The French Revolution of 2007 has not seen heads roll but has involved the destruction of 10 taboos as President Nicolas Sarkozy assumes the role of Europe’s most dynamic leader.

The American Taboo: Enthusiasm for the US was unacceptable for a French political leader because it was always interpreted as an embrace of “Wild West” capitalism, “Anglo-Saxon” hegemony and vulgarity. De rigueur attitudes held sway: patronising contempt in Paris met macho derision in Washington. Communication suffered.

The Agricultural Taboo: No French president could seem uncomfortable patting the backside of a cow. This gesture, at the annual Paris Agricultural Fair, communicated a leader’s link to the land and to deepest France. But the only cows known to Sarko, city dweller par excellence, are on cheese packages.

The Money Taboo: “To live happy, live hidden” goes a French saying. Few things were more hidden than contacts between presidents and the rich. Sarkozy, with his Rolexes and penchant for the yachts of millionaire friends, has broadcast that money’s OK.

The Cultural Taboo: To run France, you had to be cultured. Sarko, an American movie buff, is more at home with Johnny Hallyday than Jean-Paul Sartre.

The West Asia Taboo: Strong French ties and traditions in West Asia dictated coolness toward Israel. Sarkozy, forthright in his support of Israel, declares that “an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran” may be the terrible choice looming; his foreign minister says the world should “prepare for the worst” in Iran, meaning war.

The Russian Taboo: Moscow was France’s offsetting power to the US. For many Cold War years, the French left struggled to decide what was worse: Soviet totalitarianism or American imperialism. Some of the French right was undecided, too. Later, Chirac suggested “neo-liberalism”. Sarkozy is clear: American democracy beats Russian authoritarianism, just as US freedom beat Soviet enslavement.

The Work Taboo: Working hard to get rich was un-Gallic. Working less to feel happy was French. Sarkozy now praises those who “get up early”.

The Far-Right Taboo: For decades, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s xenophobic National Front prospered on an untouchable flank. Sarkozy has undermined this bigoted party with some bigotry of his own about French national identity and a campaign to deport illegal immigrants.

The NATO Taboo: There’s talk of France rejoining the integrated military command of the alliance, unthinkable since Charles de Gaulle hauled the country out in a huff in 1966.

The Ivy League Taboo: The passport to government office was always attendance at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration, where future ministers acquired the mind-numbing skill of saying they had seven points to make and remembering all seven without notes. Sarko loathes such Ivy League clubbiness. He prefers an egghead-lite government.
I’ll go on embracing Sarkozy while waiting to see if he’s a revolutionary in action as well as in words.

IHT