Sunday, May 06, 2007

Our Man in Paris?   [Jonah Goldberg]

From a reader (and friend of NR):

Hello Jonah—-

As an American living in Paris and married to a Frenchman, let me point out a few things: 85.5 % voter turnout is not only amazing, it is also without precedent. Even in France, 75% voter turnout only last happened 40 years ago. This was a HUGE election. Every last granny in the nursing home went to the polls. 53-47 under those circumstances is one helluva mandate and Sarkozy knows it.

Sarkozy just gave his acceptance speech, in which he uttered the somewhat astounding—-and from a political point of view, needless—-line: "...and let me say to our American friends, they can count on our friendship."

Don't believe the crap about the car burnings: there were only slightly more car burnings last night than the night before the first round elections. As for Segolene and her remarks concerning violence in the "banlieues": there are certainly many here who saw her utterances as a threat. It was seen, certainly at least on the right, as something akin to blackmail. 

05/06 03:53 PMShare