Sarkozy and Obama should be partners and not "rivals"

French newspapers banner Obama inauguration

Wed Jan 21, 5:56 AM ET

From Yahoo news: A display of French newspapers showing front page coverage of the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington D.C., in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009. Obama ushered in a new era for the United States, becoming the first black leader of the country. (AP Photo/Bertrand Combaldieu)

Crédits photo : Le Figaro

Meanwhile, Le Figaro playfully pits the French president against the new American leader: Sarkozy's American "buddy" will be a rival. I don't see why they should be rivals; they can and should be partners? For starters, they share a similar background, family, education and politics wise, i.e., both were abandoned by their foreign-born fathers and raised by their mothers; both grew into politics as community organizers and both are trained lawyers. Secondly, as they say, in unity there's strength.

But as ever in politics, national or international, we say, there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. Oh well...