The Leftists on both sides of the Atlantic are going nuts over this visit. It will be interesting to see how the MSM in the US reports on Sarko's visit and speech.
Posted on 11/5/2007, 7:59:18 AM by Cincinna
Nicolas Sarkozy embarks on his first official visit to Washington today amid claims that he has replaced Tony Blair as President George W Bush's "poodle".
Mr Sarkozy, arguably the most pro-American French president ever, wants to end the bitterness caused by the opposition of his immediate predecessor, Jacques Chirac, to the Iraq war when he meets Mr Bush tomorrow. "The aim of this trip is to seal the renewal of ties between France and the United States following the crisis of 2003," said the French presidential spokesman David Martinon.
After talks at the White House, Mr Sarkozy and Mr Bush are to meet again at the Mount Vernon home of George Washington, who used French military might to help defeat the British in the War of Independence.
Mr Sarkozy will speak on Wednesday to a joint session of the US Congress, a rare honour, in which he will "send a message" of friendship to Americans.
But opposition Socialists rounded on the president yesterday, calling him a "poodle" — a label once reserved for Mr Blair.
"I am not saying that France has become a satellite of the United States," said Pierre Moscovici, the French Socialists' spokesman on international affairs. "But Sarkozy is playing a dangerous game in abandoning any duty to take stock, any critical dialogue with Washington. What will he do if George Bush decides to bomb Iran?"
Mr Bush and Mr Sarkozy met for the first time at the G8 summit in Germany in June. They then shared a barbecue lunch during the French leader's summer holiday in New Hampshire.
Mr Sarkozy's promises that he will bring a "rupture" with the past, introducing Anglo-Saxon reforms such as tax cuts and longer working hours, have convinced many that he is more interested in a liberal, US-style economy than the traditionally paternalistic French model.
Mr Sarkozy never ceases to highlight "the historic friendship" between France and the US and, speaking about his growing relationship with Mr Bush, Mr Sarkozy said last month: "The trial has started, I will be a friend of the Americans. Oh yes, it's true. Don't torture me, I confess.
"Here is a country, one of the few across the world apart from Poland, with which we have never been at war. It is really not a reason for us to hate each other."
Unfortunately it falls to me to note the following...
With friends like the French, who needs enemies. ;-)
This is one truly bizarre sentence. Anglo-Saxon??? Since when are tax cuts and longer working hours a liberal ideology?
If you disagree with them, then you're stupid--simple as that. Nothing else matters anymore except your position on the WOT.
The left always does this--they did it with Reagan, they're doing it with Bush. Both two-term presidents. (Of course, since Bush is "stupid" he STOLE the election...which of course means he's brilliant enough to do this without going to jail for it, etc. etc. etc.)
The Telegraph can be a few cocoanuts shy of a palm tree from time to time. Their take on liberalism is rather humorous in this article.
I read it a couple of times trying to figure out who they were more upset with Mr. Sarkozy or US/Bush. Still not sure why they used the 'racial' term Anglo-Saxon.
Well the inclusion of race into the matter couldn’t have been a positive note. IMO, it was an attempt to besmirch the U.S. and France’s new direction. The term Anglo-Saxon was introduced as icing on the cake, to enhance the evil nature of longer hours and tax breaks.
In some quarters, citizens are deemed honor bound to have to pay exhorbitant tax rates. It really pisses some people off when the rates are cut. It’s simply unacceptable that people wouldn’t want to pay taxes. It’s their civic duty.
Evidently this sophmoric writer is either mistaken that the inclusion of Anglo-Saxon would incite the reader, or we don’t fully grasp the context of it’s popular meaning in today’s Europe.
I think it reveals a dangerous trend the left/marxists seem to have adopted of late, that Anglo-Saxons are to blame for what ailes the world.
Who cares if they ushered in the pinacle society in the world’s history. They are to blame because every person in the world doesn’t make 50,000 pounds a year.
And just how rare an honour? The last head of state to address a joint session (not just the House or just the Senate):
Jan. 17, 1952 Jt. Meeting - Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill Great Britain Address
yitbos
In France, as in Great Britain and the rest of Europe, the term “liberal” or “liberale” in French, means free market. It has nothing to do with the American term “Liberal”.
Sarko is a “liberale” because he believes in free markets and the Anglo-Saxon, ie American economic model, for tax cuts, individual initiative, and the work ethic.
Maliki addressed it July 26. no yitbos
“Anglo-Saxon” is a racial term?
News to me. The “Anglo-Saxon Model” the french refer to has nothing to do with race, it has to do with Britain and the US, the free market economy, and the work ethic.
Holy Cow! This is really big news.
Could you share the source with us?
Good for President Sarkozy - his enemies presume weakness and continue to rearrange deck chairs...
1 The parliamentary difference between a joint session and a joint meeting has evolved over time. In recent years the distinctions have become clearer: a joint session is more formal, and occurs upon the adoption of a concurrent resolution; a joint meeting occurs when each body adopts a unanimous consent agreement to recess to meet with the other legislative body. Joint sessions typically are held to hear an address from the President of the United States or to count electoral votes. Joint meetings typically are held to hear an address from a foreign dignitary or visitors other than the President.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives usually presides over joint sessions and joint meetings; however, the President of the Senate does preside over joint sessions where the electoral votes are counted, as required by the Constitution.
In the earliest years of the Republic, 1789 and 1790, when the national legislature met in New York City, joint gatherings were held in the Senate Chamber in Federal Hall.
In Philadelphia, when the legislature met in Congress Hall, such meetings were held in the Senate Chamber, 1790–1793, and in the Hall of the House of Representatives, 1794– 1799. Once the Congress moved to the Capitol in Washington in 1800, the Senate Chamber again was used for joint gatherings through 1805. Since 1809, with few exceptions, joint sessions and joint meetings have occurred in the Hall of the House.
Presidential messages on the state of the Union were originally known as the ‘‘Annual Message,’’ but since the 80th Congress, in 1947, have been called the ‘‘State of the Union Address.’’ After President John Adams’s Annual Message on November 22, 1800, these addresses were read by clerks to the individual bodies until President Woodrow Wilson resumed the practice of delivering them to joint sessions on December 2, 1913.
In some instances more than one joint gathering has occurred on the same day. For example, on January 6, 1941, Congress met in joint session to count electoral votes for President and Vice President, and then met again in joint session to receive President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Annual Message. Whereas in more recent decades, foreign dignitaries invited to speak before Congress have typically done so at joint meetings, in earlier times (and with several notable exceptions), such visitors were received by the Senate and the House separately, or by one or the other singly, a tradition begun with the visit of General Lafayette of France in 1824. At that time a joint committee decided that each body would honor Lafayette separately, establishing the precedent. (See fotnote 7 for more details.) Not all such occasions included formal addresses by such dignitaries (e.g., Lafayette’s reception by the Senate in their chamber, at which he did not speak before they adjourned to greet him), hence the ‘‘occasions’’ listed in the third column of the table include not only addresses, but also remarks (defined as brief greetings or off-the-cuff comments often requested of the visitor at the last minute) and receptions. Relatively few foreign dignitaries were received by Congress before World War I.
Congress has hosted inaugurations since the first occasion in 1789. They always have been formal joint gatherings, and sometimes they also were joint sessions. Inaugurations were joint sessions when both houses of Congress were in session, and they processed to the ceremony as part of the business of the day. In many cases, however, one or both houses were not in session or were in recess at the time of the ceremony.
Apr. 25, 1960 ...... Joint Meeting ................ ......do ...................................................... Charles de Gaulle, President of France.
Feb. 25, 1970 ....... Joint meeting .... Address ................................................... Georges Pompidou, President of France.
May 18, 1976 ...... Joint Meeting ................ ......do ...................................................... Valery Giscard d’Estaing, President of France.
Mar. 22, 1984 ...... Joint Meeting ......do ...................................................... Franc¸ois Mitterand, President of France.
Feb. 1, 1996 ......... Joint meeting .... Address ................................................... Jacques Chirac, President of France.
Si Chirac was the last French pres in 1996
Reference, pdf (can't copy URL): www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/joint-sessions.pdf
How about 20,000 troops or #30 Billion for Iraq frenchie?
Is he sincere; if so, walk the walk.
Thank you for the info.
It is a great honor and a privilege that Sarko is being honored with.
To quote FReeper bbm :
“Sarkozy’s stunning upset over the entrenched French socialist machine will be recognized as one of the most memorable political victories of the last 50 years. His accomplishments during the first 5 months of his administration are no less noteworthy.”
must drive liberals batty
“With friends like the French, who needs enemies. ;-)”
Which reminds me of the old saying, “If you have an Arab (or Muslim) for a friend, you don’t need any enemies”
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