Sounds pretty good already.

Vive la France!

So McCarthy thinks our state of non-war with Iran is a "status quo that is failing"? Whatever happened to, ya know, conservatives?

one way he'll try and buy himself some credibility in pursuing conservative policies at home is to not be too cozy with Bush and to maintain a skeptical front towards US policies in general. He'll strike a pose against Bush to be more like him. Yikes.

No "freedom" onion dip. But for conservatives who cared, Sarkozy was really their best option, eh?

("..I am not going up in a balloon over this guy." Is that a common cliche'?)

He may admire American culture, but I suspect that when it comes to actually dealing with the United States, he's going to be every bit the pain in the ass de Gaulle was.

Kevin, no offense intended, but I will take your suspicions with a grain of salt. Sarkozy is the George W Bush of France. He is a supply sider who believes we should increase incentives for working by lowering taxes. He will reduce regulations of businesses in order to unleash the power of the free market. He is a law and order President who will do everything possible to kill all of the Islamofascists. This is just the beginning of the Conservative revolution around the world. Conservatives are in power in France, Germany, and Canada. Even as liberals are crowing about how they'll win the America Presidency in 2008, the Conservative revolution shows they are probably wrong. If even Old Europe is going to the right, certainly America will too. I predict a landslide victory for the Republican Party in 2008 just like Sarkozy's landslide this year.

I predict a landslide victory for the Republican Party in 2008

Riiiiight.....

He is a law and order President who will do everything possible to kill all of the Islamofascists

Somebody tell Al that Sarkozy won because the median French voter before all else didn't want to share all those sweet, sweet socialist goodies with immigrants and foreigners, not to launch the Fifth Crusade, or replace ENA with the University of Chicago.

Good gawd, Al is stupid. But now that that's out of the way, I can point out that the most American-friendly French leader in recent history was the very socialist Francois Mitterand. Sarkozy is an old-school Gaulist with a little neo-liberalism sprinkled on top to curry favor with the business elite. McCarthy's probably right that this guy's appeal to American wingers is going to wane pretty quickly. I'm sure Sarkozy is going to look for the first opportunity he can to flex his muscle in the Middle East in somewhere like Lebanon or Iran at our expense.

Royal won the under-65 vote. The elderly overwhelmingly voted for Sarkozy, and I think the main reason is that they are scared of the Arab/African minority and want France to go "back" to their nostalgic image of it.

Wingnuts in this country have an annoying habit of taking the very shallow-sighted view that just because somebody is on the right or center-right side of the political spectrum in their own country, that it means that they should automatically be a supporter of Bush Administration policy, and that if they are elected, it is somehow a validation of Bush's policies. Sarkozy's election has everything to do with France's sluggish economy and it's own internal struggle over France's national identify (not to mention the weakness of Ms. Royal's candidacy) and nothing to do with any love the French people have Bush or his policy (which is less than none on both counts).

Al: "He is a law and order President who will do everything possible to kill all of the Islamofascists."

And how many have you killed lately, big talker? You are such a brave, brave man. Just don't forget that quart of milk for mom on your way home from the video arcade.

Expecting the French to elect a leader who will serve a foreign nation's interests above the French people's is about as naive as expecting the USA to elect a leader who would serve foreign interests above the Americans' interests. It is simply not in their political culture -- and it is not reasonable to demand that it be.

He may admire American culture...

He got a thing for fat stupid people?

I suspect that your average American conservative is under the impression that Chirac was a leftist. After all, they didn't like Chirac and they don't like leftists, therefore Chirac must have been a leftist. So they are pleasantly surprised when France elects a center-right president, not realizing that France has had a center-right President the entire time that France has been the mortal enemy of Freedom(SM) and The American Way(TM).

How about raising wages for some incentive.Na not consevative enough.Did you see where a mine in Minnesota shut down because they couldn't afford 50- 60,ooo dollar a year jobs.China comes in,Buys it and hires back the 450 people plus,Pays the 60,ooo dollar a year wages and makes momey.How? they cut out the Multi Million dollar Ceo Cfo and mid managers and presto the little guy can make a buck too.

Well, if you’re an American who’s felt besieged by French critiques dripping with superiority over the past five years, you might take some satisfaction in seeing a Reaganesque candidate sympathetic to W. assume the mighty throne. Finally, a taste of American-style cheese - right there in the home of Brie.

On the other hand, if you’ve been awed by the illustrious contributions, from J.J. Rousseau to Levi-Strauss, you’re, no doubt, a little sick to your stomach. For you are witnessing the gradual, and now indisputably, inexorable momentum of the Right marching deeper and deeper into our consciousness. All under the auspices of "Freedom." "Democracy." "Free markets."

And the people, duped by the clever hypnosis, doped by the bourgeois payouts, shout out in unison, "Yes Masta." Exhibit A: all 17 officially declared American candidates wearing the same exact suit at the debates. Makes you wanna go out and get a Bozo outfit and yell fire in a crowded theater.

Meanwhile, the poor mentally ill walk the streets in Dickens Redux - a play that features the gentrified, bloated with self-importance and burdened with 2-lb. watches capable of working 20,000 leagues below sea, walking by the mass of undesirables on their way to next cabaret. Think: ancient Greece, Rome, Germany in the 20s. Was Spengler wrong about Western Decline?

Are the masses stupid as has always been the assertion? You better believe it. And in a world rapidly headed for intensified balkanization - gated communities writ large - where the upper classes are forced to increasingly segregate themselves from the "unfit" via fascistic means, stupid = dangerous.

The writing’s on the wall now. And the barricades, and virtually everywhere you look. The line down the center isn’t blurring but becoming more distinct with each social Darwinist move. You’re either Right or wrong. The left, like many of the critters suffering from environmental overload, is quickly becoming extinct.

Since there is nothing left to admire in the wholly incompetent GWB, numerous wingnuts in the US have been outsourcing their hero-worship to Sarkozy, and I'm shocked that some nut has already removed the scales from his eyes regarding Sarkozy.

About the only thing Sarkozy is likely to give wingnuts wrt foreign policy is he may end up preventing Turkey from joining the EU, assuming that Turkey hasn't already thoroughly removed themselves from contention.

Expecting the French to elect a leader who will serve a foreign nation's interests above the French people's is about as naive as expecting the USA to elect a leader who would serve foreign interests above the Americans' interests.

I assume that you are being ironic.

Al, you forget that many "conservative" leaders in europe are often more "lefty" than your Democrat party. I would not count on a "conservative revolution" based on a simple count of "conservative" goverments in the world. The point is that the GOP is so much far right comparing to most of the conservative parties in europe if you look into healthcare, social security, unilateral world view / nationalism and corporatism.

Martin
Germany

I'd love to see Al's (and other conservatives') response to the fact that their "conservative resurgence" poster boy in France has promised new adoption rights for gay couples, improvements in financial rights for extant civil pacts, and does not believe that sexuality is a choice, but something people are born with.
Yep, sounds just like Brownback!

In Europe it was the conservative factions that built, or atleast supported, welfare programs. DC in Italy, CDU/CSU in Germany along with the SPD, Gaullists and socialists in France, and even Harper's conservatives in Canada have promised not to touch their National Health programs. Conservatives in Europe do not often tout neo-liberalism (except the Torries, as a result of Thatcher's 'New Right' reforms during the mid-80s).

Anyone who claims that Sarkozy is a Reaganite has no idea what they're talking about.

That's okay, because Al is still dreaming about that summer on Brownback Mountain.

Check out Crooked Timber's post on this point: http://crookedtimber.org/2007/05/11/rupturerapture/, which digests several other commenters' observations. Whether Sarko is as tough with other states as he is with the sons of immigrants and stateless people remains to be seen, but he does not appear to be poodle material a la Tony Blair.

Others on the right have crowed that he represents the new class of entrepreneurs (a word they don't have in French, according to W) in France, the private sector against the public, etc. How that plays out in France's relations with its other EU partners remains to be seen; I would expect him to be tough on workers, but not so protective of French industry vis a vis his EU counterparts (who have a shared interest in using EU rationalization to level benefits and protections down). But that wouldn't rule out some Gaullist chest-thumping aimed in our direction.

Finally, Strangemaps has a nice one to look at from the first round of voting. http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/04/25/108-the-geography-of-frances-presidential-elections/

he represents the new class of entrepreneurs (a word they don't have in French, according to W) in France

Please tell me that GWB didn't actually say that.

Shock as Sarkozy woos anti-US leftwinger
...Nicolas Sarkozy, the right-wing reformer who becomes French President on Wednesday, upset both the United States and his opponents yesterday by offering the job of Foreign Minister to a Socialist veteran with anti-American credentials.
Hubert Védrine, 59 — a former senior aide to the late President Mitterrand — who served as Foreign Minister from 1997 to 2002, was considering the proposal yesterday.
The prospect of Mr Védrine running foreign policy has infuriated the beleaguered Socialists and amazed the diplomatic world because he is the architect of a doctrine for containing what he called the abusive “steamroller� of American power. His views on “the hyperpower� — the term that he coined in the 1990s — would appear to conflict with Mr Sarkozy’s pro-Atlantic views. ...
Tsk! Back to Freedom Fries in wingnutland.

Conservatives should be more careful what they wish for.

They got a conservative-friendly headline about France, the socialist enemy: Conservatives Defeat Socialists

I don't think they're worryied that anyone will look into it deeper than that.

Mike, I think that's hysterical. Why do U.S. chestbeaters always think that foreign nationalists would be friendlier to our interests than globalization types. There's a reason they are called "nationalists", ferchrissakes!

I have been wondering how long it would take Kevin to finally post about the French results. He used to love posting about foreign elections, because he thought Bush was causing the entire rest of the world to move leftwards. Obviously, that's not true.

We've got a conservative leader in neighbor, Canada.
We've got a conservative leader in our other neighbor, Mexico.
We've got a conservative leader in charge of the biggest economy in Europe, Germany.
We've got Bush's poodle in charge of the second biggest country in Europe.
We've got a conservative, pro-American leader just elected in the third biggest economy in Europe, France.
What else - Japan? That guy seems pretty right-wing too.

What is the left stuck with - Spain? Italy (just barely)? The left is really stuck with their friends in Cuba and Venezuela to crow about.

Martin points out the important bit. The political European landscape cannot be charted with American notions of right and left. The best the American right (and their Anglo liberalization friends) can hope for is more corporatism with a hint of Thatcherism and some anti-immigration policies. No European state has been more critical of Anglo-American assumptions than France. This goes for all the major political parties. They are not anti-American as much as they are non-American.

We've got a conservative leader in ...

And when these leaders inevitably fail and the shit inevitably hits the fan righty nutzoids will protest that these conservative leaders weren't REALLY conservative after all (see Bush, George W.)

Good lordy in heaven, Al is even stupider than before. Look rocks for brains, "conservative" in European political discourse most emphatically does NOT mean sympathy for the Republican Party in the US. Sarkozy, Merkel, et al. would be considered to the left of Hilary Clinton in most cases. Canada's Harper is perhaps a slightly better example, but he's hanging on by a thread. Britain's PM-in-Waiting Gordon Brown is certainly no pal of Bush's and most of Latin America has pulled strongly to the left in recent years in no small part due to dislike of Bush. If European publics were voting based on their feelings for the US, the anti-US candidate would win by ludicrous margins. But they're voting on national and local issues, such as the economy, jobs, etc. and the conservative candidates have been more effective than the socialists/center-lefts at playing something of a populist card in recent elections.

"He is just as opposed to U.S. operations in Iraq as conventional French opinion."

What does McCarthy expect? Dick Cheney wasn't running for President of France, and everybody else in the world opposes US policy in Iraq.

Al, go study up more on Japanese politics and the electoral system before you shoot off your mouth as to what this latest election implies. What you are seeing is the result of musical chairs among the LDP factions rather than any "election" by the populace.

Dumb as a box of rocks!

Well, Sarkozy is doing some interesting things.

He seems to be following Bush's playbook in having the media in his back pocket.

However, there is some talk about his choosing a socialist or a left-winger as foreign minister. I've heard Vedrine who served under Jospin in the same capacity in 1997 and Kouchner, a left winger who founded Médecins sans Frontières, but also believes in the right to humanitarian intervention and would have invaded both Rwanda and Afghanistan if he had been given the chance.

So, there might be some inclusion of left wingers in the government, and his foreign policy stance is certainly not as pro-American, Atlanticist as some neocons would have hoped.

He has also brought up the idea of a Mediterranean free-trade zone that would extend from Morocco to Israel. This seems to reaffirm the Gaullist attitudes the USA fears so much.

Here's a thought: who foreign countries elect as their leaders is, by and large, their business, not ours. When the national interests of those countries align with ours, the leaders will likely recognize that and act in ways we like. When they don't, they won't. How they run their domestic affairs, within a very wide range of reasonable alternatives, is also their business, not ours.

who foreign countries elect as their leaders is, by and large, their business, not ours

why do people like you hate America?

... The left is really stuck with their friends in Cuba and Venezuela to crow about. sAl at 4:02 PM

Britain is still enjoying the revival of its economy that Margaret Thatcher gave it.

Wow! Margaret drilled all that oil herself? No wonder they call her the Iron Lady.

mhr, Merkel was not elected in Germany, for starters, it was a tie, but for the sake of political expediency, they gave it to Merkel. The country is being run by both parties.

Britain is the sick man of Europe these days. High unemployment (hidden by changing the statistics) and low growth. Extremely high debt also hidden.

From an interview with Wendelin Wiedeking, the CEO of Porsche:

His evident fondness for his workers is reflected in other aspects of his business philosophy. "Our business model is only financed by customers. So we have to pay a lot of attention to our customers. When the customer is happy then the worker is happy too and so are the suppliers. Then there should be enough money left for the shareholder. But that is the order of importance," he says.
All of this is part of Mr Wiedeking's insistence that he is not a slave to the capital markets: "The question is: how can society allow capital to make all the rules? I have never understood shareholder value as it leaves so many things out. Shareholders give their money just once, whereas the employees work every day."

The neocons and hyper-Zionist neolibs like Marty Peretz are excited about Sarkozy because he's a close friend of Benjamin Netanyahu; and because the grandparent he was closest to growing up was his maternal grandfather, who, while a convert to Catholicism, came from a family full of prominent Zionists in old Salonika.

It's not like I expect conservatives to support a Socialist candidate

That's the thing though. Conservatives are happy because they rejected the leftist (and if you thought Bush over Kerry was a mandate, Sarkozy's 53-47 margin was a landslide). Of course, Chirac and Sarkozy are from the same party, so the fact that the socialist came in second this time, while the far-right Le Pen (France's Tancredo) made the run-off in '02 would seem to suggest the people as a whole were moving left, wouldn't it?

Of course, it could be that they've worn out the "France is our worst enemy" meme and needed an excuse to drop it (especially now that most people wish we had listened to them about Iraq). And O'Reilly can claim he's all powerful when the next Paris Business Review reports France's economy is booming.

mhr, usually Al is the biggest dumb-dumb on the site, but you certainly have the strength to muscle him out. Lenin and Stalin -- LOL!

If he names Vedrine foreign minister the conservatives are really going to be mad. Vedrine is the original anti-American, coiner of the term "hyperpower" to describe post-Cold War America and leading proponent of reigning in that power. Vedrine is no friend of Israel, either (surprise).

Al, could you tell me what drugs your taking so that I can make sure that I don't get them from my Dr. Jeez!!
Your logic is....well non-exsistent. There is no single politician in the world who would want to be associated with GWB let alone be compared to him.
I read your nonsense daily and it's that kind of logic that's gotten our country to the lowest point it's ever been in our history.
Go climb back into your cave and draw something on the wall.

There is no single politician in the world who would want to be associated with GWB let alone be compared to him.

Including all the dwarves running for GOP POTUS nominee.

Where was I while all this conservative euphoria over the French presidential election was happening? All I saw was one former GOP congessional candidate on MNBC, loopily claiming that Sarkozy's election proves that the Republican Party is alive and well. Who's paying attention to such nonsense?

I didn't agree with CDG policies (he never did politics himself). But to compare him,
an accomplished General who led the Free France when so many of his colleagues went Vichy way, to a hyperactive, overambitious, street-smart (soi-disant Gaulliste) apartchik, is making him a great injustice.
Kevin you need to take a crush course: France History and Politics 101.

"He [Sarkozy] may admire American culture, but I suspect that when it comes to actually dealing with the United States, he's going to be every bit the pain in the ass de Gaulle was."

America could use a few more pain-in-the-ass leaders in other countries. Having poodles in charge of other countries doesn't do those other countries any good, and it sure doesn't do the United States any good either.

Did anyone see that awful editorial comic about Sarkozy's win? It has him holding up two bags (I think they were bags), each one says something we're supposed to perceive to be "American".. and one of them says "WORK ETHIC." Apparently this is supposed to be an attack on French culture, particularly their short work week.

I was disgusted. I've been hoping that we take a hint from them on this issue. Science keeps revealing that work-related stress is more and more corrosive to basic human health, both physical and mental. We need to stop being such workaholics and start to appreciate life.

I'm sick of this Protestant work ethic, where simply working somehow makes a person more moral and builds character and makes some god love you more, and all that idiotic nonsense.

So yeah.. that got me riled up the other morning.

Couldn't agree with you more Disputo.
I believe Sunday when Tim Russert interviewed McCain he pretty much completed tanking his chances of being nominated. All the rest are pretty pathetic.

Just have to remind everyone that this is Al's idea of admiration (of a French leader, no less):

"He is a law and order President who will do everything possible to kill all of the Islamofascists."

Can you believe they allow people like this to stay in the United States?

About the only thing Sarkozy is likely to give wingnuts wrt foreign policy is he may end up preventing Turkey from joining the EU

I'm afraid it's the other way around. That's one of the things wingnuts will like least about Sarkozy. The US (under both Democratic and Republican administrations) has been applying strong pressure on the EU to admit Turkey. Bush himself has talked about this on several occasions. Despite its refusal to help with the Iraq invasion, Turkey is still the darling of the US foreign establishment.

Just like to point out to Al that in the last Canadian elections the Conservatives won 36% of the vote, the Liberals 30%, the left-wing NDP 17%, the even-lefter Bloc Quebecois 10%, and the lefter-still Greens 5%.

That's 62% for the center-left. The reason Stephen Harper is in power is that the NDP, which usually goes into an informal coalition with the Liberals, refused to do so because the Libs were so tainted by scandals that the NDP once more raised its ever-dashed hopes of replacing them as the largest party on the left.

Harper also made a deal with the devil (i.e. Bloc Quebecois) to keep funnelling Federal largesse into Quebec and playing coy with the separatists in return for their support in Parliament.

That's probably right, he is an atlantist but he is also gaullist and given the disaster in Irak there isn't much incentive to follow the US example anymore. The Iran situation is different though, i would not be surprised if France followed the american\british position pretty closely, plus Kouchner is now slated to become foreign affairs minister (smart move from Sarkozy) and he was pro intervention in Irak.

"But they're voting on national and local issues, such as the economy, jobs, etc. and the conservative candidates have been more effective than the socialists/center-lefts at playing something of a populist card in recent elections."

Yes and they are voting AGAINST Socialist Economic Policies, which is exactly what many of you guys want: More Socialism in the States. Spin it anyway you want, the Left is getting their asses kicked because folks see their policies as downright insane. And before you spin this as say "well we won the US Congress". No you didn't, the Blue Dogs won the US Congress, middle of the road Dems.

Yawn...

When are the righties going to realize that Conservative Frenchmen think they are as good as the United States?

If they wanted France to think of itself as second-rate power they'd be better off rooting for some other party.

With less than a month in office, Sarkozy is already an embarrassment by publicly appearing drunk.
After years of belittling nearly all things that are French, I´m glad Republicans have finally found something they can admire.
Those "freedom fries" patriots should be proud.