Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Stars falling already. And others falling soon?

Too despondent about Venezuela's current degradation to write about it there is fortunately foreign matters to keep us entertained.

Dominique Strauss-Khan, FMI president, bright star of the French Socialist party and someone for whom I could have possibly voted next year fell from grace this week end.  I do not need to go over the sordid aspects of the affair as most readers of this blog have already read on it.  But since French readership is low I thought that I would let you know how the scandal is playing in France.

First, considering it was the front runner, the only socialist all but certain to beat Sarkozy, it goes without saying that the socialist party which has been accumulating quite a few electoral victories lately has entered into a funk from which it might never come back on time.  See, any winner of the coming socialist primaries will be tainted because the case will be made that s/he only got the nod by default.

Second, it is a humiliation for all French, from right to left.  After all, French are so concerned with "La Grandeur" that it was perfectly normal to see Sarkozy promoting a dangerous political rival to the IMF presidency.  For the French, almost any French, even a political enemy is better leading an international institution than, say, a Brit or a Kraut or some Spaghetti eater (North American leading are OK when it is about military matters, we have learned our lesson).

And third, something that will be paid dearly by the US.  The tasteless treatment of Strauss-Kahn by the New York Police is not taken well by any one in France where the presumption of innocence (innocent until proven guilty as they say in the US) makes that no matter how horrendous the crime is the putative guilty party is shielded from cameras as much as possible until at the very least a formal indictment is issued.  That some New York Prosecutor is taking such a godsend opportunity to advance his political career by parading a dishelved Strauss-Kahn, allowing the police to drag him hand cuffed without the minimal decency of at least straightening up his jacket, is an image that French people are not going to forgive and forget, even if the man is found guilty.  If my US readers were shocked about the unwillingness of Europe to send back to the US Polanski, well, you mays start forgetting about such cases in the future as Europe is going to be less and less willing to extradite anyone to the US anymore.

True, yours truly who lived long enough in the US to have learned that the treatment of Strauss-Kahn is OK in a country which genuinely believes in second chances (evangelical preachers scandals for example), but this is not known across the Atlantic where US justice is often considered outright barbaric, the more so when death penalty is involved.  I am certainly not defending Strauss-Kahn who seems to have a questionable sexual past, but the US might end up losing more than the French on this story.

At least there is a piece of better news: the International Court is getting ready to indict Qaddafi. As we can be pretty sure that the indictment will be coming we can be surprised at the reactions of some that thin k it would hamper a peaceful exit tot he Libyan crisis.  Newsflash: there is no possible peaceful exit to the Libyan crisis by now.  The West needs to toughen it up and do what needs to be done.  It is a little bit like that silly concept that Osama should have been sent to trial: this is not about justice anymore, this is about politics and survival of the West.

Of course this is going to be very unsettling for Chavez.  He could well end up someday handcuffed Strauss-Kahn style, or bombed out of some lair Qaddafi style.  But the guy does not seem to get the point.  Amazingly after all these weeks he is sticking to his thesis that Saudi Arabia and the US are paying sharpshooters who are responsible of all the deaths in Libya and Syria.  Apparently the Izarra report that Chavez mentions does not include the huge street protests.  For Chavez it is just a plan by the CIA to destabilize all, including anytime soon Venezuela.  Himself?  Being guilty of something?  I suppose that it is kind of a warning tot he Venezuelan opposition, that if we keep our street protests as we do soon he will unleash his Cuban mercenaries on us.

By the way, let's comment for a second on Chavez using for his international news a report of highly incompetent and biased Izarra instead of a more professional report that one would expect from, say, the foreign ministry...  Really, the Chavez administration is looking more and more everyday like an "anything goes"....  If Chavez must rely for his information on Izarra-Rizarra and his band of sycophantic "journalists" then he is in more trouble than what I thought.

45 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:34 AM

    Apparently the French are not very popular in the US, and the feeling in France seems to be mutual. I agree with you that by humiliating a prominent Frenchman, the US has more to lose. There was no need to lock up the head of the IMF in a very bad New York jail. This will be seen at least as a provocation. Here is the US vetoing the guy who was certain to become the next French president, and undermining the Euro perhaps to give the ailing dollar a chance.

    The IMF is critical to the recovery plans of several EU countries. Some important and delicate decisions are being made at the moment, and strauss-Kahn is (was) central to the negotiations. Who is going to be the next head of the IMF, an American?! Sure.

    There is some suspicion that Sarkozy had something to do with this affair leading to the demise of his main (or only) rival. Conspiracy theories abound.

    Is Strauss-Kahn guilty as charged? Nobody knows. And that is not the point.

    Antonio

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  2. Antonio-

    "Apparently the French are not very popular in the US"

    Foreign elitist multimillionaires who are accused of raping hotel maids and then trying to flee the country on the next plane are not very popular in the US, whether they are French or not. The American people just don't have a long tradition of allowing special rights to the aristocracy.

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  3. "The American people just don't have a long tradition of allowing special rights to the aristocracy."

    Give me a break. They do, a lot. It is not called "aristocracy" but plutocracy with enough political clout. It is a whole circus and there is no point for humilating someone on a trial by parading him handcuffed as in the Middle Ages, with a zillion journalists and police, as if the bloke were to run away any minute...whether it is John Smith or Dick Cheney (oh, Dick never went...forget about it).
    Too much Hollywood ends up mixing up with reality and at the end you have worse crime levels than Europe.
    If the bloke is guilty, so be tried and punished. But please: stop the show.

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  4. Anonymous2:52 PM

    Daniel, I am appalled that you think the New York police have special delicate procedures for rich internationally known persons ( French or not). The idea that the supremely underpaid but very brave ny policeman is going to stop and fix the gentleman's jacket is hysterical. As it is he is getting super special treatment by being kept separate from the regular jail population with a tv and a private shower. You and I would not be kept there. In addition, the reason he is not out on bail is due to the fact that France has no extradition treaty with the US and Polansky is not the only criminal France has harbored. It is a naive argument to say that if this gentlemen were treated special because he is French then the US would gain any consideration by the French. Saving France in World War II was not enough. Nothing will ever make the French appreciate the US.The cultural divide is too great. I suggest the French just boycott and never set foot in a country so barbaric.

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  5. Anonymous3:12 PM

    Let's ask Lance Armstrong what he thinks of the "show" in France

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  6. Anonymous3:15 PM

    O J Simson killed his wife and managed to stay outside of a medieval NY jail. Edward Kennedy let a woman drown and ran away, and continued to serve as a senator until his timely death. What they had in common was wealth and clout. Are American aristocrats better than European ones?

    Strauss-Kahn is anything but aristocrat. He is just a working class socialist who likes to live comfortably with the proceeds of his honest work.

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  7. Anonymous3:31 PM

    Actually OJ spent a lot of time in jail and wasn't let out until he was acquitted by a jury.

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  8. Oh Lord, this post is precious. We have what is called the "perp walk" and it is used from the basic pickpocket (if there was press interest, you'd see him walking in handcuffs too) to the most powerful among us. It's not political aspiration that motivates the police to behave this way, it's an American tradition.

    "Strauss-Kahn who seems to have a questionable sexual past," yet, "someone for whom I could have possibly voted next year"

    Dude, you can keep the Polanskis of the world. More power to you.

    "tastless treatment of Strauss-Kahn" LOL.

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  9. ...and what I meant by "if there was press interest, you'd see him walking in handcuffs too" is that the perp walk is going to happen no matter who it is and who is there to witness it. The defendent is escorted out of a vehicle in a parking lot and is escorted down the block to the front of the court. The lowly pickpocket has to walk to court, the diplomat has to walk to court.

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  10. Oh, my God! These guys keep talking about WW2! Great...never mind they did big business with the Germans before that, financed them even and never mind you all guys would be Canadians now hadn't France and others helped massively in the Independence war (which was nothing but an elite wanting to replace the British elite).

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  11. Daniel,
    Carla est enceinte! Elle est enceinte! May th Gringos keep
    Strauss-Kahn!
    (running for cover)

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  12. to some anonymous upset somewhere up, and JSB

    I will suggest that you read my post once again. I try to write in full sentences and weigh different sides of the argument. For example both of you seem to have missed paragraph #6 which reads:

    yours truly who lived long enough in the US to have learned that the treatment of Strauss-Kahn is OK in a country which genuinely believes in second chances (evangelical preachers scandals for example), but this is not known across the Atlantic where US justice is often considered outright barbaric

    I hope this will make you realize that I covered all bases not only with this paragraph but with the rest of thepost...

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  13. jsb

    This is for you in particular.

    Again, I try to have constructed posts and if I mentioned early "for whom I could have possibly voted" it measn just that, that he was an option and that my mind is not made up. If from the following you do not infer that I think DSK is toast, then , well, I think you should read it again.

    As for his past. He has had questionable affairs, true. But no rape we know of until today. French indeed are way more forgiving than Puritan US about sexual pecadillos but rape on both side of the ocean is a NoNo. I can assure you that if DSK is found guilty on trial the Socialist Party of France will at the very least asks him to resign from the party, and expell him if necessary.

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  14. Juan Cristóbal4:59 PM

    Whatever happens to Mr. Strauss-Kahn, I think we can all agree the US justice system is pretty trustworthy. DSK will get the best legal defense team money can buy, but if he's guilty, he will go to jail, and if he is wrongly imprisoned, he will have his chance at appeal. We'll find out soon enough.

    The whole story is extremely bizarre, I must say. And Daniel's treatment of it opens the door to some criticism - after all, there's a lot of pity being handed out for DSK looking disheveled, but no mention of the victim...

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  15. "I think we can all agree the US justice system is pretty trustworthy"

    What are you basing this on? Venzuela's system? Colombia's? Russia's? Mexico's? Then it is certainly excellent.

    The US has the highest proportion of prisoners in any country of the OECD - by far - and the violent crime rat is considerably higher than that of most other OECD countries.

    I don't care if the guy is the president of the IMW or Joe Brown, it's a show.

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  16. "money can buy"
    Ah, OK.

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  17. Juan Cristobal

    That is kind of an additional point. We have seen all about DSK, semi undressed, hand cuffed, thrown to the wolves et al. and yet the only thing we know so far is that the chamber maid is a single mother from ghana who was a good worker. No picture, nothing else. Maybe in the US this is standard procedure but not in Europe where BOTH accuser and accused are shielded until justice decides as to existence of a case.

    I was watching this morning the news from Belgium (francophone) and they expressed the same distaste as the French news on the handling of DSK. Even the Spanish news of TVE were understanding of the French reactions though not as shocked.

    The Belgian newscaster was even commenting that "we saw that on movies but we did not think it happened in real life" or something to that effect.

    In other words, for them the presumption of innocence was not respected. That DSK is retained in jail for a few days is OK, but the handcuff scene was simply unacceptable. Having lived long enough in the US I know that prosecutors with political ambitions salivate at the idea to put a mighty and powerful behind bars, as spectacularly as possible.

    This being said, if guilty (and so far DSK looks like he is in deep shit) he can rot in hell at Rikers Island. Just in case anyone wondered....

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  18. Boludo Tejano6:30 PM

    Here is a different perspective from Richard Fernandez/Wretchard the Cat, an Australian of Philippine origin: The Wrath of Khan (comment #25).

    I think you may find that the mission to get Osama bin Laden and the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn has raised American prestige in the Third World to heights unprecedented since the invasion of Iraq quite unintentionally. I know the conventional wisdom says that America was hated from the moment it invaded Iraq, but as Lee Smith recounts in his book, the Strong Horse and as I myself witnessed in Lebanon, it positively thrilled much of the Arab street, only they will only confess it in secret.

    If you go down to the Times of India you will read comment after comment that says “only in America could such a powerful man be taken off an airplane and made to parade in a police lineup”; “this is true democracy” and “my faith in the world has been restored”. For a world that is accustomed to watching the powerful stamp on the faces of the common man, this the arrest is wonderous, almost unbelievable and nearly on par with the sight of SEALs fleeting through Abbottabad.

    I do not say this to prejudge DSK, who may be innocent, only to point out that this is the way much of the world likes to see America; mighty, confident and meting out almost magical justice with seeming effortlessness…..

    The truth is that nobody loves an America that goes around shopping apologies. Nor do they like an America that acts like the old Soviet Union. But they do unabashedly love a USA as it dreams to be; with the FBI running down the bad guys and the Marines shooting up the extraterrestrial monsters in Los Angeles. When Superman stands on a skyscraper and proudly proclaims that he aims to uphold Truth, Justice and the American Way he is expressing a secret fantasy felt in so many of the downtroddden parts of the world. “Gee how I wish we had someone like that!” And if you look carefully at the faces staring at the screen, you will see no sophisticated derision; only tears of hopeful joy.


    It could definitely be considered unfair that DSK didn’t get the same red-carpet treatment from the justice system that Daniel’s hero Ted Kennedy got. (Go back to the eulogy Daniel wrote after Ted died.)

    I find it amusing that US justice is considered barbaric compared to the French, considering that presumption of innocence is at the root of the US justice system. Presumption of guilt is at the root of the Napoleonic justice system.

    If French are outraged at American justice and its high incarceration rate, my question to the French is : how many? How many prisoners in the US are you willing to take in as citizens of France -who will never be permitted entry back into the US? Once you take ‘em, you have to keep ‘em. Put your money where your mouth is, I say.

    Daniel made a good point about second chances in the US, a concept which is not confined to the justice system.

    Regarding treatment of the well-off, what about Martha Stewart?

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  19. Lebanon and US's role in Iraq? For Goodness sake...probably the bloke thinks English speaking Maronites are the only Lebanese there are.
    The US Americans are very funny: when someone criticizes the judicial system (including, of course, the case of Guantanamo), they come over and over again with "why don't you take those prisoners"? Becaus people are being critical? Give me a break, what kind of logic is that?
    It was not France that created whatever the mess - crime problem of the US- in the first place.
    But well...US Americans are very keen with criticizing when there are riots in France or elsewhere in Europe...kettle, pot.

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  20. Anonymous7:26 PM

    Have you seen the face of the judge that sent DSK to walk the plank in handcuffs? Reminds me of Nancy Pelosi. Will she send the Cuban UN representatives to a NY jail? No, because it is not politically expedient. Will she send the Guantanamo inmates to the NY jail? No, because nobody wants the trouble and shw will remain a lowly judge all her life. Justice indeed!

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  21. Anonymous8:16 PM

    As an Venezuelan living in Europe and therefore affected by a possible economic consequence of the untimely removal of the President of the IMF (note that I am not speaking about the private person), I am surprised that there has not been a single comment about this important point for Europe in the middle of a major crisis. Which by the way, could affect also the US. And as Venezuela has started some time ago to diversify its reserves, also our country.
    It is interesting that the head of an international body has not some kind of diplomatic status, given that the effect of his unability to do his job might have so dire consequences for so many.
    It would have been perfectly possible to allow him to return to an address in US until further investigations.
    By the way, he was not fleeing, but was expected at a meeting of the European finance ministers to discuss the bailout plans...

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  22. Anonymous8:52 PM

    "I suppose there is an element of theater in it," U.S. attorney Graham Wisner of Patton Boggs in New York, told Reuters Television.

    "For the most part in the United States it's a practice utilized by authorities to humiliate suspects... There is at least a perception in this case that a "perp" or suspect is guilty when he walks shamefaced in front of all of the cameras," Wisner said.


    I don't think it is common in Europe for the police to huniliate suspects.

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  23. Anonymous10:47 PM

    Don't worry Daniel the maid will get her 15 minutes of fame as well. By the way, there are plenty of people who get diplomatic immunity in the US. Apparently, DSK did not secure this accommodation.

    Anon 1

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  24. Anonymous1:14 AM

    Here's a quote from Jonah Goldberg, at National Review: "Meanwhile, while Bernard-Henri Levy is scandalized that a mere chambermaid can get a “great” man like Strauss-Kahn in trouble with the law merely by credibly accusing him of sexual assault, I am proud to live in a country where a housekeeper can get a world leader pulled off a plane bound for Paris. If something like that couldn’t happen in France, then shame on France and shame on Levy for thinking otherwise." Can't say I disagree with him. The "perp walk" is another story.

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  25. Anonymous,


    That is not what Lévy said.
    It is funny how some people start to copy out of context not even a sentence but just a noun phrase to make their case

    Voici:

    What Lévy said

    And if you can't read French: bugger off!

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  26. Hm?

    This is what Lévy said:

    http://www.bernard-henri-levy.com/defense-de-dominique-strauss-kahn-18909.html

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  27. Anonymous4:10 AM

    The US is extremely sensitive to sexual assault of women in any of it's form. Why? Because for the longest time, women that came forward were not believed and ended up shamed. That changed drastically over the last 20 years or so. I guess in France the court of public opinion is still: "she wanted it", "she dressed provocative", "it was consentual" etc. Similar in sensitivity is kidnapping / holding a person against her / his will, which GSK is also accused of (the latter did OJ in for good).

    Of course, our system is based on "innocent until proven guilty". But there is also this nasty little thing called "probable cause". That's where it get's interesting, because the hospital, where this victim was taken after the incident corroborated her story based on the lesions she had. And if they find his DNA e.g. under her fingernails, he's toast.

    Special treatment in the meantime? Hell no, not in this country. After all we ALSO are a sovereign country with OUR legal system and procedures and thanks, but no thanks, we don't need "others" to tell us how we should operate.

    Now, this is not a matter of who "gains" more, France or the US - besides that with France, there is NOTHING to gain for the US anyhow, no matter the circumstances. It's a very serious criminal case involving the powerful GSK vs. a nobody maid, which, if GSK is convicted, could land him in jail for 25 years. I doubt very much that, had this happened in France, that a nobody immigrant maid would get the type of fair legal treatment she does here. At the same time, GSK has the resources to assemble a dream team of lawyers that will give him the best shot at walking.

    And by the way, and I have no way of knowing if there is any truth to it, a story is circulating about GSK alledgedly raping a woman in 2002 in France (no, I am not talking about the 2008 affair for which he got reprimanded). That woman, almost 10 years ago did not come forward out of fear, but documented the incident in a book a couple of years afterwards.

    Mike E.

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  28. Anonymous4:54 AM

    Here's the info on the other woman from 2002. I read somewhere that it was the god-daughter of his second wife, but can't verify that.
    Tristane Banón, una periodista de 31 años, asegura que Strauss-Kahn intentó violarla en 2002. Su madre, Anne Mansouret, dirigente del Partido Socialista francés, la convenció de que no denunciara a un hombre cercano a su familia y a su carrera política.

    Mansouret dice que hizo esa recomendación porque el caso era un acoso y no una violación. "Si te hubiera violado, no lo habría dudado, pero ese no fue el caso. Te acosó sexualmente, no hubo violación, y hasta el fin de tu vida vas a ser esa chica que tuvo el problema con un político", recordó la madre que le dijo a su hija, según el diario New York Times.

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  29. Anonymous6:00 AM

    GSK should read of course read DSK in my post.
    Thank you anonymous for corroborating the 2002 story. I have a feeling there is a lot more to be dug up about this guy.

    Mike E.

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  30. Boludo Tejano6:27 AM

    Kepler @ 7:05 p.m.
    And if you can't read French: bugger off!

    Isn't that what DSK said to the hotel maid?
    :)

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  31. Manuel9:37 AM

    For those disgusted by DSK's perp walk, here you have an interesting quote from NYT:

    "The news from France is that many are appalled that Mr. Strauss-Kahn was paraded on the classic perp walk, so he could be photographed in handcuffs. The custom is indisputably unfair to people charged with crimes. The only thing comparable in France might take place annually in Cannes.

    Year after year, the director Roman Polanski strolled the red carpet, smiling for the cameras, apparently unworried — and rightly so — that the French authorities would notice that he was a fugitive from justice in Los Angeles, where he had drugged, raped and sodomized a 13-year-old girl. The parallel was striking, a prosecutor said Monday. Mr. Polanski, who took his version of the perp walk as a guilty man, lowered the odds that Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who took his while presumed innocent, will get bail in New York any time soon."

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  32. Anonymous9:57 AM

    Who paid the maid to come up with this ludicrous story? Was she coerced? Or do you really think a 62-year-old has the hormones to take a bath to go for lunch, rape a maid who happens to come in, and then go for the lunch with a relative. A 16-year-old perhaps...

    Treasure secretary Geithner proposed the removal of Strauss-Kahn as head of the IMF. Was this the plan all along? Perhaps he prefers an Indian or Chinese as IMF head.

    The lowly NT judge is just seeking reelection with populist sentencing (she has a track recoord of doing this).

    The police want to strenthen their case by humiliating the suspect (I mean, suspect)in public. They are also elected and have to play to the masses.

    Don't you smell a rat?

    This are acts of the circus Kepler was talking about. And some of you are the clowns.

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  33. What Levy meant in that part was not stressing the chambermaid thing, but the fact he found strange and asked for an enquiry why it was not a team of cleaners who went as they usually go in groups. So: it was not trying to put down her rank. I wouldn't have defended that guy as he did, but this is not about "he is a big guy, she is nothing".

    You really don't get it. The point is NOT whether she is a maid, the princess of Wales, La Clinton, Sara Palin or John Travolta and he is the president of FMI, an Ali Ben Ami second generation French lorry driver or Angela Merkel. The point is the disproportionate show of force for bringing someone to justice. One thing is if this person had shot down a policeman or even pushed one, if he had gone on a car race and quite another this 61-year old guy who is already unarmed and has no way to run away. Do you think he is the French version of Jason Bourne? How do you see it? He pushes the cop next to him, kicks 3 more, jumps over a journalist's head, walks on the head of 40 other journalists, gets to the taxi driver, puts him down, takes the taxi, manages to drive his way through NY streets, goes into the underground, dresses up as a Latino rapper, gets to a bus station, takes the bus to Newark and from there somehow all the way to Mexico?
    OK, I see.

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  34. I'm grovving on the Polanski Perp Walk, Cannes Edition, that pretty much wins the thread.

    However, thanks for the help during the tiff with Great Britain and thanks too for that sweet real estate deal (seriously all we really wanted was Nola).

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  35. "We have seen all about DSK, semi undressed, hand cuffed, thrown to the wolves et al."

    So now he's semi-undressed? Dude, you kill me. LOL

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  36. Putting aside the diplomatic issues in this case, I would like to note that the U.S. justice system in regards to rape cases contains an inherent bias in favor of women, in that the name of the accuser is withheld and the identity protected, while the accused is not, even before an indictment, much less a trial.

    The climate of the U.S., in regards to these types of cases, is such that a man's life and professional career can be irreparably damaged simply from an accusation, whether founded or not.

    While, I do not doubt that Strauss-Kahn is guilty in this case, I think that it should be incumbent on local authorities to treat such cases involving any persons (yes, even French ones) who are "public figures" with much more discretion than was applied in this case.

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  37. "Who paid the maid to come up with this ludicrous story? Was she coerced? Or do you really think a 62-year-old has the hormones to take a bath to go for lunch, rape a maid who happens to come in, and then go for the lunch with a relative."

    Speak for yourself, sir or madam anonymous.

    You cannot deny that in the age of Viagra and Cialis, much more is possible than before.

    There are many ways for a man to sexually assault of woman without, er, coming to attention, as it were.

    Just ask Bill "Mr. Cigar" Clinton about that.

    All that being said, at this point no-one can say whether this is part of a plan or whether the maid is making it up or whether it did happen. Time will tell.

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  38. HalfEmpty,

    I'm not French so I can say it: it is part of the French grandeur not to demand people to be thankful for what they did, unlike nationals of another country I won't mention because I don't want to hurt feelings. :-)

    Oh, my! The KS story is getting worse and worse and worse. Now the woman has HIV and he claims they did it but with her approval.

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  39. Daniel, you did note that my comment was addressed to Antonio, not to you.

    Kepler, what I wrote was that the American people don't have a long tradition of allowing special rights to the aristocracy. The American people, not the corrupt and easily swayed-by-money judicial system.

    Antonio wrote: "I agree with you that by humiliating a prominent Frenchman, the US has more to lose. There was no need to lock up the head of the IMF in a very bad New York jail. This will be seen at least as a provocation. Here is the US vetoing the guy who was certain to become the next French president, and undermining the Euro perhaps to give the ailing dollar a chance.

    The IMF is critical to the recovery plans of several EU countries. Some important and delicate decisions are being made at the moment, and strauss-Kahn is (was) central to the negotiations. Who is going to be the next head of the IMF, an American?! Sure."

    The Americans I know, none of whom are plutocrats or powerful politicians, don't give a rat's ass how important someone's position is, not when it comes to crimes like this; I should say especially when it comes to crimes like this.

    If DSK had been a nobody he would not have appeared for arraignment wearing a dress shirt and coat, nor would he have been brought in the front entrance. He would have been brought up to the courtroom in an elevator from a detention cell below, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and shackled hand and foot.

    So, DSK did get some special treatment.

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  40. Anonymous7:20 AM

    m_astera,

    If you are prepared to say that the American judicial system is corrupt and easily swayed-by-money, would you also accept that the US Treasury might be equally tempted? Now we have it: DSK resigned and the IMF is in turmoil with influence moving away from Europe, something that might benefit the US financially.

    If such corrupt powers are at work (according to you least as far as the judicial system goes), is it far fetched to think that the hotel maid was just a pawn in this game?

    Feeling repulsion for the nature of the alleged crime is not something exclusive to the American people. I think you take too much credit. Everyone on earth would be equally disgusted.

    Antonio

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  41. Anonymous4:35 PM

    This is a must read takedown of Bernard Henri Levy by Iowahawk. http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2011/05/levy.html
    Here's a sampling: "And what I know even more is that the Strauss-Kahn I know, who has been my friend for 20 years and who will remain my friend, bears no resemblance to this monster, this caveman, this insatiable and malevolent beast now being described nearly everywhere. Charming, seductive, yes, certainly; always quick with a flirtatious wink, obviously; and ready with a ball gag and bondage ropes, naturally. But this brutal and violent individual, this wild animal, this primate? It is absurd. In any civilized country that recognizes the natural purity of philosophical genius, the case would be dismissed on the grounds of absurdity...I hold it against all those who complacently accept the account of this other young woman, this one French, who pretends to have been the victim of the same kind of attempted rape, who has shut up for eight years but, sensing the golden opportunity, whips out her old dossier and comes to flog it on television. Two can play at that game, Mlle. Rape Accusation: when you are on the television, I hold "it" against the television and do my own flogging.

    ReplyDelete
  42. anonymous X

    i should not even bother to reply to those without the elemental courtesy of putting at least a digit after anonymous, you know, like anonymous666 or something

    but since so many anonymous use that shield to express some anti french feeling and some pro US cocorico justice i am going to give you guys a link on how to trash french properly, without cliches, while not necessarily defending idiocies like the perp walk

    http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2011/05/frances_intelligentsia_and_imf_chiefs_arrest&fsrc=nwl

    ReplyDelete
  43. I'd advise the Max Mosley defense, which is a modified Chewbanaca.

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  44. DSK will wriggle out of this with help from Obama's socialist friends in Paris
    There is no way that Obama would allow the NY District Attorney's office ruin the "somewhat" sullied reputation of a giant of the Socialist world ( Slick Willy Clinton was an amateur vs. DSK )...

    Being sleazy is not a crime in France , being a rapist is accepted as well .
    As Le Monde writes , and Bernard- Henri Levy states , DSK is above this poor West African immigrant .
    Egality is alive and well in La Belle France , n'est-ce pas?

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  45. BHL

    and your point is? is this a rant against the french? against the blog owner? against obama?

    ReplyDelete

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