'L'Etat, c'est moi'. The author of this phrase, Louis XIV, wasn't going to be seeking re-election, or even election. He was the Sun King, and had a divine right to rule. It is a statement, pleasing in its Gallic succinctness, which we might archive as exactly what democrats don't believe in.
But it seems to be what France will get, now that the Socialists, the only serious opposition, have elected Martine Aubry. Mrs Aubry is the daughter of Jacques Delors, which would in itself not be enough to scare the French voter off (although it would cause havoc at the Sun newspaper), but she is a left wing firebrand. She became a minister in the Mitterand government and is the author of the law (la loi Aubry) which prevented people from working more than 35 hours per week, causing massive structural (not temporary)unemployment. Even the French will be able to see that she is too barking mad to be taken seriously and they therefore have the sole choice of Sarkozy at the next election, a man who is beginning to make Jacques Chirac look like a self-deprecating populist.
God Help France
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