International rule of thumb: Hate Amrica, until the sh!t hits the fan.
The Weekly standard thinks that it’s not that bad:
” It is rumored that both Claude Allègre, a former Socialist minister of education, and Hubert Védrine, a former Socialist aide to Mitterrand and foreign minister with strong anti-American biases, have been offered positions in the cabinet.
This move is perhaps just tactical. In order to govern France effectively, Sarkozy needs to win the upcoming National Assembly elections, scheduled for June 10 and 17. And that entails, in his opinion, appearing inclusive (especially in the context of renewed rioting in Paris and in other urban areas). More than 1,000 cars have been burned by far-left and ethnic hooligans since Election Day—a disturbance without precedent in recent French politics.
Still unclear is whether Ségolène Royal will lead the Socialist party in the parliamentary elections next month. She lost the presidential ballot, but won herself a name. She may be pathetic as a debater—in the momentous May 2 televised showdown with Sarkozy, she suggested that female police officers should be escorted back home when they go off-duty, as a precaution against street violence and rape—but she is charismatic. And her 47 percent of the vote in May can still translate into a series of local majorities in June, which is the key for a parliamentary victory. In Paris, for instance, Sarkozy won on the second presidential ballot, but the left is poised to carry more seats in the parliamentary election.
Sarkozy’s victory will undoubtedly bring about a shift in the political balance of Europe. France, Britain, and Germany, the three major countries in the E.U., are now in conservative or very moderate social democratic hands. It is an odd thing. George W. Bush was supposed to have entirely alienated Europe. But first with Angela Merkel in Germany and now with Sarkozy in
France, we see pro-American leaders at the very heart of the E.U.”