NATURE NOTES: THE YES TUCAN (Obama Whatacharma)

 "It carries before its slender frame the heavy burden of world

 expectation, raising some doubts that the whole construct can

 fly. Phooey. A much more optimistic appraisal can be found in

 The Audacity of Hoopoes, Totalbellocks Press, Yale, and Dreams

 from My Feather, Penguin Books."

[The Times, U.K.]

 

 

Le Figaro, France

Obama and Sarkozy: Clashing Views That Need Not Be Fatal

 

"Two key figures, two opposing styles. Two very distinct societies. Two diverse cultures. Faced with adversity and in the absence of a magic formula, political will is essential on both sides of the Atlantic. The problems are similar and the remedies not necessarily so different. And yet, the tone is not the same."

 

EDITORIAL By Pierre Rousselin

                                                         

 

Translated By L. McKenzie Zeiss

 

March 26, 2009

 

France - Le Figaro - Original Article (French)

President Nicolas Sarkozy: The French leader's previous hope that he and Obama would reshape the global economic system may not come to pass.   BBC NEWS VIDEO: London braces for mass G-20 protests, Mar. 26, 00:02:15

On the same day, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy dealt with the same subject. On Tuesday night, the American president held his second press conference at the White House just after the speech of the President of the Republic at Saint-Quentin. Both men wanted to reassure the public which is disoriented by the magnitude of the crisis. They wanted to prove their capacity to get the economy on the right track.

 

Two key figures, two opposing styles. Two very distinct societies. Two diverse cultures. Faced with adversity and in the absence of a magic formula, political will is essential on both sides of the Atlantic. The problems are similar and the remedies not necessarily so different. And yet, the tone is not the same. 

 

The changes Barack Obama has made in nine weeks are huge. The president, who was an icon when he arrived at the White House, has now gotten his hands dirty. It's no longer a question of including "audacity" and "hope" in every sentence. With each passing day the state the American economy is less the fault George W. Bush. So on Tuesday evening, Obama played the role of a teacher - not very lyrical but workmanlike. He wanted to defend his program and, above all, inject optimism and restore confidence after having done so much on the apocalyptic side of the crisis in the preceding weeks. 

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

Along with Sarkozy, Obama shares the problem of responding to the general indignation provoked by bonuses and stock options that leaders of large corporations have allocated for themselves from public funds. Like the French president, Obama expresses his "anger," speaks of "inexcusable" behavior and appeals to a sense of "responsibility." But he denies wanting to "demonize every investor or entrepreneur looking to make a profit."

 

[The Independent, U.K.]

 

Here is where we touch upon the big difference between the two countries. In the United States - even with Obama, there's no question of "restructuring capitalism" or even of "moralizing" it, as much as these concepts please French ears. Over there [in the U.S.] it's a question of avoiding over-arching language and of finding a way to make the economy work better - but certainly not of changing the system. 

 

And if Obama insists that Europe revive its economy soon, it is because Americans think that apart from anything else that might be done, the hundreds of billions of dollars they're injecting into their own economy will help European exports.  

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

But there hasn't been a word out of the mouth of the American president about financial regulation, while Nicolas Sarkozy makes this his priority for the G20 summit next week in London. There are the makings if a sharp disagreement on both form and substance - because the United States wants remain in charge of stabilizing its financial system, which will be determined in due course between the White House and Congress.

 

Obama and Sarkozy in Paris, July 25, 2008.

 

The G20, which Sarkozy so looks forward to, is to Washington only an opportunity to give things a push. But this difference in views need not turn the London summit into an occasion for a clash of two wills.

 

CLICK HERE FOR FRENCH VERSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US March 27, 1:28pm]