Sarkozy & Carla, a guaranteed press hit for 2008

(((I could care less that a politician is having an affair with a pop singer – really, far be it from me, folks – but it's these *little details* of the mechanics of how a thing like this is handled nowadays that make one have to stare.)))

(((For instance – could this situation have *anything to do* with the new
French Internet regime to ban p-2-p piracy of pop music? I mean, just imagine you're Carla Bruni. And you're thinking: "Y'know, my new position as the red-hot 21st-century mistress of a major G-7 head of state is bound to sell a lot of my pop albums – IF ANYBODY WILL ACTUALLY
BUY plastic albums! So would it kill me to, like, lavishly reward this guy, in my enthusiastically feminine fashion, for his enlightened stance on some material recompense for us musical performers? I mean, he is a former police minister... so what if I have him FALL LIKE THE HAMMER OF THE GODS right on the heads of those punk-ass shareware zealots who've been stealing my albums full of tender Emily Dickinson poetry?")))

(((I mean – that temptation HAS TO BE THERE, right? There's all kind of
WIRED angles here, so the prospect of further hijinks has to keep one intrigued.)))

Link: [](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=E2NA2AGN2AH2JQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/12/30/wsarko130.xml " http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=E2NA2AGN2AH2JQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/12/30/wsarko130.xml

Sarkozy gives Carla a hotline to the president - Telegraph ")

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Sarkozy gives Carla a hotline to the president

By Susan Bell in Paris

Last Updated: 2:19am GMT 30/12/2007

"Carla Bruni, the new love in Nicolas Sarkozy's life, has been given a presidential hotline so she can reach him at any time of day or night - fuelling speculation about the intensity of their relationship. (((It fuels my speculation as to whether that cellphone is encrypted, because it had sure better be.)))

http://blog.wired.com/sterling/2006/02/greek_centipede.html
Cell hackers wiretapping the Greek prime minister and spouse

"The French leader has been spotted carrying a new mobile phone, apparently with a dedicated number to take calls and text messages from the Italian-born singer.

"The revelation comes amid frenzied discussion in France that the whirlwind romance may lead to marriage, just two months after the end of Mr Sarkozy's 11-year marriage to his wife Cecilia, a former fashion model. (((I'd be guessing it MIGHT lead to marriage after every conceivable calorie of free publicity has been drained out of the situation. Come on, this is the FUN part.)))

"Miss Bruni's mother, Marisa Bruni-Tedeschi, claims that Mr Sarkozy has already proposed and set a New Year's Day deadline for an answer. (((And she says no, so, what – he goes and finds another pop singer? I'm not buying it.)))

"The couple are currently creating a stir in Egypt. Such is the interest that security forces had to fire warning shots in the air to keep paparazzi from approaching their boat on Friday. (((I think paparazzi should be subjected to warning shots just on general principles – Princess Di died in Paris, you know.)))

For the second leg of their Christmas break they are staying at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, behind the high walls of a vast seafront complex owned by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the emir of Abu Dhabi. (((Woah – did they HAVE to rope in the Emir of Abu Dhabi?)))

Their use of a private jet, borrowed from Vincent Bolloré, a billionaire businessman friend of the president, has caused political ructions in France. (((And billionaire business friends with jets, they're on tap for this activity, too?)))

But it is the spectacle of an unmarried couple courting in such public fashion that has scandalised conservative Islamic opinion in Egypt. (((Oh good! That alone makes the whole thing worthwhile!))) One politician criticised Mr Sarkozy for his "libertine behaviour" for sharing a hotel room with Miss Bruni in Luxor...."

(((It's pretty hard to get any better than "sharing a hotel room with Carla Bruni in Luxor," but it DOES get better than that.)))

"The French press noted with disdain that Mr Sarkozy checked his mobile for text messages during his audience with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome on December 20. (((Who wouldn't?)))

The president had hoped to take Miss Bruni to the Vatican as "First Girlfriend" but papal advisers are understood to have objected to the presence of a woman with a man-eater reputation and a string of high-profile former boyfriends, including Mick Jagger, Donald Trump, Eric Clapton and the former French prime minister Laurent Fabius. (((It's great that he can scandalize both Moslems and Catholics with the same savoir faire!)))

The speed of the romance with the former model has led some of Mr Sarkozy's advisers to urge caution, but to no avail.

"Nothing will stop him," a source close to the president told the weekly magazine Gala.

"He's too happy, too bling-bling. Carla, in the end, is a sort of feminine Rolex." (((Sarko is a snappy dresser, but I can't believe he's so conventional as to go for "a Rolex." Carla is the daughter of a Turinese tire manufacturer, so, if anything, Carla's like some kind of really tricked-out Alfa Romeo, with, like, lug-tires, GPS and a great stereo.)))

Miss Bruni's track record has done nothing to cool Mr Sarkozy's ardour since they first met at a dinner in November. (((How tiring this kind of lame double-standard is.... Sarko's been married twice, you know. Although that doesn't compare to the former German Prime minister, Gerhard Schroeder, who was known as the "Audi Chancellor" because of his four gold rings.)))

"As for the whole bunch of lovers, that doesn't bother him," the source said. "On the contrary, he has the impression he has entered into the world club of great seducers." (((Because he has.)))

Miss Bruni sang the famous Marilyn Monroe refrain "Happy Birthday, Mr President" at the dinner.... (((It's just amazing the two of them would rehearse that Kennedy thing so cold-bloodedly... Although she's not the new Marilyn Monroe, bless her. In Europe historical memories run deeper, and Carla is the new Contessa di Castiglione... Turinese adventuress, the mistress of the Emperor Napoleon III, and "the most beautiful woman in the 19th century.")))

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Oldoini
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Oldoini

(((Even in the seemingly remote 1860s, Virginia really knew how to work that artsy sex-bomb public image. With *daguerrotypes.* No, really.)))

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/LaDivineComtesse/comtesse_more.asp