THIS ALSO IS VANITY:

Le Bulldozer takes up tap dancing and learns to love himself (Times of London, 3/15/2003)

Jacques Chirac has finally landed himself the starring part as France’s heart-throb, after a lifetime during which the glamorous role in history he had always imagined for himself never quite materialised. M Chirac’s stance over Iraq has provoked fury in Britain and the US, but almost hysterical plaudits in France. “Whatever the immediate future holds, Jacques Chirac has already, by crystallising the feeling of national pride, written the page that was missing from the book of his life,” panted Le Figaro....

M Chirac’s supporters ... say he is acting out of pure, lofty principle. If so, this may be a first ...

Ruthless, smooth and energetic, M Chirac was never accused of believing in anything much; as a consequence, he never achieved anything very substantial. Even his nickname, “Le Bulldozer”, suggested dogged determination rather than talent....

Perhaps these are the actions of a man who, having spent a lifetime believing very little, has belatedly discovered a cause; but more likely they are those of a politician hearing sustained, unfeigned applause for almost the first time in his life.

“The President is in ecstasy,” one aide remarked as M Chirac began collecting the bouquets and billets-doux from an adoring French media. “He’s like a man smoking a cigarette after making love.”

Now this is the kind of unbiased journalism I'd like to see from the American press. Posted by Paul Jaminet at March 15, 2003 6:13 PM