| Jane Smiley |   |
George W. Bush with Brains (30 comments )
After the results of the French election came in, a friend of mine wrote me a note in which she called Sarkozy "George W. Bush with brains". I am sure she meant to indicate that Sarkozy will now lead France down the sort of corrupt, selfish, chaotic, inhumane, and militaristic path that Bush has led the US down, but still, that
Lots of people know more about France than I do, and no doubt Sarkozy doesn't mind some shocks to the system in the classic capitalist tradition (meaning stacking the deck with threats, guns, and/or bombers so the corporatists can have what they want), and I do think it would be too bad if France took up a kind of belated Blairism. Life is way better in France than it is in England, shame on the Brits.
Even so, I am inclined to give Sarkozy a chance. The first thing he did was ask Bush to "take the lead on global warming", the very thing that Bush is least inclined to do. He has, therefore, set a condition for his relationship to the US. Surely he knows that Bush resents suggestions from others--in order for him to want to do something, he has to think it's his own idea. And now old Sarko has challenged him on something that is at the very heart of what Bush wants to protect, the oil industry. Sarko has given us an indicator--if he keeps pressing Bush on global warming, we'll know he's got actual brains and isn't the suck-up that Tony Blair is. If he lets global warming go, then we'll know that he's failed in his official capacity as the president of FRANCE, and become Bush's French poodle.
As Bush's French poodle, of course, one of his first duties would be to support the war in Iraq, and, even, perhaps, send French troops. This is another indicator, and even, from the point of view of Washington, a litmus test. "Coalition" troops in Iraq are fading away like the snows of Kilimanjaro. If Sarko decides to buck French policy and send some troops, that would be another sign that a Sarkozy government will haul water for the Bushies. In honor of the Triple Crown, I'll give you 10 to 1 against French troops heading to Iraq.
What people object to about Sarkozy is his hotheaded and outspoken pugnacity and the fact that he would like to dismantle, or at least modify, the French welfare state. Some 54% of French voters seem not to mind the idea of slightly modifying the French welfare state, and I would say that that is their business rather than mine, but I like that pugnacity. One of the demoralizing things about Tony Blair is that he has never shown any pugnacity towards Bush at all. "Fawnng" is the word that springs to mind. Or "creepy". Or "smarmy, slimey, wormlike, crawling, spineless, unprincipled". Maybe if he had been a little more hot-tempered, he would have shown some character. But Sarkozy's irritability is another indicator. Does he only call Muslim rioters "scum", or is he willing to call Dick Cheney "scum", too?
Sarkozy has been a bureaucrat for many years, and some of his policies have been effective. Bush was just an oil man. Nothing he ever did was ever meant to serve the public good or even to consider it. He came into office with no experience except that of lining his own pockets and having his ass saved by his daddy's friends. What I am watching for in Sarkozy are signs that he is a tool of the world-wide uberclass of war profiteers, oil profiteers, and finance profiteers. Mere conservatism is not the same thing.
And then there's this, the 85% turnout. If 85% of the voters go to the polls, that means to me (correct me if you think I am wrong, which I know you will) that French voters aren't asleep at the wheel the way American voters are. If Sarko goes too far down the Bush path, I'll give you 5 to 1 that French voters will kick him out. It's a great thing, democracy.
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