ranks. Royal's appeal correlates with level of education. Her base is among the least educated section of the membership.

Aubry, who is Mayor of Lille and a solid old-guard socialist, may manage to rally Delanoe's supporters into an anti-Royal front. Delanoe is blaming the uncharismatic but respected Aubry for the weekend disaster because she refused to desist in his favour. Today, he swallowed his pride and called on his backers to vote for Aubry. If she wins, the old party structure will survive intact though she has plans to bring younger blood, women and non-whites into the very white male machine. If Royal wins, she aims to turn the party into a decentralised organisation, with more power at the roots. She also wants to leave the machinery to a lieutenant while staying above the detail and preparing for another run at the presidency.

One casualty of the mess has been doctrine. The party has been torn for years by its failure to embrace openly the pro-market social democracy that it practised while in government since the early 1980s. The world crisis has now pushed its would-be leaders back into nostalgic, semi-Marxist rhetoric. Royal, who held the centre ground a year ago, has recast herself as the scourge of the capitalists. This goes down well with the teachers and civil servants who account for a large section of the "militants".

I won't predict the outcome of the fight. We will probably not know it until early Saturday morning. But it's worth noting that the winner may not be in the country. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, boss of the International Monetary Fund, remains France's favourite Socialist despite his recent brush with scandal. He is hoping to be called in as saviour to oppose the re-election of Sarkozy in 2012.

Comments

[blendi progri]

[They gathered in Rheims, the champagne capital...]
Champagne & socialists lol.

Militants. verytime I hear this word I am reminded ( for no particular reason, or order)

* barricades
* neighbourhood spies
* Gestapo
* camps of hard labour.
---------------------------
mY op.
_____
Based on photos alone & pure instinct. One looks too butch. the other to 'flowery' too dramatic.

So something in-between is needed.
Maybe it is the time to call in for a man.

[Pierre Bernardi]

As your picture shows, the fact that there is an argument over which of these two women should be boss proves that the French are less superficial than sometimes claimed (though never on this blog). But Martine Aubry does have the face of a woman who believes that the French should have their extra three weeks holiday a year (which is what the 35-hour week often amounts to).

[dot king]

None of these candidates is a serving député, sitting in the Assemblée Nationale. Or so I heard in Hamon's interview on Inter this morning. It would seem very strange indeed to have a leader of the Opposition in the UK who wasn't in the House.

[azloon]

is there an uninhabited island somewhere where royalists and palinolithics could be exiled together, to spend the rest of their days stylishly mouthing unintelligible nonsense?

[thinknoworpaylater]

C.B. -- * her (Royals) base is among the least educated section of the membership, whiich is largely middle and lower middle class* BUT later you say (Royal) has recast herself as the scourge of the capitalists. This goes down well with the teachers and civil servants who account for a large section of the militants * It may be punctuation ( a quibble I hate since it trivialises issues) but here its not clear if you mean *least educated section * = * middle and lower classes * or htat it is the working classes who are generally less educated. In any event to claim that her arguments go down well with teachers and civil servants (not obviously the less well educated) seems a contradiction. This is not to say that I dont agree with your general point that the P.S. is in a mess. In passing (DOT KING hallo again ) remember that B. Obama isnt a member of Congress - the U.K. equivalent of the House of Commons - but he is still President elect O.K. Senator Obama - these systems are different. For example the Frenc president is elected by popular vote- there is no American electoral college intervening. Equally the British prime minister is not elected by a direct popular vote but by his party even though he has similar powers to the French president. (forget the Queen)

[qwerty]

There was hardly any way this weekend to find information on the Washington summit, with all this Congrès de Reims hysteria. I guess the French media decided they'd given enough attention to Obama/Sarkozy/the financial crisis and they had to catch up on the socialists (so as ne pas les vexer). Not that anything interesting happened there.

so in order to find info on W supmmit, had to resort to watching CNN International where they usually treat viewers as demeurés (morons)...is it because they estimate that non-US viewers hardly speak English or do they treat everyone like US viewers?

Anyway, if you wanted to know what socialism has done for France so far, you only needed to watch an interesting program on M6 last night about the state of the French education system. Hallucinant.

and if you wanted to know the naked truth about Ségolène, you should have watched Moati's program on FR5. I seem to have spent a lot of time watching TV yesterday...

Just wanted to add that the Washington summit is pretty historic even if it gets no coverage on French TV, that je tire mon chapeau to Sarkozy because: (1)he convinced Bush to accept the summit, (2) he managed to line up European member states on a common position, (3) he also lined up China, (4) the paper that has resulted from the meeting was basically drafted by the Europeans and accepted by everyone and it's not just a vague set of principles.

Playing at being statesman? I think he's showing statemanship qualities...

[Romain]

They don't seem to realise they are making a spectacle of themselves.
What is leftwing about , state interventionism ? We are already there globally, due to world financial crisis. What else would they care to propose ? God only knows. A ladies mudd wrestling match would be a lot more entertaining.

[richard.jones]

@Blendi,

'Something in between' - I would tactfully suggest that triggered by the economic crisis most countries are moving towards the centre. When the depression is over we will discover an America that looks a lot more like Europe in terms of what the government does, how it does it and the limit of what a government is prepared to undertake.
The EU, I hope will have moved to the centre too with a bit more of a 'can do' attitude in trade and service and a little less statism.
I think the shift to centre will cause some party political philosophy schisms, notably in the Republican camp in the USA, the Socialists in France and Greece ((PASOK) not the good old Communist Party KKE)) and perhaps a realignment with some blood spilt in the UK and Germany (Bavaria has already yodelled its intentions - 1868 all over again).
I foresee a more natural mutual understanding between the US (where O'Bama is trying to stay at the conservative end of Democrat policies) and the EU, assuming that France and UK can get over each other and all members see the need for popular engagement at every macro-political level as a means of advancing to a more balanced world order.

[thomasine]

What does A.Z.L.O.O.N. stand for? I am a relative newcomer.

[richard.jones]

I'm sure he'll answer but one would suppose it means a Loon (one of a lunatic disposition) from AZ - Arizona - the 47th? state.

[azloon]

Thomasine --

it's not "A.Z.L.O.O.N."

it's AZLOON

it's an amalgam of 'az' and 'loon.'

az is the postal designation for arizona (u.s. state)

a loon is a variety of waterfoul -- called 'diving ducks' by mexicans, found in north america and northern europe.

'loon' has its own connotations.

who is 'Thomasine' who once complained about my comments re sarko's reaction to obama's election?

[azloon]

[B. Obama isnt a member of Congress] THINKNOW

he was until yesterday when he resigned.

[azloon]

[CNN International where they usually treat viewers as demeurés (morons)...is it because they estimate that non-US viewers hardly speak English or do they treat everyone like US viewers?] QWERTY

ok, some good 'ol fashioned u.s. bashing !! thanks, QWERTY. this board is so limp-wristed and wimpy sometimes.

the only logical conclusion one can come to from your quote above is that CNN treats americans as 'morons' because they ARE morons -- and by implication, that non-americans aren't.

you may notice i am not disputing you. but i've always thought that most TV, everywhere, is for morons. be careful about watching too much. it sneaks up on you.

:)

[Maggie]

Speaking of the Washington summit, here's how Nicholas Canteloup dealt with it this morning:

Sarkozy arrives and Julie asks him how the summit was.

Sarkozy says, "It was great! There were six policemen guarding every statesman, and twelve policemen guarding every statesman's wife!"

Julie says, "Twelve policemen for every wife? You mean there were MORE policemen for the statesmens' wives than for the statesmen themselves?"

And Sarkozy says, "Of course!! Don't you know?? -- the president of the International Monetary Fund was there!!"

[Charlotte Barra]

The comments by Qwerty (where does he come from?) about the French Education system as shown on 'Capital' last night, Sunday,are totally misplaced. The programme dealt with the difference between the 'State' system and the 'private' and how people are flooding to the private. This is true of many countries in Europe and they certainly dont get the results the French achieve! And these comments come from an Italian whose children were educated here in France. The french system in the context of Western Europe has few superiors....

[Dominique]

Ségolène Royal "la Sarah Palin du Parti Socialiste"!!

I never heard it before, but i like it! They actually look very much the same. Imagine Ségo in red, and you get it!

The sad thing is that Sego has a better team than Martine. Can't they switch?

[dot king]

"In passing (DOT KING hallo again ) remember that B. Obama isnt a member of Congress - the U.K. equivalent of the House of Commons - but he is still President elect O.K."

THINKNOWetc

Hallo again THINKNOW - though I'm not sure which previous occasion the "again" refers to :)

I take your point, but if the three PS leadership candidates' not being sitting députés in the Assemblée is so unremarkable, then why did the two highly competent and experienced journalists on France Inter remark on it?
That they did, makes me think it must be unusual here too.

"royalists and palinolithics"

AZLOON

Whatever anyone thinks of Ségolène Royal's politics, she can't fairly be compared to Sarah Palin.
Mme Royal has completed her education at the highest level in France (ENA) and has had ministerial experience and been in poltics all her life.
Mrs Palin, as we saw, has never really done much other than picnic around in education, trying various routes, never settling in anything and has no real experience of politics above the fairly local level. Also she is a religious fanatic close to snake-handling.

Mme Royal is no danger to laïcité and would not reverse abortion laws or try to ban sex education in schools.
There are HUGE differences between the two.

Just like someone in the press coined "Sarkozy l'Americain", so someone in the press called Royal "Sainte Ségo" - it's referring to her new evangelical style, not any set of nutcase religious beliefs.
And the "Jeanne d'Arc" thing came up when she was getting a lot of very unworthy and sexist references from within her own party and she said something to the effect of "It's a good job I'm not Joan of Arc, they'd have me burned at the stake." Naturally, that has been turned into "She compares herself to Joan of Arc".

I don't believe she's doing herself any good with her new style, but I don't believe that in amongst all the mediocrity that's coming from the PS, she's doing any worse than anyone else.

Just trying to be fair, she cannot be compared to Sarah Palin.

[Daniel Strohl]

My wife calls the above ladies "Laurel & Hardy" :) - I would call them rather Max und Moritz :)

[dot king]

who is 'Thomasine' who once complained about my comments re sarko's reaction to obama's election?

AZLOON

Thomasine has been here before and gone away and come back and she knows perfectly well that you aren't A.Z.L.O.O.N.
She's flirting with you - or she's a "plant". :)

[Daisy]

Charles's colleague, Matthew Campbell, is reporting here on this site that Sarko has now gone lefty in his politics! Maybe he can lead the PS.

[laure]

c'est REIMS pas "rheims"

[No it's not. when you're talking French you don't say 'je suis allée à Canterbury' do you ? You say Cantorbéry. Same thing. CB]

[Richard]

C.B " Her base is among the least educated section of the membership." And this comment is based on what ?

I think that Royal has also a strong support from the "superior class" who are "sociaux-démocrates".

And it's Reims and not Rheims.

Anyway, I agree with you to say that's a huge mess in PS...

[Thanks Richard. The comment is based on the polls from last year. Marianne magazine's edition this week also says Ségolène's support is from the least diplomé of the membership. And it certainly is Rheims in English. CB]

[Rick]

The contradiction suggested by thinknoworpaylater may be more apparent than real. This gentle(wo)man(?) with the long name suggested that teachers must be assumed to count among the more educated section of French Socialist Party... er, ‘Militantship’.

The idea that teachers are ‘educated’ (or indeed clever!) is so eccentric it should have been scotched ages ago.

You, QUERTY, are obviously no teacher. So you find CNN a bit short of the intellectual fodder then? You may well have a point: you see, CNN’s no subsidised ‘gravy boat’ of a broadcaster like France Twenty-Four. They have to go out prospecting in search of an audience, even in places where English is half-understood. Surely, you’d have been happier with one of the ‘business’ channels. Or did you worry about contamination?

RICHARD JONES, you wrote ‘assuming that France and UK can get over each other’. What an intriguing idea! How delightfully you put. Why, it’s almost rude!

The Times’ Anatole Kaletsky suggested today that Gordon Brown of Kirkaldie may be showing us a way out of the Slough of Despond. He’s going to cut, cut, cut those interest rates à la Indiana Jones. Now, how’s that for macho? Bet that Gallic upstart of diminutive stature wouldn’t dare hang in there... or not, given all that cutting. Forsooth, the fella’s too ‘retentive’ to swing.... but we mustn’t go down that road, must we?

I must anticipate a touch of ‘Schadenfreude’ when it’s learnt, though, that one-in-twelve jobs are about to be lost in SE England. And it won’t just be in God’s Own County... In my ‘bedtime story’ variant of your Euro-vision, Gordon on a white stallion is granted the Freedom of the City. With the citizenry clad in sackcloth.

Haven't you heard? It's all the mode. They've called it 'Penitent Brit'. (Like hell!)

[richard.jones]

@Azloon,

I'm 2 days grammar nerd and stuff - waterfowl - old top. A water foul would an infringement of the rules of water polo.
Put me out of my agony - Arizona 47
New Mexico 48 Alasaraska 49 and Hawaii where O'Bama was born 50 right!

[Ranokivio]

"recent brush with scandal."

As you have written a paper on that story one month ago, you could have at least the honesty (or correctness?) to write now that he has been cleared of all the charges he was accused at the time which is not very clear in this expression which only helps to spread the calumny further...

[Thanks Ranokivio. But I said in the post that he would be cleared of allegations that he abused his office. There was no doubt about that. This is a blog, not a news service. And DSK has been tainted by the affair. For example, Nicolas Canteloup continues every morning to mock DSK's penchant for aggressive behaviour with women on Europe 1, including this morning. That does not help him politically. CB]

[azloon]

Richard.J

re AZ

yes, 1912, or was it '14?, right after OK (where ma mere lived, pre-statehood [in anadarko where her father was mayor] amidst the cherokees who were about to get rich from oil rights).

btw, if you knew any more, you'd be dangerous (i first typed 'anymore' :):).

have you considered donating your brain to to science? no, not now. when you don't need it any more? :)

o'bama was born in hawaii (HI) tho some of his right-wing detractors claim he was born 'in a muslim country.' ireland, maybe. fowl play?

[Francois D]

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ4M6Z24OMA

[icarius]

In response to the earlier comment about Barack Obama not being a member of Congress,i will correct you on this, he was a member of the United States senate whilst running for president, which of course is part of Congress.

[christopher muir]

If the the Socialist party are thinking about 2012, they must find someone of very high calibre to beat Sarkozy. In a fairly short time he has built up an impressive international reputation for himself. Had Royal won in 07, I doubt if France would be receiving such positive headlines. I'd put my money on DSK to battle next for the French presidency.

[richard.jones]

@Ikarus,

The US Constitution states, despite Dick Chainsaw's alternative view, that a person may not hold office in two divisions of government at the same time - I think its the 11th amendment (its early - somebody'll tell me).
Barry O'Bama was in the legislative branch (Congress - as a Senator) but now he is electED to the executive branch (President and administration). Thus he must quit the Senate, where as I understand it, the Governor of Illinois will APPOINT a replacement until the next election for that seat which is 2010, I think.
Senators sit (well occasionally they stand up) for 6 years but 1/3 of the Senate stands for election every 2 years. Intrigued to know what happens with the 100th chap - 3 x 33 = 99 (quatre-vingt dix-neuf ou nonante neuf)
I don't know what the appointment rules are. Could the governor legally appoint a Republican for instance?

[Ranokivio]

CB,

Well if all the humorists, news services, blogs, radio, newspapers and TVs had spent the same amount of time and energy to say he hasn't done any wrongdoing (compared to the time and energy they spent saying there was an investigation concerning this affair) then maybe his reputation would not be tainted now. I agree that is how it works in the media (blog included) and that's impossible to do a whole story on this as there are more people interested in calumny than in the absence of calumny but you could just have added only one word to say he was a victim in this affair...I am sure that would have actually been news, even for the well informed readers of your blog.

'Calomniez, calomniez, il en restera toujours quelque chose'
(Beaumarchais)

[c'est REIMS pas "rheims"]
[And it's Reims and not Rheims.]

It seems Rheims is actually a correct spelling in English...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims

[Romain]

RHeims, MarseilleS, LyonS, that's English.

[laure]

Ah, d'accord... autant pour moi.

[Mauvezin]

>>DOT
"I don't believe she's doing herself any good with her new style, but I don't believe that in amongst all the mediocrity that's coming from the PS, she's doing any worse than anyone else."
****************
Ce "style" est,de sa part, parfaitement reflechi.
Elle sait que cela agace enormément ce vieux parti anticlerical et exagerement laique.
Elle cherche simplement à se victimiser afin de capter les votes "émotionnels".
Le PS est un dinosaure qu ne se survit que grace à ce genre d'expédient.
Il n'est qu'à le comparer d'avec les autres partis sociaux-démocrates européens pour se rendre compte de son obsolescence.

[Do-re-mi]

Segolene Regal is toast, despite getting a new PR firm, a leaf from Sarko-politico-people book, a new hairdresser and a handsome younger guy, she is still crap. Timing is everything and she should have broken her partner's knees-cap when she had the chance(at the time of the affair) moved on and not use her passive-aggressive stance to make things very uncomfortable at HQ.
As for Martine, she is the perfect example that you can get into Mensa while lacking total common sense and unable to own up that your idea was bad. I know being a female boss in France is really hard, both of these authoritarian women have the " mommy knows best so shup-up and put-up" air about them. I am a feminist but swapping for this after years of being told "Dad knows the way" does not seem like the way forward. We know Dad blew up our inheritance playing Online Poker and mummy was by his side, busy keeping appearances, confortable in old cashmere and afraid to rock the boat

Since Sarko is starting to speak like Che, (well wearing the Che t-shirt that his Mrs got him in the chi-chi boutique off Place vendome that uses fair-trade cotton) a new discourse, new face and a way to speak to us like adults would be welcome. Benoît Hamon or Manuel Valls ( cute but too on the right?) could do. Everybody likes a cat fight,and frankly if the old guard can annihilate each other great, it will be easier to kick up the ones left standing.

[dot king]

"Il n'est qu'à le comparer d'avec les autres partis sociaux-démocrates européens pour se rendre compte de son obsolescence"

MAUVEZIN

Tout à fait d'accord, je ne prenais pas sa défence - ni à Mme Royal, ni a son Parti. Le spectacle est désolant, pitoyable, en effet.

[Pauline M]

Romain: "RHeims, MarseilleS, LyonS, that's English"

I am puzzled by this, is there a rule for how the different spelling is applied? I always assumed that the difference had to do with how you say it i.e. Dunkerque-Dunkirk, London-Londres but I've never heard anyone pronounce the extra "s" in English.

CB: i'd never seen Canterbury written as Cantorbéry before, that's very amusing. I'm from Limoges originally, and if i follow the "spell it like it's said" rule, it should be Limogeese (not that many British people have heard of it in the first place)

[dot king]

FRANCOIS D

Just a letter or so to play around with and we get "Caprice est fini" . . .

Joli, non? :)

[qwerty]

Who is Ségolène Royal's good-looking younger guy? Bruno Gaccio? He's aggressive but not passive. Philippe Torreton? Claire Chazal's ex, very dour. Any one of the crowd who regularly come up in "Le Grand Journal", with or without Jeanne Moreau or Emmanuelle Béart? I'm thinking of that young singer, forget his name...

If Martine makes it, shows that French have a v short memory. She implemented the 35 hour week. and she thinks everybody is a "con".

[John Gregory Flinn]

"Royal's hectoring, poetic, self-dramatisation sends her detractors into a rage"

I'm not surprised. I heard her yesterday complaining about being undermined etc. She's a real spoil-sport.
They should have a collective leadership to reflect the assorted "flavours" they claim to represent.

Talking of women, Charles I'm suprised the decision in Douai to reclassify "essential qualities of marriage" has not come up.
Perhaps it was the court's way of snubbing Rachida Dati.

[Daniel Strohl]

DO-RE-MI,

"Benoît Hamon or Manuel Valls ( cute but too on the right?) could do"

If I were socialist, I would vote for one of the two above mentioned. The reason : almost all (if not all ?) of the socialist high brass belong to the finest haute bourgeoisie and/or at least in one conspicuous case to a family of military officers. And they pretend to be socialists ? :).

C'est un peu comme si je postulais à la présidence de la Croix Bleue (ne erait-ce que d'une section locale :). Mes copains ne manqueraient pas de me dire : Daniel, tu es tombé sur la tête, ou quoi ? :)

[azloon]

the new issue of the economist concludes in it's 11/15 issue that sarko is a 'closet socialist.' so no need for the PS.

an article quotes him as as answering a question from somebody(?) to the effect, 'are you a socialist?' to which he supposedly replied 'perhaps.' who asked him that?

the french get a lot for their money with this guy: nicky-on-the-spot (he hasn't seen trouble anywhere in europe that he isn't drawn to), friend of bush, obama, putin (have i forgotten any powerful world leaders?), left of center, right of center, public scold, protectionist. vraiment, un homme pour tous les saisons/partis.

[He was asked by a German (I think) member of the European Parliament if he was socialist after his speech there last month. Sarko said he might be a socialist, but not a French socialist (because they are so obsolete etc).. Sarko's not a socialist, as I have been arguing here. He hails from the French Bonapartist/Gaullist tradition of state intervention and strong state social policy. There is a crossover with what is deemed leftwing thinking elsewhere. CB]

[Mauvezin]

>>AZLOON-CB
"[He was asked by a German (I think) member of the European Parliament
*******************
Martin Schultz (Deutschland)

[Daniel Strohl]

CHARLES,

"Sarko said he might be a socialist, but not a French socialist (because they are so obsolete etc)..."

I saw this in a TV reporting. It was quite funny. The German MP (he was indeed German - I saw him later in another reporting) was rather confused; he tried to defend his French socialist colleagues - almost "mission impossible" :)

[Blendi Progri]

Richard, I agree with the suggestion. Always after a crisis humans long for some kind of normality, so whichever way they have slipped off, they think of trying to climb back towards the middle. Many times they fail though. I can’t translate a term right now that to me literally means ‘golden average’ but that is the point of centrism, trying to be as normal as possible. Is like the Chinese saying: may you have an interesting life…

It is the same with the ‘change’ concept, how shallow (to me, at least) words my-lord words. Why everything has to ‘change’, be transformed or ‘run over’?

In a Times poll one of the Presidents found to be amongst the greats, presided over one of the most ‘boring’ and prosperous times.

Change, modification, ‘out with the old and in with the new’ often means a kind of restlessness and we know where that sends us. The moment we feel good, content and happy our mind wanders to ‘war & trouble’. When the trouble comes, we long for quiet and peace. Same in every field, economy included. Sometimes feels like the more we learn the worse we become, even chickens would have learned by now that ‘ boring’ is good. Boring is fun. It doesn’t take 000 of years. Some mutual understanding between Obi and Eu would be achieved, that seems do-able.

What I see & fear also, is that Obama may be overtaken by events and he will be unable to influence them as much as people perceive him able to, that will escalate their disappointment and that in turn may lead to Obi doing quite irrational things trying to be all things to all people. And that won’t be boring. It will be Change.
---

Daniel, indeed an odd pair, Olio and Stelio, used to be my fav comics, seeing them doubled in Italian was even funnier.

At the risk of being in physical danger (when I am in France the next time and if by chance run into you guys) how is the delightful (Amazonian) Mrs Strohl, anyone made her cross lately?
If so, please share. :)
---

AZLOON, I didn’t know that AZ, stood for the postal code of Arizona. How shocking? Is one allowed to do that?

It doesn’t seem fair too, using a whole state as a nick seem a bit aggressive (no, not the –Z- is the A-to-Z implication after it, kinda we’ll-get-you-everywhere) from past experience I seen people, who had, for real, real names given to them by parents, and these names ( surnames) were toponyms. In some situations it imposes respect, ( imagine being called Jimmy with the capital of a country as a surname) some other situations caused hilarity.

Anyhow, the ring of Azloon previously, and NOW is been used to mean the plain ol Arizona, to me seems like anti-climax. Really. Better to have left it mysterious. Many people, me included, thought it went deeper than that, and you brutally disappoint folks world-wide.

Arizona + waterfowl ! Who would have thought of that.

^ ^ ^ :)

Still, have a drink, most of Eu, loves USA, your perceptions about us are often wrong.
----.

Some titbits.

* Today read/ heard that Velibs will come to London till 2010. great idea.
It goes to show that what this paper reports ( from France) is read by the Mayor and even copied. If any city needs some ‘public bikes’ that is London. Lets see how it will fare compared to Paris ( as the ast report noted, was mistreating the ‘ibs a bit)

• Today, read on the bus, that vice –president of Columbia was pleading with people of GB Not to do cocaine!!!
•
(the blood, lives wasted/ lsot etc- you’ll naturally say folks, well? Wrong!)

Think about the forest he said: One gram of cocaine takes 4 m square of the forest to produce.
Man, and one though in Columbia, people may have less time to think how the planet warms / cool and other similar hot-air. But no.

Make a guy, vice- president of Colombia, give him 325 bodyguards (if only to remind him where he is) and what he does:

Asks, lectures, pleads with people NO TO DO COCAINE, then continues (in his inimitable words) …as it effects the forests!!!

I am beginning to think that Envo’s are a cult, more or less like the AA. ( I been once there and stayed for 22 minutes, did a runner, btw)

The logic and the delusions of man. These guys need some ‘kidnapping’ if only to be close to nature. :)
-----------.
TV news. Reading a book on my sofa when my 8 year old said:

- Dad, you heard that?
- What?
- The news are saying that if we don’t keep spending the economy won’t recover.
- Yes, but…
- Yes? You always tell us to save, save and save, now you see government says we all have to keep spending, cos if we don’t there will be trouble.

Can’t argue with that logic. Hm, Since we become consumerist societies, all our economical foundations seem based on debt. If people don’t buy clothes, if a shop reports 0.25% less sales than previously, we are told WE ARE IN TORUBLE?

Why? Since when the health of a society, is measured in pants and vests bought from a shop? No one bothers to say, wait guys, we don’t make anything at all, it will come a time when we may need these skills but it will too late.
Folks do you think that when Marks & Spencer reports loses for the last quarter we should give a damn? If M%S closes, so what. Let them disappear. So many before it have, We saw C&A close down and London still survives.

I know what the economy needs, but don’t have the time to tell right now…
g. night to all.
---

BTW. am so pleased that my post made it to number 1. Was online and just posted in a hurry, thinking that there are some 'mean drawing' pensioners out there who will do some key-boards tricks and must do it -1st. So I did it.

HOW does it feel?

Great. Like a nice drink. It feels like the Topic is all yours, like you have the responsibility to debate seriously (I failed that, but still) and like whatever others will say it wont matter as its you who said it 1st.

Great. It feels almost the article was mine.

Almost…

---------.
Back to the OT ( by me) it need to be a MAN.
Otherways, whicever girl France choses to be Mdame P'dent, it will be like lady T all over again.
And we know what happened to UK when T. took over. We are still recovering.
Can't produce anything, dont produce nothing and are doing so much shopping that by now theres no storage space for shopping anymore.

That will be the genius who will take consumerism forward, after the epoque of shopping, who will find The Storage Space?

What cames after 'Storage Society' ?

[azloon]

Blendi --

your 8-year-old has just instructed you in the 'paradox of thrift.'

[Do-re-mi]

Daniel Strohl

I am googling la Croix Bleue. Is that the AA a la French? That must be hard.
Can't you be part of la haute Bourgeoisie, have empathy for others with less than yourself and be on the left? Siddhartha would disagree with you.

My mother always says feminism was helped educated women with time on their hands because when you work all hours of the day for survival you don't have the energy to get be a feminist. Having finish reading Typhoid Mary, an Urban Historical by Anthony Bourdain I get her point. Plus the bourgeois may get handed down all the leather bound classics while someone from a poor background has to go to the library or buy them if he has ever heard of them.

[thinknoworpaylater]

Hello DOT KING - I just meant the remark in a friendly way. I havent been much time on the net since Ive been away in the U.K. My father in law has a serious case of Alzheimers hence my abscence along with other problems. But I always enjoyed our conversations so thats the explanation - if you think its too intimate Im sorry . All I was saying is that there are different political but basically democratic systems in the West and elsewhere of course, and that they can arrive at a good result despite their differences. I noticed that Royal and Aubry (as you did ) have significant political experience - indeed Royal nineteen years as a depute (sorry english keyboard) and ministerial experience as well. The real problem is that the P.S. has now collapsed into a question of personal conflicts not clear political policies and proposed solutions. It looks like they have been completely overtaken by the current situation and having given up all idea of a more traditional socialist perspective have nothing to put in its place - so its all down to political ambition and personalities now. They could be years getting out of this mess - if ever.

[Lex]

If Azloon spent a great deal of time composing his online name, then it is quite clever. A water fowl in the desert suggests the odd man out, which Azloon has told us he feels like in right-wing Arizona. Maybe being that odd man has made him a little loony. A double entendre.

It seems that some political contradictions are developing anew in France, though politics has always made for strange bed fellows.
A political alliance between a secondary school teacher and a stone mason (PS - France), however, seems less of a contradiction than an alliance between between a truck driver and an oil company executive (GOP - USA).

There is a long tradition of Bourgeois Socialists, and if memory serves correct, most of the socialist theorists and founders were bourgeois and aristo. I fall squarely into the bourgeois leftist camp, and I don't see it as a contradiction at all.

We had friends in from Ireland (Republic of) this past week, and one night while watching Questions to the Prime Minister on BBC, we all had a good laugh about the American love affair with Tony Blair and the UK. The UK is much more of a 'nanny state' than France.

[Rick]

LEX, I note your observation: ‘The UK is much more of a 'nanny state' than France’. While admitting that I’m not entirely invulnerable to Nan’s blandishments – especially when telling me I’ve been a naughty boy – I have to inform you that you’re way off-target here.

I think I know, though, where you picked up the misapprehension: you saw the serried ranks of the Blair ‘babes’, resting their ample rear quarters during PMQs. Not something arcanely feminine, I fear, but the weekly Punch and Judy show – Prime Minister’s Questions.
As for the ‘babes’, they may be cuddly, but ‘babes’ they ain’t! Neither, are they noticeably brighter than the men.

To be serious for a second, the gender, looks, clothing contrast between the House of Commons and the ‘Assemblée nationale’ leaves me rather favourably disposed towards my elected representatives.

But ‘nanny state’? I fear the black nectar was flowing too freely in your case, Sir.