Russian President Vladimir Putin could have congratulated Nicolas Sarkozy for his victory at least in a lukewarm message instead of remaining completely mum to a great event next door. In diplomacy, 'silence is deemed as the loudest expression of anger'.

Observers were stunned to hear the Socialist Party's presidential candidate Segolene Royal forecasting violence in the event of Sarkozy's victory. Such an ominous forecast seems to have added fuel to the present fire on the streets around Paris's Bastille Square. Royal should now advise her followers to calm down their agitated nerves. Those who are torching cars on the streets should also realize that violence would rather boost support for Sarkozy's party in the next month's parliamentary election.

In another development, incoming French leader Nicolas Sarkozy has been embroiled in a row over his stay on a luxury yacht on Tuesday, two days after winning election with a campaign to lift low wages and help hard-working families.

Is it a crime to take a break when you are fatigued? Sarkozy has the right to ventilate and 'recharge his battery' after his gruelling political campaigns, no matter if he chooses yachting on the ocean; provided the weekly rental of $ 271,300 for the 200 feet long luxury yacht is paid by his billionaire chum Vincent Bollore, who is hosting Sarkozy's holidaying in the Mediterranean island of Malta.

If Segolene Royal had won the election she would have been the first female president in France 's history, a record that could have greatly encouraged American voters to replicate by choosing Hilary Clinton as their first female president as well.

But France is different from the USA, so is Hilary from Royal. Hillary Clinton is running a fundamentally different candidacy. Many French ladies didn't like Royal, who may have paid a price for focusing too much on gender at the expense of her policies.

On the other hand, Hilary as a veteran lawyer and the former First Lady knows well how to tailor her words in political campaigns to tune in to the wavelength of the American electorate. Nevertheless, the biggest lesson Hilary must have learned from the French election is that a woman cannot necessarily take the women's vote for granted.

Indignant Americans who were angry about Chirac's shenanigans and hobnobbing with the allies of Iraq in decrying US policy on the Middle East were allergic to anything French, even french fries.