SARKOZY FEVER....

I've been waiting for conservative euphoria over the election of Nicolas Sarkozy to wind down, and today I finally see the first sign. It comes from Andy McCarthy at NRO:

I'm glad Sarkozy won, but the U.S. swooning over him has been premature and over-optimistic. He is just as opposed to U.S. operations in Iraq as conventional French opinion. He would take the military option against Iran off the table (he is, in other words, a proponent of the status quo that is failing even as we speak). And, at a time when things are not going well in Afghanistan, he is in favor of pulling France's forces out of the NATO coalition there. It's nice that he is saying a few positive things about America, but I am not going up in a balloon over this guy.

It's not like I expect conservatives to support a Socialist candidate for anything, let alone president of France, but Sarkozy strikes me as the most de Gaulle-like president France has elected since, um, Charles de Gaulle. He may admire American culture, but I suspect that when it comes to actually dealing with the United States, he's going to be every bit the pain in the ass de Gaulle was. Conservatives should be more careful what they wish for.