I detect a double standard here.
For generations it has been considered the conventional order of things that any self-respecting member of the French bourgeoisie, whether from the left or the right, the far left or the far right, or anywhere in between, has at least one mistress and one secret Swiss bank account.
"Ce la vies," as the French would say, which roughly translated means "so what?"
Well, poor Hollande the would-be "crusader" just lost his Finance Minister due to some trumped up scandal that wouldn't even be a scandal if everybody wasn't so utterly sick to death of the hapless Hollande.
Big in Mali, a bust in France, that's how Hollande's brief turn in the limelight has turned out so far. Jerome Cahuzac is just the latest victim of the anti-Hollande crusade being orchestrated by the three disgruntled Frenchmen subject to the 75% tax recently imposed on super-high earners.
What's really got the folks pissed is Hollande's headlong rush into the Malian fiasco. While heartily lauded by supposed left-wing philosopher-heavyweight and all-round buffoon BHL, the hasty intervention has thus far succeeded in draining the French treasury of many millions and getting a dozen French troops killed, all in the name of some imbecilic notion of colonial greatness.
Latest word from the UN is that at least 11,000 "peace-keepers" will be required to contain the mess that the French have stirred up. Number of troops offered for this mission thus far?
Zero.
In fact, the French are still resolutely waiting for most of their African allies to field troops for the now-almost-over intervention, let alone the peace-keeping mission that will allow the French to go home.
Mind you, given the number of times the city of Gao has been liberated in the past three months, it's not hard to see why putative allies might be getting cold feet.
Looks like you're on your own, Mr. Hollande... and good luck!
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