Sarkozy first speech includes statement on human rights.

If Royal had won, and this speech had come from her, I would feel better about it.

http://volokh.com/posts/1178696453.shtml#contact

""I want to launch a call to all those in the world who believe in the values of tolerance, of liberty, of democacy and of humanism, to all those who are persecuted by the tyrannies and by the dictators, to all the children and to all the martyrized women in the world to say to them that the pride, the duty of France will at their sides, that they can count on her.""

""France will be at the sides of the Libyan nurses locked up for eight years; France will not abandon Ingrid Betancourt; France will not abandon the women who are condemned to the burqa; France will not abandon the women who do not have liberty. France will be by the side of the oppressed of the world. This is the message of France; this is the identity of France; this is the history of France.""

Kind of sounds JFK'ish ("we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty."), but of course he is not JFK. ;) Also kind of sounds like Bush, though he adopted rhetoric like this only as an after-the-fact rationalization for his invasion, after no WMD were found, rather than a statement of purpose before hand (which would have been supremely unconvincing.)

while he's on that wealthy supporter's paid holiday.

It's mostly Muslim-bashing. It fits with Sarkozy's comments about immigrants, and his pro-White House tilt. I fear for France's Muslims. I'm glad the youth have combined fight with a healthy disdain for jihadi garbage. I hope all who want a decent, inclusive France stand alongside them in the face of the polarization that's clearly part of the incoming President's agenda.

anti-Muslim stance that got him put in office.

He's evidently in hot water (no pun) for being whisked away by private jet to a billionaire's playground for a vacation hours after winning the election. George W. Sarkozy...

The far right has periodically captivated millions in that country. I'm afraid the latest bout is as much about the capitulation and failure of the left as it is about fear of a "non-French" France.