Word: french
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...totally abnormal that someone would refuse to shake the hand of the President.” Perhaps Francois Fillon and I have different definitions of the word “abnormal,” but I find it more abnormal that the President of the French Republic would call one of his constituents a stupid bastard. This incident represents a pattern of behavior wholly unfitting to the French presidency—a pattern of behavior that is costing Sarkozy credibility at home and potentially abroad...
...Nicolas Sarkozy, practically from the moment he was elected, has done more than any French leader ever to make a mockery of the French presidency. After spending much of his campaign encouraging the French people to work harder, one of the first things Sarkozy did as president was go on a luxury yacht trip funded by billionaire Vincent Bolloré. In October of last year, Sarkozy stormed out after five minutes of an expected 45-minute CNN interview when asked about his wife, whom he divorced shortly thereafter. And who can forget his whirlwind romance and subsequent marriage to model/singer...
...These scandals are clearly eroding Sarkozy’s credibility in the eyes of the French people. His approval ratings plummeted to below 50 percent for the first time since his election in May 2007. Sarkozy’s approval ratings have followed a definite downward trend since the series of large-scale strikes against his labor and education reforms in the fall of 2007. Various groups of public employees including teachers, civil servants, and public transport workers responded with anger to Sarkozy’s plan to slash France’s generous pensions. Perhaps their anger had something...
...important to separate politics from personality in this equation. Although many of the French find Sarkozy’s politics reprehensible in the extreme, it is Sarkozy’s personality—not his policy—that has done France the most harm thus-far. As Americans, we know better than most the high price a country pays for the buffoonery of their leader. When a president consistently behaves in a manner that does not befit his office, he loses credibility, both internationally and domestically. Nicolas Sarkozy needs to realize that France does not need another civilian...
President Nicolas Sarkozy may have distinguished himself as the most notoriously headline-hungry French leader in living memory, but he performed an uncharacteristic disappearing act in the run-up to Sunday's nationwide municipal elections. That's because advance polls had warned that voters would use the local polls to vent their disgruntlement at Sarkozy's national leadership. Remaining conspicuously out of sight, however, did not put Sarkozy out of voters' minds: They delivered a stinging rebuke to Sarkozy's party and his conservative allies, who now face uphill battles against leftists in decisive run-off elections March 16. Just...