NYT via Soxblog:
Mr. Bush slouched and stayed coiled tight, but Mr. Kerry seemed at times to be waltzing with his partner, the lectern. Mr. Kerry moved his hands almost continuously, at one point folding them over his heart like a French mime as he explained that he felt "nothing but respect" for Tony Blair and British soldiers serving in Iraq.
The closest thing America has to a Dom de Villepin, a tall guy in a foreign suit with a fancy haircut, will be freed up in less than five weeks for diplomatic pattycake with despots, big group hugs for estranged allies, arranging tea cozies for petits déjeuners with terrorists, and smoothing down nutty Islamofascists. If you are a struggling atomic terrorist, consider applying for Mr. Kerry's free plutonium give-away (see No.7).
John Kerry will make a nice companion piece, but in a non-threatening small way, to the Colonne de Vendôme.
Then there is this:
In France, results of a pre-debate poll said nearly 90 percent of French favor Kerry, and one analyst said the reasons why are obvious."We are in a logic of 'Anything but Bush,'" Andre Kaspi, an expert on the United States at Paris' Sorbonne University, told the daily newspaper La Croix.
"There is no doubt that international support for the United States has fallen a lot in the last four years — in France particularly, but this is a global trend and it is also very strong in the Arab world."
[Emphases added.]
La France, il est tout vôtre !
dbc,llc must be going slow these days
Not so slow, Jack, that I trawl the Internet for threads to make off-topic comments.
All the same, thanks for your solicitude.
DGB
Damian,
That would be interesting to read the whole Kaspi interview because he's one of the very few French experts on the United States not to be anti-American.
I'm not sure if he is anti-Bush, I honestly doubt he would take such a radical position, but chances are his "we're in a logic of 'anything but Bush'" came with a rational explanation of the French psyche (if such a thing is possible).
Carine,
Alas, this is all the interview the AP gives. Please send along anything on M. Kaspi that you think relevant.
Regards,
DGB
