This welcome did nothing to diminish his sense of mission.
But Mr. Sarkozy's pugnacious style and tack to the right on immigration — promising to "divide by two the number of people we welcome" — were nothing new for the candidate as he attempts to siphon support from a hard-right challenger, Marine Le Pen, who is polling strongly.
It's welcome, if nothing else, for showcasing Nicole Ari Parker, who I know best from her sharp and funny supporting turn in Boogie Nights and the Showtime series Soul Food.
His guests were many, and included the man who helped put him on the map in the early 1990s, Dr. Dre, who arrived to a king's welcome for "Nothing But a G Thang" and Dre's "Next Episode".
The scene was one of the night's more unexpected developments — a rousing cheer from the crowd, a snapshot of a dominant starting pitcher, a victory in its early stages — but what it represented was a welcomed improvement, nothing more, though appreciated still.
There is no welcome sign here, nothing to signify the New Orleans of most people's imagination.
I have written to the magazine's circulation department, asking them to please cancel my subscription, but every month I get the current issue with a note that says, "Welcome, New Subscriber!" Nothing makes any sense anymore.
