Article

2005-05-31 Europe

never-elected-to-office de Villepin is new French PM

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Posted by too true 2005-05-31 09:48|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 This is great news! This allows Nick to watch Dominic screw up in aces while setting up his fortunes for '07 or even earlier if the government falls on de Villepin's watch (which is highly likely since Dominic is a Chirac clone).

Posted by Jack is Back!">Jack is Back! 2005-05-31 10:00|| 2005-05-31 10:00|| Front Page Top

#2 Ok, Fred - now we need a pic of Dominique (reputed to be a man) doing his best raised-chin Benito Mussolini impersonation...

Posted by mojo">mojo 2005-05-31 10:06|| 2005-05-31 10:06|| Front Page Top

#3 This is gettin' to be quite the little soap opera. Just needs a fresh sex scandal now.

Posted by Tom 2005-05-31 10:07|| 2005-05-31 10:07|| Front Page Top

#4 Wonder if Dom baby has written a poem to celebrate this momentous occasion?

I'd rather listen to Vogon verse, myself.

Posted by Desert Blondie 2005-05-31 10:13|| http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com]">[http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com] 2005-05-31 10:13|| Front Page Top

#5 Just yesterday on Bloomberg or one of the other cable finace channels I saw the FT.com guys say Villepin would never be chosen!

Obviously, they have no clue what they are talking about.

Posted by 3dc 2005-05-31 11:13|| 2005-05-31 11:13|| Front Page Top

#6 Gee, my rowboat is tied to the Titanic. What could go wrong?

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-05-31 11:18|| 2005-05-31 11:18|| Front Page Top

#7 How could the French President appoint a man as Prime Minister who is so patently anti-American? This is not at all helpful for Franco-American relations. de Villepin's immoderate use of language about the United States and his clearly duplications dealings with the United States and its enemies should have disqualified him from serving in this post. The President of France has a moral and ethical obligation to pursue policies and appoint individuals which would narrow the gap between our two nations.

France already suffers from a world-wide opinion of it as a rogue nuclear state, as well as a state that pursues a foreign policy bereft of international sanction. Its unilateral military interventions and neo colonialist policies have made it nearly a pariah in the world. Only a foreign policy dedicated to rapprochement with the United States can restore any of France's former prestige on the world stage. This appointment does not pursue that goal, but make it much more difficult to achieve. [/sarcasm]

Posted by Chuck Simmins">Chuck Simmins 2005-05-31 11:40|| http://blog.simmins.org]">[http://blog.simmins.org] 2005-05-31 11:40|| Front Page Top

#8 Looks to me like a page out of French Politics 101:

When zee president is up to his neck in zee soupe de merde, he must appoint as prime minister an individual even more universally loathed than himself. Toute suite (if not sooner). Does de Villepin give you the creeps? Oh, how that makes Jacques happy! You are not thinking of him!

Posted by mrp 2005-05-31 12:34|| 2005-05-31 12:34|| Front Page Top

#9 Is anyone getting that erie felling that we have seen and 'unelected' politician elevated to a PM by a weak President? Do the names Otto Von Hindenberg and Adolf Hitler ring a bell? But then Hitler was the leader of the National Socialist and de Villepin is a Communists. Like many of his American brothers de Villepin probably believes that communisism hasn't worked because he has been in charge.

Posted by Cyber Sarge 2005-05-31 13:51|| 2005-05-31 13:51|| Front Page Top

#10 It should be pretty obvious that this vote is bad news for the US. Note that close to one third of the French electorate is either the rabidly anti-US far left or the rabidly anti-US far right. And the swing vote in this referendum belonged to the anti-globo left wing of the Socialist Party. It's pretty obvious that the only way Villepin can have any popularity at all is to play the anti-US card, again and again, with as much force as he can muster.

Mark my word: Merkel or no Merkel, the EU Three will wobble on Iran. Sarkozy will not attain office before Villepin has sold the mullahs everything they seek. No better way to appease that 70% or more of the implacably anti-American French public than to score some quick and highly public contracts with the mullahs and with the Chinese.

The only question is which venue that bombastic ass, he of the flowing silver mane and the purple prose, will choose for his grands gestes. Maybe a signing ceremony with the mullahs under the grand obelisk in the Place de la Concorde?

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-05-31 14:13|| 2005-05-31 14:13|| Front Page Top

#11 He's got great hair, doesn't he? Nice insouciant knotting of his cravat, too.

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-05-31 14:18|| 2005-05-31 14:18|| Front Page Top

#12
#2: Is that the one? With the fuzzy sash?

Posted by Fred 2005-05-31 14:19|| 2005-05-31 14:19|| Front Page Top

#13 He could stand in for George Hamilton. Needs a bit more orange in his perpetual tan, though.

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-05-31 14:32|| 2005-05-31 14:32|| Front Page Top

#14 1. Cyber sarge, Villepin belongs to the same Gaullist party as Chirac, (and Sarkozy for that matter. The French communists supported the Non vote.

2. The two leading figures left in the Gaullist party who could have been PM were Villepin, and Sarkozy. Chirac didnt have the cojones to appoint his main adversary as PM, so Villepin was all that was left.

3. Im not certain that they'll cave to the Iranians. Too much of the business elite in both France and Germany dont want to alienate the US further. That means betraying us on Iran has to be done subtly - Doctor of Philosophy (in Political Science) Rice has, by SUPPORTING the EU3, and moving away from confrontational rhetoric, outmaneuvered Chirac, I think - it takes away the excuse that the US isnt supporting the negotiations. That, combined with the open intransigence of the Iranians, is pushing the EU3 in the direction of a UNSC referral, though excuses for foot dragging will be sought.

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-05-31 14:36|| 2005-05-31 14:36|| Front Page Top

#15 I actually adjusted the colors to try and get him into the human category and out of the citrus.

Posted by Fred 2005-05-31 14:47|| 2005-05-31 14:47|| Front Page Top

#16 I'd still bet they'll cave. First, it's obvious that the French public is out for politicians' heads. THey're justifiably furious at chronically high unemployment and sh**ty wages, and any French PM will be under enormous pressure to deliver some quick relief for the economic pain the blue-collar French are suffering.

Second, this vote represents the triumph of a far left / far right alliance based on hatred of foreigners. It's a very easy and obvious mental step to seek to transfer this energy from Turkish/Polish bogeymen to American ones. Villepin's just the guy to do so.

I'd bet good money that we will soon hear of a multi-billion euro investment by either Renault or Bouygues or Alcatel in Iran.

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-05-31 14:50|| 2005-05-31 14:50|| Front Page Top

#17 What I want to know is, how can we have had all these EU threads without someone posting a fresh jpg of Sabine Herold? (OK, I think she supported the constitution, but in her case I'm willing both to forgive and forget.)

Posted by Matt 2005-05-31 14:54|| 2005-05-31 14:54|| Front Page Top

#18 Dom's family bought the last name.

Posted by anonymous2u 2005-05-31 15:05|| 2005-05-31 15:05|| Front Page Top

#19 #12 - Fred

Close enough for gubmint work...

Posted by mojo 2005-05-31 15:15|| 2005-05-31 15:15|| Front Page Top

#20 "de Villepin" was the name of an aristocrat who supported the American revolution. He and his whole family were murdered during the French revolution, and the name was sold to an ambitious man who wanted his descendants to pretend that their better, aristocratic part was related and under ground.

You see, in Europe the elite judges you by your name and who your ancestors "were".

Posted by Kalle (kafir forever) 2005-05-31 16:51|| 2005-05-31 16:51|| Front Page Top

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