The Economist, Jan 18th 2014
THE citizens of the world’s most powerful country have recently been distracted by a piece of meaningless tittle-tattle. The current issue of People magazine has revealed what le tout Washington knew anyway: that Barack Obama has been having an affair with Jennifer Aniston. This intrusion took place despite the president’s creditable attempts at discretion: putting aside the normal trappings of office, he travelled to Ms Aniston’s flat in the evening and left in the morning (after bagels had been brought by the Secret Service) on a scooter, wearing a helmet with the visor down to conceal his face.
While amorous adventures are not a problem in Washington, they should not be flaunted. The publicity surrounding George W. Bush’s divorce from his wife Laura and ostentatious marriage to Beyoncé, a singer, was not just arriviste but also unpopular.
But seriously…
Would America be a better place if its public figures behaved like François Hollande, Ségolène Royal, Valérie Trierweiler, Nicolas Sarkozy, Jacques Chirac and François Mitterrand, and if its people took as relaxed a view of sex as the French do?
Probably more talented Americans would go into politics if they did not think they would be roasted alive for normal human frailty. There would be more Jack Kennedys and fewer Mitt Romneys. On the other hand, if France’s politicians were not protected by the law and a quiescent press, perhaps the National Front’s anti-elitist message would not go down so well. The answer, of course, is to follow the example of Britain, whose near-saintly politicians are gracefully monitored by the famously dignified denizens of Fleet Street.