Putin: “I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls”

Sarko: “Hang him?”

Putin: “Why not? The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”

Sarko: “Yes but do you want to end up like Bush?”

Putin: “Ah — you have scored a point there.”

==========

And, through various media, Carla Bruni’s recent conversation with Berlusconi:

Bruni: “When I heard Silvio Berlusconi’s joke describing Barack Obama as ‘tanned’ … I’m very happy that I became French!”

Berlusconi: “We too are indeed happy that she is no longer Italian.”

Diplomatic language is more colorful than I thought…

First, as German blogger Yaschka Mounk reported, there was the rumor that Sarkozy might have had one too many drinks with Putin before a Press conference in 2007 (see video below):

Then, as you can see in French blog rue89, there was the infamous cover of a Polish magazine that displayed a modified photo of Putin spanking Sarkozy, graphically criticizing the current leader of the European Union for being too lenient with Russia over the Georgian crisis. It turns out that Sarkozy did have some influence over Putin when they met to discuss this matter. In the Netherlands, Michael Van der Galien at the Poligazette, quoting from the Times of London, writes that Sarkozy was successful at preventing Putin from further escalating the crisis in Georgia:

When Sarkozy was in Moscow in August this year, in order to establish peace between Georgia and Russia, Vladimir Putin told Sarkozy he wanted to hang Saakashvili “by the balls,” meaning forcibly removing him from power.
Sarkozy told Putin that the international community would not accept that from Moscow. Putin didn’t care. ““I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,” he said.
Sarkozy thought he had misheard. “Hang him?” — he asked. “Why not?” Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”
Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: “Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?” Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: “Ah — you have scored a point there.”

He adds:

Lessons learned:
1. Sarkozy saved Saakashvili
2. Fear of “ending up like Bush” now functions as deterrent

World bloggers are picking up the meme that the fear of being like Bush might be the most effective way to prevent world leaders from acting too impetuously.

Alex Massie from Scotland, calls President GW Bush: “the Inadvertent Peacemaker“. Superfrenchie ( France) is amused that the language of diplomacy can be so colorful.
However, others are not pleased that this conversation was leaked to the Press. In the comment section of the original article, Richard Grey in London writes:

good Bush joke, but shame the French leaked this out. Sarkozy is Europe's strongest leader, he needs other leaders of the world to trust he wouldn't send confidential conversations out to the press

In the same comment section,Angel, from Sofia, Bulgaria, agrees:

This is french propaganda campaign which sought to reassure other european countries that their security and well-being can depend on the french paper tiger.
It is also possible for them to play good cop bad cop with the russians, with the aim of replacing NATO with ESDP.

Even a French blogger concurs. Pierre Vienot in New York, US, protests:

“Monsieur le President, self promotion is unacceptable! Your advisor should shut up.”

Jowett pointed me to this CNN blog that said Filipinos prefer McCain over Obama.

Citizens of the Philippines and Georgia were the only ones who preferred McCain to Obama. Not exactly the super-powers we’re looking to mend fences with.

Um, no. I can't speak for Georgia though. (And I can't speak for the 95 million people here as well, I guess, but I say boo to the survey.)

Instead, go to The Economist's Global Electoral College.

The Economist has redrawn the electoral map to give all 195 of the world's countries (including the United States) a say in the election's outcome. As in America, each country has been allocated a minimum of three electoral-college votes with extra votes allocated in proportion to population size. With over 6.5 billion people enfranchised, the result is a much larger electoral college of 9,875 votes. But rally your countrymen—a nation must have at least ten individual votes in order to have its electoral-college votes counted.

The Philippines gets 132 electoral college votes, and look at that — Blue State.

Not saying that one party is better than another, just wanted to point out I never put all my trust in public opinion surveys in the Philippines. What people tell a person is different from the vote they give in private (on the Internet or in a voting booth), especially in this country, so let's have some iodized salt with that poll please. I for one don't go around telling people who I voted for last time — some family members were campaigning for someone else, and I didn't want to ruffle feathers.

ETA:
GMA News: BBC survey suggests Pinoys prefer Obama over McCain
BBC: All countries in BBC poll prefer Obama to McCain
Gallup poll (possibly the source of the first link): World Citizens Prefer Obama to McCain by Nearly 4-to-1

Nervous about the election yet? Here's a triple dose of McCain favoritism brought to you from bloggers around the world.

1) Mexican actor, singer, and devoted Catholic, Eduardo Verástegui has been campaigning against Obama and for McCain on the basis of his anti-abortion and “traditional family value” beliefs. Numerous videos explaining his views are in circulation on the internet, including the one below. While Christian media rejoice, New York Latin culture blog, El Daily Remix, wish he would just stick to acting and stop interfering with women's rights.

Obama has rejected accusations made against him on “partial birth abortion” on the website, Fight the Smears.

2) German blogger “Hans Fritz” (aka Jan Becker) was an exchange student at a high school in Texas many years ago. He makes a film of his “homecoming” and talks to students of Tom Bean High School about who they think people in their community will vote for. Guess who.

Don't miss Hans Fritz' humorous take on the last presidential debate (where candidates “decided not to bomb Germany”).

Untitled from Jan Becker on Vimeo.

3) On Global Voices Online, Onnik Krikorian links to two separate blogs that each examine the general preference for McCain over Obama among citizens and politicians in Georgia (the country) and the Caucasus region.

From Social Science in the Caucasus:

McCain, of course, is popular in Georgia for having said “Today we all are Georgians” during the recent conflict. He has also previously visited the country, and apparently a missile was fired at his helicopter as he was flying over South Ossetia. His willingness to stand up to Russia, directly, makes him understandably popular in Georgia.

No surprises here, as “George Bush remains a popular figure in Georgia” (photo).

Barack Obama is within striking distance of winning deep red Georgia next Tuesday. The latest poll out of Georgia shows a statistical tie. If McCain loses Georgia he will lose it as part of a larger national Barack Obama landslide.

Down ballot the Georgia Senate race is heating up. Democrat Jim Martin is in a dead heat with Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.

Chambliss won his senate seat in 2002 by beating Vietnam veteran and triple amputee Senator Max Cleland in one of the sleaziest campaigns in recent times. Chambliss questioned Cleland’s patriotism and played the fear card to the hilt. Here’s a Chambliss ad from 2002:

Georgia now has a chance to retire Saxby Chambliss and his brand of politics. Next Tuesday night, this is the Senate race (except for the expected Mark Warner rout in Virginia) I will be paying the most attention to. And so will Max Cleland.

And meanwhile, Obama has overtaken McCain in Georgia. Yes, Georgia.

Now what puzzles us a little is that, according to The Economist, Obama apparently is more popular in Azerbaijan and Turkey. Is that really the case? Obama has been very outspoken about recognizing the Armenian genocide, and enjoys full support by the Armenian caucus, a sizable group of American legislators (apparently nearly one third of all legislators belong to it). So pronounced is this issue, that it has been described by The Atlantic as “McCain's Armenia problem”). So does that matter for comparing candidates?

For more depth, let's turn to Gallup World Poll (and we will be writing more about some of their impressive work in the region soon).

While Gallup has no data on Armenia and Azerbaijan, they have asked this question in Turkey and Georgia. And here lies one clue: in Turkey, 22% are pro-Obama, 8% pro-McCain. But 70% say they don't know, or refuse to answer. In Turkey, at least, the popularity of Obama, is based on the majority not having made up its mind yet. If Obama is elected, some delicate questions need to be resolved. See, again, the Atlantic article on this.

The data is, as far as we know, pre-conflict, collected in July, therefore the Georgian preferences may not be up to date: 15% Obama, 23% McCain, 62% Don't Knows/Refuse. So here, the race is pretty far away, too. Compare with the most extreme pro-Obama country, the Netherlands: 74% Obama, 10% McCain, 16% Don't Knows/Refuse.

Does the election matter to the world? Go to the Gallup website, and their nifty online data presentation, to find out more.