How Sarkozy stood up to Obama

We try to avoid poking fun at Nicolas Sarkozy for his short stature, but sometimes the French President sets himself up for a little mockery. Here's a classic example, taken at Saturday's D-Day commemoration in Normandy.

Speaking from the same podium as Barack Obama, Sarkozy added about six inches to his five feet five by standing on a little stool. Added to his custom-crafted elevator shoes, this took him up to the same altitude as the six-feet-two US president.

Sarkozy is naturally sensitive about his lack of height and it may not be fair to focus on it. For centuries, sneering about small Frenchmen has been a standard in the anti-French armoury of the English and later the "Anglo-Saxon" world. Try Googling "little Frenchmen", and you get the point -- or look at the comments that land on this blog --  mainly from the United States --  when we get into  French-bashing territory.

Napoleon Bonaparte measured five feet six inches in his stockings, which was not small for the late 18th century. But Boney was diminished by English propaganda, which depicted him as a power-mad midget. It's interesting to note that Bonaparte's nick-name, le petit caporal, the little corporal, was an affectionate term coined by the soldiers under his early command.  

Jump ahead two centuries and the British are still at it. Here is Stephen Glover, a serious journalist, venting on Sarkozy in the mid-market Daily Mail two weeks ago: "This diminutive egomaniac is increasingly becoming an embarrassment to his countrymen, and a laughing stock to the rest of Europe..." If you dig back to 1805, I'm sure you will find similar words written about Bonaparte. 
   
The Mail article, which depicted the French as collaborationist cowards, was a rant of a kind that would be deemed crude and racist if it had been written about just about any other nation. No French newspaper would indulge in verbal abuse about a foreign leader like that, but mocking the ancestral enemy is a time-honoured sport in Britain.

Sarkozy is something of an exception among recent French leaders. For 30 of the past 50 years, they have been quite tall. Charles de Gaulle stood six feet four inches tall and Jacques Chirac is six feet two.

Having said that, Sarkozy's petite taille is a talking point and subject of mockery in France too (see cartoon from le Canard Enchaîné below). Everyone from serious biographers like Catherine Nay to the man in the local bistrot will tell you that it's important to understanding his psychology. He has spent his life compensating, goes the cliché.

It's part of his view of himself as a scrappy outsider who had to fight harder than anyone to reach the top. During his 2007 election campaign he took pride in describing himself as "un petit Français de sang mêlé" -- a little Frenchman of mixed blood. Petit in this sense also means ordinary, but is still carries the image of height. Sarkozy likes to surround himself with small lieutenants, men such as Bernard Kouchner, the Foreign Minister, and Jean-Louis Borloo, who heads a super-ministry covering the environment and transport. His arch enemies, Jacques Chirac and Dominique de Villepin, Chirac's former Prime Minister, are of tall, aristocratic build. Sarkozy always chooses tall women. All three of his wives have been taller than him. The latest one, Carla Bruni, a former super-model,  wears flat-soled ballerina shoes and stoops in order to minimise her superior five-inches. In the cartoon, she is saying: "You've grown again, pussycat." Sarkozy, in elevator shoes and standing on a classic French novel, says: "I make figures say what I want."  

The physical mockery of first families is not all one-way. French comedians and commentators have been having fun with Michelle Obama, focusing on her considerable size. Nicolas Canteloup, the very popular satirist on Europe 1 radio, imagined her the other day as a rugby player knocking over Sarko.

Here they all are in Caen this week

 

Comments

[Fred]

[[The Mail article, which depicted the French as collaborationist cowards, was a rant of a kind that would be deemed crude and racist if it had been written about just about any other nation.]]

Thank you for that comment, Charles.
The French are sick are tired of being called cowards.
A historical event from 1940 does not make a character trait. Jokes about the French defeat of 1940 are as funny as 9/11 jokes to Americans.

[Simon]

You see - he should have invited the Queen. Then he would have had somebody shorter than himself to stand next to. Or would he?

[Joëlle]

Hilarious! I love this article.

[Jon]

The French Resistence in the latter years of the war showed the true attitute of many. They were overwhelmed at a time when they had WW1 tactics and attitudes.

The fact that many frech did not want to suffer and chose to collaborate cannot be argued. It can also not be denied that De Gaulle showed very little appreciation of the sacrifices being made by others on behalf of his nation and was more concerned with preserving his personal legacy. This combination has left a sour taste, made worse by the lack of dignity by sucking up to the Americans and not inviting the queen last week.

That has placed certain, more "island" minded newspapers to go on the attack.

Something new needs to happen - The french need to show some bravery to wash away the stereotype. The Frech needto take their highly polished weapons into action to get experience or the next time they are attacked they will take a WW2 response and need to collaborate to survive.

[John O'Farrell]

I'm no fan of Sarkozy but this is journalism at it's lowest and is a perfect example of exactly how low the morality of our society has become. You would not poke fun at a black person for being black or a disabled person for being disabled. To mock someone's personal attributes is about as low as you can go and says more about you than the person you are mocking. You have reached the bottom of the barrel, Charles. Sadly on this occassion the Times has reached the gutter level of the rest of the tabloids.

[Come on John. If you think that this does not pique natural human interest, I would question your sense of humour. Kings falling on their faces have been the subject of amusement since the beginning of time. Once again, I'd point out that this is a blog, not The Times. CB]

[NICK]

This is a very good, fair article and not angled against Sarkozy for a change. To call Stephen Glover "a serious journalist" seems a bit over-generous, unless he has decided to lower his standards like so many others. Be all that as it may, I am six foot tall in my socks because of the genes I happened to inherit and therefore have nothing to be proud of, and deplore mockery of people who do not meet established norms. It is often no more than an expression of bitter jealousy because so many small men have been great: Mozart,Beethoven, Wagner,Bruckner, Mahler and so on.

[christopher muir]

If Sarlo's aides had set out to conceal the little stool, they did a very poor job...they must be worrying about their futures.

[Quentin]

That's right, the French are rather short, the Brits rather obese. Wasn't Henry the VIIIth laughed at because a tat fatty by the King of France, his cousin ?
A chacun ses tares.

[Quite right. France now looks at Britain as a country of fat people, though it's not used as an angle for cross-Channel slanging. Watching all the tourists in the Place de l'Opera, outside our office, you can immediately pick out the Americans, British and Australians. They are the fat ones. CB]

[Mauvezin]

@CB
"your sense of humour. Kings falling on their faces have been the subject of amusement since the beginning of time.
************************************
"Au plus élevé trône du monde, si ne sommes assis que sur notre cul." Montaigne Essais III, XIII

[Exactly, merci Montaigne. CB]

[Alek Boyd]

This has got nothing to do with Sarkozy or French-English differences; it's all to do with "small men complex". We had one of those in Venezuela, remember Simon Bolivar? Every country has its own examples. Comical article, albeit a little misguided.

[do-ré-mi]

Oh dear, looks like there is still mud left over from the last bouts of dirt throwing.

I am starting to feel sorry my Napoleon-Lite, ( and since I loathe him, I am worried about that) and a tad annoyed with the - draw me the Ligne Magineot mate, I will show you a coward. I think my Napoleon-lite is going to be great for France's introspection and a letting go of old wind-bags with a strong grip on power.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6430502.ece

Boris Vildé, (quoted in the above article) wrote "I love France. I love this beautiful country. Yes, I know it can be small-minded, selfish, politically rotten and a victim of its old glory, but with all these faults it remains enormously human…For the true France to be reborn one day, sacrifices will be needed…We must know how to wear our destiny like a crown.”

Not everybody behaved like Renee from Allo, Allo, and if they did, their survival insticts kicked in.

I love Daily-Mail readers (the kind that have done well under Labour in the your-house(s) is your future area, who rant about foreigners taking over their countries - while using the Poles do up their buy-to-let-, and the scroungers while they use all the tricks in the books to avoid taxes - because Gordon made the tax system too complicated).

Unless they froth reading the Mail they feel done by.

By the way the Daily-Mail buys articles from the Guardian to fill their paper, ( cause no Guardianista is going to read the Mail and vice versa)

I hope Stephen Glover ( now the written equivalent to a Fox-news reader) doesn't eat his chips the Nigella way, cooked in goose fat, he might choke on them.

[Alexey]

Sarkozy is pathetic. Not because of his height, but because he thinks that it really matters, when it doesnt at all.

What people do is important, but not how tall they are.

[Daisy]

I don't think people make fun of Sarko because he's short. They make fun of him because he's constantly trying to "heighten". It's like a bald guy doing a combover. Who does he think he's fooling? If he just accepted the fact of his height or had a sense of humour about it, people would stop making fun of him. No one makes fun of Borloo's height because he doesn't make an issue of it.

[Kevan]

I assume that Snow White and the other six little fellas where somewhere close behind....?

[Jeffrey Hill]

As usual, Sarkozy can be counted on to rise to the occasion.

[azloon]

John

if a politician is sensitive about his/her physical appearance, a job change is in order. outside politics, a person can avoid open ridicule about his looks. but even then one can't avoid behind- the-back ridicule.

i would imagine even if sarko had a legitimate handicap, such as a severed limb, or a cleft palate, it wouldn't would be commented about, or depicted, humorously. but height isn't seen in that way, just something a person needs to live with and accept ridicule about.

public figures, politicians particularly, are parodied in cartoons with exaggerations of any striking physical attribute: obesity, big nose, ears, etc. height is not excepted.

btw, for various reasons, the press never commented about Franklin Roosevelt's paralysis, and he was never depicted, in photo, or cartoon, as wheelchair-bound. admittedly, those were different times. but the nature of the disability, i believe, put it in a different category than standard, 'born-with,' attributes.

[Chris]

To call Stephen Glover a serious journalist is the joke of the day. The Daily Mail is a tabloid and its presence in the UK does not fare well on us Brits. There are no tabloid in France, and none laughing at the stake of our teeth...

[Sophia]

Nick, you're not seriously suggesting that Sarko is great are you? The man's an idiot! Worse, he's an over-excited, inefficient idiot who can only prod things about instead of actually doing something. Mind you, next to France's other post-war presidents, he does at least have some energy.

And they did surrender. Shockingly fast. And Britain did stand alone for at least a year while the United States refused to pull its finger out and the Soviets supplied Hitler's armies . It is the sacrfices of British and Commonwealth populations that turned the tide of the Second World War and we did it in Italy, in Africa, in India, in France and in Germany. We should never forget this despite the consistutional implosion that we are now suffering under.

[FC]

Daisy "They make fun of him because he's constantly trying to "heighten"."

you hit the nail on the head... the comparison with the comb-over is spot on...

[Jeff]

Over the past few decades, humanity has made great efforts to eradicate prejudice - sex, race, religion, fat - height is one of those last ones that seems to have been left untouched by society, giving rights to anyone to let loose on the small person, especially the small man.

To be fair to Sarkozy, past US presidents and VIP people in power have done the same when meeting someone of taller stature than them - in order to show the world (presumably still working on appearance) who's boss.

[Paul Townsend]

My partner and I have a flat in Paris due to work commitments. I thought it would be horrendous - full of arrogant Frenchies. How wrong we are; they are super polite and friendly. Waiters are professionals who smile and get your order right every time. They do not expect large tips. People smile with the slighest effort you make at French (I try I really do). Yes they will answer in English but that is because they are so polite they don't want to see you struggle. Food is good. No it is fantastic. Paris is incredibly civilised and friendly. The only problem is the slightly dull nightlife (there are only so many candle-lit meals looking over the river one can take) but I can come to London for that. In every other respect I love the French (oh and the addiction to rule observance is a bit wearing too). We should stop slagging them off and learn a bit about quality of life and work-life balance.

[Thierry]

@sophia:

yes they did surrender in June 1940 (they...minus 90 000 dead in this short period...)

But, "This was the WEHRMACHT. In two years, they conquered all of Western Europe and lost only 30,000 troops in the process. That's less than the casualties of Gettysburg. You get the picture? Nobody, no army on earth, could've held off the Germans under the conditions that the French faced them. The French lost because they had a long land border with Germany. The English survived because they had the English Channel between them and the Wehrmacht. When the English Army faced the Wermacht at Dunkirk, well, thanks to spin the tuck-tail-and-flee result got turned into some heroic tale of a brilliant British retreat. The fact is, even the Brits behaved like cowards in the face of the Wermacht, abandoning the French. It's that simple."
quote
http://www.exile.ru/articles/detail.php?ARTICLE_ID=7061&IBLOCK_ID=35&phrase_id=6692&PAGE=1

[David]

Thierry,

I was with you most of the way there...but accusing the British army of behaving like cowards and abandoning the French at Dunkirk doesn't exactly help your argument.

Was our army (and the Canadians and the Americans) cowardly on D-Day too?

[suedoise]

Sarkozy scares the wits out of me.
And not because of his diminuitive size but because of the way he is handling the substantial powers as
the Président de la République.

[Elin]

[[The Mail article, which depicted the French as collaborationist cowards, was a rant of a kind that would be deemed crude and racist if it had been written about just about any other nation.]]

No, it was blatant racism. Most French-bashing is racism. Face it.

[henry of Milan]

Mr. Bremner seems to forget that for many of us two of our greatest political heroes of all times are Churchill and de Gaulle and he should have listed them in the couples mentioned as that proves that tallness
has nothing to do with genius and can fall on either side of the channel.

[Yes you're right. De Gaulle towered over the much shorter (and stooped) Churchhill. CB]

[nick bacon]

no wonder he is so pissed off

[Daniel Strohl]

AZLOON,

"public figures, politicians particularly, are parodied in cartoons with exaggerations of any striking physical attribute".

This reminds me of a very funny caricature by Brookes in The Times may be two weeks ago (I like The Times caricatures).

The cartoon was devoted to Obama, with his (caricatured) big ears and teeth and assorted American smile. In one of the cartoons, supposed to be located in the US, the name plate was fitted with BARACK Hussein OBAMA (Hussein written in very small characters).

In the second identical cartoon supposed to be located in the Middle East, the name plate was fitted with Barack HUSSEIN Obama - as you will possibly have already guessed :), HUSSEIN was in very big characters, and the rest of his name in very small characters.

I found this funny but pertinent and I intended to make a post to TERRY to draw his attention to the caricature, which he probably would have loved :). However, prior to send the post, I looked again at The Times. Alas, I didn't find the cartoon anymore and it didn't reappear since that time.

This is somewhat strange :), since cartoons usually stay in The Times for several days...

PS: I hope that Mr.Brown has a good sense of humour; he is really massacred by the cartoonists...

[Surcouf]

Pauvre Sarkozy !! c'est quand même pas sa faute si il est tout petit !!

[richard.jones]

TO DO-RE-MI,

Off thread but as I saw your presence. D Day by Beevor finished, really pretty good, will review in Amazon by week's end.

[jack]

There is no big différence between french and english as far as stature is concerned. Maybe between a medditarean and an english. The more you go to south, the more people are short. Fronteers are nothing to do with.

[Benito]

In any other country Nicolitto would not need a stool: an adjustable lectern would do the trick. So much for le génie français...

[Terry]

Funny, I never thought to mock Sarko on his height. But maybe that's because Im only 5'8". I think Sarko understands that people literally size you up and make assumptions about you based on your height and appearance. I used to get that all the time...you're too small to be a wing, etc. That is until they actually saw me play.

I think Michelle Obama could play second row. She's got long, goonish arms. We'll trade you Michelle and Guam for Carla.

[Jan]

Should we constantly remind the British that in 1940, THEY ran faster than everyone else and fled behind the protection of the sea rather than fight? Who are the cowards? The ones that fought and lost or the ones that chickened out and fled?
The Brits could only fight the Wehrmacht once they had the US at their side and that 80% of it was busy fighting the Soviets...

[Daniel Strohl]

JON,

"the next time they are attacked they will take a WW2 response and need to collaborate to survive"

There is however a small difference with WWII times. The French have got an INDEPENDENT nuclear force with submarines and bombers developed and manufactured in France by Frenchmen. Do you have anything comparable, in terms of real independence? I assume you
are British :).

"That has placed certain, more "island" minded newspapers to go on the attack".

Most of the French (unfortunately not all - we have also got our fair share of idiots :) do not judge the British through their journalistic output à la Daily Mail and assorted tabloids.

[Huggy]

Thierry 14:25:42

When you are vastly outnumbered by the enemy and your allies are in retreat and on the verge of surrender, it would be insane not to withdrawl.

Dunkirk deserves to be commemorated as a great victory because despite the overwhelming odds Britain managed to evacuate 338,226 British, French, Polish, Belgian and Dutch servicemen.

Anyone who says that "the Brits behaved like cowards" are lying and are highly offensive to all the British men and women who died liberating France from occupation.

[Alexey]

Sophia wrote: "..and the Soviets supplied Hitler's armies" - this is nonsense. Soviets supplied Germany to fight against Soviets?

And dont tell me about british sacrifices. Russia lost 20 million lives in that war

[Scotian]

Paul,

are you a troll from french tourism offices ?

But I can't really disagree.

I had recent vacation in France and was sad to leave. With time and many travels, my mind is setting more and more to the idea that there's actually no better country... Special cheers to the guy at the museum who told us not to buy tickets cause they were closing in less than one hour and let us visit for free. And to all the small restaurants, whose cheap wines "au pichet" were actually surprisingly good.

[FC]

Jack... "There is no big différence between french and english as far as stature is concerned... Fronteers are nothing to do with."

in the same way as I seem to see a greater proportion of overweight people over the channel I also seem to see a greater proportion of shorter people here in France. It's just a perception and I'm not sure what the statistics would say. On the issue of weight, statistics would tell you that France ain't that far behind the UK but that just doesn't seem credible.

I'm not sure about the fronteers bit, just go to Holland where everyone seems so tall.

[Gonzo]

Jan / Thierry: If the British were such cowards why did we go to the assistance of the French in the first place? Why didn't we just make a deal with Hitler and avoid bankrupting our Empire fighting him on our own (something Hitler was amenable to, by the way). Retreating behind the channel was the correct strategic decision to win the WAR not the BATTLE. Comments like yours are unfortunately the cause of much anti-French feeling, particularly at times such as this when we're remembering our many dead. I guess you have quite a deep seated insecurity about the whole issue which explains your vitriolic comments.

[Jean-Marc]

Alas, poor Sarko ! He just lost a dear friend, the only head of state who was shorter than him, Omar Bongo.

[Philip McDowell]

It was a disapointment that the Queen was not shown due respect, but, my expectation is that the majority of French people feel the same way, and, we all share a comtempt for the behavior of Politicians.

I have found French people in the main, extremely polite and very generous, our xenaphobic press does us no favours

[Max Atkinson]

There's some interesting research into the importance of height as a predictor of success in US politics that I've blogged about at in a post raising the question of whether there's also a connection between hair, baldness and charisma at: http://maxatkinson.blogspot.com/2008/10/hair-today-win-tomorrow-baldness-and.html

[azloon]

[I used to get that all the time...you're too small to be a wing, etc. That is until they actually saw me play] Terry

play what? basketball? Carla could stuff on you too.

re your preference for Carla over Michelle with her 'goonish arms'

you obviously see an elegant black woman's 'goonish arms' as fair game for ridicule, but not your own short stature. figures.

[Quentin]

To Jan:

I agree. The first one to lose the battle of France were our precious allies, the British. Some French officers had faith in a victory, should the British had sent their air force. Instead, they retreated, letting their allies to their fate.

Then, easy to claim victory when the Russians and the American did all the work...

We know you too well, vous n'etes qu'une colonie francaise qui a mal tourne :-P

[do-ré-mi]

richard.jones

Thanks, summer read then.

Should be in a way ironic, reading it sur la plage that my aunt called "plage des Allemands" because of the blockhaus ( that are still there).

[JoJo O'Neil]

Hello Jan, I think by all accounts the British were running to the bars and watering holes of Calais in 1940. Fighting wasn't on their minds, nor quite possibly on the German minds either at that stage of the rout.
You ask who are the cowards but give only two choices as answers. How about these two alternatives; the cowards that chickened-out and lost (France), or the cowards that chickened out and won (UK)!

[richard.jones]

TO FC:

The Dutch are tall because the place floods on average to about 1 meter 60.

[Wernesson]

"You ask who are the cowards but give only two choices as answers. How about these two alternatives; the cowards that chickened-out and lost (France), or the cowards that chickened out and won (UK)!"

Hey Jojo,

what's your point? BOTH France and Britain WON the war, BOTH France and Britain LOST the battle of France.

The genius of De Gaulle, in fact, was knowing that that war would be a WORLD WAR, and that France was just a tiny piece in a much bigger picture. THAT's what kept him fighting.

[General Pepper]

Taking the nic out of the little runt is simply the consequence of his own refusal to accept himself. The ego of the man is mad (RayBan+Rolex, show-off with rich 'friends', his tantrums etc.). Sarko's the one that incites the caricatures.

[Sarkometre]

You should try and play this very popular game in France. In this game, Carla Bruni tries to help Nicolas Sarkozy to be taller than Barack Obama. Lot of fun! The lines are very funny too, for people who understand French...
http://www.pascalhaumont.fr/sarkometre

[Rick]

I’d love to be locked in a room for ten minutes with DO-RE-MI for company... but also the misbegotten Stephen Glover. Seriously though, the place to write is:

The Editor, The Daily Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8.

RICHARD, I fear... I anticipate with pleasure the reappearance of ‘4 Days in June '40’ by Richard ‘accept no pale imitations’ Jones. P.S. the Lions tour party can but gain from having another Jones on board.

[azloon]

if the French didn't each such bird-sized portions, they'd be taller.

[Thierry]

Thank you for this article. I always wondered why our president chosed such lousy ministers and there is a new argument here which could (astonishlingly) be true. For example, Kouchner has two assets for Sarko, he comes from the other side (he was a socialist for 50 years) and he is short!

[Albert]

Fact: the French fought bravely in 1940, with large losses. French soldiers protected the British withdrawal at Dunkirk.
Fact: the British had no choice but to withdraw. The British army was saved to fight another day. Thousands of French soldiers were also evacuated. The French weren’t cowards; and the British didn’t betray them.
Fact: Before the French surrendered the British offered a deal (thought up by young French and British civil servants) by which Britain and France would become one country, so that the French colonies would be able to fight on with the British. It is a great shame that the French establishment turned down this offer. They surrendered to the Germans and established Vichy.
Fact: most French people kept their heads down – they wanted to survive (the British would have done the same) – there is no dishonour here. The charge against France is that, with Vichy, its political establishment collaborated, meaning that before 1942 the Germans did not have to rule most of the country as an occupying power– the French state ruled itself on behalf of the Germans. This would not have happened in Britain, in my opinion, but who knows.

Given the ignorant views of some of the French bloggers here, I wonder how this subject is being taught in French schools.

[Daniel Strohl]

"The Dutch are tall because the place floods on average to about 1 meter 60" (RICHARD JONES)

This reminds me of what I heard at school: "la fonction crée l'organe" - probably our teacher was evolutionist :).

[Frenchie]

Ths guy turns us into ridiculous and unfortunately he's been elected as President.

He insulted your nation by ommissing deliberately to invite your Queen to the D-Day event, just to manage to have a photo alone with Obama what he thinks good for his image...

[arnaud]

Charles, has this article something to do in the Times? It sadly looks like journalism for the Sun

A disappointed regular reader

[Der Shako]

It's Nap, Napoleon, Bonaparte, the Million Franc Dude.
For god's sake, NEVER BONEY!! It's offensive and completely stupid. I don't care a wit for Oby and Sarko.
Please change the Boney thing though.
THX >=D

[please help us]

Hi
Thank you very much for the humour you bring into a plate...You may also love to how our président build day after many "special commission" around this and this, the latest one was to control our institut national of Statistic, because the number they provide was subject to be away from what our gouv brings..
Also one interestion commission, drived by Balladur, ex minister , was in charge to understand how to re organize our local political place, 'region mainly"...At the end the more important decision was to change our car plate, and you will laught if you surch the by who the company is partly owned (Placauto, or PLAQUEAUTO, please do search into google) if you found how much it has been sold in between the law to 3M group I will love it !
Please come back in Normady, we still need you to save us
Paul

[Ines]

The man is a narcissistic idiot with the maturity of a 5-year-old. Everyone in their right minds in France is sick and tired of that ridiculous puppet.

[Don]

[... or look at the comments that land on this blog -- mainly from the United States -- when we get into French-bashing territory … CB]

Charles, you just bashed the United States without referencing whether the “bashing” is factually based (if it’s factually based, it’s not “bashing”, IMO).

In any case, can you find an article in a major American paper, or media outlet of any sort, that spent a long article like yours sneering at Sarkozy because of his height as you just did very expertly in this article? A case of “the pot calling the kettle black”?

[I don't agree, Don. Sarkozy sets himself up for this treatment and he is mocked for it in France. I was trying to distinguish between the stereotype, historical Anglo-Saxon attitude to little Frenchmen and the way that Sarkozy's smallness is a factor in his persona both in France and abroad. CB]

[Thierry]

"The French fought like tigers in WW I, lost 1.5 million men, took the worst the Germans gave out and held on to win. The Brits like to sneer at the French, but if England had had a long land border with Germany in 1914 or 1939, how long do you think the war would’ve lasted? And the same thing holds for the nineteenth century: if Wellington had had to meet Napoleon one-on-one, without Russian or Prussian help, just British troops vs. French…are you kidding me? Wellington would’ve been the Duke of some prison cell in Paris."

quote from my buddy Gary Brecher,the War Nerd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Brecher

[Terry]

Jan:

You need a bit of a history lesson. Start with Battle of Britain and El Alamein.

Azloon:

I played rugby (like CB), although I was a willing participant (unlike CB-a prep school draftee).

And if you think Michelle Obama is elegant, I think you should consider laser eye surgery. She probably has to sneak up on the mirror in the morning. I guess if you live in the desert, the cactus start to look good after a while.

Apparently, the leftist press doting on Michelle's intangible beauty has fogged your eyes.

[Sar-ko-wski]

Sarkozy and the rest of the French elite have sever complexes. I am sure he is doing S&M stuff with his petite Bruni.

[Daniel Strohl]

INES,

"Everyone in their right minds in France is sick and tired of that ridiculous puppet"

If I extrapolate freely :) your statement, the 27 % + French who voted for UMP (Sarkozy's party) three days ago are not in their right minds, but the 16% + who voted for the socialists are (in their right minds)!

I start to get really worried - only 16% + of mentally sane people in our country! Otherwise, the "abstentionnistes" would have made "une levée en masse" pour déquiller le dictateur déséquilibré dépeint par une bonne partie de la presse et par les socialistes et assimilés.

Je crois que vous prenez vos désirs pour des réalités. Remarquez, je vous comprends - j'ai bien subi Mitterrand pendant 14 ans, en même temps que quelques millions de Français :). Il vous faudra subir Sarkozy au moins jusqu'en 2012!

[Tristan]

Fact of the matter is all this about who is more cowardly or not cowardly is mostly just nationlistic bluster. The French had their times ruling or at least exerting a disproportionate part of Europe. The British certainly had their Empire for a surprisingly long run all things considered. Fact is the Anglo-Saxon vs Gaulic smack talk is probably always going to exist. I'm an American and Anglo Saxon by lineage. Personally I love to mock the French. They are French! What's not to mock? I think there's something a little bit healthy about it. But who knows, you Brits constantly mock American's wrongheadedness. So mostly it's just a lot of Bluster.

[Helene]

Yes, but it's not just any "classic French novel" our esteemed President happens to be standing on. Sarkozy infuriated the whole of the liberal boho elite by suggesting that knowledge of La Princesse de Clèves might not be an indespensable requirement for the civil service exams. He was absolutly trounced for it. The French were deeply and inexplicably outraged. It hit every headline. I'm the last person to support an end to literary examinations since that I earn my living through them... but he sort of had a point, no? The French civil service exams tend to demand exhaustive knowledge of just about everything. The "laureats" who get through are then in for a lifetime of frustation in some deeply boring admin job. Leaving plenty of time to get to grips with the classics later on.

[David L.]

I am French and I find this article very objective, fair and definitely hilarious :)
To answer the complains of people saying it is too easy to mock physical " disadvantages", if we can't joke about them, they would become silent complexes. We should be able to joke about everything. Only the tone and the way to do it should matter. And I must reckon it has been done beautifully here.

[Andre Gompel]

Wondering if this posting deserves to be dignified with an answer... I will try.

The only size which counts is the stature of the character, and there many politicians of many countries show up as midgets...

In this account Charles De Gaulle was a giant: he rallied the French around some words which were not in vain: honor, patrie (in its noblest meaning, not Samuel Johnson's definition), service... and many replied the call (some in my family).

Every nation is made of many cowards, and a few brave ones... and sometimes they are the same person.
Blaise Pascal mentioned "...an incomprehensible monster" he was right on the spot.

AG.

[do-ré-mi]

Daniel your Eminence

Again it's 27% of 40% who dragged themselves to the poling station. The die-hard got up early, voting for their chou-chou, otherwise nothing to be really proud about. If you were elected to a position with that score, wouldn't you worry once the winning feeling has gone?

You can't spin the Beresina that is 16% of 40% for the Socialists. I totally understand why young people couldn't be bothered or voted for Danny le rouge.

The BNP getting seats here, means the guys at the top are not paying attention to the people at the bottom.

[Johnny Foreigner]

As I have ranted myself :-)on a few occasions, the Daily Mail is aimed at the uneducated portion of the UK middle class who don't see that the "down-market" tabloids are at least honest about their demographic. And it's "rival", the Daily Express is owned by a pornographer. Says it all really.

One point about the disingenuous phrase "if you replaced 'nation-X' with 'black' , you would be being racist". Let's not confuse pernicious racism with mindless nation-bashing. You can't change the colour of your skin, but you can change your outlook and opinions. The second is therefore fair game to criticize in an adult manner.

[Maggie]

Is it REALLY such a big deal that he stood on a little stool? Maybe he just wanted a better view of the crowd.

I do wonder, though, how they got the stool in place.

I absolutely don't see why people make such an big deal about short men. The only important questions about a man are, is he nice, does he have enough money to live on, and can he (will he) DANCE?

[laurentien]

The Brits have a very outrageous sense of humour where they like to make fun of people and especially the French (Pink Panther movies).

This sense of humour is considered vulgar in many countries, especially when you make fun of personnal traits which have nothing to do with human qualities. They are called cheap shots but we have to observe that too many of those are going on in the average British newspapers or go on in bar talks.

In the movie "L´Auberge Espagnole", you can even appreciate that this aggresive British humour is NOT liked outside the UK:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283900/

LHR

[jim]

This president is not French .
He is not from western Europe either .
He is eastern european .

[Mathieu]

I don't know if Brits were cowards in 1940 but they were very reluctant to involve their entire army (in particular the RAF). And while the dunkirk whithdrawal and the sacrifice of a part of the French army (especially in Lille), Brits prevented the french soldiers from embarking in the ships (order of lord Gort and Churchill). It's only the 31 may Churchill authorized the French to embark. And Pétain could say : "en mars 1918, pour rétablir l'armée britanique, [il avait] alors engagé immédiatement 20 divisions, suivies de 20 autres". We can understand the feeling of the french population. (and we don't talk about the betrayal of Mers-El-Kébir).

The french have a real respect for all the soldiers who gave their life for the freedom (even the Brits). And they are very disappoint by the the fact that some people are trying to rewrite history for their own glory.

[V.D..]

"The Mail article, which depicted the French as collaborationist cowards, was a rant of a kind that would be deemed crude and racist if it had been written about just about any other nation."

Charles had an epiphany! Touched by an angel's wing last night, CB ? :)

"She probably has to sneak up on the mirror in the morning. I guess if you live in the desert, the cactus start to look good after a while.
Apparently, the leftist press doting on Michelle's intangible beauty has fogged your eyes."

Go Terry !
:)

[dot king]

"As usual, Sarkozy can be counted on to rise to the occasion"

JEFFREY HILL

Brilliant - I wish I'd said it!

[David Powell]

But, "This was the WEHRMACHT. In two years, they conquered all of Western Europe and lost only 30,000 troops in the process. That's less than the casualties of Gettysburg. You get the picture? Nobody, no army on earth, could've held off the Germans under the conditions that the French faced them. The French lost because they had a long land border with Germany. The English survived because they had the English Channel between them and the Wehrmacht. When the English Army faced the Wermacht at Dunkirk, well, thanks to spin the tuck-tail-and-flee result got turned into some heroic tale of a brilliant British retreat. The fact is, even the Brits behaved like cowards in the face of the Wermacht, abandoning the French. It's that simple."

Well no, it is not that simple at all. I am sure that individual Frecnh soldiers and French regiments are just as courageous as any in the world.

But the problem was multi-facetted.

First, French politicians and Generals had completely misjudged the nature of the war that was to come. So, for example they had a good fighter aircraft in the Dewoitine 520 but ordered it so late that by the time it has been 'debugged' France had been over-run.

France had an excellent heavy tank, but it was seen as an adjunct to infantry and dispersed in tiny handfuls throughout the French army.

Obsessed with the trench warfare of 1914-18 the Maginot line gave a false sense of security. The most perceptive French military man of the time, De Gaulle, could see all this and wrote many papers on the subject, but attracted few supporters. However, in the end and remembering the ghastly suffering that they had suffered in 1914-18 there were too many French who took the attitude, 'Let's save what we can of our country' and were content to be lead by Petain.

As to the Dunkirk episode, the British, suffering with many of the problems described above, took the view that it would be better to save what they could and live to fight on. Which they did, and alone in Europe, and indeed in the world, only with themselves their Commonwealth troops.

Some-times it needs restating that, at the time, the USA was NOT our ally; indeed that her ambassador in London at the time, predicted our imminent defeat.

It was Hitler who declared war on the USA, and it is worth remembering that there was a considerable part of the US establishment that argued against a 'Two Ocean War' so it was not inevitable that the US would have gone to war against Germany.

The USSR, at the time, had a pact with Germany, which their leader Stalin, really believed in, to the point of being surprised when finally 'Barbarossa' began. So again, not a natural ally of France ans the UK.

So see Dunkirk in this context, Britain without major allies made this not a decision of cowardice or bravery, it was simply the best decision in very difficult circumstances.

Before you talk of turning and running, implying disgrace and accusing whole nations of cowardice it is better to take into account the events that affected the minds of those who made the decisions which lead to those events.

We are all the products of our history, both individual and national, just as some of us are 1m 60 or 2m 0.

[dot king]

"We should stop slagging them off and learn a bit about quality of life and work-life balance."

PAUL TOWNSEND

Hear hear! Please stay around, Paul Townsend, it gets lonely sometimes for a handful of us.

[FC]

Laurentien "The Brits have a very outrageous sense of humour where they like to make fun of people and especially the French (Pink Panther movies).
This sense of humour is considered vulgar in many countries... this aggresive British humour is NOT liked outside the UK:"

The Brits have a very particular sense of humour as do the French. Where you say 'especially the French', I wouldn't agree... sure on a blog like this where the subject is generally Anglo/French differences but in general the French figure about as highly in British daily life as the Brits do in French life.

I would also disagree when you say it's about 'making fun of people'. I think you miss the subtle but important point. It's usually making fun of the overly vain, the overly pompous, the overly self important, or people who take themselves just a little too seriously...

Does any sense of humour travel well beyond borders? Your comment makes it seem like there's a British sense of humour and there's a continental European sense of humour - more sophisticated? more intellectual? more refined perhaps? If one can generalise about these things (and in my experience of course) the British sense of humour is not hugely dissimilar to that of the Germans.. French sense of humour is very different to both.

[red star]

Great article indeed.

There is just something I would like to add to be more specific: indeed, the author of the article is totally right, the book Sarkozy he is standing on is a class French novel.
But choosing that one was not some random choice by the guy who did the cartoon: indeed, it very clearly hints at something Sarkozy said about this book.
He said that people who took exams to be public servants didn't need to read "La Princesse de Cleves". Of course that was a very scornful comment to make, insofar as it means public servants don't need to read, that culture/literary culture is 'useless' etc.: basically, the underlying idea is to keep people dumb, and they'll obey.

That's why he's standing on it: that's how he uses culture.
... needless to say Sarkozy has never read Hannah Arendt. I doubt he even knows who she is.

[Rick]

THIERRY, do look up the nationalities of Wellington’s forces at Waterloo. I think they included quite a number of German and Dutch troops: only 24,000 out of 67,000 were British.

SAR-KO-WSKY: ‘Sarkozy and the rest of the French elite have sever complexes’. You mean they get their jollies from cutting things off?

‘Personally I love to mock the French’ [TRISTAN] Okay, but don’t target the Germans or we’ll never hear the end of it. You also write, ‘sans complexes’, baldly, and just-like-that: ‘They are French! What's not to mock?’ Well, there’s a bit of problem; and this is meant seriously. It’s NOT FAIR.

Why? Because the French are not very good at responding, that’s why. The response comes out supercilious, sneery, snide, sarcastic bitter and resentful but lacking a certain insouciant ‘je ne sais quoi’... and when that fails, we get the fall-back position, colloquially called ‘doing a Laurentien’:

‘This sense of humour is considered vulgar in many countries, especially when you make fun of personnal traits which have nothing to do with human qualities . . . this aggresive British humour is NOT liked outside the UK.’

Except, LAURENTIEN, for the USA, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Australia etc, etc... You know, the so-called ‘Anglo-Saxon’ countries where they watch some of UK TV’s finer output in the original and understand it... I wonder if it qualifies as ‘cultural imperialism’.

[azloon]

Terry, you do everything but call Michelle a 'schvartz.'

but i can see how she wouldn't do much for a soft-porn/bikini guy like you.

[Vincent]

The heart size - and therefore its pumping power - is not related to the height of a person.

Which implies that smaller guys brains get better blood flow - and therefore vital oxygen supply - than the tall folks'.

From there, one could deduct that the small guys brain is functioning better than others.

Damn... I'm 6'4'' - Might the theory be proven right by this single post?

[NICK]

"Taking the nic out of the little runt is simply the consequence of his own refusal to accept himself. The ego of the man is mad (RayBan+Rolex, show-off with rich 'friends', his tantrums etc.). Sarko's the one that incites the caricatures."

Posted by: General Pepper

I take it, GENERAL PEPPER, that you are an imposter. If not, then your mental condition should be a source of concern. By the way, one cannot have "a mad ego" - look up the word "ego" for clarification.

[Helene]

Red Star, you obviously haven't read my comment but I've read yours.
I maintain that the press was grossly unfair to Sarkozy re the affair of the Princesse de Clèves and that he made a fair point about the content of the civil service exams. And in general I am not pro-Sarkozy. However, I do teach students who have to go through these exams and in my humble opinion they are taught way beyond what they could possibly need to do their jobs. The same is often true of those who go in for school teaching - racehourses in milkfloats. Yes, it's all very nice in an abstract way: an educated population is a marvellous thing. But what I see is students hitting 30 and still not having a job, taking concours after concours (ie, competitive exams) and always being pulled up on something. I've seen these students, supposedly the elite of France, get depressed, grow obese and move to New Zealand. I've seen them drop out a week before their exams. I've even seen them get into ENA and then die.
I agree that having President S stand on a copy of the Princesse de Clèves in a cartoon is pretty funny, but why is it that everything he ever says is wrong, that he's never allowed to make a good point? I repeat, I am not pro-Sarkozy, and as an academic I've had a basinful of the idiotic neo-Liberal attempt to reform the universities - but I still think the Princesse de Clèves remark was twisted around to mean something that was never intended, and then blown out of all proportion. As for Arendt, we are quite into that sort of thing in Strasbourg but I'm not sure of the signficance of your reference; please englighten.

[NICK]

"He said that people who took exams to be public servants didn't need to read "La Princesse de Cleves". Of course that was a very scornful comment to make, insofar as it means public servants don't need to read, that culture/literary culture is 'useless' etc.:"

Here you are going from a precise example to a sweeping statement. I too once read "La Princesse de C." as part of a degree course: it was distinctly pallid and unmemorable. Balzac, with his superb analysis of French society, should surely be given priority.

[Laurent]

I am French and express a sharp thanks to all allies that participate to continental liberation in WWII and enable to prevail our comon democratics values.

[olivier]

To sophia,

France indeed surrendered in 1940,... after its precious english ally withdraw rather cowrdly (remember Dunkerque?). Germany had by far the strongest army around at the time, nobody can argue with it. And Uk would have fallen undoubtly hadn't US decided to make it its base camp for fighting in europe (with help form brits). What I say sounds bad to proud british ears? WellI agre what I wrote is as stupid as any biased view of history, wherever it is coming from, England, France, US,... We are all wrong because we all look to the these events with our blind nationalists eyes. Until the anglo saxon world realizes that nothing is due to them, and that french people do not need to feel inferior, we will still be in the sitation where stupid articles will be published in the fascist newspaper Daily mail, and worst, some poeple will still call it information aand journalism .

[Simon]

I'd hardly call the Daily Hate "mid-market".

[Leo]

Interesting discussion on respective French and British heights. Interesting, but short on facts.

Try this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height

In 2001, French men were on average 1m74.1.
In 2007, British men were on average 1m77.3.

Basically playing in the same league.

On a more general note, I think disparaging comments on height are somewhat nauseating. However politicians are fair game. And Sarko more than others because of his personal behaviour.

To those from both sides arguing about their nations' respective battle courage I would advise to enlist in the Foreign Legion (40% foreigners and 60 % French) to prove their mettle. Trading anonymous slanderous arguments over the Internet doesn't prove much. Or maybe it does.

Charles, thanks for a nice and humorous post.

[Albert]

MATHIEU clearly believes that the French defeat of 1940 was entirely the fault of the British. This, of course, was the view of Vichy propagandists in 1940 but I'm amazed that it lives on. Is Mathieu’s view shared by most French people?

As for his comment about the 'betrayal of Mers-El-Kébir': the French naval commander and authorities were given plenty of warning to either sail to a British port (which would have been the honourable thing) or to a neutral port. They refused all requests so the British had no alternative but to attack. Otherwise the fleet would have fallen to the Germans.

[Nino]

Since when has it become acceptable to laugh at a phisical defect of a person. Why can one lough at the lack of height of one person but not at the colour of his/her skin? this is a deeply insulting article!

[Nonsense, Nino. We're laughing at the way he decided to stand on a stool and was caught out. Politics is theatre and it's fair game to have fun when the show comes unstuck. CB]

[Aurora]

Well, as far as i am concerned (and i'm French), neither French nor British soldiers were cowards in 1940.

It proved to be ultimately the right strategic decision to remove British forces from France.

However, let's face it, Great Britain would have probably been invaded if it was not for the channel.

What is more, several french divisions fought without hope in order to protect the beaches of Dunkirk and to slow down the advance of the Wehrmacht.
Entire french divisions were lost.
They saved countless lives by earning the necessary time for the evacuation.

And for those who are still unconvinced that French soldiers were not (and are not) cowards, let's remember the battle of Bir Hakeim. 3 707 french soldiers pinned down the entire Afrika Korps, and held off the german advance, thus, saving the entire 8th British army (Monty's command) from destruction. The French resistance at Bir Hakeim gave enought time to Monty and its army to retreat to El Alamein and prepare for the next battle (which was won by the way ..)

So let's stop it with the useless debate to decide who was a coward 60 years ago. No one was.

Let's be grown ups and move on to more interesting topics...

By the way, we will forever be grateful for June 6th.

[FC]

Leo - "Interesting discussion on respective French and British heights. Interesting, but short on facts."

In the same chart you link to it's got the average height for the Netherlands as 181... which is in the same league... but the perception when you're there is very different.

[Dalex]

Believe me Sarko is an egomaniac and most french don't like him.
We like to laugh at his "petite taille" but mostly because we are upset about this display of power and wealth, and his poor skills in being a real Président de la République.

[Dalex]

Sarko is a very poor Président de la République, most french people don't like him and the fact that he is an annoying egomaniac.

[NICK]

"In 2001, French men were on average 1m74.1.In 2007, British men were on average 1m77.3."

This is great news! I'm bigger than I thought (6' in stockinged feet)! Any Lefties wanna fight?

[V.D..]

"We're laughing at the way he decided to stand on a stool and was caught out."

This is nonsense. He would have looked silly with the lectern top at the level of his nose. They could have also used a simple adjustable-height stand, and then you journalists would have had fun putting together the photos of his stand and Obama's.