My Portuguese friend Cristina has a post in which she discusses Sarkozy's election, and in the comments she says the following(the original is in Portuguese and this is copied from the Babelfish translation, giving you an idea of how well it works, and its limitations):
France harvests what semeou.e what sowed was hatred, disdain and altivez on who comes of is.
ja said it here and repeats: the Frenchmen are xenófobos elitist and one have camouflaged complex one of superiority under the flag of the freedom, fraternity and of the equality they are not nothing of this, ja not even is the country of bluff... ok assume the things, of fact, the democracy seems to be claustrofóbica.
The political distance between Sarkozy and Jean Marie LePen is small indeed; he is the National Front with a nod and a wink to respectability. Cris's main point here, however, is clear. France's resentment towards its immigrant community is rooted in resentment, not economic, but social, cultural, and political. When there were riots two years ago, showing the world that the French hid their racism behind a banner of official colorblindness, waving the tattered banner of the First Republic's cry of "freedom, equality, and brotherhood", the (white) French public was enraged that they were called out for being what they are - xenophobic racists who claim adherence to a higher moral principle to excuse the destructive social policies that resulted in race riots. In that respect, Sarkozy's win is not surprising; he is merely the spokesperson now for the average (white) French person who hates the Africans among them not only because they are black, but because these thankless immigrants have dared question France's social practices. Cristina is quite right when she points out that the French are xenophobic elitists; this election proves that for all the world to see. I said it at Cris's site, and I will say it here - this was a sad day for the Fifth Republic.
