Sarkozy is the only person I know who is a perfect Sartrean subject -- the prototype of that subjectivity described in "Being and Nothingness" that draws its strength, and even its freedom, from the fact that it has no inner core, nothing in reserve; as if it were an empty place, a mere transit zone in which impressions, information and emotions spin around without stopping or connecting.
That is, if there is any truth in the quote. Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
though on a more serious note, i was pretty stunned on my recent trip to France this summer by the number of French people i met whom i had pinned as dyed in the wool lefties, but who -- fed up with the status quo -- wound up voting for Sarkozy. and, while i cringe to say it in this forum, many managed to persuade me, a little, that Sarkozy might indeed have been the better choice for France.
having said that, i recall the malaise and pessimistic funk that many Americans were in in the late 70's, and how Reagan's "Morning in America" rhetoric led to policies in the 80's that were on balance bad for America, i believe. i hope that Sarkozy's "Matinée in France" administration does not lead in the end to similar on-balance negative results for France and beyond.
for all of BHL's sketchiness, this sentence reminded me of my original visceral reaction of fear and dislike towards Sarkozy:
... when he said that the Vichy government was not an integral participant in genocide, when he thundered that France should not be embarrassed by its "civilizing" work in Algeria, and when he vowed that if elected he would "liquidate the heritage of May 1968," which for 40 years has been a secret wound, a torment, sometimes the nightmare of the most radical reactionary right wing of this country, Nicolas Sarkozy cut himself off from men like me.
and yet, and yet, i am keeping an open mind on Sarkozy's policies, and i am going to keep giving him the benefit of the doubt until he really screws up. BHL thinks Sarkozy may be able to help end the Darfour crisis by compelling the Chinese to put pressure on Khartoum:
I am even ready to admit that he is capable of making the Chinese give in on the terrible situation in Darfur where, as everyone knows, they hold the reins of Khartoum's regime of assassins.
and despite BHL's cynicism that they may only be more of
The totems of the left to whom he throws pieces of meat for the sheer pleasure of watching them fight over it
i cannot help but recall an article in Le Monde in early June about the ethnically diverse members of his cabinet he appointed:
La présence de trois ministres et secrétaires d'Etat satisfait les associations des quartiers populaires qui soulignent volontiers que la droite a réussi là où la gauche n'a fait que multiplier les promesses. "L'ouverture à la diversité n'a jamais été faite par la gauche mais par la droite, qui avait déjà promu des gens comme Tokia Saïfi ou Azouz Begag", réagit Azedine Haffar, président de l'Association nationale des élus de banlieue (ANEB). "Je ne suis qu'à moitié surpris de l'audace de Sarkozy. Ça révèle un peu plus la frilosité et l'effrayant esprit conservateur du Parti socialiste", ajoute Karim Zéribi, président du Parlement des banlieues, candidat indépendant et malheureux de la "diversité" pour les législatives à Marseille. En banlieue, les associations saluent "l'ouverture à la diversité"
En banlieue, les associations saluent "l'ouverture à la diversité"
I guess for me, the jury is still out on Sarkozy. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
Sarkozy is good at the spin. Really good at it. But there is nothing underneath. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
If he sees a set of policies that WORK, do you not think he'd be off with them like a ferret down a drain-pipe?
Surely it's for the "progressives" to come up with that.
Bugger the Left/Right distinction: it's obsolete. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
Look how Royal was called gaffe-prone when she actually did fewer gaffes than Sarkozy. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Another point to make is that only now do minorities are rising to the higher parts of the French meritocracy ; Dati and Yade have passed competitive exams (for becoming a magistrate and a Senate Administrator) which are among the hardest in Frace...
Sarkozy's government also claims parity between men and women, but strangely the left wing of the parliament is much more feminised than the right wing... Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
