American Reader comments on Le Monde’s ‘Political Centrism’ as ‘Neo-Liberal Apologetics’ !

Editor: A brief preamble:

The Reader needs to approach with caution Nathalie Segaunes essay! With the Trump/Vance meeting with Zelensky, that signaled the not quite end of American and NATO hegemony! And the allience of Macron and Starmer, and a cadre of the un-ethusiastic: where might The Reader place Segaunes celebratory praise of Alexis Kohler, at the most impropitious moment of his planned departure? In a brief 1102 words?

The Eurocrats, in the person of Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, enthuse over the possibility that Europe can rise to the political moment, and save the remanes of the 2014 American coup d’état? The Reader can only imagine Macron of the Jupiterian presidency and other over-blown political mendcities, with out the help of Tecnocrat Supreme Alexis Kohler: Yet Macron as his attack on the Gilets Jaunes made utterly clear, that even Kohler couldn’t manage Macron’s authoritarianism.

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Editor: Give Nathalie Segaunes her due, she embraces the duty of a political cog in the political machinery of this newspaper! Note the “vice president,” …

The end of the reign is in sight. With two years to go before the end of President Emmanuel Macron’s second term in office, Alexis Kohler, his chief of staff since 2017, will step down on April 14, the Elysée Palace announced on Thursday, March 27.

The news did not come as a major suprise. The day after Macron’s re-election in 2022, the “vice president,” as he has sometimes been nicknamed, said he would not stay at the Elysée Palace for the full 10 years. His statement had been met with doubt, as his close relations with the president and his hard work had established him as an essential cog in keeping the state running.

Editor: Some informative quotations follow. This weak melodrama moves this political chatter along:

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In the fall of 2024, the news quietly spread that Kohler had approached the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life to inquire about possible conflicts of interest should he take up a job in the private sector. Macron’s “twin” was, indeed, looking for a way out.

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The two men, who had no political experience at the time, together devised the platform that led to Macron’s victory in the 2017 presidential election, and led the country for eight years with a rare close ideological bond.

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Pragmatic and even-tempered, Kohler, who is older than the president by five years, was also the man who would translate Macron’s sometimes risky “political impulses” into public policy.

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“He has served our country in an exemplary way these years. I know how much our collective action owes to him, and I know that he will continue his commitment to the nation in other forms,” he added.

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Deeply affected by this accusation, the senior civil servant believes that the legal proceedings would never have existed if he hadn’t been the president’s chief of staff.

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Editor : On the pressing Question of who Alexis Kohler is :

February 19. In a press release on Friday morning, the bank Société Générale said Kohler, 52, would become its second-in-command and head its investment banking services, confirming initial reports by Le Monde.

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Moulin served as chief of staff to Bruno Le Maire at the Finance Ministry (from 2017-2020), and then to Gabriel Attal at the prime minister’s office (January-September 2024).

As expansive and frank as Kohler is secretive and rigid, Moulin is no stranger to crisis management

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Editor: Under the tired rubric of Inside Information!

Moulin would have preferred to head the French government’s investment arm, the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC). The position has been vacant since Eric Lombard joined the government as finance minister on December 23, 2024. However, getting Parliament to approve him promised to be tricky, especially as he was the head of the Treasury at the time when France’s public accounts began to deteriorate, in 2023. He will instead help Macron complete the last stretch of his term in office

American Reader.