Inkless Wells

Paul Wells on all the latest out of Ottawa—along with the occasional post about jazz. Follow Paul on Twitter: @InklessPW

Categories: Capital Read, Inkless Wells, Uncategorized

Magazine cover of the week

by Paul Wells on Monday, November 23, 2009 12:38pm - 6 Comments

The cover line translates strictly as, “But what is happening to him?” and perhaps more loosely as, “So what’s his problem?” The editorial, by Franz-Olivier Giesbert, laments the French president’s “rain of projects, min-reforms, mini-measures…a sort of legislative bulimia.” The headline on the edit is “The Spanking Syndrome,” because apparently Sarko’s latest brainstorm is to ban spanking.

Tags: Nicolas Sarkozy

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http://intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

I don't have an opinion on Sarko and how he's doing domestically but the French, and Germans, just ran rings around other countries when it came to divvying up the spoils as far as EU posts go. Figurehead posts went to Brit and Belgian while the influential posts, the economic ones, will be filled by French or German people. Both countries have visceral dislike of les rosbifs and their economic policies and are likely to do all they can to bugger up The City (London) and its ability to create wealth.

Andre

It's not you… it's the Queen. They want her out.

Riley

Paul,

Could you perhaps write a post on where you think Sarkozy is going wrong? What are the factors that are bogging him down?

Is it just that he is lost in the role like Paul Martin was, or is it something deeper? Curious minds would like to see a larger post on his shortcomings.

http://intensedebate.com/people/ScottFeschuk ScottFeschuk

If you're taking requests, Paul, I'd also like to see a post explaining how the greater Los Angeles area survived the seismic impact of Jennifer Lopez landing on her bum during last night's award show.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Inkless Inkless

Fortunately I'm nearly done a post that combines both themes, while obeying Anon Lib's demand that I never, ever, print a comma or semicolon that might be interpreted as anything but hagiographical toward any living Liberal. Sadly, there was no room for biff's repeated request that I explain why Obama is a dangerous fraud. J Lo's ass pushed that one out of the way along with everything else.

Paul Wells

Riley, a slightly better answer is contained, in part, in this column I wrote in the spring. (See if I can post the URL by berry and get through IntenseDebate’s Intense Defences.)

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/04/14/it-turns-out-sarko-has-some-terrible-ideas/

I should point out, in fairness, that Cahuc and Zylberberg’s book got almost no attention in France. But I think it still describes a reality ordinary French people can feel, even if the details escape them: they hired this guy to fix things and he’s making them far worse.

It’s at this point that people usually say, “So Sarko’s finished, politically, right?” And I say no, he’s got an excellent chance of winning re-election in 2012. Which shows only that France’s politics is a game world that has no relation to the lives of citizens. Like Canada’s, you say? Oh no. Much worse.