He Might As Well Be American

For John, BLUF:  Different sensibilities in Europe.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Over at the blog ¡No Pasarán! we have a link to New York Times Columnist Maureen Dowd talking about the situation in France.  Yes, it is a month old, but Erik just got to it yesterday, and besides, MoDo's writing is timeless.  Erik's title is:

"You do not install one mistress at the Élysée when you have another mistress; That is simply bad form."

The French do have a certain sense of who they are, a certain je ne sais quoi.  Erik quotes Ms Dowd

“The whole problem with this Hollande scandal is that he is not married,” says Jean-Marie Rouart, the French novelist.  “Had he been married, this affair would never have been revealed.”

He observed that, as an “elected monarch,” the president has to maintain appearances. “In France, having a mistress is not considered cheating,” he says.  “We are not a puritanical country.  France is Catholic.  We accept sin and forgiveness.”

There is that, forgiveness.  We all need some of that and not just from God and not just for sins of the flesh.

So here is the bottom line for Ms Dowd:

In the minds of many here, the French president is a loser because he’s so unrefined he might as well be American.

Ouch.

Hat tip to the ¡No Pasarán!.

Regards  —  Cliff