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With Smear Scandal, France Near Paralysis: Weak Government Is Dealt a Fresh Blow (John Ward Anderson and Molly Moore, 5/06/06, Washington Post)

A burgeoning political scandal of alleged dirty tricks involving the cabinet's two top ministers has tainted the entire French government, pushing it to the brink of paralysis and collapse in the final year of President Jacques Chirac's administration, according to government officials and political analysts.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin faces daily calls for his resignation. [...]

The scandal is unfolding as French politicians and pundits struggle to assign blame for decay in many aspects of French society -- government, economy, and the nation's general standing in the world.

"The problem in France is that the political and diplomatic and official elite are stuck in a time warp of believing in l'exception française ," said Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform in London, referring to a belief that France is in a class of its own.

How does one tell when sclerosis becomes paralysis?

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 6, 2006 8:23 AM