DOESN'T MICHEL KINSLIE HAVE A SAYING ABOUT THIS?

French Prime Minister Exercises a Gift for the Political Faux Pas (ELAINE SCIOLINO, July 6, 2003, NY Times)

The prime minister of France certainly knows, as the French say, how to put his foot in the serving platter.

But in Strasbourg last Tuesday, the center-right prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, outdid himself. He said France would be headed for heaven--if only it did not have Socialists.

"France is not yet on the road to heaven, only in purgatory, since we still have Socialists," Mr. Raffarin said during a meeting of European center-right
leaders and politicians.

The offhand remark touched off cries of anger and outrage and even calls for President Jacques Chirac to fire his loyal head of government.

"Today, the prime minister went beyond all the limits of stupidity by suggesting that France's salvation would come from the elimination of
Socialists," Jean-Marc Ayrault, the leader of the Socialist Party caucus in the National Assembly, said that day.

"Mr. Raffarin no longer deserves the title of prime minister of the Republic," he added.

It would be in keeping with French history to eliminate them, which would be barbaric, but it looks like Mr. Raffarin only suggested it would be better if they didn't exist, which is certainly true. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 6, 2003 1:03 PM