by Jerome a Paris
Sat Mar 10th, 2007 at 09:24:18 AM EST
The ugliness never ends. Here are a few words from Sarkozy's speech yesterday evening (link to transcript from UMP website):
| Mais au bout du compte nous avons tout lieu d’être fiers de notre pays, de son histoire, de ce qu’il a incarné, de ce qu’il incarne encore aux yeux du monde.
Car la France n’a jamais cédé à la tentation totalitaire. Elle n’a jamais exterminé un peuple. Elle n’a pas inventé la solution finale, elle n’a pas commis de crime contre l’humanité, ni de génocide.
Elle a commis des fautes qui doivent être réparées, et je pense d’abord aux harkis et à tous ceux qui se sont battus pour la France et vis-à-vis desquels la France a une dette d’honneur qu’elle n’a pas réglée, je pense aux rapatriés qui n’ont eu le choix au moment de la décolonisation qu’entre la valise et le cercueil, je pense aux victimes innocentes de toutes les persécutions dont elle doit honorer la mémoire.
Mais la mode de la repentance est une mode exécrable. | | But in the end we have every reason to be proud of this country, of its history, what it embodied and what it still embodies in the eyes of the world.
Because France has never succumbed to the totalitarian temptation. She never exterminated another people. She did not invent the final solution. She did not commit any crime against humanity, nor genocide.
She has made mistakes which must be corrected. I think about the harkis [the Muslims who fought on the side of the French during the war of independence in Algeria] and all those that fought for France and towards whom France has a debt of honor it has not paid yet; I think about those that were rapatriated during decolonization and were given as a choice to leave or to die; I think about all innocent victims of all persecutions whose memory must be honored.
But repentence as a policy is despicable. |
Take that, Germany. Take that, the anti-colonisation left. Take that, Algerians. France officially has two extreme right candidates, right now.
Coverage of his discourse is barely beginning to appear on news sites, and, in addition to his other recent ultra-tough discourse against immigrants, they note that he is moving hard to the right, but I have not seen any article flagging the ugly dig at Germany yet - rather, they simply take note of his exalted glorification of traditional France.
That means that the only relevant question becomes whether Le Pen is in front of Bayrou or the other way round, because both will be in front of Sarkozy if he continues that little kapo show. (Or that means that France has lots more problems than I'm willing to consider).
