As a commenter put so depressingly yesterday, France gets Carla Bruni and we get Sarah Palin. Or, as the case may be, we get Cindy McCain. That potential first lady is a cold and at times cruel liar (according to Ariel Levy, at least), while Bruni—despite her many booji faults—is at least interesting. The nudie patootie French first lady is, well, gorgeous, but beside that she's chic and smart and Italian and talented and she dated Mick Jagger. Plus, she's a singer/songwriter who performed on the BBC last night. So who cares that she has a strange marriage to a really conservative French politician. We're just endlessly fascinated with her, because we here in American Wife land haven't really ever seen anything like it. And hey! Vanity Fair agrees with us.

Contact information for this author is not available.