The French Connection

It turns out that an international leader is emulating DW. But it's not Obama, despite what the Globe reported last year.

It turns out that DW's doppelgänger is Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also relentlessly bold, aggressively optimistic, and incredibly ambitious: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090406.wcosarko07/BNStory/specialComment/home

The problem is that Sarkozy hasn't listened hard enough to DW. According to David Rieff, after less than three years in power, "Many in Mr. Sarkozy's governing Union for a Popular Movement have become increasingly public in expressing their unhappiness. In effect, rather than according serious room for decision-making to Prime Minister François Fillon or his cabinet, Mr. Sarkozy has arrogated almost every lever of power to himself and advisers."

For a cabinet revolt to happen in NL, there would have to be an actual cabinet, rather than the current simulacrum.

That's not all. Rieff continues, "But Mr. Sarkozy has not governed effectively, as polling and his party's disenchantment make abundantly clear. His manic character - initiative spilling into initiative, each being the transformative solution to the problem at hand, and all opposition denounced as lies or cowardice - has worn thin."

Sure sounds like DW: manic character, manic initiatives, manic insults. Denounce anyone who disagrees with you. But Sarkozy did not have DW's secret weapon: CRAPolls.

Insulated by CRAPolls, a simulation cabinet, and deep coatings of Teflon, DW will surely outlast the President of France.

In the last paragraph of his essay, Rieff compares Obama and Sarkozy: "At a recent press conference, U.S. President Barack Obama said he was loath to comment immediately on matters of great public importance before being certain he knew the subject in question. Many French wish such self-discipline could rub off on Mr. Sarkozy. Given his temperament, however, that hardly seems likely. As a result, an administration in which many had placed high hopes is lapsing into demagoguery and ineffectiveness."

Message to Nicolas -- Don't worry, just contact these guys and soon you'll be soaring high above the maddening crowd: http://www.cra.ca/en/home/Locations/default.aspx