Dominique Moïsi is right about a lot of things, but comparing Chirac to King Lear is offering him more noblesse than he deserves. He has always been more mediocre than either Henry V or King Lear.

But up comes the question, again, of "who's next?" I don't see a wind of change blowing through French politics, and I do believe that is France's number one handicap at the moment.