Pave: French Poodle

Le jour 442 de Sarko

MR. OBAMA NOVELTY UNDERPANTS
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Without so much as a "merci beaucoup" Mr. Obama breezed in-and-out of France transforming a once haughty and hostile nation into a kennel of yapping, adoring poodles ready to vote him into office -- unless, of course, he were to run in France. [Abrupt needle scratch.] Relax, mes amis. Not to worry about any Mr. Obamas emerging in France. Relax.

And the most yapping of the adoring French, the chief of state himself, Sarko.

SARKOZY TO OBAMA: JE T’AIME
July 25, 2008 (ABC News)

Yap.

NICOLAS SARKOZY LOUE "L'AVENTURE DE BARACK OBAMA"
[NICOLAS SARKOZY PRAISES "ADVENTURE OF BARACK OBAMA"]
26 juillet 2008 (Le Monde)

Yap.

NICOLAS SARKOZY : « OBAMA ? C'EST MON COPAIN »
[SARKO: "OBAMA? HE'S MY BUDDY"]
26 juillet 2008 (Le Monde)

Yap.

SARKOZY GUSHES OVER OBAMA, KINDRED SPIRIT

July 26, 2008 (Chicago Sun Times) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy gushed over Barack Obama on Friday when the two appeared together at the Elysee Palace, coming close, it seemed, to making an endorsement. Sarko:

But, obviously, one is interested in a candidate who's looking towards the future, rather than the past, and that's something that -- a concern that I share.

... And you have to know that here in Europe, here in France, we're watching with great interest what you're doing.

... Not everyone here is called Sarkozy, you know. And I'm aware of the fact that not everyone is called Obama in the United States of America. And that's a sense of -- gives us a sense of America of adventure. And Barack Obama's adventure is an adventure that rings true in the hearts and mind of the French and of Europeans.

In March, rival John McCain visited with Sarkozy at the palace, but the French leader did not give him the honor of a joint appearance.

Not too long ago such effusions were construed as "poodling".

M. Sarkozy n'est pas un européen convaincu, comme nous tous, qui défend les intérêts de la France. Il est avant tout un pro-américaniste, il est un zélateur de Bush...quelqu'un qui se fixe comme programme d'être le futur caniche du président des Etats-Unis.

[Mr. Sarkozy is not a confirmed European, like the rest of us, who defends the interests of France. He is foremost a pro-americanist, a Bush zealot...somebody who sets an agenda to be the future poodle of the president of the United States.]

Laurent Fabius,
député PS de Seine-Maritime (4ème),
former PM, présidentiable wash-out,
and "Top Ten" politician (No.6)
September 16, 2006 (Le Monde)

Ah, but now even Socialists want a Mr. Obama moment.

Should Mr. McCain win, then this sort of thing will again be denounced as poodling.

(A more outrageous but less cited example of French poodling here.)

Although it would seriously wound European sensibilities to say so, their endorsements mean little or nothing to the American electorate. Unless there is a war on (e.g., 2004), presidential elections do not much turn on foreign policy. They turn on domestic issues. Selfish Americans.

PFFT (What is this?): Kiss-up gamble 3¾ | Rayonnement français 0

Posted by Damian at July 30, 2008 11:30 AM