France gets better and better:

“No, no. This is stupid,” President Nicolas Sarkozy snorted, abruptly unplugging his microphone and calling his press secretary an “imbecile” for setting up an interview with American television network CBS on a busy day. The interview, which was recorded earlier this month and broadcast on Sunday, sought to introduce France’s new head of state to U.S. audiences ahead of his visit to the White House next week. Americans certainly discovered Sarkozy’s impatient side – a side that has been described at length in the numerous volumes written about him but that is rarely visible in public. “What an imbecile,” Sarkozy said, lifting his eyes to the ceiling, while his spokesman David Martinon is visible in the background, his arms flapping in frustration. “Okay. I don’t have the time. I have a big job to do, I have a schedule,” Sarkozy told the stunned interviewer, Lesley Stahl of CBS’ news show “60 Minutes, through a translator. In English, he added: “Very busy. Very busy.”