Shameless "Romance"

Nicholas Sarkozy, the current president of France, and his new wife former model Carla Bruni are not the kind of people I have warm feelings for or respect. In this day and age I can understand where some people who see themselves as progressive and hip might feel enthusiasm for these two. One blogger mentioned in a post weeks ago "that the only good thing about Nicholas Sarkozy was Carla Bruni." Another one who seems to see himself as Don Juan but is really a Don Quixote or perhaps better Sancho Panza, said he would love to go with Sarkozy on a tour of the wine country in his area. I am being cruel here... But these comments were written.

Some people don't know how to pick friends or spouses carefully, which Sarkozy showed last weekend when he married Ms. Bruni after only knowing her for 11 weeks. Perhaps the times have moved too fast for me and I am out of touch, but Carla Bruni with an illegitimate child and past numerous lovers including Donald Trump and Mick Jagger is just not first lady material. Sarkozy's mama must not have told him that "son, there are some you marry, and others just you have a good time with."

I see Sarkozy and Bruni as the king and queen of shameless "Romance" and just bad taste. There is an arrogance about both that is very unsavory. Bruni luxruriates in her bad and shallow reputation. On her man-eating persona she has said:

“I’d rather be called a predator than an old flea-bag. Predator — it’s not that bad for a woman.”

and

“I’m monogamous occasionally but I prefer polygamy and polyandry.

MADAM, it is not about being a stuffed shirt, but it is about having class and being a lady. But perhaps my ideas on life like beauty, truth, class, and dignity are concepts that are alien to this era and therefore, gone with the wind. And I will not even bring up the term honor, because that went out in the 19th century, but still it should apply to your position, MADAM.

Sarkozy has shown a level of immaturity and recklessness which has already hurt his position with the older French citizenry. Most French presidents have conducted discreet affairs. The late Francois Mitterand even had an illegitimate child. With French men, c'est la vie la affaire. Nicholas Sarkozy needs to know that when you are in a position of leadership, you should try to set a good example. Have some dignity, and stop intentionally creating a public soap opera!

Nicholas Sarkozy has tried to bring the office of the president of France far too down to earth. Sadly, President Bush has shown himself to be too down to earth also at inappropriate times on several occasions, but not in the unfaithfulness department. Bush's last publicly shocking faux pas was winking at the Queen when she was here in 2007. The queen played it off well with only an, "Oh dear." I cringed.

So will this quicky marriage between "Speedy Sarko" with his Napoleonic height (5'5") and his femme fatale with the lovely eyes last? I doubt it. Some have predicted that it will be over with "Sarbruni" or "Brunkozy" (my own inventions:)) by 2009.

Other heads of state have married shady dames but some of the dames calmed down considerably and became honest women. Look at Evita, once she settled down with Juan Peron. Or remember the Byzantine emperor Justinian the Great who married Theodora? Both Evita and Theodora were actresses who were said by some to have slept their way to the top. Both women cleaned up their acts. Theodora made such a monumental change that she is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox church. Some have even pushed to have Evita canonized as saint in the Catholic church because of her philanthropy and kindness to the poor.

Being in the current generation, I do not see Carla Bruni moving beyond a selfish, self serving vision of herself. I may be wrong, but when one has a husband like Nicholas Sarkozy whose ex-wife Cecilia, whom he recently divorced, and who has accused him of being a stingy philanderer who is indifferent to his children, I do not see anything good happening in the end for these two. There is no one on either side doing rational thinking. They do not strike me as two people who want to change their ways. At their ages (Sarkozy is 52 and Bruni just turned 40) they are probably too set in their ways to really change.

France is having economic problems, but its' president continues to live a trivial jetsetting lifestyle. I guess for Nicholas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni, Paris can burn. Here in America, we witnessed a train wreck on a different level for 8 years next year. For the French people who have had Sarkozy for their leader for less than a year, I seems the train wreck has just begun.

Here is a video of little Nicky in all his glory.



Here is the new first lady of the French showing one of her talents outside the bedchamber.

Aphrodite and Apollo Post Moderne

This is slightly old news, but 41 year old Halle Berry's wish has come true; she is now pregnant by her French Canadian boyfriend, model Gabriel Aubry. They are reputed to have met at a Versace fashion show. Halle says that Aubry, 31, was initially rather shy, but he obviously overcame his impediment.

After two failed marriages to black men, Halle Berry stopped seeking marriage and instead found someone she says she is happy with, who has shown her real love, and has given her her wish, a baby. Personally I believe for a number of reasons that it is best to have kids inside the context of marriage. Still because people are imperfect, with even a married father around, there is no guarantee raising children will go smoothly. It all has to do with having a level head, and a lot of men and women in this day and time don't even bother to have any balance in their outlook on life. Seems those who should have never gone the route of producing kids are the first ones to plunge in having them. The most blatant current public example of this is Britney Spears. In my most recent sojourn in Turkey, the family I worked briefly for as a live-in English tutor showed horrible parenting skills, this in a country which still holds on to traditional marriage and family. Some people are just not cut out to be parents even in such places too.

Hopefully, with her age, Halle will display some common sense and skill. But wisdom does not always come with age. But for the child's sake, I hope she does. It is said that older parents tend to be better than those who are young. Older parents don't take things for granted where having a child later in life is concerned. To older parents, a longed for child which finally appears on the scene is a blessing.

A couple of weeks ago, I watched a YouTube video of a Christian Lebanese woman whose parents had been married for over 30 years and had remained childless. When they had gave up hope, her mom became pregnant. When she was born, her mother was 55 and her dad was 60! I bet they were wonderful parents. This was in the days before fertility treatments, and being in one of the Bible lands, I am not surprised. Remember Abraham and Sarah or Elizabeth and Zachariah, both elderly Biblical couples who had a child when all hope was lost?

Halle Berry is the product of an African-American father and an English mother. With their good looks Berry's and Aubry's child may be very attractive. African-American, English, and French.

In their beauty, I think of Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry as a post modern Aphrodite and Apollo. Here are more photos of them.

A Poem By An Iraqi

I live in Georgia, and our state "Georgia On My Mind" was made famous by Ray Charles. For me, however, I could re-word the lyrics and make it "Iraq On My Mind" since that country has continuously been in my thoughts almost every day since the war started. Please bear with me if I tend to post here regularly something pertaining to Iraq, but this is my blog and like the old song said, "It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to." It's my blog... :)

Back in the spring while looking for a magazine on freelance writing at Borders Bookstore, I ran across the spring and summer edition of Atlanta Review magazine which is a periodical featuring contemporary poetry not only by Americans, but my poets in other countries. The edition I found was labeled in red "Iraq" and contained poems by Iraqis translated from the original Arabic. I am going to post here a poem by an Iraqi which is in the magazine.

The Heart of a Woman

The heart of a woman is the only country
That I can enter without a passport.
Where no policeman
Asks me for my card
Or searches my suitcase
Full of contraband joys
Forbidden poems
And delicious sorrows.
The heart of a woman is the only country
That does not heap up heavy weapons
Nor force its citizens to fight its wars.

By Lateef Helmet
translated by Soheil Najm