Patriot Gains

In his long march to the French presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy pitted himself against the moldy pieties of an obsolete status quo — much as the leftist revolutionaries of May 1968 had done. Some 19 million voters followed him. In a terse speech on May 6 after his overwhelming victory, Sarkozy said France "has chosen to break with the ideas, habits and behaviors of the past." No more fealty to the notion that France's unique social model can insulate it from the ravages of globalization; no more reflexive opposition to the U.S., which enjoyed a rare expression of Gallic affection when Sarkozy...

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