In France, sex scandals are not new. The former President, Francois Mitterrand, had a daughter with his mistress and the one before that, Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife BOTH had affairs. America learned of current French President Francois Hollande’s affair when it was revealed the White House had to make sudden changes in the seating plans for his State Dinner after his longtime girlfriend refused to accompany him.
The French first lady does not have the same official status as her counterpart in the United States. USA Today reported that when the former head of the opposition Union for a Popular Movement Party, Alain Juppe, was asked recently if France should formalize the position of first lady, he joked that the country would have to “create a status for the first lady and for the second lady as well.”
Speaking of powerful men who find themselves all f*cked up (we WERE wondering about that, weren’t we?) I don’t believe I ever finished Mr. Lucky’s* story after the book ended. As my readers know, Mr. Lucky was “lucky” enough to live with me for fifteen years. After I left, the software business we worked together to build also folded (not that my leaving had ANYTHING to do with that) but he was lucky enough to be offered a lucrative position as President of a growing concern.
He quickly rose to Chairman, the top executive position in the new business, and from all reports, was really quite good at it. Unfortunately there was an investigation of the business by the INS, and when one of the agents leaked a story to The Smoking Gun about his private life (a la Anthony Weiner, David Patreus, John Edwards, Bill Clinton**, and the aforementioned Francois Mitterrand) he lost all credibility – eventually resigning in some disgrace.
I think the leak was wrong. The lurid photos and stories about his personal life hurt a guy who was doing great things in his professional life. But shouldn’t men and women in powerful positions know better? I mean, it’s one thing to be called out about something in your long lost past: “yes, I inhaled”, “no, I didn’t picket for/against the war in Viet Nam”, or “yes, I once had sex with the DJ…in the booth” (sorry, that last one may have been just me). So why, after achieving the dream of power, prestige, money and influence, do something stupid like posting a personals sex ad with a photo, and assume it’s going to remain anonymous?
*also known as the Smartest Man in the World
**For stories of political scandals in the US from 1775 to the present, please see HERE