Posted on 05/06/2007 9:47:08 AM PDT by Cincinna
http://drzz.romandie.com/
From Wikipedia, regarding deVillepin:
“...In addition, his mutual distaste for Nicolas Sarkozy, head of the UMP (Union for a Popular Movement) majority party, is well-known
“Villepin, then Foreign Minister, with Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber.
He was appointed Foreign Minister by Chirac in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin at the beginning of his second term in 2002.”
...
It doesn’t sound like deVellepin is going to remain in this APPOINTED position much longer.
John / Billybob
Like your tag line. I’ll have two pieces of dry toast and a cup of coffee. LOL.
Well stated.
France can't do worse than Villepin, so any change will be an improvement.
Okay Garyhope, per your impassioned comments, especially about the 'islamofascism' I'm going to give these cheese eating, surrender monkeys just one more chance!
He’s virulently anti-American.
According to my gov't textbook from college, the President is the chief executive, and the Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
Cincinna said on a thread several days ago that there is some rather circumscribed time starting now for formation of the new government... I think it will be in place within a month or two.
Right. A win for Royal would have been disasterous for France and would have portended a horrific sanctioning of all leftist movements in the U.S. and around the world. It would also have greatly bolstered the egos of the Islamists.
Why drink French wine when German wine is so much better?
It has been pointed out that the polls have not yet closed. But, of course, the French do things differently -- and it is my understanding that the numbers we are now seeing are not merely "exit polls," but actual vote counts, the counting getting underway before the polls close. It seems the results are closely aligned with the last polls, which gave Sarko a 55-45 lead.
Sarko isn't just "socialist-lite" like the nominally "Conservative" Chirac, but has actually called for a rolling back of the French welfare-stateism, a firm stand against terrorism, and (gasp) a friendly relationship with the U.S. Maybe I'll be disappointed. It seems many FReepers are so jaundiced as to dismiss the election as a non-event. We'll see. I am optimistic.
I posted this yesterday on another thread. Certainly worth revisiting.
Here is an excerpt from the Jerusalem Post, May 3...Sarkozy in his own words:
Q: In Europe and elsewhere, you have the image of a man who is more aligned with the Right on issues of security and liberalism, while being pro-Israeli and pro-American, which greatly pleases Franco-Israelis, but to a lesser extent the European Left. Do you feel this is a just portrayal?
A: It looks like you didn’t leave anything out. To begin, there is a complete list of traits and caricatures generally used by those who are not very well-intentioned toward me. This perception is neither accurate nor just. I wanted to be the candidate representing the republican Right, liberated from the Left, to be a rightist based on values - work, authority, the priority of the victim over the aggressor, effort, merit, the rejection of a welfare mentality, [promoting] egalitarianism and building equality by starting from the bottom. That makes me the hard Right?
I worked hard in a ministerial capacity to combat and to curb an insecurity that literally exploded under the leftist government of Lionel Jospin. I got significant results, and I estimate that they will be consolidated in the future by an improvement in the mechanisms which dictate the penal system, and in particular to better fight against the recidivist impulses of minors who repeat their crimes. This makes me a man of security matters?
Economically, I am first and foremost a pragmatist. I believe in free economy. I believe in a market economy. But I also know that the market by itself cannot do everything, and cannot rectify everything on its own either. I believe in political volunteerism when it comes to industrial and technological matters, and I do not regret making the decision to intervene to save [French transportation manufacturer] Alstom, an enterprise which once again became flourishing. This makes me a liberal?
I am viscerally attached to the independence of France and Europe vis- -vis whatever forces there may be, and I deplore that the European Union does not take advantage of its unity, of its realism and autonomy in its economic and commercial relations with the other regions of the world, as it does with foreign policy or defense. I do not see an incompatibility between recognition of the US as a great democracy with which we have many common values and indissoluble historic ties. Moreover, I do not see the incompatibility between the rights of Palestinians to create a viable state and the consideration of the security of the State of Israel as non-negotiable. That makes me an “Atlantist,” pro-Israeli and pro-American?
If the alarmists are right, soon we’ll be able to buy GREAT wine from Ireland!
hah! lol!
You can go talk to the regular folks in this country and they want to support our current leaders ... BUT the MSM and the lib leftist garner all the publicity spewing lies and shouting the loudest treasonous statements with impunity.
Those who shout the loudest and the longest with out LOUD, LONG rebuttals will win the next contest. It is leftist "water boarding"!
That is the message I got in the countryside and in other places.
Paris is another matter...
I have to agree with you, JC, regarding the conditions I would need to see fulfilled (or equivalent) for me to start looking again on France as having my personal “Favored Trading Partner” status.
I have posted these in my blog and have been getting hits from France. Please ping me when you get updates so I can do the same in my blog.
http://albanysinsanity.com/
Thank you for doing this.
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