OT: Bad news from France :-((

[europegirl4jfk]

It doesn't look good for Ségolène Royal. If we get Sarkozy we'll have our own little GW Bush. :cry:

French intellectuals abandoning Royal

PARIS - One by one, several French writers and intellectuals are making the startling confessions. After decades as committed leftists, they are defecting to the right — many saying they've lost faith in Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal.

With just 10 weeks to go until the election's first round, Royal still has no platform. She has made gaffes on international affairs, and her popularity with intellectuals and ordinary voters alike has slipped, leaving conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy at the top of the polls.

more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070209/ap_on_re_eu/france_royal_s_gamble


(Okay, I have to run - no, not for president! *g* Have to catch a plane to Germany in a few hours and won't be around for a few days since I have no Internet over there.)

[PresidentObama]

1. I'm sorry to hear that. I'm "waiting on the world to change"

:cry:

[Mass]

2. Thanks, some of these names are surprising.

Not so much Glucksmann and Brückner, who are never been than much from the left (particularly Glucksman, who is still living on his reputation from 1968), but Gallo and Hanin certainly.

However, it may also be an older generation fearing changed Hanin and Gallo being probably in their 70s by now (well 80 for Hanin in fact, and 75 for Gallo).

However, it is true that the polls look a little bit worrying these days, but the platform should happen this week-end, if I understand it correctly.

Go, Ségolène. Sarkozy is really frightening.

[Mass]

3. Have you read this about Sarkozy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2009944,00.html

[cadmium]

4. I find that people here (USA) underestimate

the relentless right wing corporate-supported currents in Europe and Asia. Every once in a while I chat with people from a country with a socialized system that has come to see the American health care system first hand. They get a very skewed idea of healthcare in the US from insurance marketeers, drug companies, and our research journals. The usually only visit well-endowed teaching hospitals. I believe The Netherlands has "reformed" their national health system recently; modeling the US with the notion that we are more efficient.