Sarkozy still unsure whether France is secular or not

Last year, I wrote about French President Nicholas Sarkozy's landmark speech at Puy-en-Velay on Thursday, 3 March 2011, in which he spoke about France's Christian heritage.

More recently, in campaigning for the 2012 presidential election, at another major speech at Raincy on 26 April 2012, incumbent President Sarkozy again referred to France's Christian heritage

Je veux dire d’ailleurs que ce fut une grave erreur – et je le dis en Seine-Saint-Denis en sachant à qui je parle – que pendant tant d’années, mes propres amis se sont contorsionnés pour reconnaître ce qui, à mes yeux, était depuis longtemps une évidence, je veux parler des racines chrétiennes de la France. Quand je dis que la France a des racines chrétiennes, je ne fais pas la défense d’une église, je regarde simplement dix siècles de royauté et d’église qui ont construit une nation, je regarde ce long manteau de cathédrales et d’églises. Et dire que la France a des racines chrétiennes, ça permet d’accueillir ceux de nos compatriotes qui n’ont pas une racine chrétienne et de venir additionner leur identité à la nôtre. Mais si, dans le même temps où on accueille des compatriotes d’identités, d’origines différentes, si, dans le même temps, on conteste l’identité profonde de la nation française, il ne peut pas y avoir d’intégration parce que chacun se sentira menacé dans l’identité qui est la sienne !

Et je vais plus loin ! Ce fut une erreur. J’ai toujours été Européen, j’ai toujours dit oui à l’Europe. Mais ce fut une erreur de renoncer à inscrire dans le projet de Constitution européenne que l’Europe avait des racines chrétiennes parce qu’il y a un certain nombre d’Européens qui ont compris à ce moment-là que l’Europe venait contester leur identité alors même que l’Europe venait conforter leur identité. Voilà la réalité ! Si on ne sait pas d’où l’on vient, on ne peut pas dire où l’on va ! D’ailleurs, si vous doutez de ce que je dis, il suffirait, il suffit de voir tout simplement ce que font tous les autres pays dans le monde !

Here, he talked about French identity being based on ten centuries of Christian roots.

As I mentioned last year, "In all his insistence that France is secular, particularly in relation to a perceived Muslim/Islam issue, it is an unusual step and an attempt to appeal to Christian voters.

The question remains, either France is a secular state or it is not."

See full speech or if you prefer, watch (all 59 minutes of it).

Le changement, c'est maintenant

The campaign slogan for France's Parti Socialiste, contesting the presidency with François Hollande as candidate, is "le changement, c'est maintenant".

Quite a dull campaign slogan but when combined with a hand and arm gesture, it's quite magnifique.


Le changement, c'est maintenant: le signe de... by francoishollande

See reporting in Le Nouvel Observateur and France24.

UK votes no to change

From the Electoral Commission (UK) news release

First UK-wide referendum in over 35 years delivers a "No" to changing the UK Parliament voting system

07 May 2011

Jenny Watson, the Chief Counting Officer and Chair of the Electoral Commission, the independent elections and referendum watchdog, announced the result of the first UK-wide referendum in over 35 years at 1am today, Saturday 7 May.
 
In response to the question: "At present, the UK uses the ‘first past the post’ system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the ‘alternative vote’ system be used instead?". The number of votes cast in favour of "Yes" was 6,152,607 and the number of votes cast in favour of "No" was 13,013,123.
 
For further information including local and regional breakdowns please see the Commission’s results website.
 
Announcing the result, Chief Counting Officer and Chair of the Electoral Commission Jenny Watson said: " I'd like to thank all the Counting Officers and their staff for their work over the past weeks and months, preparing for the elections and this referendum, staffing polling stations on Thursday and counting the votes."
 
ENDS


For more information contact
Office hours: 020 7271 0704
Out of office hours: 07789 920414
Follow the Commission on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ElectoralCommUK  

The people have spoken and the current system in all its simplicity - counting of votes, no preference deals etc - is maintained.  

Patrick Wintour, writing in The Guardian, sums up the political response from the 'defeated'

In a rejection of the Liberal Democrats' 90-year quest for electoral reform and Nick Clegg's supposed big prize of the coalition, the yes camp won only 11 of the 440 voting areas and not a single region in the AV referendum.

Clegg accepted the result without complaint. "When you have such a overwhelmingly clear answer you just have to accept it and move on. This is a bitter blow for all those people who believe in the need for political reform, but the answer is clear and the wider job of the government, and the Liberal Democrats in government will continue, to repair the economy, to restore prosperity and jobs and a sense of optimism in the country. That is the job we started and we will see it though. We will dust ourselves off and move on."

Labour leader Ed Miliband, who also campaigned for a yes vote, said: "I am disappointed, but the people have spoken clearly on this issue, and it is a verdict I accept."

One of the best analysis of the implications is from Jonathan Freedland, also in The Guardian

The immediate impact will be on the coalition. Lib Dems now understand exactly why the Tories were so eager to make that "comprehensive and generous offer" a year ago this weekend. It was not so much a power-sharing arrangement as a blame-taking one: the Lib Dems' role is to be the Conservatives' human shield and on Thursday they played the part perfectly. They took the heat while the Tories remained unscathed, their share of the vote unchanged since 2010, with even some council gains in England. For the senior partner, coalition is working out very nicely.

Conventional wisdom says Clegg will now demand a consolation prize or two, goodies to soothe his battered party and keep it content with coalition. But Cameron has no pressing reason to be emollient. For what leverage does Clegg have? He can't threaten to walk out, knowing that in an early general election only annihilation awaits. The Lib Dems are now hostages in this coalition, chained to the cabinet table, fated merely to hope that something turns up between now and 2015.

It was always a shaky coalition from the beginning. Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats have another four long years in politics.

Referendum on the voting system for the UK Parliament: not alternative but preferential

On Thursday 5 May 2011, there will be a referendum on the voting system used to elect MPs (members of parliament) to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom.

The referendum will ask eligible British voters to vote yes or no to a proposal. For this referendum, there will be a ballot paper with the question:

At present, the UK uses the ‘first past the post’ system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the ‘alternative vote’ system be used instead?

Put simply, British voters will decide whether to maintain the existing voting system or reform it.


In addition to the official explanation video above, there are a number of other simple video guides about the 'alternative vote' (AV) system.



One with cats (vote meow)


From historian and television presenter Dan Snow




The 'alternative vote' system is very similar to Australia's preferential voting system.

Indeed, the system is already used in the United Kingdom but not currently to elect members to the House of Commons. First past the post is a very simple system to count but is not totally democratic.

If you are a British voter, consider voting Yes.

2011 White House Correspondents' Association dinner

Last year, I wrote about the 2010 White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner. Last year, President Obama's speech was fairly light-hearted. This year, it was still light-hearted but very poignant.

The video of this year's speech is worth watching, if only for the references to Donald Trump (via C-SPAN).



Seth Meyers spoke after Obama (via Politico) and punched even harder.



This is President Obama's third WHCA address and they are improving every year.

Sarkozy unsure whether France is secular or not

James Creedon from France24 (1:45 minutes into the video of Friday's press review) gives a neat summary of French President Nicholas Sarkozy's landmark speech at Puy-en-Velay on Thursday, 3 March 2011.



In his speech, Sarkozy spoke about France's Christian heritage

C'est ainsi qu'entre 2009 et 2010, 47 des 86 cathédrales appartenant à l'État ont bénéficié d'une opération de restauration. Dès cette année d'autres chantiers majeurs seront ouverts, comme celui de l'abbaye de Clairvaux, autre lieu exceptionnel et témoignage vivant de l'apport de la Chrétienté à notre civilisation. En disant cela je ne fais simplement que rappeler une évidence : l'apport de la chrétienté à notre civilisation. Dans un tout autre genre le familistère de Guise, rare exemple de ces utopies sociales qui ont passionné le XIXe siècle va faire l'objet d'importants travaux.

Here, he talked about state funding of the restoration of cathedrals and the contribution of Christianity to (French or western) civilisation.

In all his insistence that France is secular, particularly in relation to a perceived Muslim/Islam issue, it is an unusual step and an attempt to appeal to Christian voters.

The question remains, either France is a secular state or it is not.

See
- full speech (in French)
- editorial in Le Parisien (newspaper in French)

Australia may have a hung parliament

As a result, we won't know who will be running the country for a little while.

France: creating second class citizens

Reported by Bloomberg (and other media outlets)

The French government will present a bill in September empowering it to strip naturalized citizens of their French nationality if they commit serious crimes, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said.

The law would apply to people who have been French for less than 10 years and who commit crimes punishable by more than five years in prison, Besson told journalists after leaving a Cabinet meeting today in Paris.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, responding to a recent spate of riots and violent crimes, said in a July 30 speech in the Alpine city of Grenoble that violent criminals with “foreign origins” should be stripped of their citizenship. There was a night of rioting in Grenoble last month after police shot dead an armed 27-year-old of North African origin who led them on a car chase after robbing a casino.

Read more. See also reporting in Le Figaro (in French).

For a nation that has liberté, égalité, fraternité as its national motto, it is strange that they plan to create a separate class of citizenship for the foreign born. The concept of citizenship is that once it is conferred, that person would be treated equally like other citizens irrespective of country of birth. The same laws should apply equally to all.

Applying different laws to a notionally different class of citizens undermines the concept of equality and citizenship. Citizenship can't be conditional. Either a person is or isn't a citizen.

Reykjavík's new mayor Jón Gnarr - was he joking?

In April, it was reported that Icelandic comedian Jón Gnarr had founded a mock political party called Besti flokkurinn (The Best Party) and planned to run in the election for Reykjavík City Council in May. The party's platform included a polar bear display for the zoo, free towels at public swimming pools and a new Disneyland near the airport.

In the elections held on 29 May, the party won the largest percentage of votes (34.7 per cent) for six of the 15 seats on the council. The Best Party and the Democratic Alliance formed a coalition agreement, thereby forming a majority.

On 15 June, it was reported that Jón Gnarr was sworn in as mayor.

Was this a mock or real political advertisement?


The voters/residents of Reykjavík sure have a great sense of humour.

See also New York Times.

Of course, power changes everything. In 1989, the Australian Capital Territory (similar to the District of Columbia) was forced to self-govern (it had until then been administered by the federal government). In its first election, three members of the No Self Government Party were elected (as a protest vote). Two years later, the three members left the party to become independents. One of them even became a government minister.

Con-Lib-Dem Cam-Clegg coalition government

(photo by AFP/Leon Neal via ABC)

The new British Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister from two completely ideologically opposing parties are of a similar age, similar height and dress the same.

The coalition government will surely involve a lot of compromises in policy.

Still, I was half expecting Her Majesty to abolish Parliament and invoke the Divine Right of Kings.

Gordon Brown's 'yes we can'

Incumbent British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had not been doing well at the polls ahead of the UK General Election this Thursday.

On Monday, he gave one of the best political speeches in recent times, of any political party in any country. For him, it may be too late, but he still has a few days to inspire voters.



The content and delivery were reminiscent of Barack Obama's "yes we can". Regardless of political views, it was very well done.

2010 White House Correspondents' Association dinner

This is the second time that President Obama has addressed the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) annual dinner. The dinner raises money for WHCA scholarships for journalism students.

The video is 38 minutes long and worth watching. See also the C-Span coverage. Of course, knowledge of the happenings within the Capital Beltway is a prerequisite to understanding Obama's remarks, as well as some popular culture. Otherwise, most of it will seem like a series of "in jokes" for the Washington media.

The transcript can be found at Chicago Sun-Times. I love these

THE PRESIDENT: By the way, all of the jokes here tonight are brought to you by our friends at Goldman Sachs. (Laughter.) So you don't have to worry -- they make money whether you laugh or not. (Laughter.)

We do have a number of notable guests in attendance here tonight. Obviously I'm most pleased that Michelle accompanied me. She doesn't always go to these things. (Applause.) And there are few things in life that are harder to find and more important to keep than love -- well, love and a birth certificate. (Laughter.)

The Jonas Brothers are here. (Applause.) They're out there somewhere. Sasha and Malia are huge fans. But, boys, don't get any ideas. (Laughter.) I have two words for you -- predator drones. (Laughter.) You will never see it coming. (Laughter.) You think I'm joking. (Laughter.)

Speaking of 'tween heartthrobs, Scott Brown is here. (Applause.) I admire Scott -- a rare politician in Washington with nothing to hide. (Laughter.) Now, you should be aware that Scott Brown is not the only one with a salacious photo spread floating around. Recently David Axelrod was offered a centerfold opportunity of his own -- now, I did not know that Krispy-Kreme had a catalog. (Laughter.) But it's true.

I saw Michael Steele backstage when we were taking pictures -- AKA Notorious GOP. (Laughter.) Michael, who knows what truly plagues America today -- taxation without representin' --(Laughter.) My brother. (Laughter.) I did a similar routine last year, but it always works. (Laughter.)

Odds are that the Salahis are here. (Laughter.) There haven't been people that were more unwelcome at a party since Charlie Crist. (Laughter.)

Unfortunately, John McCain couldn't make it. Recently he claimed that he had never identified himself as a maverick. And we all know what happens in Arizona when you don't have ID. (Laughter.) Adios, amigos. (Laughter and applause.)

Funnier that last year's.

Bank of North Dakota

The Bank of North Dakota is unique in the United States in that it is the only commercial bank that is in public ownership, that is by the taxpayers of North Dakota. Profits (about half) go towards the state budget and not into the hands of private shareholders. Indeed, it could be said that each and every North Dakota taxpayer is a shareholder.

Strange then, that Newsweek, in an article about the bank chose to title it 'Socialism thrives in North Dakota'.

Socialism appears to be a dirty word in the United States, particularly amongst tea partiers.

Oddly, and I've mentioned this before, state-provided education is not called socialised education, Amtrak is not called socialised rail transport, and subsidised agriculture is not considered to be socialised agriculture.

In fact, US federal and state governments own many of their own buildings, when they could lease from the private property sector. Surely this is socialised real estate.

There needs to be a serious think about the role of government and what can be provided or owned by the private sector. It is unfair to pick and choose which bits of public ownership or provision to call socialist.

Lèse majesté part 3

I've previously written about lèse majesté in terms of how it is implemented.

A recent issue of The Economist carried an in-depth article about the Thai royal family and succession issues. Consequently, Bangkok Post reported that The Economist would not be distributing that issue in Thailand due to lèse majesté laws.

Within the readership of The Economist, it has generated a debate, with the magazine suggesting that "[w]e hold that Thailand’s lèse-majesté laws should be lifted. They harm the country itself; on those grounds they should be removed."

Of course, given that nobody within Thailand can have such a debate, the comment may fall on deaf ears.

See also New Mandala (Australian National University).

'socialized' health care? 2

Tea baggers, err tea partiers at a 16 March protest



These people also vote. Sometimes the most vocal critics are also the most misinformed and it is evident as soon as they talk.

Strange, there were no complaints about 'socialized' banking after the Wall Street bail out.

'socialized' health care?

I'm still perplexed about the claims of 'socialized' health care by those engaging in scare campaigns with respect to health care reforms in the United States.

Existing services that can be considered to be 'socialized' include education and public transport.

Why should taxpayers who do not have children subsidise the education of those who do have children? Why should governments fund and provide education when there are plenty of private providers who can do it? Why should those who drive cars subsidise public transport?

It is not just about economics. You can't pick and choose.

Why not dispense with government altogether? The military? Just hire private contractors and mercenaries. But who will pay for it?. Foreign policy? Let the think tanks sort it out and come up with a committee.

Why bother collecting taxes? Let consumers pay for what they consume.

It's easy to come up with slogans, but harder to articulate the logic behind such arguments.

International Women's Day - Greer vs Nowra

Today is International Women's Day. It is also 40 years since the first publication of Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch, an important work to the feminist movement.

The Monthly is an Australian national monthly journal about politics, society and the arts, edited by Ben Naparstek who at 23 years of age when appointed, created marvel and shock in publishing circles.

To mark 40 years of The Female Eunuch, The Monthly published an article by well known Australian writer Louis Nowra in which he questioned whether Greer actually understood women and also criticised her appearance and character.

Needless to say, the feminist/women's movement (and friends) reacted

- Caroline Overington (The Australian)
- Helen Razer (blog)
- Gabriella Coslovich (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Maggie Alderson (blog)
- felixexplody (blog)
- Larvatus Prodeo (blog)
- Rick Feneley (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Anne Summers (Sydney Morning Herald)

Pru Goward, a former Sex Discrimination Commissioner, also decided to wade into the furore. Though, one must question her motive given that she is now a politician in the NSW state parliament.

Still, Greer has the last word (in The Age). 40 years later, inequality is still very much an issue. Feminism is still relevant.

Vancouver Winter Olympics - Frenchgate

The opening ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics has sparked a national debate over the use of the French language amongst Canadians, with claims that there was not enough or that there was too much. Werner Patels was embarrassed and wrote in his blog

Turn to any news channel or open any newspaper, and one topic you’ll likely find discussed just about everywhere in Canada right now is the perceived slight of the French language at the Olympic Games in Vancouver. At the same time, letters pages in (Albertan and Western Canadian) newspapers are filling up with irate comments about how the “French should go home and shut up”.

I first became aware that there was an issue on the night of the opening ceremony, when my Twitter page started being inundated with angry comments about the use, not lack, of the French language. I decided then not to reply to or comment on any of them, because, frankly, they made me feel embarrassed and ashamed. Albertans tend to have a bad reputation in the rest of the country, and the last thing we need is to be known as French bashers (particularly in a province where, like in the rest of the country, the rate of functional illiteracy – in just one language! – now borders on fifty per cent).

Those who criticized the use of French at the Olympics proved only one thing: that they’re utterly uneducated and uninformed about what goes on in the world. The Olympics organization is an international organization, and its first and primary official language is French. Naturally, any official Olympics business is conducted in French first, and English second. So, when, for example, Canada’s Governor-General Michaëlle Jean spoke in French first and then switched to English, she merely adhered to the practices of the international organization. Now, though, many Canadians (in the West) appear to be calling for her head to roll over this “affront”.

Read more

The editors at La Presse (a daily published in Montreal) are not happy. I agree with them. In fact, I would go as far as suggesting that instead of the usual practice of alternating between French and English, they should have mangled it into Franglais.

Who said sport and politics don't mix?

High level, low level, unofficial official meeting...

Statement issued by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

The President met this morning at the White House with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. The President stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People’s Republic of China. The President commended the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” approach, his commitment to nonviolence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government. The President stressed that he has consistently encouraged both sides to engage in direct dialogue to resolve differences and was pleased to hear about the recent resumption of talks. The President and the Dalai Lama agreed on the importance of a positive and cooperative relationship between the United States and China.

One official photograph of the event was publicly released, which is why all media reports are using the same picture.


Official White House photo by Pete Souza

The meeting was held in the Map Room, not the Oval Office, to play down the status of the meeting. There was no official welcome (or fanfare) and no media witnesses to the 'private' 70 minute meeting.

As expected, Beijing responded sternly. Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai, summoned Jon Huntsman, the US Ambassador to China, and “lodged solemn representations”. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu issued a very strongly worded statement about US President Obama's Meeting with the Dalai Lama

On February 18, 2010 (EST), the US side bent on arranging the meeting between President Obama and Dalai in the Map Room of the White House in disregard of the repeated solemn representations from the Chinese side. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also met with Dalai on the same day. The action of the US side has seriously interfered in China's internal affairs, seriously hurt the national feelings of the Chinese people, and seriously undermined China-US relations. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai has summoned the US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman for solemn representations.

Tibet is an inseparable part of the sacred Chinese territory and Tibet-related issues are purely China's internal affairs. China is firmly opposed to any meeting with Dalai by leaders or government officials of any country in whatever form. China is also resolutely opposed to the interference in China's internal affairs by any country or person under the pretext of Dalai-related issues. The words and deeds of Dalai in the past several decades have shown that he is not purely a religious figure, but a political exile engaged in long-term anti-China splittist activities under the disguise of religion. The approval of Dalai's visit to the US and the arrangement of meetings with the US leader and other government officials have severely violated the basic norms governing international relations, undermined the principles enshrined in the three China-US Joint Communiqués and China-US Joint Statement, and gone against the commitment of the US Government on different occasions that Tibet is a part of China and the US does not support "Tibet Independence". China hereby expresses its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition.

The Chinese Government and people stand steadfast in their resolve to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Any attempt from any person to interfere in China's internal affairs under the Dalai issue is doomed to failure. China requests the US side to take China's position seriously, take prompt and effective measures to remove the malign impact, stop the connivance and support of the anti-China splittist forces for "Tibet Independence", and stop the interference in China's internal affairs by taking concrete actions to maintain the healthy and stable development of China-US relations.

Beijing should perhaps take some comfort in the fact that this visit was very much a low key affair compared to the last time.


President George W. Bush, joined by U.S. Senator Robert Byrd and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, presents the Congressional Gold Medal to The Dalai Lama at a ceremony Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
(photo by Chris Greenberg, then employed at the White House)

So the diplomatic dance begins again.

Here is a good analysis from PBS Newshour

Politics is never rational

The BBC News website (Dr David Runciman) has provided an explanation for the illogical approach by many to healthcare reform. Interesting points -

[I]t is striking that the people who most dislike the whole idea of healthcare reform - the ones who think it is socialist, godless, a step on the road to a police state - are often the ones it seems designed to help.

In Texas, where barely two-thirds of the population have full health insurance and over a fifth of all children have no cover at all, opposition to the legislation is currently running at 87%.

and

If people vote against their own interests, it is not because they do not understand what is in their interest or have not yet had it properly explained to them.

They do it because they resent having their interests decided for them by politicians who think they know best.

There is nothing voters hate more than having things explained to them as though they were idiots.

As the saying goes, in politics, when you are explaining, you are losing. And that makes anything as complex or as messy as healthcare reform a very hard sell.

and

The Republicans have learnt how to stoke up resentment against the patronising liberal elite, all those do-gooders who assume they know what poor people ought to be thinking.

Right-wing politics has become a vehicle for channelling this popular anger against intellectual snobs. The result is that many of America's poorest citizens have a deep emotional attachment to a party that serves the interests of its richest.

At last, a logical explanation of irrationality.