Sarko-Shame

It looks like French Prez Sarkozy has succeeded in making a fool of himself again, with disparaging remarks about fellow leaders. Obama? Smart but inexperienced. Zapatero? Dumb. Merkel? Clueless, hangs on France's coattails. And more. This of course is exquisite fodder for the media, as summarized by French papers Libération and Le Monde.

As usual, most of the French-bashing (well-deserved this time) came from the Anglo-Saxon press. "Nicolas Sarkozy's opinion of fellow leaders: Dim, callow, irrelevant," writes The Guardian, while Time rejoices in Sarkozy's sinking popularity ratings at home and abroad. The London Times notes that Sarkozy seems to have adopted Berlusconi’s idea of tact. The NYT adds, "Mr. Sarkozy’s model seemed to be Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. 'The important thing in democracy is to be re-elected,' Mr. Sarkozy reportedly said. 'Look at Berlusconi. He has been re-elected three times.''

"Berlusconesque" is a good way to describe Sarkozy's arrogant, unstatemanly behavior. Both are what you call petits roquets.
illustration via The Economist