French President Jacques Chirac demonstrated yesterday why the French so often come off looking like the world's political buffoons. Acting more like an indignant mullah than a world leader, Monsieur Chirac stalked out of an EU summit.
BRUSSELS -- French President Jacques Chirac yesterday defended his eyebrow-raising exit from an EU summit session, accusing the French head of Europe's employer union of insulting French pride by daring to speak in English.
An ardent defender of the French tongue, Mr. Chirac said he was stunned to hear English on the lips of the Frenchman in a speech at the two-day European summit.
"I was deeply shocked that a Frenchman would speak at the council table in English," he told journalists, explaining for the first time his abrupt walkout when the summit opened on Thursday.
"That's the reason why the French delegation and myself left, so as not to have to listen to that," he added.
Meanwhile French students masquerading as revolutionaries and shouting, "To the barricades!", continue their celebration of solidarity and vandalism.
To the barricades, they went, these revolutionaries, to fight for their rights - to pensions, mortgages and a steady job.
Such odd revolutionaries. No heartfelt cry to change the world, but a plea for everything to stay the same.
For France to remain in its glorious past: a time of full employment and jobs for life - a paternalistic state to take care of them from cradle to grave.
For the faculty, the students' destructive tantrums bring back fond memories.
One teacher looks on with an indulgent smile. English professor Jenny Lowe took to the barricades herself in May 1968.
She remembers the romance of it all, the joy as the workers joined in the revolt the students had begun against an ageing right-wing president and a government they despised.
It's so like a Pink Panther movie. But while we chuckle about all this stuff, it's helpful to keep in mind that there are no protesters getting shot down in French streets. There's really no need for a revolution in France. A wake up call maybe, but not a revolution.
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