Buddy,

I read the Gurfinkiel article last week and thought, wow, France is finished! And I actually felt some compassion for the French who, because of their interference before the Iraq invasion, I had come to hate (in spite of having spent four long years learning, and learning to love, their language).

But Sarko’s election, with an 85% voter turnout, makes me rethink my pessimism. I think this is the biggest and most telling event in the world since 2001. If the French can rethink their direction, anything can happen.

Too bad we’re about 30 years behind them on the learning curve, and seem poised to make all their mistakes (in our own American way).

;-(

Jamie Irons