How appropriate was Laurent Delahousse's July 14 Islam question to François Hollande

July 14, aka Bastille Day, came and went. France's celebratory show of military might made its collective way along "la plus belle avenue du monde", every major flippin' TV channel covered the it - live, and what ho!

The French president François Hollande (once again) broke an election promise (don't gasp in surprise).

Remember how during the presidential election campaign Hollande had said that, if elected, he wouldn't follow the example of his predecessors by conducting interviews at the Elysée palace?

Well....he had changed his mind - obviously.

François Hollande (screenshot from Huffington Post video on DailyMotion)

Weekend anchors Claire Chazal (TF1) and Laurent Delahousse (France 2) were the lucky couple invited along to pose questions on:

**shale gas (there won't be any exploration during his presidency apparently),

**taxes (he'll decide next year whether there need to be increases but wants to keep them to a minimum),

**the economy ("It's recovering!" Please don't splutter and snort in contempt as you read that...Hollande actually said it),

**a possible Sarkozy return (Hollande is "cool" about it - that's paraphrasing what he said),

**the Greens (the political party - not the type you might not want to eat) and their place in government, pensions, the Bernard Tapie affair (here's a challenge...try to explain what that's all about Twitter style) and all the usual subjects you might expect to be of interest to viewers.

It was a veritable flood of questions and follow-ups from both Delahousse and Chazal as the two battled for Hollande's attention during 35 minutes and Hollande, the poor guy, resembled a spectator at a tennis match with his head swinging from side to side, seemingly unsure as to whom he should direct his replies.

Chazal et Delahousse font" tourner la tête" de... par LeHuffPost

And then, just as it was coming towards the end, Delahousse slipped in a question that has angered some.

Hollande had just finished explaining how dangerous and ill thought-out he believed the policies of the far-right Front National's leader Marine Le Pen to be when Delahousse had his "inspirational" moment described by political journalist Bruno Roger-Petit in the Nouvel Observateur as being without any real substance and pandering to an agenda set by the Front National.

http://leplus.nouvelobs.com/contribution/907416-quand-delahousse-interroge-hollande-sur-islam-et-democratie-une-question-pro-fn.html

"During your recent visit to Tunisia, you said something very important in that 'France knows that Islam and democracy are compatible," began Delahousse.

"That was obviously a message aimed at Tunisians. But I wanted to ask you a question. In France there are five to six million Moslems and a third of them say they're practising. If one day, an Islamist party, a fundamentalist one, were created in France, what would be your reaction?"



Hollande's answer was a simple one, reiterating what he had said in his speech in Tunisia that "no religion was inconsistent with democracy" and that France "remained a secular state".

But Delahousse's question received a furious response from Socialist parliamentarian Pouria Amirshahi.

"This is an issue worthy of the propaganda of the far right," he said.

"It was pitiful especially as a question for a July 14 interview and just feeds into irrational fears," he continued.

"At best it was ridiculous and at worst it was one more example of those who try to have us believe France is being 'invaded'."

While Amirshahi's reaction might appear virulent, he surely has a point.

Look at the words use by Chazal as she welcomed viewers and outlined to Hollande what subjects would be covered right before the interview began.

"We will ask you questions on issues that of course concern the French: unemployment, growth, the economic crisis ... "

And Roger-Petit pointed out a certain inconsistency in Delahousse's "science fiction" question.

"How can one of the leading and most acclaimed French journalists put such a question to the president," he wrote.

http://leplus.nouvelobs.com/contribution/907416-quand-delahousse-interroge-hollande-sur-islam-et-democratie-une-question-pro-fn.html

"How can he ask him something that is a matter of 'science fiction' (abour the speculative creation of a fundamentalist Islamist political party in France) at the expense of "reality" (the creation of a political extremist Catholic party for the next European elections)?

Your Tweet on Angelina Jolie was not funny Madame Boutin

Some people shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Twitter.

Or there again perhaps they should be encouraged as it shows just how insensitive and out of touch they can be.

Take the case of Christine Boutin for example.

Boutin was housing minister (for a while, until being unceremoniously fired) under Nicolas Sarkozy.

But she's perhaps better known for being the leader of centre-right Parti chrétien-démocrate (Christian democratic party, PCD) and a fervent opponent of same-sex marriage just as she was of the bill to allow civil union, the Pacte civil de solidarité or PACS, between two adults regardless of their sex when it was making its way through parliament in 1999).

Remember her "malaise" and indignation after she was one of the protesters sprayed with tear gas at a "Manif our tous" demonstration in Paris back in March?



Well as usual Boutin has been tweeting this week but one in particular has surely revealed her for what she truly is... Choose whatever word you wish to describe her.

Boutin's tweet came in a response to an article in Le Nouvel Observateur's Le Plus.
about Angelina Jolie's Op-Ed "My Medical Choice" in the New York Times in which the actress wrote about her double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer.

Le Plus tweeted its piece saying Jolie was sending out "a message of hope for women."

Unfortunately Boutin didn't quite seem to think along the same lines - or at least hadn't bothered to read either Le Plus or Jolie's original Op-Ed because she responded, clearly without engaging her brain.

And in a manner which displayed her real compassion and sensitivity Boutin wrote, "Pour ressembler aux hommes ? Rire ! Si ce n'était triste à pleurer".

screenshot Twitter

Bravo Madame Boutin. Congratulations on your "sense of humour".

Boutin deleted the tweet, but not before a fair number of Internet users had responded both on Twitter and her Facebook page, the latter becoming the target of a "poop" attack with appropriately-shaped smileys being left after every new post.

screenshot Facebook

Friday's French music break - Indochine, "College boy"

This week's Friday's French music break has been chosen not so much for the quality of the song - you can be the judge of what you think about that - but more for the controversy surrounding the accompanying video.

It's "College boy" the latest release from one of France's most successful rock bands, "Indochine".

In essence, the song is about the bullying experienced by a schoolboy realising that to be accepted by his peer group will be an uphill struggle, to say the least.

But the video, filmed in black and white and shot by young Canadian director, Xavier Nolan, deliberately uses violence and relies on certain clichés to get its message across.

And therein lies the heart of the controversy.

(screenshot from "College boy" video)

Writing in Nouvel Observateur, François Jost describes what happens in the video.

"The victim of bullying is a boy coming to terms with his sexuality," he writes.

"He becomes the scapegoat, is tortured by some of his classmates, spat and urinated on while others 'watch with their eyes bound'," continues Jost.

"Finally he's crucified: two bullets through the body."

While Jost insists the video is no worse (and no better) than some US films which portray violence for its own sake and that it in fact depicts to an extent a reality which exists (he gives the example of the behaviour by some in France during the recent demonstrations against same-sex marriage), others have been more critical.

"The video is simple 'trash'," says editor-in-chief for culture at Le Figaro, François Aubel.

"From the paper balls thrown at the boy by his classmates through a whole series of images until his death...even though Indochine insist they're not looking to create a scandal, the whole thing smacks of being a marketing ploy," he added, pointing out that the group will embark on a sell-out tour in the Autumn and will also play Stade de France (one of the few French acts capable of filling it) next year.

Former education minister, Luc Chatel, is none too impressed either.

"Imagine a crucifixion, imagine a murder filmed at the heart of a school. That's not acceptable," he said on national radio when asked about his reaction to the video.

"I'm not certain that the extreme violence of some of the images is the appropriate response to the issue of bullying and harassment," he added.

The Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA), the regulatory body for the media in France, is still determining whether the video is suitable for broadcast on either television or on the Net in this country, so for the moment the full version is unavailable, unless you happen to live in Canada, where it was shot.



On Le Figaro's site though you can see so-called "soft" edited portions of the video - if you really feel so inclined.

Even those images don't make easy viewing.

Maybe though, the last word on the video should be left to the group's front man, Nicola Sirkis.

"We're not looking to be censored or to create a scandal," he says.


"We just wanted to address a problem that exists.  When it's possible for a person to buy weapons on the Internet and then turn them against innocent people, it's time for some urgent and serious political thinking."

Incomplete dancing faction - "Danse avec les Stars" goes politicial

Hey folks, it's time to dig out your tutu, reach for your ballet slippers or pull on your tights, because the producers of TF1's "Danse avec les Stars", the French equivalent of that oh-so excellent (cough, splutter) British show "Strictly Come Dancing", have apparently finalised the line-up of the jury and competitors for next season's extravaganza.

Shy'm winner of "Danse avec les Stars" season 2 (screenshot from TF1 video)

Yes, the programme which has celebrities twirling and whirling, pirouetting and gyrating, while audiences for some reason trip the light fantastic in their millions from their armchairs will be back shortly for its third season.

And that supposedly serious weekly news magazine Nouvel Observateur has proudly divulged nine of the 10 contestants and they include singers Chimène Badi, Amel Bent, Lorie and Emmanuel Moire.

But hang about. Take a closer look at the source of Nouvel Obs' revelations and it turns out to be none other than the weekly celebrity gossip magazine, Voici.

Could something be awry here in the veracity of the "reporting"?

The truth will out, of course, and after some very basic shoe leather pavement pounding, your intrepid provider of the (sur)real story behind the headlines can disclose what TF1 actually has planned for viewers in a few weeks time.

Yes "Danse avec les stars" will be back on the screens and the format will be similar to that of the previous two seasons with "celebrities" looking to give a boost to their careers with a healthy dose of prime time TV exposure.

But - and here's where it gets interesting the competitors this time around will be different.
And how.

Because TF1 has decided to put politicians past and present (but mainly past) through their steps in a special "Shuffle avec les Stars" edition.

Yes, so now you're probably desperate to know who has already agreed to strut their stuff for our entertainment pleasure.

Ready?

Here goes.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was apparently the first to agree.

Now Anne Sinclair-less, the former head of the International Monetary Fund has been looking around for some way of breaking the sex scandal cycle of news ever since that infamous Sofitel incident.

Plus apparently he has always had a bit of a thing about lycra tights.

Not surprisingly perhaps, producers have decided to team him up with a professional male partner.

Also appearing will be Ségolène Royal, who of course has absolutely nothing better to do at the moment.  In an interesting twist - yes the production team has really pulled out all the stops - Seggers will be paired, not with a professional dancer but with...Valérie Trierweiler.

It should be intriguing to see who tries to lead as the couple spin each other in all directions around the floor, stiletto (heels) at the ready.

Seggers-Trierweiler aren't the only "couple" appearing on the show though.

The leader of the far right Front National, Marine Le Pen, will be partnered by the man to whom she once not-so-jokingly offered honorary party membership, former interior minister  Claude Guéant.

Indeed, the first indication from the bookmakers is that Le Pen-Guéant could be favourites to win as they're so obviously already in step with one another.

Where you'll find Guéant, you would also expect to spot the man for whom he so eloquently wrote for so many years, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sure enough, the former president has also agreed to take part, seemingly bored of riding his tricycle around the Cap Nègre estate of his wife's family and desperate to do anything to keep himself occupied during his self-imposed political retirement.

One condition he apparently made before signing on the dotted line was that he would be allowed to wear platform shoes throughout the series.

Although she also announced on her Twitter account that she would be happy to dance, former minister Nadine Morano faces one huge challenge and the programme makers are not quite sure how to handle it. Apparently Morano wants to take part, but nobody is willing to dance with her.

And finally of course former justice minister and current member of the European parliament Rachida Dati has agreed to waft in and out of the show whenever the mood takes her accompanied by Chanel, Gucci, Prada and a whole host of other fashion houses

You'll notice that not all of the 10 slots have been filled, so there are still some surprises to come.

Sadly rumours that François Hollande might be able to find time in between his tanning sessions for fandango or two have been "normally" denied by one of his spokesmen who insisted that the "president had been flattered by the invitation," but also "thought he should look as though he were running the country even if he were not."

With several weeks still to go until the show hits the small screen, stay tuned to this post to discover who else will be hoofing it across the dancefloor.

Vive le sexisme - Cécile Duflot as France's new political fashion icon

A shamefully sexist headline for sure.

But it makes a point; namely women politicians - and not just in France perhaps - are much more likely to be judged on how they look than what they say, believe in or do.

Sure there are the occasional examples of this country's male politicians making the news for their dress sense - or lack thereof: from the crumpled untidiness of former environment miniser Jean-Louis Borloo to the dashing and suave "best dressed politician" in the shape of ex-prime minister Dominique de Villepin.

By and large though, little comment is forthcoming about the grey suitedness of the largely male-dominated national assembly.

For women in French politics however - it's far from being the case.

Take Cécile Duflot.

Cécile Duflot (national assembly screenshot)

Like her or not - she's a young, ambitious and truly talented politician.

At just 37, she has had a fast track trip to power. She rose relatively quickly through the ranks of the green political party, Europe Écologie – Les Verts, becoming its leader in 2006, a post she held until a few months ago.

She was the "chief negotiator" if you will of the party's pact with Socialists for June's parliamentary elections, securing herself a safe seat in the process and - lo and behold - being offered the job of minister of territorial equality and housing in the current government.

Not bad going by anyone's reckoning.

Aside from her comments on the legalisation of cannabis - a personal view it was later stressed, just to ensure that the government appeared to be singing from the same proverbial hymn sheet (namely that of the interior minister Manuel Valls) when it came to official policy - what has Duflot made the headlines for since she took office?

Yep, you've guessed it: the way she looks - or more specifically dresses.

First there was the apparent fashion faux pas when Duflot wore jeans to the new government's inaugural cabinet meeting, with opposition politicians - and most notably former minister Nadine Morano (who else?) - leading the assault and criticising the housing minister for her lack of respect for her new position.

"Personally speaking, I think that when you're a representative of the French people you have to differentiate between what you wear to a cabinet meeting and the sort of dilettante look more appropriate for the weekend," Morano said during an interview on RTL radio.

"I think it's important to to make that distinction."

The appearance of a jean-clad Duflot at that cabinet meeting and on the official government photo' op' afterwards was reported as "causing a sensation".

Go figure.

And this week Duflot has hit the vestimentary headlines once again while answering questions in parliament.

She was wearing - shock horror - a dress (with a blue flowered pattern for those of you who really care about these sorts of things).

Duflot's choice of outfit clearly wasn't to the liking of some opposition centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) parliamentarians who began jeering even before she had begun to answer questions.

She managed to laugh it off, "Ladies and gentlemen...but above all, clearly, gentlemen", she began.

The speaker of the house, Claude Bartolone, intervened to call the house to order, but the episode of course demonstrates much more about the macho nature of French politics as Béatrice Toulon points out in the columns of le Nouvel Observateur, where suit and ties - and the ideas that seem to go with them - dominate.

It's a world in which women are clearly still outnumbered in France, accounting for just 155 of the 577 members of the national assembly.

So Duflot and the other 18 women in the so-called gender parity government will probably have to face more of the same during their time in office.

That's progress for you.

Morandini Zap: C.Duflot huée à cause de... sa robe! Vidéo jeanmarcmorandini sélectionnée dans Replay TV

Nora Berra, junior health minister, advises homeless to "stay indoors" during cold snap!

As you're doubtless aware by now, much of Europe is going through Brass Monkeys weather, and France has been no exception over the past week.

Indeed there's unlikely to be a let-up in the cold spell until next weekend according to the national meteorological (try saying that after a few bevvies) office Météo France.

Prime time TV news and radio programmes are typically dedicating plenty of air time to - among other aspects - the freezing temperatures, burst pipes, electricity consumption, the danger of blackouts, and the plight of the homeless.

Cue the junior minister for health, Nora Berra, whose job, you would imagine, is one that would require her being particularly sensitive to the needs of the more vulnerable - especially during weather extremes.

And such was the case at the weekend when the 49-year-old helpfully wrote on her blog her recommendations as to how those most at risk - the homeless, infants, the elderly, or people with chronic cardiovascular or respiratory problems - could cope with the cold spell.

A few lines later came her words of wisdom beginning with, "In the case of an extreme drop in temperature, I recommend to those most vulnerable to stay indoors."

(enlarged screenshot of blog from Nouvel Observateur)

Yep. She was apparently telling the homeless that they shouldn't venture outside.

Duh.

As the website of the weekly news magazine Nouvel Observateur pointed out, the Net was soon abuzz with reactions to Berra's blunder, with Twitter users poking fun at the minister by recommending that, "the homeless also eat five fruit and vegetables each day for a healthy diet" or suggesting they "wear fur coats rather than jogging suits because they would keep them warmer."

Berra responded by amending her blog and, as the national daily Le Monde wrote, dropping the homeless from her original list of the "most vulnerable" and giving them a whole sentence at the end of her entry with a reminder that, "if you see a homeless person on the street who seems to need help because of the cold, call 115 (an emergency service for the homeless) to report it without delay."

Seemingly unwilling to admit that she had made any sort of mistake, she also answered her critics by saying that it had been an "error of interpretation" and writing a shorter blog entry (Tweeted) pointing out that, "there are some subject which do not lend themselves to irony."

Well, there's nothing like an apology...and that's...

Boris Boillon hangs on as France's ambassador to Tunisia - but for how long?

Views are split as to whether it could soon be curtains for France's man in Tunisia, Boris Bouillon.

Even though rumours just won't go away that the man dubbed "Sarkoboy" by some in the French media could soon be on his way home, he's still in the job.

And that could be down to Jean-David Levitte, a high-ranking French diplomat and sherpa, or the civil servant who undertakes the preparatory political work prior to summits, to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Speculation that Boillon would be returning to France surfaced at the beginning of April with a report in France Soir that a replacement had been found for the 41-year-old.

Yves Marek, a career diplomat and "native son" would soon be taking over, the paper assured its readers.

According to the French weekly news magazine Nouvel Observateur, Marek was an "astute choice" to succeed Boillon who had come in for plenty of criticism - not least from those in his new host country - for making as much of a mess of his start to his new post as the French had in their mishandling of Tunisia's "Jasmine revolution".

But as the end of April nears, Boillon is still in his job and, as far as Nouvel Observateur is concerned, that's largely down to the support of Levitte.

Boillon made a mess of things almost immediately after touching down in Tunisia.

During his very first press conference, he appeared dismissive and aggressive towards one journalist and a video of the encounter soon made its way on to the Net.

Not surprisingly it didn't go down well with Tunisians and even though Boillon appeared on national television a day later to apologise, many wanted him out.

(screenshot from Facebook page Boris Boillon Degage)

A Facebook campaign was launched calling for Boillon to be replaced and an online petition was started urging France to appoint another Ambassador who would "meet more closely the expectations of Tunisians as they wrote a new page in their history."

Remember, this is in a country which used social networking tools so effectively to rally support during the revolution.

Not great news then for Boillon and he rather kept his head down during the visit of two members of the French government, the finance minister, Christine Lagarde, and the European affairs minister, Laurent Wauquiez, a couple of weeks later.

Marek's name began circulating as the most likely successor. The 44-year-old's diplomatic credentials were impeccable and he was seen by many Tunisian Internauts as a child of the country's resistance to the former leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

But that was also his undoing, according to Nouvel Observateur, because he was suspected of having been too much in favour of regime change during the Jasmine revolution, and besides, Levitte wanted to protect Boillon - his protégé.

The one person who perhaps could have given Tunisians what they seemed to want more than anything - Boillon out and Marek in - suggested Nouvel Observateur, was the French foreign minister Alain Juppé.

Just before Easter he was on official business in Tunisia to announce €350 million in aid to help, as TF1 reported, "rebuild a relationship undermined by the France's diplomatic faux pas and mishandling of the events during Tunisia's 'Jasmine revolution'."

It could also have been a golden opportunity to announce a change at the embassy, but it didn't happen.

As far as Nouvel Observateur is concerned that's partly because Juppé has inherited staff and advisors from his predecessor in office, Michèle Alliot-Marie, and he is also being "held hostage by a diplomatic service" unwilling to admit it misjudged the Jasmine revolution in the first place and as a consequence unable to come to terms with its mistakes.

So Boillon is to stay and Marek's services will be deployed elsewhere?

Well all is not lost for those in Tunisia who would like to see Sarkoboy sent home.

On Monday BFM TV ran a report once again suggesting France considered his continued presence in Tunisia could be too much of an embarrassment.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy parody at theatre awards - mother "not amused"

Last weekend saw the annual La Nuit des Molières in Paris, the French national theatre awards ceremony.

The event, now in its 25th year, gives thespians and fellow luvvies from the French theatre world the chance to indulge in some self-congratulatory back slapping.

It's broadcast live on French television because of course it's part of the country's cultural heritage, but sadly it doesn't really pull in very high ratings.

This year's edition, carried on France 2, attracted fewer than two millions viewers; a shame really as the show was far from being as dull as many might have feared and indeed featured something of a highlight that made quite a buzz both on the Net and the mainstream media.

It was the performance given by Michel Fau.

Michel Fau, (screenshot from YouTube clip)

The actor-director wasn't actually at the ceremony to be awarded anything.

Instead he was what might be called "light relief"

He entered dressed to the nines as an opera diva and gave a rather special version of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's "Quelqu'un m'a dit".

The whole thing was an excerpt from his 2010 show in Paris "L'Impardonnable Revue Pathétique Et Dégradante De Monsieur Fau" in which he performed music-hall style tributes in appropriate garb of some of his favourite singers.

It was of course a parody and most in the audience seemed to find it amusing, including the minister of culture Frédéric Mitterrand and two women rather close to France's first lady; her sister, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, and her mother Marisa Borini.

Well that's how some initially interpreted the reaction of Bruni-Sarkozy's family.

But as the website of, among others, the weekly news magazine Nouvel Observateur pointed out, the smiles of the two women looked just a little too determined and forced for the camera.

Borini in particular was apparently far from pleased at Fau's onstage antics.

And according to the French celebrity website Purepeople.com, the first lady's mother allowed her "displeasure to be felt backstage, after the awards ceremony was over."

Oh well, it was just a bit of harmless entertainment, and surely Borini has heard more harmful comments and statements directed towards her daughter over the years.

And let's face it, Fau's performance gives the song...er...something extra.

Take a listen to both videos for a direct comparison.

Enjoy and oh yes, don't forget to smile.

French "help" for Ben Ali stuck at Paris airport

Equipment to "maintain law and order" including police uniforms and tear gas, destined to be delivered to Tunisia before the fall of its former president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has been stuck at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport since last Friday.

But there are conflicting explanations as to why it was never dispatched.

On Wednesday the French government's official spokesman, François Baroin, confirmed that an order, placed by the former Tunisian president with a private company in France, had been prevented from leaving Paris shortly before his fall from power.

"Ben Ali placed an order directly with the company supplying the equipment," he said.

"Customs officials did their job correctly and it never left," he added without, as the weekly news magazine Nouvel Observateur pointed out, wanting to elaborate on what role (if any) the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, had played in the decision.

As far as the French website Rue89 is concerned the load, containing as much as seven tonnes of tear gas, was held up because of "technical rather than political" problems.

Tear gas for Tunisia (screenshot from Rue89 video)

Customs officials authorised the export of the equipment, it says, but red tape and in particular the "need for it to be inspected" got in the way.

The journalist Jean-Dominique Merchet, who specialises in military and defence topics, offers up a different explanation though.

On his blog for the magazine Marianne, Merchet wrote that the 'plane carrying the cargo was due to leave late on Friday morning but customs officials "suddenly became very picky."

Soon afterwards, according to Merchet, the head of Sofexi, the group supplying the equipment, received a call from the "highest authority at the Elysée informing him that delivery was out of the question."

Such contradictory explanations are perhaps only to be expected from a country which the BBC described as having been "in a fluster over the Tunisian crisis"; a reaction that still seems to prevail perhaps as illustrated by Rue89's unsuccessful attempts to discover what will now happen to the equipment held at Roissy.

When it contacted the ministry of defence it was referred to the interior ministry, which then referred it to the Elysée which in turn referred it to the ministry of foreign affairs, from which it is still waiting for a reply...



Du gaz lacrymogène bloqué à Roissy
envoyé par rue89. - L'info video en direct.