Tuesday morning: France, The NY Times & Cartagena

It was a busy weekend and the news didn't stop on Monday.  Let's look at three stories that caught my attention.

Let's start with the French election.

Based on news reports, it appears that the French have elected the leftist candidate in Round 1.    We should add that the right got 20% of the vote and could decide the runoff or Round II.

We understand that the French are angry and want results.  However, it's hard to believe that they would turn left and follow another politician over the cliff.

The left does not have answers for France's problems. 

The left is all about slogans and the "blame the rich" nonsense that will drive more capital and hard working people out of France.  Get ready for some long lines at the US and Canadian embassy in Paris.   I hope that the US State Department sent a big box of blank "visa requests" for the surge coming in France.

Question:  What leads people to vote for "slogans and speeches"?  I don't know but we are talking about France.

Last, but not least, the right had a better than anticipated showing.  The right wants immigration controls and the preservation of French culture.   At the same time, no one is telling the Europeans to have babies, or the best way to preserve your culture.  It's hard to pass on your traditions when you are not having enough babies to replace your population.

My guess is that the French will eventually throw out the leftist government, too.   

What does France need?  It needs a leader who will tell the French what they don't want to hear.  It needs someone who will tell people to work and stop expecting someone else to take care of them.

We will watch the next round but the first round was a display of political immaturity from the French.

Back here, we were caught "off guard" by a column from the public editor of The NY Times.  

What is a public editor?  He is an "in house" critic, or someone who is supposed to listen to the newspapers' critics are saying.  

This is what he wrote:

"According to a study by the media scholars Stephen J. Farnsworth and S. Robert Lichter, The Times’s coverage of the president’s first year in office was significantly more favorable than its first-year coverage of three predecessors who also brought a new party to power in the White House: George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan."

So what's going on?  Why the column now?

I think that there are several things going on.

First, my guess is that a lot of professional journalists are embarrassed by the media's "in the tank" coverage of Pres BO.  From Solyndra to "Fast & Furious" to the GSA and Cartagena, this is an administration that can not answer questions. 

Last, but not least, it is nice to see some self-examination at The NY Times.  It's pleasant to read that they are thinking about their image and responding to the readers, or better said, their former readers.

Speaking of strange scandals, the White House needs to answer a simple question:  Were the Secret Service agents the only ones seeing prostitutes in Cartagena?

We learned that there was a "second" hotel in Cartagena:

"CBS News correspondent Whit Johnson reports that a law enforcement official told CBS News that the latest agent under investigation brought a woman back to the Hilton Hotel in Cartagena, Colombia, just five days before President Barack Obama would be staying there."

We are not suggesting that Pres BO was aware of this.  Frankly, we don't expect any president to get that involved in security details.  However, was someone close to the president aware?

We've seen in the last two years that the Obama administration has a hard time answering questions.

Pres BO needs to slam the desk and demand an explanation.  This is a lot bigger than just some guys "going rogue" in Cartagena.  This is about protecting the president and other key people.  Check out our Monday show: 

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