Chirac Not Liberal Enough

Good ole New York Times. What's the problem in France these days? Chirac and his ilk aren't liberal enough. At one point, the editorial even seems to imply that an affirmative action plan would have helped prevent the riots. Excerpts:

Jacques Chirac and his ministers . . . appear to have no idea what to do and to whom to talk. Their floundering illustrates the deeper problems that underlie the current unrest: a failed approach to absorbing immigrants into society . . .

This wave of criminal violence is likely to reinforce prejudices against France's five million to six million Muslims. It has already brought out shameful name-calling demagogy from Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a leading presidential candidate.

That is a particular shame because he's been one of the few French politicians willing to acknowledge that the republic's centuries-old ideal of integration, which ignores the ethnic and religious communities' existence and special problems, hasn't worked for years. Now Mr. Sarkozy, the one government leader who has dared to advocate American-style affirmative action methods, has chosen to inflame a dangerous situation and immolate his own hard-won credibility in immigrant communities.