Nicolas Sarkozy's attempts to get France's presidency of the EU off to a flying start with a carefully orchestrated television interview have been undermined since footage of him losing his cool in front of the camera became an instant internet hit. France 3, the state TV station which broadcast Sarkozy's hour-long interview last night, said it had ordered an immediate internal investigation into the leaking of the tape, which by this afternoon had already been watched more than 440,000 times. The footage, recorded in the minutes before the prime time interview, shows a visibly irritated Sarkozy struggling to maintain his calm as tensions between the President and state television employees erupt onto the set. Enraged at the perceived snub by a technician who, while pinning a microphone to his shirt, appears not to have heard Sarkozy address him, the president gives in to a barely controlled outburst of anger.
Nicolas Sarkozy's attempts to get France's presidency of the EU off to a flying start with a carefully orchestrated television interview have been undermined since footage of him losing his cool in front of the camera became an instant internet hit.
France 3, the state TV station which broadcast Sarkozy's hour-long interview last night, said it had ordered an immediate internal investigation into the leaking of the tape, which by this afternoon had already been watched more than 440,000 times.
The footage, recorded in the minutes before the prime time interview, shows a visibly irritated Sarkozy struggling to maintain his calm as tensions between the President and state television employees erupt onto the set. Enraged at the perceived snub by a technician who, while pinning a microphone to his shirt, appears not to have heard Sarkozy address him, the president gives in to a barely controlled outburst of anger.
Subverting the manufactured dignity of politicians and giving candid insights into their true characters cannot be a bad thing.
Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
