Well Played Sarko

My dilemma last night was resolved by my decision simply to 'have it all', which meant I watched PlV then switched over to watch Sarko strut his stuff.

How did he do? Well, I thought he did very well which means that he lived up to my expectations. He was coherent, poised, intelligent, respectful and serious. As a natural in front of an audience, he came off well, but what he said also sound un-hysterical, feasible and not pandering to the PS wet blankets.

I loved it when he announced that those who are in charge would be held responsible because the tendency is in France to be 'responsable, non-coupable' (responsible but not guilty). That disgraceful era is apparently at an end and good riddance too. It might make those in charge reflect before they act, knowing that if they fail, they will be held accountable, as the Prefet of the Manche region found when he didn't ensure public safety during Sarko's last visit there. He's been sent to sit on the Conseil supérieur de l'administration territoriale de l'Etat, a Prefet without a Prefecture. Au placard, quoi.

The impression I got was that France has a Captain at the helm - someone who is in charge, ready to assume his responsibilities, and who won't jump on every bandwaggon proposed by the loony left or anyone else for short-term advantages.

The loony left, naturally, thought he did terribly, and criticised him endlessly. However, this is to be expected because all they can actually do is criticise or be ineffectual. Martine Aubry (known affectionately as 'mémé' - granny, and she's not that old, just seems it) claims that Sarko did not say what the French wanted him to say. I'm not sure which 'French' she's referring to however. The left does like to think it has the monopoly on knowing what le peuple is thinking and wanting, and believe that they are their only true representatives. I think they are referring to the bottom end of the social strata which is a limited percentage of the total population.

There are a lot of people who don't live in social housing, are not on RMI (revenu minimum d'insertion) and are quite able to take care of themselves thank you. These represent les sales bourgeouis, however and are of no interest to the loony left. It's worth remembering too, that the PS just lost the last election so obviously they don't represent le peuple, in the eyes of le peuple, quite as much as they think they do.

Of course, as Sarko was not dishing out euros left right and centre, not handing everyone a house on a plate and was not waving his magic wand to right all the wrongs of the land instantly, the left accused him of being 'à coté de la plaque' (not with it).

As the general impression of his interview was positive, it seems that they are the ones not with it, and should realise that many people are getting very bored with their constant sniping and doom-mongering.

Of the journalists participating in the interview, Laurence Ferrari - the one who bed-hopped her way to ousting much-loved PPDA (so the rumour goes) to read the 8pm news on TF1 - was totally crappy. She had this narquois little smile on her face that I wanted to slap off; thought herself very clever, but Sarko had the measure of her and she got away with nothing. It's due to her (and PlV) that the news on TF1 is now something of a joke - the audience numbers are such that France 2 news has never been so popular. When the other journalists tried to sneak some clever remark, Sarko always had a cleverer ripost. He's not a lawyer for nothing!

For a serious political interview then, it was pretty entertaining.