Are French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's Nude Photos Private?

Oh the nude photos! It seems that everyone in the celebrity spot light has some out there just waiting to surface, and French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is no exception.

CNN.com is reporting that Christie's, a well-known auction house, is set to sell nude photographs taken in 1993 of French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a former model, next month in New York. The French president's office is quoted as saying the sale of the photos of French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is a private matter according to CNN.com, but is it really?

A public auction of a former model's nude photos seems anything but a private matter. It would be one thing if the photos of French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy were taken by a former boyfriend in a private bedroom session, but nude photos of a model are anything but private. Besides, when one enters the public eye like French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has, either through marriage or otherwise, it seems that nothing is truly a private matter, especially when you are in the public eye in a political manner, such as being the French First Lady, which Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is.

Was Eliot Spitzer's relations with a high-priced prostitute a private matter? Certainly not! Here's a politician whose platform is one of morals and ethics, who is illegally paying for sex with someone other than his wife, which says quite a bit about who he is as a person, which is quite important when it comes to holding a political office.

And then there is Kwame Kilpatrick who was sleeping with Christine Beaty and lying about it under oath. This certainly wasn't a private matter, especially since Christine Beatty was his Chief of Staff, and he lied about the matter in a legal proceeding, which, is much worse than simply lying about it when asked by a reporter.

And what about Barack Obama and his choice in place of worship? Certainly religion is an important part of politics, whether we want to admit it or not, since religion can play such a huge part in who we are as people. So, the religious views of a politician are something that the public may feel is anything but a private matter, whereas everyday people consider discussing religion rather taboo. I certainly wouldn't want someone who is a member of a human-sacrificing cult running this country.

So, what is truly a private matter when it comes to someone in the public eye? I think a family illness could be considered a private matter, and there are certainly other things that could be considered a private matter. However, issues that say something about a person's character, and therefore something about their ability to be effective in a political realm, certainly can't be considered a completely private matter. And photos, like those of French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, which were taken, knowing full well that they would most likely be seen by the public, are not a private matter.

I will say this, however, about the nude photos of French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, they were tasteful. We're not talking about the kind of nude photos you might see on a pornographic website, we're talking about the kind of photos that you might see in the pages of a fashion magazine, so I don't think they say anything negative about Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's character.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/26/britain.france/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Kilpatrick