Pave: The Joy Of Giving Offense

Le jour 91 de Sarko

Here is the AFP headline:

FRENCH FIRST LADY GOES FOR WALK IN TOWN DAY AFTER BUSH SNUB

Who snubbed who? AFP has managed the sort of ambiguity that the French headline reader demands. For if Cecilia has snubbed, Frenchies smirk at her sticking it to George Bush, and if Mr. Bush has snubbed, well, this is just the sort of thing Frenchies expect from a mal élevé, malpoli, malpropreté, malodorant smirky American chimp.

For those who read below the big ink, here is the snubber and the cruel damning snub:

WOLFEBORO, NH August 13, 2007 (AFP) - Mrs. Sarkozy was photographed walking with two friends in town, after a day earlier turning down an invitation for a hot dog and hamburger picnic with the US president and his family at the Bush retreat in nearby Kennebunkport, Maine.

Cecilia telephoned Laura Bush about an hour before lunch to explain she had a throat ailment and that she and her children would not be able to make the gathering, touted as a rapport-building casual lunch between Nicolas Sarkozy and George W. Bush.

American-French relations set back another 60 years.

Bush said he was "disappointed" by her absence but understood. The French president expressed regret for having passed the illness to his wife.

Does Mr. Bush truly "understand" or is he more likely hiding a bottomless well of "disappointment"?

PFFT (What is this?): The fully informed French headline reader ½ | The shared hot dog as an essential tool of diplomacy ½ | Rayonnement français 0