How do I look?

We are used to seeing a seventy-three year old Silvio Berlusconi with fake dyed hair and now there is a revelation that diminutive French President Sarkozy demands that he is surrounded by little people when he makes a public speech.

The Times reports:

President Sarkozy has been caught again compensating for his small stature. Last June, you may remember, he was snapped standing on a stool to match the height of President Obama during the D-Day ceremonies in Normandy This time, we hear that a busload of short people was driven in to stand behind the President when he visited a factory.

Insecurity affects us all sometimes, but I'd rather world leaders did not suffer from it on a chronic basis.

Gordon Brown has no truck with hair dye, but has to be heavily made up so as not to be mistaken for a tub of lard. Brown's insecurity is shown by a retreat into infantilism, as evidenced by his nose-picking and insane schoolboy grin when he is told off.

We live in a world of fakes; simulacra that assume a mantle of reality because the media conspires to make it so. It is a measure of the Sarkozy administration's arrogance and belief in simulacra that enabled it to respond to the "little people" story, not with a denial, but with the comment, ""totally preposterous and grotesque" - as if it was an exaggeration of the truth. No Mr S, it was the truth, you are a short arse, now live with it.

PS The picture of me on the banner is me, but a me disguised as someone I am not. I do not have a parting in my hair or a silly moustache and the last time I wore a suit was at a funeral, nearly two years ago. Now that is preposterous and grotesque!