THE STAGE IS BEING SET FOR A CHIRAC RESIGNATION

LONDON TIMES - (hat tip ROGER L SIMON):

"... speculation mounted over a severely discredited Jacques Chirac’s ability to endure the last 17 months of his presidential term. ... Chirac’s response to the mayhem engulfing the country has been widely condemned. He has said virtually nothing about it, heightening perceptions of him as a politically irrelevant figure.

He looked pale and deflated on Thursday in a rare public appearance, prompting rumours that the blood vessel problem for which he was hospitalised for a week in September — some described it as a mild stroke — might have inflicted more damage than previously acknowledged. The 72-year-old head of state has been off balance ever since voters defied him by rejecting the European Union constitution in May.

Even his lieutenants in the centre-right governing team seemed to be putting the boot in. “Chirac looks stunned, almost overtaken by events,” Jean-Louis Debré, president of the national assembly, was quoted as saying. ... A less charitable interpretation was that he had become hopelessly out of touch. On Thursday he made a rare admission of failure by accepting that the government had not acted quickly enough in tackling racial discrimination.

I believe these comments are an orhestrated preamble, setting the stage and making ready the excuse (health) for Chirac's imminent resignation - (maybe as soon next week, if things the rioting gets worse). STAY TUNED.