J'ai décidé de donner une nouvelle impulsion à la politique de la France.

DÉCLARATION AUX FRANÇAIS
DE M. JACQUES CHIRAC, PRÉSIDENT DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE,
SUR LE CHANGEMENT DE GOUVERNEMENT
PALAIS DE ÉLYSÉE, Paris le mardi 31 mai 2005

Every time we quote the above we relive the excitement of the promise of bold, responsive, can-do government by Jack & co. The thrill! Les frissons !

Let's have a look at the scorecard for Jack's "new impulse" government so far:

Well for starters there is the beat-down from Iran. Out-played, out-scored, totally skunked. France swallows hard and calls in the United States.

Then there's the CPE climbdown followed by the CPE total cave.

Building on the full-stop of the CPE, the Jack pack backs down on a smoking ban. The possible success of this widely supported initiative apparently is too much for a government only attuned to failure.

The Jack pack promulgates its re-tooled Journée de Solidarité, which is beaten back by trade unions inspired by a deep devotion to the Holy Ghost and a beach holiday.

So far the "new impulse" government has accomplished -- nothing. Not one of its showcase initiatives has taken hold, a near perfect record of non-accomplishments.

Even Sarko is made to back-peddle:

THOUSANDS PROTEST FRANCE'S NEW IMMIGRATION BILL
PARIS May 13, 2006 (AFP)

SARKOZY DEFENDS IMMIGRATION LAW, DEFIES PROTESTS
BAMAKO, Mali May 18, 2006 (AFP)

CAMPAIGNERS DEFY SARKOZY PLAN TO DEPORT SCHOOLCHILDREN

PARIS May 20, 2006 (Guardian) - French parents, councillors and human rights campaigners yesterday vowed to "hide" school and college pupils threatened with deportation because their parents are in the country illegally. Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister, has ordered local police to round up the youngsters and their families and ensure they are expelled after the school term finishes at the end of June. Even those who are French-born will not be spared.

FRENCH DEFY STATE CHILD SNATCHERS
Mothers' network hides young immigrants
to keep them safe from deportation by Sarkozy

PARIS June 4, 2006 (Guardian) - According to Jean-Michel Delabre, an activist with Education sans Frontières (ESF), the battle is about more than just the future of several thousand youngsters. 'This is a fight for the soul of France and for the sort of society we want to live in,' he told The Observer. ... [A]ccording to campaigners, the mobilisation is spreading to French citizens of all backgrounds, the core of the resistance to the government remains France's 1.3 million education professionals. The sector remains a bastion of left-wing support and opposed to the recent series of reforms aimed at tightening controls on immigration introduced by Sarkozy.

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND À LA FRANÇAIS
Compassion In The Abstract, Racism In The Day-To-Day

SARKOZY LAW PROTESTERS OCCUPY PARIS THEATRE

PARIS June 4, 2006 (AFP) - Around 200 illegal immigrants were on Sunday removed from a Paris theatre they occupied in protest at proposed new immigration laws, the group's spokesperson said. The protesters, who were also demanding an amnesty for illegal immigrants, invaded the theatre on Sunday afternoon and remained there until the evening when they were removed by police. The occupation follows a similar action when around 50 immigrants briefly occupied the Paris Mosque in an attempt to gather the support of French Muslims in their fight against the proposed legislation.

SARKOZY FORCED TO REVIEW PLANS
TO DEPORT CHILDREN OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

PARIS June 7, 2006 (Guardian) - The French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, was yesterday forced to issue an amnesty to hundreds of children of illegal immigrants who were to be deported at the end of their school term, after a protest movement of teachers and parents began hiding children from police. But when Mr Sarkozy said the amnesty applied only to children born in France who spoke French and not their parents' native language, protesters vowed to step up their campaign.

PFFT (What is this?): No impulse 5 | Sarko magic 1 | Rayonnement français 0

Bonjour,

J'ai une cousine qui s' occupe ,depuis 15 ans , près de Tijuana des Mexicains victimes de la barbarie exploiteuse des Yanks.
L'autre jour , l'accès aux USA lui a été refusé sous prétexte que les amies qui l 'accompagnait étaient indiennes alors que tous leurs papiers étaient en régle.
Le racisme yanks ,me dit-elle , est chaque jour plus prégnant dans cette région et la population (à commencer par ma cousine française) est de plus en plus révoltée par l' arrogance des USA dont les habitants n ' ont aucune légitimité sur ces terres et qui prétendent en interdire l'accès aux autres...