horse of george

This curious, a small thing but quite revealing: Sarkozy discussing - defending his 'negotiations' with Russia over Georgia states France [meaning 'he' no doubt] was there to defend the interests of peace and human rights when no one else, and he specifically alludes to Bush here, was willing to. He mentions human rights again when goes on to defend France's meddling in the most recent war in Lebanon. This view of the good people do versus the bad they do, the relationship between the two - well, it's very liberal isn't it? I'd say a lot of the apprehension about Obama centers on this notion of a coming to power in America of a French view of the world, this aura of a 'new enlightenment' that swirls around him. This idea of human rights existing outside of conflict, as if conflict is just this ugly thing which gets in the way of some perfect, pre-existing condition - well it's a very French enlightenment take on things, no? Put simply, your basic conservative, realist, Hobbesian take on things is that everything we might view as good in our society is tied to, was generated by, is rooted in something bad and progress, as we know it in the West anyway, is a result of a delicate and oftentimes paradoxical balance between the two. Seems to me Sarkozy's casual delineation of the Georgian conflict states dramatically the opposing liberal view of human history. It is yet to be revealed if Obama shares that view or if he was just being somewhat Machiavellian in allowing his rabid supporters to believe he does.