Magic Statistics

The French presidential election campaign is not going well for Ségolène Royal, in part because she has acquired a reputation for political gaffes.  It has now emerged that Ms Royal was fooled by a French comedian pretending to be Quebec premier Jean Charest.

Gerald Dahan — who is seen as close to Royal's right-wing rival Nicolas Sarkozy — told French radio he called her on Wednesday claiming to be Quebec Premier Jean Charest, to discuss a row over comments in which she appeared to back independence for the French-speaking Canadian province.

The Socialist candidate arrived late for a public debate on Wednesday, announcing that she had just been speaking with the prime minister of Quebec, and that he sent his greetings to the assembly.

In Montreal, a spokesman for Charest said the premier had not spoken with Royal and confirmed she had fallen victim to a hoax.

The latest poll shows Mr Sarkozy ahead of Ms Royal by only a few percentage points.  One might think that Sarko would enjoy a larger lead, except that he is mired in a controversy over his alleged ordering a secret inquiry of an advisor to Ms Royal.

As long as we’re catching up on Sego’s latest gaffes, here’s one more.  On the same day that she spoke in apparent support of Quebec sovereignty, she said this during an interview on French television:

Dans un pays comme la France, il y a ce chiffre épouventable: Une femme sur trois aujourd’hui est assassiné sous les coups de son conjoint.

In a country like France, there is this appalling number: One woman in three today is assassinated by blows from her spouse.

(The English is my translation from the soundtrack of the linked video clip.)  She goes on to complain that the media do not publicise this dreadful statistic.  I wonder why.

h/t for Daily Motion video: Covenant Zone

Previous related posts:

• Vive le Canada libre!
• French politicians courting the “scum” vote
• French feeling poor

Parti Québécois leader André Boisclair journeyed to France earlier this week, where he was granted an audience with presidential candidate Ségolène Royal.  Ms Royal was so enchantée by Mr Boisclair that she promptly and carelessly put her foot in her mouth, affirming, on camera, that her “affinities” are "in conformity with our values that we share, that is, the sovereignty and the liberty of Quebec."

That Ms Royal would be so moved after meeting the intellectual lightweight André Boisclair is rather disconcerting.

Canadian federal politicians told her to pipe down.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper rebuked her remark as unwarranted interference in internal Canadian affairs, and Liberal leader Stéphane Dion condemned her facile encouragement for Canada’s dismemberment.  Ms Royal then backtracked, claiming that she was merely affirming the sovereignty and freedom of voters in a democracy to determine their future.

Globe and Mail columnist William Johnson isn’t buying it.  What Ms Royal suggests in her “clarification” is contrary to France’s constitution.  French citizens cannot vote to separate a region from the nation.

France's constitution states at Article 1: "France is a Republic that is indivisible . . ." Article 3 states: "National sovereignty belongs to the people, which exercises it through its representatives and by way of a referendum." But it then eliminates any regional population (like Corsicans? like Quebeckers?) from exercising sovereignty: "No section of the people nor any individual can assume its exercise."

Article 89 explicitly invalidates any law or any referendum that could alienate part of France's national territory: "No procedure of amending [the constitution] can be undertaken or pursued where the integrity of the territory is affected."

Ms. Royal, saying what she did, displayed her ignorance of France's own constitution and those of other democracies. Not one on Earth permits secession through a referendum held by one part of the population. That's considered undemocratic — contrary to the sovereignty vested in all the people.

When Jacques Chirac said in 1995 that he would recognise a “yes” vote in the Quebec sovereignty referendum, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said nothing.  When Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard said in 1997 that Chirac had promised to support the province if it chose independence, Chrétien said nothing—and his intergovernmental affairs minister Stéphane Dion maintained that Chirac didn’t mean what Bouchard said he meant, a claim contradicted by Chirac’s spokeswoman.

Times have changed.  Now we have leaders not afraid to tell French politicians to butt out.  Vive le Canada libre.

h/t for link to DailyMotion video clip: Covenant Zone

Previous related posts:

• French politicians courting the “scum” vote
• UK must choose between EU and US: French presidential candidate
• New PQ leader seen as intellectual lightweight

A company that edits movies for showing on airplanes has done a hatchet job on one of the year's best-reviewed films, The Queen, starring Helen Mirren (at right).  Told to remove profanity and blasphemy, an eager but inexperienced employee excised all references to "God".

At one point bemused passengers heard "(Bleep) bless you, ma'am," as one character spoke to Her Majesty played by Helen Mirren.
. . .
By mistake a bleep was inserted each time a character said God, instead of just when used as part of a profanity, according to Jeff Klein, president of Jaguar Distribution, which distributed the movie to Air New Zealand, Delta and other carriers this month.

"A reference to God is not taboo in any culture that I know of," Mr Klein said. "We excise foul language, excessive violence and nudity."

Does the dear lady in the photo look like someone who'd utter blasphemy?

The Queen has been nominated for several Oscars, including best picture and best actress.  True to form for our local schlock cinema houses, it hasn’t shown yet in Whitehorse.  If it does, I trust we’ll get the unexpurgated version.