sarkozy: president or player?
by Wesley Vaughn
Published: February 9, 2008
Over the past few months, the French Press has been hounding President Nicolas Sarkozy for his relationship with supermodel, Carla Bruni. Sarkozy married Bruni after his ex-wife filed for divorce last September. Though the French usually do not care about the private lives of their officials, the complete opposite I would say of Americans, many believe Nicolas Sarkozy has stepped over the line.
How does this matter to the United States? Let me give you some background. President Sarkozy ran on a conservative platform promising many reforms and preaching strong family values. He campaigned with his former wife, Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz, but after the election she seemed to disappear from the public scene. Sarkozy now is the first French President to get a divorce while in office and as of February 2, 2007, the first to marry. He’s young, he’s glamorous, he’s arrogant and he’s paying for it.
Nicolas Sarkozy has been an adamant supporter of the U.S., not the most popular position to take in France. Add a sham marriage, divorce and affair and what do you get? An unhappy electorate. The recent approval ratings of the president have dropped from 64% in September down to 49% as of a week ago. Apparently, Citizens desire the changes Sarkozy promised - and a stable marriage.
The uncharacteristic public outcry against the president could have serious consequences for any U.S. administration. Nicolas’ administration stands out among our European “Allies” as one of the few that actually seems to like us. Though Americans have nothing to do with Mr. Sarkosy’s infidelity, guilt by association may put a freeze on our otherwise warming relations.
To get out of this debacle, President Nicolas Sarkozy needs to take some advice from Americans who have had to deal with issues surrounding marital infidelity. When faced with a similar situation, Kobe Bryant bought his wife a $4,000,000 diamond ring.
His wife seemed to agree that $4,000,000 rings save marriages.
I recognize that the President’s marriage is already over, but maybe he could buy his ex-wife a nice necklace and get her to say, “It’s not him, it’s me.” Eventually, the public would forget the affair ever happened.
Though one hopes that the Sarkozys live happily ever after, Nicolas has twice before left his wife for another woman - so there’s no guarantee. Excuse me for being blunt, Mr. Sarkozy, but just in case the 7 year itch comes early, I’ll remind you that we once had a President with fidelity issues. He dealt with his affair by lying to his wife, lying to the press and lying to the judge. He then dragged the country through years of partisan bickering, but eventually got through the ordeal relatively unscathed thanks to a soaring economy. So if things don’t work out between you and Carla, take a note from Bill Clinton’s history, but don’t repeat it.
Also, though I’m certain that supermodels are very interesting, don’t get distracted. Remember, you were elected to reform French politics and a stagnate economy. Score in that regard and you’ll never regret it. And remember that there’s a nation across the Atlantic that is grateful to finally have a friend in Paris. It’s been a long time since the French president had anything nice to say about us. It would be a shame if your personal problems caused the French citizenry to blame conservatives, i.e. capitalists, i.e. Americans for the collapse of the nuclear family. But all internal and international politics aside, where marriage is concerned, the third time is rarely a charm.
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