Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (69931)	6/20/2006 4:44:08 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 173976

role model of warwoundfakerkerryliar: French Prime Minister Erupts in Rage Over Airbus Accusation By ELAINE SCIOLINO PARIS, June 20 — Even by the unruly standards of France's National Assembly, today's session was exceptional. When François Hollande, the Socialist Party leader, berated the French government for its handling of the crisis at Europe's leading aerospace company, Airbus, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin lost control. In an outburst that was both highly personal and filled with rage, Mr. de Villepin accused Mr. Hollande of cowardice. "I denounce, Mr. Hollande, your easiness, and I would even say, looking at you, cowardice! Cowardice!" Mr. de Villepin shouted, "There is in your attitude, I say it again, cowardice!" Socialist members of Parliament tried to drown out the prime minister with cries of "Resign! Resign!" Some deputies moved forward towards him before storming out of the chamber. "He's mad!" shouted Henri Emmanuelli, a Socialist deputy and a former president of the National Assembly. The session — the regularly scheduled Tuesday hearing with Mr. de Villepin and other ministers — came to an abrupt end. Mr. de Villepin's outburst was provoked by an accusation by Mr. Hollande about the growing scandal involving the delay in delivery of the newest superjumbo plane by Airbus and the controversy over alleged insider trading by the French co-chief executive officer of its parent company, EADS. Mr. Hollande asked whether the French government, a major stakeholder of EADS, continued to support the executive, Noël Forgeard. Mr. Hollande also charged that Mr. de Villepin lacked the trust of the French people and would not regain it by filing suit against three journalists. On Monday, Mr. de Villepin took the unusual step of suing for libel the authors of two books on a complicated scandal known as the "Clearstream" affair, in which well-known French politicians were falsely accused of running secret offshore bank accounts. Mr. de Villepin has been accused — he insists wrongly — of ordering an undercover investigation in 2004 of Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, his political rival, to tarnish his reputation because of the Clearstream affair. Mr. Sarkozy has been cleared of any wrongdoing. After today's parliamentary session was cut short, Mr. Hollande demanded a formal apology from Mr. de Villepin. "It is he who must bring serenity back to the chamber," Mr. Hollande said. "The mistake that he made, he must make up for it." He added that Mr. de Villepin "has lost his head." Calls for the prime minister's resignation, even within the ruling UMP party, have increased in recent months, following the failure of his disputed initiative to create jobs for young people. Opposition to the law sparked massive demonstrations and shut down or disrupted the majority of France's universities. An IFOP opinion poll in Le Journal du Dimanche last weekend indicated that Mr. de Villepin's approval rating has dipped from 28 percent a month ago to 23 percent. In recent weeks, Mr. de Villepin — once considered a possible candidate of the center-right for the presidency — has been savaged by his critics. Le Monde's cartoonist, Plantu, has drawn Mr. de Villepin on the front page as a homeless man in a cardboard box, and a disheveled bureaucrat. In other cartoons, his head is carried on a pole, French-revolution-style, by his political opponents. An editorial in Monday's Le Monde, entitled "End of a reign," referred to the "angry powerlessness of the prime minister," adding that President Jacques Chirac had a clear choice: "Change the prime minister or step down himself to allow the French to speak on the future of the country. One doubts that he's ready to do that. Unfortunately." By contrast, Ségolène Royal, Mr. Hollande's long-time partner, the mother of his four children and a Socialist deputy, continues to be the most popular politician on the left in opinion polls for next year's presidential election.