Jack has hogged the news with his recent "drifts", crowding out the smaller gaffes of smaller fry. To wit, this:

According to one of France's leading newspapers, Le Figaro, Ms Royal claims she has made "interpersonal contacts" with world leaders. She added that she would never meet America's president George Bush.

Could this be true?

If things break for Mlle. Royal as Mlle. Royal hopes they will break, she will taking over at the Élysée this spring. Mr. Bush will remain president of the United States till January of 2009. Is it Mlle Royal's intent to sit out Franco-American relations for the 21 intervening months?

The above patch, aside from the reference to Le Figaro, was unsourced. So Pave set out to find the originating article.

DIPLOMATIE : ROYAL MULTIPLIE LES FAUX PAS
[DIPLOMACY: ROYAL MULTIPLIES MISTAKES]

24 janvier 2007 (Figaro) - Face à ses interlocuteurs, elle dit vouloir se placer en situation d'écoute, et revendique le droit de discuter avec tous, pourvu qu'ils aient été élus démocratiquement, pour mieux comprendre leur point de vue. Sauf George Bush, à propos duquel elle a déclaré, lors d'une rencontre avec la presse, qu'elle ne chercherait pas à le rencontrer si elle se rend aux États-Unis pendant sa campagne.

[When facing discussion partners, she says that she wants to put herself in the position of a listener and claims the right to hold discussions with everyone, provided they have been democratically elected, in order to understand their point of view better. Except for George Bush, whom she said during a meeting with the press she would not seek to meet if she went to the United States during the campaign.]

[Hat tips for tracking down the source (here in English*): Carine et Hervé]

American presidents are always grateful when not obliged to drop the business of America to meet a provincial French politician out to make headlines.

Of course, what Mlle. Royal is here pre-empting is another snub from an American politician, a certain and more damaging snub as it would reflect on the office of the president of the Republic to which she aspires. But should she ascend to the Élysée perhaps Mlle. Royal will also ascend to the stature of a statesperson, one who puts the interests of her nation before her personal manic pettiness.

Or perhaps, as Pave suspects, Mlle. Royal's gifts are parochial suited to the parochial presidency of Région Poitou-Charentes, where she is not asked to swallow that bitter pill, the comity of nations.

* Le Figaro shows a light, tidy touch in slamming Mlle. Royal's China trip:

Wholly in keeping with her desire not to set herself up as someone who "hands out lessons," Royal also caused surprise in Beijing by stressing, on the strength of a piece of evidence, the "rapidity" of Chinese justice, which is known above all for its summary nature.

PFFT (What is this?): Waiting for an American president to her liking 4 | Rayonnement français 0