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Go Home Romney-sarkozy Summer Summit

THE PLANK AUGUST 2, 2007

Romney-sarkozy Summer Summit

BY TNR STAFF AND TNR STAFF

There's news out of the Boston Globe this morning that the jogging French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, will be arriving shortly in Wolfboro, New Hampshire to exercise his French right to a vacation on the American shores of Lake Winnipesaukee.

Sarko's vacation spot of choice would place him a few minutes around the lake from Mitt Romney's summer home. You may remember that in February a document leaked from the Romney campaign suggesting French abuse as a lead strategy, calling for bumper stickers which read, "First, not France" and articulating the math behind the Romney machine, "Hillary=France." Ouch.

Recently, Romney has been backpedaling on his France-bashing ways, telling an audience last week, "I love France! My kids are on vacation there right now. I love France. I speak French, lived in France. I have nothing but respect for the French people."

No wonder his advisors worried in that same document that their candidate might be labeled "Flip-Flop Mitt." For the record, he was against the French before he was for them.

But the man who spent two years in France working as a Mormon missionary couldn't resist one last dig. He told the folks of Bedford, New Hampshire, "I just don't want to become the France of the 21st century.".

Hopefully the two men will be able to take their boats out together. There's much to discuss.

--Samuel Jacobs

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21 comments

. . .of the 21st century" No, I believe the term that Tagg used in the video was "laughingstock"

- dubyadoubte

August 2, 2007 at 2:54pm

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It sort of jumps out at you, but all that 2004 GOP investment in demonizing Massachusetts, equating Kerry with France and France with all things bad, seems to have spilled over onto Mitt, who looks even sillier than Kerry does in a hunting outfit. Karl Rove's chickens coming home to roost?

- stgla

August 2, 2007 at 3:33pm

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Massachusetss (aside from the difficulty in spelling it, and its lousy winters) probably leads the nation in any conceivable quality of life measurement: health, income, education etc. I mean, what - it's better to have been Governor of some Red state that vies to rank 49th or 50th?

- dubyadoubte

August 2, 2007 at 3:40pm

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I grew up in Mass, have family there, and will be a Red Sox fan til I die, so I only observe the GOP Mass-bashing but do not agree with or understand it. My best guess is that the Republicans were so delighted with how they beat Mike Dukakis over the head with his own (successful!) state (remember the Massachusetts Miracle?) that they reused it for all the Kennedys and then recycled the theme again for Senator Kerry's bid. It's like an old 45 that they can't stop playing. Romney's strategy seems to be to join in and bash the very state that elected him governor. That is the cheap and sleazy way to score points and makes him look like a jerk. I think his presidential campaign strategy for Mass will be like his strategic position on France: nuanced bashing, love/hate, and so on.

- stgla

August 2, 2007 at 3:46pm

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Massachusetts has legalized gay marriage, which everyone knows is only one or two clicks up from pagan child sacrifice, burning down churches and erecting temples to Baal. And to answer your rhetorical question, in the minds of some, it is better to be socially conservative, living on a compound stocked with enough ordnance to storm Fort Bragg and be barely able to read "My Pet Goat" than to collude with gays, godless ACLU members and feminists. And Massachusetts is safe haven for those people. Hence the hatred.

- drdannyu

August 2, 2007 at 3:49pm

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The mass-bashing started long before gay marriage. It was taxes and dirty water in the Boston Harbor, not to mention all those communist loving eggheads at elite (is that bad?) institutions like Harvard. My only problem with Mass growing up there was the strict enforcement of the drinking age. We had to go south of the border (to Rhode Island) to party in high school.

- stgla

August 2, 2007 at 4:03pm

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Taxes? Ha! You think people in God's country care all that much about taxes??!?!? (Well, okay, they do.) But tax-hatred has nothing on legalized gay marriage. Massachusetts may as well change its slogan to "Gomorrah on the Bay."

- drdannyu

August 2, 2007 at 4:05pm

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#1 ouch...good one. stgla: the Red Sox nation must be conquered and shown no mercy. There is no more perfect place than Yankee stadium in the spring. (granted, you can't have more perfect, but you get the idea)

- blackton

August 2, 2007 at 5:35pm

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Yea dead right DrDan. You can keep your magnificent coastline, forests, autumnal wonderland, higher quality of live, significant history, Greek-like educational institutions and better beer. I don't want any of those gays hanging around my sister-wife.

- The Ignorant Populist

August 2, 2007 at 6:50pm

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Massachusetts died the death of a thousand cuts. No single trait condemns it; put them together, though, and it's fucked. * Kennedys. Overstayed their welcome. Why won't they just go away? * Kerry. He could be the Second Coming of the Messiah, and he's still a loser. * Homos. It's okay if they're spread around, like middle-class Negroes, but there must be zillions of them in Mass. lining up to get married and that means pretty soon everybody has to wear their sweaters tucked in. * Taxes. How'd that Big Dig work out for ya? * Logan Airport. Makes O'Hare and Dallas/Ft.Worth seem pleasant. Terrorist incubator. * Red Sox fans. You won. Now shut up. * Canada. Too close for comfort. * Size. It's pretty small. That can't be good. * Harvard. The Stanford of the East. Only the children of alumni can afford it. * Cod. Practically extinct. Georges Bank just offshore. Coincidence? * Car Talk. We're so over it. Makes "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" seem hilarious.

- williamyard

August 2, 2007 at 7:44pm

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'pretty soon everybody has to wear their sweaters tucked in.' I don't know which 'mos you're referring to, but my dues are paid in full and I would never appear in public that way. 'Makes "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" seem hilarious.' But I do think "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" is hilarious! What are you saying? (Though, frankly, they should be chastised for prolonging the career of Paul Provenza.)

- drdannyu

August 2, 2007 at 9:08pm

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If there's no more perfect place to watch baseball than Yankee Stadium in the spring, why are they demolishing it next year?

- Crock1701

August 3, 2007 at 2:49am

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"If there's no more perfect place to watch baseball than Yankee Stadium in the spring, why are they demolishing it next year?" Say hello to George, everyone. Obviously, blackton has never been to AT&T (or whatever the name is this week) Park. Better sightlines, better atmosphere, better food, and less chance of getting your throat cut after the game. Okay, so the Giants ain't doin' it this year (sigh)...

- caaggies

August 3, 2007 at 4:02am

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The Giants' [Your Name Here] Park is without peer. And they paid for it (mostly) themselves, thus pissing off virtually every other team in MLB, whose fan base said, "Hey! If the Giants' city doesn't have to buy them a new yard, why should we?" But many of the other owners hide their resentment because Bonds is headed their way on a road trip, adding a bonus of a few hundreds of thousands of dollars to their coffers. In addition to the attributes listed by caaggies, AT&T has its quirks and surprises, one of which caused Ichiro's routine double in the All-Star Game to elude the perfectly positioned Junior, abetting the first inside-the-parker in the Game's history. Plus we got all those kayaks in McCovey Cove, fishing for history and a free case of pneumonia. True, the home team struggles. But it will soon bid adieu to its fallen angel and his home run record, along with much of his supporting cast, and then spend the zillions thus saved on the eternal hope of youth. My seats are in View Box, i.e, the nostril end of the nosebleed section, the sun at my back, looking out over the Bay. 'Tween innings, container ships glide like huge iron slugs to and from the Port of Oakland. Sun sparkles on the water, pennants snap, sailboats heel, the ferry from Larkspur disgorges fans outside the park. I am explaining the rationale of the double switch to the Sonoma Hooker, my date. She is resplendent in orange, white, and black. She will buy cotton candy, kettle corn, a churro--anything from an aisle-stalking vendor--then force me to eat most of it. They are grooming the infield sand. The game is about to start. All is calm, all is bright.

- williamyard

August 3, 2007 at 12:40pm

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geddablog fer 'im

- teplukhin2you

August 3, 2007 at 1:31pm

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Boston = European class-consciousness and social hierarchy without European cities' liveability, grace, charm. Harvard College = the General Motors of advanced US education. You can find a better education at dozens of other universities and colleges, including three in California. MA race relations = roughly where race relations in most southern cities were 25 years ago

- teplukhin2you

August 3, 2007 at 1:37pm

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This has become less about the lake house encounter between the Repubican candidate and French president and more about my home state and beloved Sox. But I have to respond. 1. I've never ever sat in a skybox but I would not trade my childhood in the bleachers at Fenway for anything that New York or SF have to offer. Hating the Yankees will continue long after the glorious 2004 season. It will take a lifetime to shake off the effecs of the 1970s (and 1986 and 2003). 2. I have no defense of Harvard. Didn't go there, it was always just one of a dozen colleges we have in the area. I spent more time socializing at BU, BC, and Wellesley, thank you very much. 3. 90% of all stereotypes about Boston and MA are wrong, including yours, tep. 4. As for gays, I'm sure that outside of p'town, MA has the same percentage as anywhere else, marriage laws nothwithstanding.

- stgla

August 3, 2007 at 3:30pm

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"She is resplendent in orange, white, and black." Orange and black, right, but WHITE? That is soooooo 1999. The operative word here is cream (or, in the words of that renowned village idiot Jeff Kent, "French vanilla." Yeah bozo, and why did you lie about how you broke you wrist, you piece of filth?!).

- caaggies

August 3, 2007 at 4:10pm

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I was just on this topic yesterday, AAMOF. He's "earning" $9.8M this year. For which the Dodgers, with a couple rabbits and an All-Star catcher batting in front of him, have received 15 HR and 59 RBIs. Meanwhile, another 2B, Brandon Phillips ($407K!), has 20 jacks and 64 RBIs! Or even Robinson Cano, of the famously extravagant NYY, is getting $490K with a .300 and 57 RBIs. Chase Utley? Pulling down about half of Kent's money ($4.8M), and giving the Phils .336, 17 HR, 82 RBIs. There's nothing like booing Kent at AT&T. Even Piazza doesn't get that level of abuse. 'Course, Piazza didn't whine about having his best years batting next to Bonds, then literally weeping for joy when he put on Dodger Blue. The guy makes Steve Garvey or Ron Cey look heroic.

- williamyard

August 3, 2007 at 4:26pm

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"The guy makes Steve Garvey or Ron Cey look heroic." Agreed. Which is why I cheer whenever he gets plunked.

- caaggies

August 3, 2007 at 5:45pm

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- caaggies

August 3, 2007 at 5:45pm

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