An American Friend In Paris

(CBS)  The Skinny is Joel Roberts' take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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Remember when the U.S. Congress replaced French Fries with Freedom Fries on their cafeteria menu as a protest over France's lack of support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq?

Those days appear long gone with the election of pro-American conservative Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France, a story that tops the major U.S. newspapers Monday, amid speculation that the froid in Franco-American relations may be coming to an end.

The Washington Post called the 52-year-old Sarkozy an "unabashed admirer of America." The Los Angeles Times said his "comfortable" victory over Socialist candidate Segolene Royal was widely seen as a mandate for his "bold plans to enact free-market reforms, reassert influence abroad and strengthen ties to the United States."

The New York Times called Sarkozy a "passionate, pugnacious son of a Hungarian immigrant," who was "widely criticized in France for his strong pro-American sentiments."

USA Today said Sarkozy's election "could help repair ties with Washington," which have been strained since President Jacques Chirac led international opposition to the Iraq war in 2003. And the Wall Street Journal referred to Sarkozy as "one of a new generation" of European leaders "who weren't embroiled in the bruising debate between the U.S. and its allies over the invasion of Iraq."

Still, in his acceptance speech, Sarkozy signaled that the U.S could not take his support for granted. While he assured Americans of France's "friendship," he added that "friendship is accepting that one's friends can act differently."


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[Joelran]

Does this guy support the USA or bush? The USA does not support bush. A few fringe extremeists do, that's about it.

[alphaa10-2009]

dukakislives said, "... We are at each other's throats about this joint venture most of us signed off on..."
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Any "joint venture" like war must proceed on the truth. That is an honored tradition Bush dishonored by handing this nation one of the biggest frauds ever perpetrated on American voters.

CIA analysts refused on professional principle to endorse Iraq because the basis for war simply wasn't there. To his discredit, even Tenet knew he didn't have the basis for a reasonable case about WMDs. Powell threw out the cheesy Cheney brief and started over. And after the invasion and months of searching, it was clear the intelligence failure rested with Bush, Cheney and other neocon true believers, not with the CIA.

But the anger we sense with the American people has roots, not in an honest mistake, but a deliberate attempt to mislead them about Iraq, with frantic allusions to mushroom clouds and mass terror.

In a court of law, even a signed contract is no defense when it is clear plaintiff was duped, lied to, and hornswoggled about the facts by those obligated (and trusted) to tell the truth. Bush, Cheney, Rusmfeld, Rice, et al. take their place as some of the biggest con artists in American history.

Common agreement about propositions doesn't make them true. If everyone said Bush were red-white-and-blue at birth, this general agreement does not make it fact. If Bush profited from the popular delusion he created, this makes the case for impeachment.

[xzavierbrown]

**Sarkozy a US friend? Not of the women -the clear majority weighing in at 51% of the voting population.

Mistresses and unsupported children are non-women friendly behaviors and we won't tolerate them any more.
Posted by lauraparis22 at 07:06 PM : May 07, 2007
**

what happened to that all famous French style liberal relationships and liberal women's equality rights?

bottomline..women still have that dependency..they need a man to be the husband and a man to bankroll her premiscious ***

[lauraparis22]

Sarkozy a US friend? Not of the women -the clear majority weighing in at 51% of the voting population.

Mistresses and unsupported children are non-women friendly behaviors and we won't tolerate them any more.

[processor2]

Looking forward to 2008, so we can get rid of the Socialists in the USA, that were elected in 2006.

...

[nolalou]

The 1st 2 paragraphs above are very missleading. It says the days of French opistion to the US war in Iraq are over! What total B.S.! Do your research CBS! What the heck has reporter Joel Roberts been smoking! Sarkozy does NOT support the war in Iraq!

"Sarkozy re-stated his opposition to the invasion of Iraq, calling it a "historic" mistake, warning that the US should not make a similar one in Iran. US discussion of the military option is "useless posturing," Sarkozy said, and he would not support any military action against Iran."

[alphaa10-2009]

ChgoNSide said, "I am not a %u201CFrancophile%u201D. I have no particular interest in Europe. But, I know that an election in a country of 60 million people is worth more than the attention you gave it."
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Good points, well said. Katie Couric may have limited control of the quality of some stories, but her ascent to the principal news desk at CBS has not changed the general trend of all networks-- from Faux News to CBS-- to bay like hounds after the Hollywood trash and crime/sensationalist genre.

I wonder what changes Ed Murrow might make at CBS? Presumably, the CBS marketing team would try to sabotage his every move, labeling him a "fossil" and completely irrelevant. Before his first day at work, these value-free opportunists might wall up his office door, leaving no *** or door visible, and then disconnect his phone, for good measure.

It is a sad day, indeed, when other networks turn out a better story than CBS on such an unchallenging event. CBS should begin a serious reappaisal of its direction-- and fire the marketing mavens who ignore news professionalism as often as they make a token bow to the concept.

[alphaa10-2009]

Said French President-elect Sarkozy, "... friendship is accepting that one's friends can act differently."
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What could this mean but that France always will go its own way? From the Bush debacle in Iraq to US trade with the EU, France has disagreed with elan and vigor with Bush politics-- and can be expected to continue.

As pointed out by others on this blog, French "conservatism" is often a contradiction in terms to Americans labeling themselves conservative. The same dichotomy, to some extent, applies to the label "liberal / progessive"-- it does not always survive translation across the Atlantic.

Accordingly, which is the more significant-- that UK liberal Tony Blair supports Bush on Iraq, or that French conservative Nicolas Sarkozy opposes Bush on Iraq?

For embattled Bush supporters, when American conservative brahmins distance themselves from Bush for his violation of their principles, with what political pedigree does that leave Bush? Put another way, with friends like the French, who needs other friends-- or enemies?

[chgonside]

I am pleased that CBS has posted this page regarding the French elections%u2014 since your Sunday evening newscast gave virtually no information on the subject.

You opened the newscast with the tragedy in Kansas. The story was informative and moving.

Sadly, the emotional impact of this story was entirely erased by what followed: a nearly 5-minute interview with a storm tracker, which felt like an excuse to show footage of funnel clouds narrated by someone who sounded like a cross between a character from "Twister" & "Jackass 2".

Not until after the second(!) commercial break was there mention of France. And barely a mention at that%u2014merely a short %u201Crip and read%u201D from the desk. What were the issues? What is Sarkosky%u2019s platform? The losing candidate was not even named.

Contrast this with NBC's coverage. They, too, began with a report from Kansas, followed by footage from a storm-tracker. However, their video was narrated by a meteorologist who gave scientific context for what we were seeing.

NBC next turned to France with a detailed report including interviews with voters & analysts. Their correspondent was in London rather than Paris-- but close enough.

I am not a %u201CFrancophile%u201D. I have no particular interest in Europe. But, I know that an election in a country of 60 million people is worth more than the attention you gave it.

[shingles1]

A friend of the US?
Sarkovsky is from the same party that Jacques Chirac was from.
So, what's the change here?

As others have said, European Conservatives barely resemble their American counterparts - in fact, if Perception5 and the Fartmaster took a closer look at these European party platforms they'd swear they were a bunch of socialists.