Sarkozy: Obama Is A "Mad Lunatic"

From this article in the European Union Times (hat tip to Gateway Pundit):

A new report circulating in the Kremlin today authored by France’s Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) and recently “obtained” by the FSB shockingly quotes French President Nicolas Sarkozy [photo top right with Obama] as stating that President Barack Obama is “a dangerous[ly] aliéné”, which translates into his, Obama, being a “mad lunatic”, or in the American vernacular, “insane”.

According to this report, Sarkozy was “appalled” at Obama’s “vision” of what the World should be under his “guidance” and “amazed” at the American Presidents unwillingness to listen to either “reason” or “logic”. Sarkozy’s meeting where these impressions of Obama were formed took place nearly a fortnight ago at the White House in Washington D.C., and upon his leaving he “scolded” Obama and the US for not listening closely enough to what the rest of the World has to say.

Apparently, as this report details, the animosity between Sarkozy and Obama arose out of how best the West can deal with the growing threat posed by rising Islamic fundamentalism....

Read the entire article HERE. It's comprehensive and a doozie!

RELIAPUNDIT ADDS: GREAT POST, AOW!

BTW: PUNDITARIAN POSTED A LINK-FILLED ESSAY ON THIS DIAGNOSIS BEFORE THE ELECTION IN AUGUST 2008.

PHILLIPE KARSENTY ASKS FOR SARKO'S INTERVENTION IN AL-DURAH HOAX CASE

Phillipe Karsenty, who led the way in unmasking the Mohammed al-Durah blood libel as a hoax, is going to press on for French president Nicholas Sarkozy to get France 2 to apologize:

Despite the fact that the 41-year-old French Jew won a major court battle earlier this year against the France 2 television station, Karsenty told a local audience that he would press on until French President Nicholas Sarkozy intervenes and orders the station to apologize.

He's right, the crappy TV station should be pressed to apologize and confess - in public, and if Charles Enderlin hasn't been fired, he should be. Why, he should be practically ostracized everywhere and anywhere for his role in the blood libel.

THE PRESIDENT AND FIRST LADY OF FRANCE GET RAVE REVIEWS

PRESIDENT AND MRS. SARKOZY BOTH WORE PRADA!

It is rare, if unheard of, for a president of France to be upstaged at his own inauguration. But when former model Cécilia Sarkozy swept up the red-carpeted steps of the Elysée palace yesterday, France's new First Lady stole the show from husband Nicolas.

Mrs Sarkozy looked more like a star arriving the Cannes film festival than the matronly presidential consorts France is accustomed to. Camera shutters whirred as the 49-year old, holding the hand of their ten-year-old son Louis, brought Jackie Kennedy glamour to proceedings in an ivory duchess satin Prada dress.

MORE HERE.

On a serious note: The Bush Administration is just as excited by the Sarkozy Administration.

THE FIRST ORDER OF PRESIDENT SARKOZY: THE LAST LETTER OF GUY MOQUET

Before Sarko left for Germany and his first foreign visit, hje ordered all French schools to red the last letter of Guy Moquet. (French-Wiki bio HERE. He was the youngest of 27 anti-Nazi militants executed by the Germans in 1940 - before the USA joined in the WW2.)

President Sarko said that all children should learn the horrors of war - but I think he also wants to remind them that the courage to fight for, and even die for a cause greater than yourself is important. Here is the "Google translation"; (a better one will soon follow):

My small mom cherished, my very adored little brother, my small loved dad,

I will die! What I ask you, you, in particular my small mom, it is to be courageous. I am it and I want to be it as much as those which passed before me.

Admittedly, I will have wanted to live.

But what I wish of all my heart, it is that my serf death with something. I did not have time to kiss Jean. I kissed my two brothers Roger and Rino. As for true I cannot do it alas!

I éspère that all my businesses will be returned to you, they could be used for Serge, who I it discount will be proud to carry them one day.

With you, small Dad, if I made you, like with small Mom, many sorrows, I greet you last once. Knows that I made my to better follow the way than you traced me. A last good-bye with all my friends and my brother whom I love much. That it studies well to be later a man.

17 years and half! My life was short!

I do not regret any, if is not to leave you all.

I will die with Tintin, Michels .

Mom, which I ask you, which I want that you promise to me, it is to be courageous and to overcome your sorrow. I cannot put some more. I leave you all, all, you Maman, Serge, Papa, I kiss you of all my heart of child.

Courage!

Your Guy who loves you

Last thoughts: “You all which remain, be worthy of us, the 27 who will die!”

The message for France: Be worthy. Be brave. Your true tests lie ahead.

SARKOZY WILL OPPOSE ISLAMO-MISOGYNY

We've posted quite a lot about the centrality of Women's Lib to demolishing jihadism. Perhaps Sarko agrees.

VOLOKH/KOPEL (VIA DR. SANITY):

Sarkozy: In English:

"I want to launch a call to all those in the world who believe in the values of tolerance, of liberty, of democacy and of humanism, to all those who are persecuted by the tyrannies and by the dictators, to all the children and to all the martyrized women in the world to say to them that the pride, the duty of France will at their sides, that they can count on her."

(The italicized words were in the speech as delivered, but not in the prepared text.) Pretty good so far. Then, Sarkozy delivered a paragraph which did not appear in the prepared text ...

"France will be at the sides of the Libyan nurses locked up for eight years; France will not abandon Ingrid Betancourt; France will not abandon the women who are condemned to the burqa; France will not abandon the women who do not have liberty. France will be by the side of the oppressed of the world. This is the message of France; this is the identity of France; this is the history of France."

BRAVO!

SARKOZY READYING ANOTHER ELECTORAL VICTORY

UK INDEPENDENT:

The French centrist politician François Bayrou split with the majority of his own members of parliament yesterday and launched a new political party, the Mouvement Démocrate.

M. Bayrou, 55, who had once seemed capable of springing a surprise in the presidential election, said that he was creating a "new, independent political force" of "free men and women".

By a show of hands at a conference in Paris, grass-roots members voted overwhelmingly to dissolve M. Bayrou's old party, the Union pour la Démocratie Francaise (UDF).

However, 21 out of the 29 UDF deputies in the national assembly repudiated M. Bayrou. They have bowed to pressure from France's president-elect, Nicolas Sarkozy, and agreed to join a "centrist" section of his centre-right party, the Union Pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP).

As I posted three days ago, Sarko needs a compromise-proof majority in the National Assembly to govern effectively and institute the necessary reforms. AND AS I FURTHER POSTED, the first crucial step for him would be to consolidate voters from Bayrou.

I think this news-item proves that he's taken the steps necessary to do just that.

WHO EXACTLY IS THE "DIVISIVE" SARKOZY DIVIDING

TAB has been covering the reactions to Sarkozy's election coming from some of the more violent segments of the French population (e.g. here and here) . We'd like to be more specific than that, but we only know what we read in the press - and although they've been very insistent that Sarkozy is "divisive", they've been a little less forthcoming on precisely where those divisions lie. Because that description seems a little weird to us, given how he drew support from across almost all sectors of French society:

Nicolas Sarkozy won the women's vote and fared well among blue-collar workers, even though his rival for the French presidency was a woman and a Socialist. It was one of the surprising subplots in Sarkozy's resounding election victory over Segolene Royal — and shows his vision of pro-market reforms and scaling back immigration appeals to a wide audience. Sarkozy's ability to attract votes from a broad spectrum of the public is an early indication he may be able to overcome his image as a polarizing force and achieve crucial popular support for pushing through his ambitious program of overhauling France's welfare system.

Well, almost all sectors. AP got the number of burned cars wrong by an entire order of magnitude, did they? And that's compared to the undoubtedly lowballed numbers provided by the French press, is it? We refuse to believe it.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]

THE SARKOZY INTIFADA CONTINUES - DAY THREE

YAHOO/AFP:

France saw a third consecutive night of angry protests on Tuesday in the wake of the weekend election victory of right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy as president, but on a smaller scale than on previous days.

In eastern central Paris, around 150 protestors tried to block access to the Bastille district but were dispersed by a large number of police. Police said they arrested several people.

On Monday night, around 500 youths shouting "Sarko, fascist!" had gone on a rampage in the same area, burning 10 cars, looting two stores including a supermarket and smashing windows, police said.

More than 200 people were rounded up that night during four hours of clashes in which protesters threw stones, beer cans and bottles at police, one of whom was injured.

AP:

The leader of France's defeated Socialists appealed for calm Tuesday after a second night of post-election violence left cars burned and store windows smashed.

While the unrest has been small-scale, it sent a message to Nicolas Sarkozy: He may have won the presidency, but he hasn't won over the many French who consider him - and his free-market reforms and tough line on crime and immigration - frighteningly brutal.

YEAH - I LOVE THAT! THAT'S RICH!

SARKO WANTS TO REFORM FRANCE, AND SOMEHOW, TO THE LEFTISTS, THAT'S "BRUTAL"; WHEREAS THEIR RIOTING IS SOMEHOW... BENEFICIAL!?

THE LEFT TODAY: IDIOTS & DUPES, LIARS & HYPOCRITES. DID I LEAVE OUT TRAITORS?

BTW: IN ANOTHER STORY ON THE MATTER, AFP - IN TYPICAL LEFTIST/MSM/PROPAGANDIST-STYLE - MADE A BIGGER ISSUE OF SARKO'S VACATION, THEN THE RIOTS!

THE SARKOZY INTIFADA - CONTINUED...

WE FIRST BLOGGED ON THIS HERE - 3/27/07.

WELL, IT'S CONTINUING... JUST AS SEGO PROMISED...

THE REACTIONARY SEGOLENE GAINS ON CHANGE-AGENT SARKOZY

BELFAST TELEGRAPH:

SOCIALIST French presidential contender Ségolène Royal has narrowed the lead of conservative Nicolas Sarkozy ahead of next Sunday's run-off vote.

An Ipsos poll published yesterday showed Royal had edged up 0.5 percentage points to 47.5%, compared with Sarkozy's 52.5%.

... Royal yesterday wooed the middle-ground voters of failed candidate Francois Bayrou, crucial to her bid to become France's first woman president, while polls put Sarkozy ahead going into the run-off. As the heated campaign heads into a climactic final week, Royal is scrambling to woo Bayrou's seven million voters to her camp.

... Royal - who just weeks ago dismissed calls for an alliance with Bayrou and whose camp viewed Bayrou as a bigger threat than Sarkozy - repeatedly stressed yesterday the similarities between her vision for France and Bayrou's.

But Bayrou reminded her of their differences, in particular over her leftist economic programme. ... Still, by appearing on the same stage with Royal yesterday, Bayrou managed to indirectly support her while maintaining his political independence....

Royal is working to make the run-off a referendum on the character of the pugnacious and blunt former interior minister, whose platform of economic reforms and tough measures against crime and immigration - and often brutal language and attitude - scare many in the opposing camp.

SEGOLENE IS THE REACTIONARY IN THE RACE; HER STRONGEST SHOWING IS AMONG YOUNG LEFTISTS WHO DON'T WANT THEIR ENTITLEMENTS CHANGED.

THEREFORE, THIS CONTEST IS NOT A REFERENDUM ON SARKOZY, BUT A TEST OF THE FRENCH PEOPLE: IF THEY ARE MOSTLY COWARDS - AFRAID OF CHANGE, (AND AFRAID THEY WILL FAIL IN A MORE FREE MARKETPLACE), THEN THEY WILL ELECT SEGOLENE AND THE SOCIALISTS.

FRENCH MUSLIMS: OVERWHELMINGLY FOR SEGOLENE AND AGAINST SARKOZY

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD/AP:

... Muslims from troubled neighbourhoods voted for the first time on Sunday, saying they were motivated by one desire: to keep the law-and-order, tough-on-immigrants Nicolas Sarkozy from power.

The Socialist Segolene Royal won more than 40 per cent of the vote in Paris suburbs such as Clichy-sous-Bois, where riots had broken out in 2005.

[THAT'S NEARLY TWICE THE AMOUNT SHE GOT NATIONALLY!]

Voter registration was up throughout France, for a total of 44.5 million, but few areas experienced as dramatic a rise as the poor suburbs.

In Seine-Saint-Denis, the rough region that includes Clichy-sous-Bois, voter registration was up by 8.5 per cent compared with an average nationwide increase of 4.2 per cent, the Interior Ministry said. ...

Mr Sarkozy is deeply unpopular in housing estates where the residents are mostly second- and third-generation immigrants, many of them Muslims from former colonies in North Africa. "If Sarkozy wins there will certainly be riots here in Clichy and all over France," said Moroccan-born Mohammed Saidi, 43, a first-time voter in Clichy-sous-Bois.

One activist, a Togo-born rapper who goes by the name of Rost, said a few words would suffice to mend Mr Sarkozy's relations with disaffected youths.

Mr Sarkozy must "show he respects us", Rost said. "All he has to do is go on television and say, 'I'm sorry'."

NO, THE ISLAMO-THUGS SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO FRANCE. INSTEAD, THEY WILL PROBABLY WAGE ANOTHER INTIFADA - THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE THREATENING.

BOTTOM-LINE: THE LEFT NEEDS THE MUSLIM VOTE TO WIN, AND THEY WILL GET IT, EASILY: IT'S NO STRETCH FOR THEM: THE LEFT AND THE MUSLIMS ARE NATURAL ALLIES - THEY BOTH HATE THE WEST AND TRADITIONAL JUDEO-CHRISTIAN VALUES.

ON ONE LEVEL THIS CONTEST IS BETWEEN THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN THE PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC (AND THE EVENTUAL ANGLO-AMERICANIZATION OF FRANCE), AND THOSE WHO STILL BELIEVE IN A LEFTIST WELFARE ETHIC (AND THE EVENTUAL ISLAMICIZATION OF FRANCE).

THE FORK IN THE ROAD LIES A MERE TWO WEEKS AHEAD OF US.

RAW VIDEO: NICHOLAS ET SEGOLENE

AND IT HAS MUSIC AND LYRICS! (IN FRENCH.)

FRENCH ELECTION: WHO DID THE MUSLIMS VOTE FOR?

Two things:

First, I saw Sego's "victory" speech - live on Euronews on TV. Most of the women in the audience were wearing HIJABS! (I'm looking for a link to the video.)

Second, here's a color-coded map of France (VIA NO PASARAN) with blue for Sarko and red for Sego. Interestingly, from this map it appears that Sarko won Paris - except for the arrondisements which are overwhelmingly MUSLIM - they went for Sego, the socialist.

I think these two tidbits add up: they show - once again - that the Left and the Muslims are natural allies --- BIRDS OF A FEATHER. They both hate traditional Western/Judeo-Christian culture.

Sego herself is so inimical; to traditonal values that despite beiog the mother of 4 kids, she has refused to marry.

[ASIDE: I was the single solitary person in the world to accurately predict that Sarko would get 30%+! (I was wrong about Le Pen finishing in second. WHICH IS FINE WITH ME!)]

WHAT I SAW ON TV AT SEGOLENE ROYAL'S VICTORY RALLY

I watched Segolene Royal speak to her supporters at a rally after it was announced she came in second and will be in the runoff.

YOU KNOW WHAT I SAW WHEN THE CAMERA TURNED ON THE AUDIENCE TO SHOW THEM APPLAUDING?

I saw that at least half of the women - right up there in front - WERE WEARING HIJABS.

I was shocked, but I shouldn't be: the Left in Europe gets a lot of support from Muslims. They are natural allies - (BIRDS OF A FEATHER): they both hate traditional Judeo-Christian Civilization.

Segolene has children, but never married. Very postmodern of her. And anti-traditional.

I also watched some of a BBC special on the election. A l pollster they interviewed said that Segolene got most - by far - of the youth vote. Other polls also show that IN FRANCE.... the youth are MOST OPPOSED TO CHANGE. They like the nanny-state perks and don't want to lose them. I guess they don't mid 25% unemployment rates! After all, the state pays them support!

Sarkozy wants to change all that. If France has balls they will elect Sarkozy.

If they're pussies they will elect Segolene.

How apt.

FRENCH ELECTION: TURNOUT HUGE - RESULTS.... SARKOZY AND ROYAL

TURNOUT HUGE - MORE THAN 2002.

AND ACCORDING TO A BELGIAN POLL:

IT'S SARKOZY WITH 30% AND ROYAL WITH 26%.

THEY MAKE THE RUN OFF - WITH SARKOZY FAVORED.

(BAYROU GETS 16% AND LE PEN 11% - ACCORDING TO THE SAME BELGIAN POLL.)

STAY TUNED.

FRANCE: Sarko leads, but Le Pen is surging...

AFP/PENINSULA:

The poll by CSA-CISCO shows right-wing candidate Sarkozy with 26.5 per cent and Socialist Segolene Royal in second with 25.5 per cent. The two frontrunners each lost half a point compared to the last poll. Le Pen clocked in at 16.5 per cent to overtake centrist candidate Francois Bayrou in first round intentions to vote. Bayrou lost one point to fall to 16 per cent.

SCOTSMAN:

Mr Le Pen is currently polling between 13 and 16 per cent, more than he was at the same period in 2002. Analysts warn that it is difficult to establish accurate voting intentions for the 78 year-old leader of the xenophobic far right because of his supporters' reluctance to admit their allegiance.

HERE'S WHY I FEEL SARKOZY WILL WIN, AND WHY I AM HOPEFUL FRANCE MAY SURVIVE: GUARDIAN:

Nicolas Sarkozy, the rightwing frontrunner in France's first-round presidential vote, has spent weeks stressing that he has mellowed. But at his final campaign rally in front of 20,000 people in Marseille, the former interior minister who once suggested wayward suburban youths were scum, sent a clear message: "I'm still myself."

Reclaiming the passion he had recently toned down, he dripped with sweat as he promised to be France's "protector" and restore faith in a country crippled by unemployment, economic stagnation and self-doubt.

"I hate this fashion for repentance that says France hates itself and its history," he roared. He said colonisation might have been an "unfair system" but would not apologise for it and talked of the debt owed to those "decent and hardworking French families" forced out of Africa. Boasting no fear of the "politically correct" lobby, he proudly repeated his codewords for a new moral and patriotic France. "Authority! Authority! Authority!" he shouted to wild cheers. He joked about critics' fears of a "police state", saying he would not back down on firm policing. The crowd went wild.

... For the awe-struck crowd at Marseille and millions across France, he is the only figure strong enough to restore French pride and kickstart the flagging economy by embracing liberalism with a more flexible labour market and lower tax. He promises to lock up young offenders, control immigration, rid the streets of crime and stop factories being moved from France to the lower-cost developing world. To his critics on the left, he is a divisive demagogue, a racist authoritarian, highly strung and driven by personal ambition.

Regardless of their political viewpoint, the majority of French people think he will win the second-round runoff on May 6 to become president of France.

IF SARKO IS DOING THIS WELL WITH HIS RIGHT-OF-CENTER RHETORIC IN THE ETHNICALLY MIXED MARSEILLE, THEN HE WILL DO EXTREMELY WELL IN THE NATION AS A WHOLE.

PERHAPS HE WILL DO BETTER IN THE FRST ROUND THAN THE POLLS SHOW - AND LE PEN WORSE.

J'ESPERE.

UPDATE: PJM'S Nidra Poller PREDICTS:

The candidates will effectively weigh in, as repeatedly predicted, in this order: Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP), Ségolène Royal (Socialist), François Bayrou (UDF), Jean-Marie Le Pen (Front National). The “small candidates” –Philippe de Villiers and Frédéric Nihous on the Right, Olivier Besancenot, José Bové, Marie-George Buffet, Arlette Laguiller, Gérard Schivardi Dominique Voynet on the Far Left will all be confined to the bull pen with low scores, 1 – 2 %, except for Besancenot who will probably reap 5%.

There will be no big surprises for Le Pen or Bayrou. Sarkozy’s lead over Royal should be in the upper rather than lower range …perhaps 5 points.

I DISAGREE. I THINK LE PEN WILL DO VERY WELL, AND FINISH IN SECOND. WHY?! LE PEN'S POLLING BETTER THIS TIME THAN LAST TIME, AND I THINK MORE OF BAYROU'S SUPPORT COMES FROM ROYAL, THAN SARKO'S COMES FROM LE PEN. HERE'RE MY NUMBERS:

• SARKO - 31%
• LE PEN - 19%
• ROYAL - 18%
• BAYROU - 17%
• ASSORTED LEFTIES - 15%

Je prie.

ALGERIAN AL QAIDA IS TARGETING FRANCE

Nicholas Sarkozy has warned that the Algerian al Qaida is targeting France, which is on red alert now for terrorist threats:

April 12 (Bloomberg) -- The al-Qaeda-linked group that killed 33 people in Algiers yesterday has members in Europe and is targeting France, said French presidential candidate and former Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

"The principal menace to France comes from Algeria, from the GSPC network that has transformed into al-Qaeda,'' Sarkozy said today in an interview with radio station Europe 1, referring to the former Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, now called al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb. "They have members in several European countries, including France.''

Sarkozy has led every poll so far this year as he focuses his campaign on law and order issues, though rivals such as Socialist Segolene Royal have tried to blame him for increasing tensions with what she calls his harsh and alarmist language. The first round of voting is April 22, with a runoff on May 6 between the top two candidates, expected to be Sarkozy and Royal.

Sarkozy said French police arrested 138 people in 2006 on suspicion of being linked to terrorist groups, and have arrested another 32 so far this year.

He said France's opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq doesn't keep it safe. "Al-Qaeda is the adversary of democracies,'' he said. "We are menaced. What happened in London, Madrid and New York could have happened here.''

Absolutely correct.

FRANCE AND SOCIALISM: THE FRENCH HAVE BEEN VOTING WITH THEIR FEET SINCE 1995 - AND LEAVING IN DROVES

TIME:

According to the Foreign Ministry, there has been a 40% increase in the number of those registering at French consulates abroad since 1995. People are leaving for all sorts of reasons, of course, ranging from greater opportunities to higher salaries, from romantic entanglements to the search for a foreign utopia that may not exist. Two people leave France every day for tax reasons alone, according to a recent Senate report.

But for the most part, those leaving are not wealthy retirees looking for a place in the sun; they are talented and ambitious young people in their 20s and 30s who have left because they felt they couldn't advance their careers at home, or because they were simply frustrated by the French system.

THEY LEAVE AND HEAD FOR THE UK AND THE USA - THE ANGLOSPHERE, WHY!? BECAUSE WE ARE LESS SOCIALISTIC AND MORE LIBERTARIAN. AND AS HAYEK WROTE: SOCIALISM IS THE ROAD TO SERFDOM

AS WE ALL KNOW, PROSPERITY IS A BY-PRODUCT OF LIBERTY.

THE NEW FRENCH IMMIGRANTS ARE LEAVING FOR THE EVERY SAME REASONS OUR FOREBEARS LEFT: TO MAKE A BETTER LIFE.

SO: WHY IN TH HECK WOULD ANYONE VOTE FOR A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WHO PROMISES TO MAKE THE USA MORE LIKE FRANCE - AS EACH AND EVERY DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE HAS PROMISED, BY PROMISING MORE SOCIALISM AND MORE APPEASEMENT!

IT MAKES NO SENSE.

BTW: IF ALL THE FRENCH YOUNG PEOPLE WITH AMBITION AND A LOVE FOR PERSONAL LIBERTY (AND BALLS!) CONTINUE TO LEAVE, ALL THAT'S GONNA BE LEFT ARE HARDCORE THE LEFTIES AND THE MUSLIMS.

WHICH JUST SPEEDS THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT TO ISLAMIFICATION. PITY...

SARKOZY MIGHT BE ABLE TO STOP THIS; ONLY HE CAN POSSIBLY REFORM FRANCE AND LEAD A THATCHERIAN-REAGAN-ESQUE/HAYEKIAN REVOLUTION. IT'S MAINTENANT OR NEVER.

GOOD NEWS FROM FRANCE: SARKO BUILDS A BIGGER LEAD

AFP:

French right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy extended his lead against his presidential election rivals in a poll to be published today, the day before the official campaign period kicks off. Unofficial campaigning for the first round of the election on April 22 has been going on for weeks but from Monday tough restrictions come into place.

The IFOP poll for the Journal du Dimanche newspaper gives Sarkozy 30 per cent of the first-round vote, a two percentage point jump from a similar survey last week. Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal fell one percentage point to 22 per cent, but is still ahead of centrist Francois Bayrou at 19 per cent.

GRRRRRRREAT! THIS WOULD BE A TROUNCING! I HOPE NICOLAS WINS; ONLY SARKO HAS BALLS BIG ENOUGH TO ENABLE HIM TO POSSIBLY BECOME THE 21ST CENTURY, EQUIVALENT OF MARTEL & SOBIESKI - AND A CONTINENTAL THATCHER. AND LORD KNOIWS THIS IS WHAT EUROPE NEEDS.

THE SARKOZY INTIFADA: MORE EVIDENCE THAT THE RECENT RIOT IN PARIS WAS ELECTORALLY DRIVEN

I believe the recent riots right smack dab in the middle of Paris were instigated by islamo-thugs to make Sarkozy look ineffective, and to hurts him in the polls in order to elect a president who might be more likely to APPEASE the islamo-thugs - like Zapatero the Spanish Socialist who won the premiership right after the Atocha bombings. Here are excerpts from a few more reports which prove the HIGHLY POLITICAL nature of the riot - and how the Royal - the Socialist candidate - is also trying to exploit the ritos for personal and partisan gain:

IHT:

France's top presidential candidates seized on a new campaign issue Wednesday after the police fought gangs of youths for seven hours at a railroad station here. Shops were destroyed, the pall of tear gas filled the air of the Gare du Nord and 13 people were arrested. ... Sarkozy, the candidate of the center-right who resigned Monday as interior minister to focus on his campaign, called the violence unacceptable and congratulated the police for "doing their job."

"I want to tell the French people that I will not be on the side of fraudsters, cheats, dishonest people," Sarkozy said. "When individuals come to the rescue of someone who is committing fraud, that is particularly unacceptable, and I hope that the justice system will firmly sanction people who behave like that."

The Socialist candidate, Ségolène Royal, who is running second in the opinion polls, said the incident showed that Sarkozy had failed as interior minister. "In five years with a right-wing government that has made crime its main campaign issue, you can see that it's a failure all the way," she said on CanalPlus television.

François Bayrou, a centrist, also took aim at Sarkozy. "It is very important to end this climate of perpetual confrontation between police and some citizens," he said.

There has been sporadic violence in housing projects in some suburbs since the 2005 riots, but the events Tuesday were the worst unrest in the city itself since mass demonstrations over a proposed labor law degenerated into street fighting last spring.

In nearly four years as France's "No. 1 cop," Sarkozy built a reputation as a hard-line crime buster. His tough response to the riots was criticized by his opponents, who said he was stoking the unrest. But he was praised by others for preventing bloodshed and when the violence ended his approval ratings surged.

The incident Tuesday moved to the top of the agenda in a fast-moving presidential campaign in which shifting opinion and a high number of undecided voters has kept suspense high.

BBC:

Riots at a train station in the French capital, Paris, have become an issue in the upcoming presidential election. The government's candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, said police were justified in arresting an alleged fare dodger - the action that sparked the riots.

Socialist candidate Segolene Royal said the clashes resulted from Mr Sarkozy's failures as interior minister.

... The youths who gathered in the Gare du Nord on Tuesday shouted insults about Mr Sarkozy. [Umph added.]

SCOTSMAN/REUTERS:

Rivals accused rightist presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy of worsening tension between youths and police on Wednesday after clashes at a Paris train station overnight. ... Socialist officials said Tuesday's clashes were the legacy of the "provocative habits and language" of Sarkozy while its presidential candidate Segolene Royal said the violence highlighted Sarkozy's policy failures. ...

Centrist presidential hopeful Francois Bayrou, who trails Royal and Sarkozy in opinion polls, avoided criticising Sarkozy by name, but said: "It's very important to end this climate of perpetual confrontation between police and some citizens."

... critics say he [SARKOZY] remains a hate-figure for many in the neighbourhoods hit by the 2005 riots, the worst in 40 years.

(YEAH SURE: IT'S OUR FAULT THEY HATE US!) The islamo-thug rioters will watch the polls: If they see that the rioting HELPS the Socialist candidate - and HURTS SARKOZY, then they will riot some more. That's why the best name for these riots is THE SARKOZY INTIFADA. (Previous posts HERE and HERE; good commentary/criticism of "The Sarkozy Intifada" HERE - from The American Thinker.)