Not Your Sweetie

Changing the Tone in International Debate - Welcome to Kindergarden


Chirac shields Chretien from 'moron' fallout

By BILL RODGERS, SUN OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA -- A furious French President Jacques Chirac shielded
Prime
Minister Jean Chretien from questions about a "moron" scandal
surrounding his communications director yesterday, saying the
subject had
no place at an international meeting on aid to Lebanon.

"We are in France," Chirac said sharply to a reporter during a
news
conference at L'Elysee, his palatial home. "We are not here to
discuss
Canadian domestic issues."

Chirac glared at the Canadian reporter, covered Chretien's
microphone
with his hand and quickly moved to another question from the
floor.

The scandal had already inflamed passions in the United States,
with
conservative pundits fuming after Chretien said he'd decided
not to fire
his aide, Francoise Ducros, for calling U.S. President George W.
Bush "a
moron."

Commentator and failed presidential candidate Pat Buchanan
called
Canadians "spoiled brats of the new world order" on Friday, and
Sean
Hannity, best-selling author and rabid defender of Bush on his
daily radio
and Fox TV programs, said Chretien was "obviously a leftist."

On Friday, Chretien threatened to end a pre-taped CBC News:
Sunday
interview if his questioner didn't stop asking about the issue.
Interviewer
Carole MacNeil started by asking: "Prime Minister Chretien,
regarding the
moron comment, what happened?"

Chretien curtly replied, "I discussed that earlier so ask me
about NATO,
OK?"

Four times the PM tried to steer the interview back to
questions about
NATO before snapping: "All right, if you don't want an interview
..."

MacNeil relented for a few minutes but went back to the subject
that
dominated Canadian news for most of a three-day international
gathering
last week in the Czech Republic.