Sarkozy victory

Newly elected President of France Sarkozy has made a big deal out of wanting to slash the number of unemployed (as Thatcher did when she was elected in '79 and then presided over a massive rise in unemployment and homelessness), develop hard line neo-liberal economic policy and hopes to "unite the nation" - as the riot police are immediately deployed, just to ensure everyone feels really, really united.

Some thoughts from around the blogosphere;

Tory blogger Iain Dale "I've said before that I am not a fan of Sarkozy. He looks to me to be slightly unbalanced and a bit of a bastard. I suppose I should console myself by the fact that as a man of the Right he is at least OUR bastard." Although Iain should take note that Sarkozy praised Tony Blair on more than one occasion during the campaign - perhaps that makes him everyone's bastard?

Lenin "Sarkozy means the unemployed youths, the low-paid workers, the immigrants and every other marginalised, exploited, oppressed group in society nothing but harm, a few riots would be a healthy sign of life. Write it down and pass it on, I'm backing the Paris jihad the second it hits the streets."

Martin "No more 35 hour workweek for those spoiled lazy bastards, no more luxury benefits, finally a French economy in line with the rest of the EU."

The Nation on the other hand points out that whilst Sarko was the "Bush-friendly candidate for the presidency" he "was never going to be George Bush's "poodle" in the way that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had been in the run-up to the Iraq war. During the campaign, Sarkozy pointedly stated his opposition to the war, backed moves to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan, and allowed as how "the messianic side of Americans can be tiresome.""

Bum. Let's hope the elections next month are more cheering.