Just like the child in Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes, who cried out the truth when all the court did not dare, Daniel Cohn-Bendit has summed up the fog enveloping this campaign: "we are bored," he said.
It was a sentence that would be inconceivable in other times, uttered just three weeks before France will decide if it will renew the mandate of a president whose office has been highly contested or elect for the first time in 24 years a socialist president, one who can't seem to galvanize the electorate.
But it was an understandable sentence, as so much of the substance of this campaign has all but disappeared. The two main candidates bear the main responsibility for this happening: Hollande released a 60-point program two months ago at Le Bourget -- but who really remembers any of the key measures, apart from his 75 percent tax rate proposal? Meanwhile, Sarkozy has promised to announce and quantify his proposals this week -- and it's about time, just over a fortnight before the first round of the election! -- after having imagined a new law almost every day, and already suggested four referendums.
So why would the French, who are suffering the worst crisis since World War II, feel involved in a campaign that isn't even addressing the many choices that we could make to mitigate or even reverse the slump we're currently in?
When we see, that like Greece, Spain is sinking into a serious social crisis that threatens to choke the country into unbearable austerity, the question we need to answer is how to contain the debt that is strangling us while reviving growth and keeping unemployment in check. How do we fight abyssal deficits while maintaining employment opportunities? This is the center of all concerns. But instead of trying to answer this question, the presidential contenders are playing an entirely different game.
Sarkozy has his head in the stars. His morale is high, and he's become intoxicated with good news from the polls. He's relaxed in his meetings, and playing the role of the comedian who simply mocks his opponent's lack of depth.
Holland, by contrast, has been too quiet where Sarkozy has gone too far, saying that the calmer he his the less he will open himself up to attack. He is playing it safe. But hasn't he learned the lesson of 2002, that betting on only one second round and the rejection of the outgoing candidate can be a deadly risk? Where voters expect to hear his voice, they feel him holding back, playing a minimalist strategy to coast in on the momentum of the primary.
As for Nicolas Sarkozy, to whom the attacks in Toulouse presented an opportunity to regain the position of head of state, he could have seized the opportunity to become a true leader -- one to guide the French into the uncertain future they are concerned about. Instead, he has simply inserted one socially liberal sentence into the middle of a markedly right-wing discourse.
We hoped to hear his take on the severity of the situation, but were treated instead this week to the consciously and deliberately publicized arrests of Islamic militants. The timing was so perfect that the TV crews were ready for the assault and that the Figaro -- or the Pravda, as some overly cheeky journalists like to call it -- was able to announce it before anyone else. To make us believe in his sincere desire to protect the nation from an impending attack, Sarkozy should have required that the intervention take place earlier and that the press not be invited. In short, he shouldn't have taken the French for suckers.
In doing so, in between jokes and mocking the "the small club of happy navel-gazing socialists," he engages in ever more visible foot calls to the far right, which he hopes to woo for the first round before attempting to recenter for the second.
Just this last weekend, Nicolas Sarkozy continued to harden his speech on immigration, by questioning not only the issue of integration but also of assimilation. And he was pleased to repeat on Saturday -- against the advice of all legal professionals and in defiance of all traditions of the law -- that victims should have a say regarding the inmate's parole. The seduction of the right-wing electorate is becoming an everyday activity.
Moreover, in addition to the major issues affecting the lives of everyone, one would have hoped that topics on civil liberties or the rule of law would be addressed. But... no. François Bayrou has tried to cast "suspicion on the very large financing of Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign," concerning the continued detention of Patrick de Maistre. But there has been no response.
Senators, after the controversy over the effectiveness of the DGSE and DCRI, have claimed the ability to hear the police officials of these institutions, but the ministers of Interior and Defense have raised an estoppel.
So the electorate will know nothing about everything that is important.
As the crisis destabilizes those who are most fragile, as social unrest in Spain begins to indicate other shocks elsewhere in the world, and as, in the words of the cheeky economic journalist at le Huffington Post Alexander Phalippou, who tweeted, "after the fall in rising unemployment, the huge deficit is less massive than expected," we have been treated to a complacently triumphant right-wing candidate and a half-reaction from the Socialists.
The suitor has neglected the fact that we expect him to show us a path, a method, a means. The incumbent is trying to forget that he has been in power for five years and that he is accountable to his citizens and owes them coherent proposals.
There remains only a few days to mobilize the French. And as the result of several stupid decisions, there will be no more televised debates in the weeks before the elections -- abstention has become more of a threat than ever.
I rarely agree with Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, but when he says that television producers should organize debates with all of the candidates, as was done successfully during the Socialist primary, he's right. I welcome his denunciation of the laziness of both the networks and the candidates. This is the campaign of 2012: how to waste the opportunity of a beautiful and great national debate.
Follow Anne Sinclair on Twitter: www.twitter.com/anne_sinclair
Emily Dyer: Has Toulouse Blinded Sarkozy to His Failings?
Matt Browne: After the Third Way: Progressive Alternatives to European Austerity
Je venais de me marier en plus et nous avons dû nous expatrier au canada , tout ça à CAUSE de vous Monsieur !! aujourd'hui j'ai 68 ans et je suis encore obligé de bosser pour survivre . Sachez que mon Bac n'était pas reconnu au Canada et il aurait fallu que je recommence 3 années d'étude pour qu'il soit homologué . Là aussi je n'ai donc pas trouvé de boulot dans ma ligne , pour vivre il a fallu que je m'introduise dans la vente , tout un métier lorsque l'on a fait des études !!! alors Monsieur Cohn-Bendit s'il vous plaît foutez nous la paix !!!!!!!! le fait d'entendre votre nom ou de vous voir à la télé me fait vomir !!!!!
People seem to forget the reason for this "debt" crisis was wall st malfeasance with their toxic mortgage securities. The resulting carnage has been nothing short of an act of war against sovereign nations like Greece and Spain among others. Every wall st ceo needs to be rendered up to face charges of crimes against humanity in The Hague, and made to pay meaningful reparations to their people. What's more, these too big to fail global financial institutions should be taken over and broken up by some global entity whose mission is aligned with what's good for all.
I was watching a movie the other day about a long ago war and as I looked in amazement at the humongous number of soldiers I thought ?how are they ALL fed? ...It must be incredibly hard to feed all those thousands of boots on the ground as they move toward their destination. But it is done - they do eat on the way to the fight... Is supplying the military masses with food and other needs less daunting than finding people (the citizens) with something to do to allow them to pay the bills?
We'd only have to work hard at it for a few years to have everybody fed and housed then we could reduce the work to almost nothing with automation and "taxes" could be the few hours a day that folks would have to contribute to care for the elderly and the young, to maintain the existing housing and food supply and the rest of the time we could spend playing and figuring out how to improve conditions for everyone.
- They were total lies... there are tech jobs but not enough - - they were outsourced too!
...You sound like you don't believe the government should pay for what they've purposely or faultily done to their citizens? Am I right or wrong that your poking fun...?
disappearance of unskilled jobs
outsourcing
immigrants from Senegal taking over the Walmart
the earned income tax credit generation (paying poor to have babies) exploding and we're without jobs for them.
One last "mots"....
As to boring presidential campaigns. Unfortunately, for too many years the powers at be have "Clintonized" any political candidate who shows any kind of promise to leading our countries, societies and economies forward. But, once again the lack of responsable reporting by the press has contributed to the problem.
I wish you all the best in your new post and welcome you back to an industry that is in great need of your talent!
Sincerely,
Quenby Wilcox
Congratulations on your new appointment. I am a great fan of your, and found 7/7 one of the best news shows of all times. I am confident that you will bring back some responsible journalism to an industry that all too often is concentrating on gossip rather than responsible and serious reporting.
In your article you bring up a very important point about the lack of civil liberties and the rule of law. This is the real issue facing "our time", (on both sides of the Atlantic). However, what needs examination is why and how the erosion of civil liberties and rule of law has occurred.
In July 2010 on "Deux ou trois chose vue d'Amerique" I spoke about erosion of civil liberties in the USA, on steady decline since the '80's. However, it is in the past 3 yrs, in my research into judicial systems, that I have come to understand why and how this "erosion" is occurring.
It is a "cancer" within. The amount of civil and constitution rights violations, and lack of due process, that is going on within the judicial systems is beyond comprehension. It is making a complete mockery of any semblance of democratic process. And, this is occurring in large part because the press/media is all too often turning a blind eye to what is happening right under their nose. Your reference to the "Emperor's New Clothes" is very appropriate. ("Humpty Dumpty" is also applicable).
Sincerely,
Quenby Wilcox
Actually, it makes perfect sense as we move toward privatizing prisons. The more people in prison, the richer they prison owners become and the more politicians they can buy.