Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
U heard it here 1st (or not, as the case may be)
OK, 'whups' is a bit strong - 52% vs 48% in the second round - but still.
OK, 'whups' is a bit strong - 52% vs 48% in the second round - but still.
Hollande whups Sarko!
- Thread starter Mr. Tea
- Start date
Sectionfive
bandwagon house
good fucking riddance
crackerjack
Well-known member
And poor Carla now finds herself married to an unemployed irritable dwarf. This really isn't what she signed up for.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
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Isn't Sarko now leader of the opposition? Or is he retiring altogether?
padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
Hollande is just a rerun of Mitterrand (who, people forget, imposed an austerity of his own in 1983: tournant de la rigueur) innit, i.e. pure establishment, moreso even than Sarko probably, albeit it left-center establishment. I think the Greek electoral results are a lot more interesting and, depending on your pov, heartening/troubling. left and (literally fascist) far-right coming into power in the wake of catastrophic economic and resulting social upheaval. what bit of history does that remind you of? granted Greece, like Italy and Spain, has always had very strong left and anarchist movements as well as a strong right, street-fighting has always been very common, but this is different in that they're gaining mainstream electoral success, a complete rejection of the status quo of the last 40 years (since the dictatorship, that is). at the very least you'd think there's a strong chance Greek will leave the Euro, but it's also a screaming alarm bell for the rest of Europe. Marie L-P pulled almost 1/5 of the vote after all.
we'll see where things are in a year and a half when the next German elections come up.
we'll see where things are in a year and a half when the next German elections come up.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
what i don't understand is why the markets are only now getting shaky, whereas they should have been shaky ever since an election was announced. Surely anyone with half a brain could predict that the Greek elections would deliver a massive 'fuck you' to austerity, and market analysts specialise in predicting what will happen in the future. they're a bit shit at it, aren't they?
Sectionfive
bandwagon house
It's only a political crisis when the wrong politicians are elected innit
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
As the article points out, it's difficult to balance books when most of your policies are going to increase expenditure. Do you happen to have any idea where Hollande stands on foreign, and especially defence, policy? France has a huge military budget, about the same as the UK's, so an easy way to save some euros would be reduce involvement in overseas adventuring. Though of course this would make France unpopular with other NATO/UN members that would have to take up the slack in various places and I dunno how popular it would be even with left-of-centre voters, especially in light of the recent Mohammed Merah case.
padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
^he don't really have much of a prior FP record. he's pledged all troops out of Afghan by the end of 2012 but Sarko had pledged end of 2013 so that's not exactly a radical departure. his line on Iran is basically identical to Sarko's. wouldn't be surprised if he backed an eventual intervention in Syria either. oh + I doubt he'll pull back French presence in Africa, on the grounds that no French president ever does.
the thing is he wants to raise spending while simultaneously reducing deficit. I'm no economist but I just don't see how the hell he can do that. he can talk a big anti-austerity game all he wants but let's see what he's saying + doing a year from now.
the thing is he wants to raise spending while simultaneously reducing deficit. I'm no economist but I just don't see how the hell he can do that. he can talk a big anti-austerity game all he wants but let's see what he's saying + doing a year from now.
padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
you've got it backwards. politicians elected only ever reflect back the severity of what's already going on.
craner
Beast of Burden
I was unhappy that Sarko lost -- not really because I thought he deserved to win this time, but for the lost opportunity of his regime. I won't go into economics or labour law or Anglo-Saxon models or anything like that, but in terms of French foreign policy, he was different to his predecessors and (by definition) comparatively positive, I think. Even rhetorically to junk the Mitterand-Chirac Francophone/Quai d'Orsay doctrinal tendencies was an extremely good and overdue move. To offer Bernard Kouchner the role of Foreign Minister was a bold and imaginative thing to do.
Sadly, he was undone by The Crash, Carla Bruni and Marine le Pen. The French junked him because he lost the plot, not because they did not believe in what he originally stood for -- which had a constituency, even if he didn't.
Sadly, he was undone by The Crash, Carla Bruni and Marine le Pen. The French junked him because he lost the plot, not because they did not believe in what he originally stood for -- which had a constituency, even if he didn't.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Yeah, I've heard some pretty murky-sounding things about France's exercise of soft and not-so-soft power in its old African colonies.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Yep, people thus inclined found someone even more racist than him to vote for. Poor Sarkozy.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Indeed. Snail butcherers.
blacktulip
Pregnant with mandrakes
I like them to eat. If you're going to pick on France, music seems a better place to start.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Dunno, they've had a few bright moments in the past.
Anyways, wasn't picking on France really - they kicked Sarkozy out, and good on them for it.
Anyways, wasn't picking on France really - they kicked Sarkozy out, and good on them for it.