In 1995, for presidential elections, their candidate was precisely defeated for the same reasons - but obviously, it takes more than ten years for a political message to reach a French socialist's brain.
Lionel Jospin said "my program is not a socialist one" and used a conservative fear rhetoric instead of tackling the most important issues -unemployment, for example - through the prism of social justice. Less skilled at this dirty little game than right and far-right candidates, he has been eliminated in the first round of presidential elections - finishing both behind Chirac and Le Pen.
What did le Parti so-called "Socialiste" decide after such a frank rejection?
Well, they kept on saying their project was not a socialist one.
It was not surprising a few years later to see many of them betraying their own political family and join the government of Nicolas Sarkozy. One of the most extreme example of such an inglorious backflip being Bernard Kouchner, whose ability to betray every single one of his past ideals is really fascinating - in some way. He is like a kind of Shakespearian character, whose behaviour unfortunately has effects that exceed the world of fiction.
More recently, Manuel Valls, the mayor of Evry, filmed in the streets, wondered where the White people were, saying the presence of French people with a darker complexion gave "a bad image of the city". Tell President Obama about it, Manuel.
Such a racist statement should have been challenged by a party whose electoral basis is partly made of descendants of African people. It has not. French socialists probably think it is a detail. But this kind of detail, in addition to many others, justify their well-deserved wreckage.
At least we have Leonard Cohen to listen to while watching them sink.
Lionel Jospin said "my program is not a socialist one" and used a conservative fear rhetoric instead of tackling the most important issues -unemployment, for example - through the prism of social justice. Less skilled at this dirty little game than right and far-right candidates, he has been eliminated in the first round of presidential elections - finishing both behind Chirac and Le Pen.
What did le Parti so-called "Socialiste" decide after such a frank rejection?
Well, they kept on saying their project was not a socialist one.
It was not surprising a few years later to see many of them betraying their own political family and join the government of Nicolas Sarkozy. One of the most extreme example of such an inglorious backflip being Bernard Kouchner, whose ability to betray every single one of his past ideals is really fascinating - in some way. He is like a kind of Shakespearian character, whose behaviour unfortunately has effects that exceed the world of fiction.
More recently, Manuel Valls, the mayor of Evry, filmed in the streets, wondered where the White people were, saying the presence of French people with a darker complexion gave "a bad image of the city". Tell President Obama about it, Manuel.
Such a racist statement should have been challenged by a party whose electoral basis is partly made of descendants of African people. It has not. French socialists probably think it is a detail. But this kind of detail, in addition to many others, justify their well-deserved wreckage.
At least we have Leonard Cohen to listen to while watching them sink.
