From the sluice of diplomatic cables that WikiLeaks spilled into its lap, Le Monde has culled a few choice nuggets as regards French politics. In particular, they report that, in September, 2009, Jean-David Levitte, the diplomatic advisor to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, called Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, “crazy” and deemed Iran a “fascist” state. Moreover, a memo from November of last year characterizes “high French officials’ ” view of Sarkozy’s “hard line” against Iran’s nuclear program as the possible “point of the sword” to achieve success in negotiations. (In other words, even in private, France harbors the global pretenses to which it makes public claim.) The paper adds that it will soon publish articles about what the leaks say about “Franco-American relations” and “the French banlieues [i.e., suburban ghettos] as seen by Washington.”

Le Figaro also weighs in, mentioning Hillary Clinton’s assessment of Sarkozy as a “naked emperor” who is “touchy” and “authoritarian.” (The French press is devoting lots of space to the declaration today by his unsuccessful 2007 opponent from the Socialist Party, Ségolène Royal, of her candidacy for the 2012 elections, in which he is considered likely to seek reëlection; the Socialists will hold primary elections next fall—for the first time.)

Read more of our WikiLeaks coverage.