Rough Day for the French Prez!

[wildwoodfam]

Originally Posted by jetskier

Hi all,

I may represent the minority view on this one...maybe. First, I agree that the French President has every right to come here and enjoy his vacation. That is what the rest of us want to do as well. However, when a high profile person such as this comes here, there is the unavoidable disruption to everyone else. Boating restrictions...security issues... I don't think that he is concerned about local disruption, so why should I be concerned about his issues with the press? Just my 2 cents.

Jetskier

Did you ask him?

I think the quick rush to judge his profile persons is that they could care less about the "little guy." In many cases this could not be further from the truth. Having worked around many high profile families I will say that while some could careless about whether your traffic congestion grows while they are in town, the vast majority go through a lot of hoops, at their own expense to prevent such issues. While the fact remains that this visit has caused minor disruptions in daily life - the international spotlight on this TOURIST DRIVE place will undoubtedly do wonders - especially if the French Prez returns home with thumbs up reviews for Wolfeboro!

Regardless - I think he had every right to do what he did to the media jokers yesterday - good for him for exercising his right to express himself and to defend his privacy - and yes - just because he is high profile does not exempt him from private moments.

It was inevitable - for sure - the papa's were bound to cause a stir - but lets remember - it was the press/media who caused the stir and not the president!

Just my two cents.

[The Worm]

Let me get this straight, Sarkozy has the right to come along someone's boat, JUMP ABOARD(!), start screaming at them and grab their personal property, only because he didn't like having his picture taken? Wow where have I been. Could you imagine what would have happened if someone approached the Presidential boat and jumped aboard?

[Puck]

I wasn't there and I don't know if he "jumped" aboard or "climbed" aboard, "yelled", "screamed", or just "raised his voice" but the one thing that does seem certain is that he went over and addressed it himself and didn't just send a security detail over to deal with them. I can respect that.

[Resident 2B]

Sarkozy had a meeting with the press earlier in the day, answered all questions in English when asked in English, and then asked the press for consideration of his privacy while he was on vacation with his family. A few hours later these press jerks cross the line and start taking pictures.

Although he should not have boarded their boat, I for one think he did everything "right" up front. He had the meeting with the press, he answered their questions, he asked for privacy. These two photographers did not respect his wishes which I feel is unfair to Sarkozy.


R2B

[dmjr]

I think the bottom line to this whole situation is that the press should have had more respect and given him privacy during his vacation time.

[kjbathe]

There has to be some give and take here, by everyone. He's a foreign head of state, a celebrity in some respects, an official requiring security in other respects. The press/media/photographers have a job to do as well, people are intrigued by the notion of "someone important" being about, and everyone will be impacted in some small or perceived large ways while he's in town. But I think we would all do well to quickly develop the "fatigue" that seems to be all the rage as of late.

I can appreciate not wanting to be hassled while on vacation with my family. After all, don't we typically take vacation to get away from those hassles? In my reading of the accounts he addressed the press earlier in the day, asked that they not take photos during his stay, the guys on the boat didn't get that message, but once they did they appear to have been quite understanding. And to Puck's point, I guess he deserves a measure of respect for confronting the photographers on his own -- kind of gutsy. We could use more of that from our French "allies".

But all this being said and done, he's just another guy with a family taking a break from his job. I can think of nothing better than him wrapping up the remainder of his peaceful visit and remarking, "We had a wonderful time here. This is really a great place to be on holiday."

And then everyone wins.

[SteveA]

Originally Posted by kjbathe

But all this being said and done, he's just another guy with a family taking a break from his job. I can think of nothing better than him wrapping up the remainder of his peaceful visit and remarking, "We had a wonderful time here. This is really a great place to be on holiday."

And then everyone wins.

Well said!