The Strauss-Kahn Character Assassination
To me this seems to be related to this and smells of entrapment.
From the second link, published a week ago in the Irish Times, on the Irish gunshot "bailout" in the financial crisis:
Ireland’s Last Stand began less shambolically than you might expect. The IMF, which believes that lenders should pay for their stupidity before it has to reach into its pocket, presented the Irish with a plan to haircut €30 billion of unguaranteed bonds by two-thirds on average. [Minister for Finance] Lenihan was overjoyed, according to a source who was there, telling the IMF team: “You are Ireland’s salvation.”The deal was torpedoed from an unexpected direction. At a conference call with the G7 finance ministers, the haircut was vetoed by US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner who, as his payment of $13 billion from government-owned AIG to Goldman Sachs showed, believes that bankers take priority over taxpayers.
Now from the first link published on the first page of today's New York Time:
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was taken off an Air France plane at Kennedy International Airport minutes before it was to take off for Paris on Saturday and arrested in connection with the sexual attack of a maid at a Midtown Manhattan hotel, the authorities said.Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62, who was widely expected to become the Socialist candidate for the French presidency, was apprehended by detectives of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in the first class section of the jetliner, and immediately turned over to detectives from the Midtown South Precinct, officials said.
Now it may of course well be that Mr. Strauss-Kahn didn't behave like a gentleman. But does anybody believe that some other high up, for example the CEO of Goldman Sachs, would have been shamed like this over such an issue without the usual official cover up attempt?
I don't think so. The ultimate crime Mr. Strauss-Kahn committed was to suggest to let the bankers bleed instead of small tax payers. He is lucky that his assassination by the U.S. administration is limited to his character.
Posted by b on May 15, 2011 at 4:05 UTC | Permalink
next page »The fact that DSK was arrested despite his diplomatic immunity seems to confirm your hypothesis (character assassination). The following article about DSK (in French) shows his excellent domestic and international connections (corporate, neocon and Israel)
http://www.voltairenet.org/article151921.html#article151921
Despite all that, Washington wanted Sarkozy as president in 2007 (by the way, socialism has nothing to do with it) (quote from linked article):
Lorsque s’ouvre la compétition au Parti socialiste pour désigner le candidat à l’élection présidentielle de 2007, Dominique Strauss-Kahn apparaît à la fois comme le candidat le mieux placé face à son rival déclaré, l’ancien Premier ministre Laurent Fabius, et comme le candidat officiel des États-Unis pour la gauche française.
Ainsi, il donne un entretien à la revue néo-conservatrice Le Meilleur des mondes, dans lequel il brocarde la politique arabe de la France et plaide pour un rapprochement avec Washington et Tel-Aviv.
Tout semble réglé à l’avance. Les cotisations d’adhésion au Parti socialiste ont été réduites à un montant négligeable de sorte que les quelques milliers de membres de parti lambertiste ont pu acquérir des cartes, juste pour participer au vote de désignation interne du candidat. La manœuvre a été organisée par le lieutenant de DSK, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, lui-même ancien dirigeant de ce parti et que nous avons déjà présenté à propos de ses relations avec la CIA.
Pourtant, contre toute attente, c’est un outsider, Ségolène Royal, qui est désigné. C’est qu’à Washington on a un autre projet : placer Nicolas Sarkozy à l’Élysée. Pour cela, il convient d’installer face à lui un concurrent peu crédible. En échange de son retrait silencieux, DSK sera largement récompensé par la direction générale du FMI. (end quote)
So he didn't become president in 2007, and now again his candidacy seems to be over. Why? And who is Washington backing now, because I suppose it will have to be a socialist this time around...
Posted by: absinthe | May 15 2011 8:41 utc | 2
I would not take anything from Voltairenet seriously. They've been pushing the 9/11 did not happen conspiracy theories. And the rewriting of history for the 2006-07 campaign is silly. Royal was genuinely more popular amongst party members.
Posted by: Jérôme à Paris | May 15 2011 9:16 utc | 3
Strauss-Kahn was on his way to Berlin to talk with Merkel about restructuring Greek debt. The banks have billions at risk and would lose big if they get a serious haircut on Greek debt in their books.
Hmmm ...
"People familiar with the I.M.F.’s internal workings say that while Mr. Strauss-Kahn has been the public voice from the fund on Greece, internally it has been the fund’s No. 2 executive, John Lipsky, a former U.S. Treasury executive and onetime banker at JP Morgan, who has been overseeing the logistics of the Greek program. As first deputy managing director, Mr. Lipsky may assume Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s responsibilities during the criminal investigation. "
New York Times
"Treffen mit Merkel heute Nachmittag abgesagt
Die für den heutigen Sonntag in Berlin geplanten Beratungen von Bundeskanzlerin Merkel mit dem IWF zur Griechenland-Krise wurden abgesagt. Nach der Festnahme von Strauss-Kahn werde es kein alternatives Treffen mit einem anderen Vertreter der Organisation geben, sagte Regierungssprecher Steffen Seibert."
FAZ
hmm.
Posted by: somebody | May 15 2011 11:16 utc | 5
#3 "They've been pushing the 9/11 did not happen conspiracy theories"
????
You mean they think 9/11 was an inside job? And does that disqualify them?
Anyway, if you have a more reliable French source of background info on French politics and politicians, I would be grateful to hear it!
Posted by: absinthe | May 15 2011 13:13 utc | 6
Wow! They finally found an important financial figure they could arrest. And -- surprise, surprise -- it wasn't somebody from Goldman...
Posted by: JohnH | May 15 2011 13:52 utc | 7
I think he really assaulted the woman. He sure left in a hurry.
Posted by: Susan | May 15 2011 15:26 utc | 8
@Susan, as far as I know he was supposed to fly to Europe for a meeting with Merkel this sunday morning - so it seems he would have been on this flight in any case.
Posted by: Fran | May 15 2011 15:31 utc | 9
@Fran - From the New York Post:
Strauss-Kahn, who had a meeting planned for today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, has an arrangement with Air France that allows him to get on any flight and sit in first class, the sources said. He was traveling alone. http://is.gd/GPJ3Ig
Does he always just waltz on to any flight or does he usually book a reservation? If the latter, did he have a reservation for the flight he was on?
Posted by: Frank | May 15 2011 16:32 utc | 10
If it's true he was arrested to get him out of the way, it was a risky step to take. It is embarrassing for the banking elite generally. Hopefully it is a sign that in desperate times, they are turning on each other.
However, I'm not so sure. This isn't this first time this has happened to DSK, at least according to Wikipedia;
In 2002 he was accused of attempted rape by French journalist and writer, Tristane Banon.[19][20][21]
Other than the differences over banking, he seems to be traditional neocon, so I can't say that I care whether he or Sarkozy is president.
PS
Not that it matters, but again, according to wiki:
Dominique Strauss-Kahn was born on 25 April 1949 in the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is the son of Gilbert Strauss-Kahn, a legal and tax advisor and member of the Grand Orient of France, and Russian/Tunisian journalist Jacqueline Fellus. His family is of mixed Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jewish origin.[3]
Posted by: Lysander | May 15 2011 18:33 utc | 12
If I may be permitted a few thoughts:
Irrespective of the man's given title or importance to circles of the world, he may have raped a woman. The US criminal system has a LOT of people dedicated to sex crimes, and they're probably better funded (per capita) than the financial crimes units that are sparsely located throughout the nation. It makes sense that a rape charge will get more traction in the CJ system than a complex financial crimes.
But he's also entitled to a defense that includes confronting his accuser, and perhaps more will fallout of that. If this is a play by US interests to smear this man, they've picked a terrible way to do it. The 'discovery' process in criminal defense can be quite exhaustive, and I doubt the US Gov't wants some ambulance chaser crawling around the halls of power with a subpoena to look at whatever he wants.
On the other hand, I'm a near-complete know-nothing, so this is the best I can do with one cup of coffee on a Sunday morning.
Cheers, all.
Posted by: Jeremiah | May 15 2011 18:46 utc | 13
I generally urge to be careful with allegations of rape (which is indeed a big problem and a serious crime). It is very easy to use it for entrapment. There is usually only one witness, the raped person often believed as a being of less power, and it is quite easy to provoke situations where rape seems plausible.
Usually rapes occur between persons who know each other, relatives, former friends, coworkers etc. A unknown maid stepping into a room when a man is just coming out of a shower not expecting to see a unknown female would be highly unusual case.
DoS sets out the biggest issue with these allegation. No sane man will force someone else to suck his dick. One bite and it is gone. Men know this.
Strauss-Kahn is believably claimed to favor debt forgiveness for countries in serious debt trouble. The U.S. administration is not. There are double and triple billions in question if that becomes the trend in the still smoldering crisis. Certainly enough money to make a motive for entrapment and a legal process that follows the word from above.
Alexno is right to point to the Assange affair which also smells big of entrapment.
I quite agree; the story of pornography could be true, could be false. Without specification who knows?
I doubt though whether the announcement will have the blackmail effect supposed.
As I imagine most men of the Christian right have pornography on their computer, so probably many religious Muslim men do too. Men in constrictive religious situations need material to wank to (as do, of course, others).
By the way, for the women who read this site, I consider porn to be simply visual stimulation to wank to. It doesn't say anything about women.
Bin Ladin's sons probably did have this need, much as I've seen Catholic priests fondle my female friends.
The question is, will this blackmail have its effect? I doubt it, I'm not sure that Muslim reaction is the same as Protestant Christian. We'll see.
Posted by: alexno | May 15 2011 20:00 utc | 15
I think I may have posted a remark about Bin Ladin on the thread about Strauss-Kahn.
It's curious how much the two are the same.
Posted by: alexno | May 15 2011 20:11 utc | 16
Good on b for posting that article in the Irish Times by Morgan Kelley, it attracted little attention outside Ireland, it was a illuminating look at the negotiations there.
DSK may have been (been, as he he will no longer be) a rather appreciated director of the IMF. All depends how you look at it, and how one judges the IMF as a whole.
That said, DSK’s penchant for dominating, coercing, and even semi-rape, of any woman about who strikes his fancy, is very well known in F.
It is an open secret, a book even includes aspects about that aspect of his personality, amongst other pol strategy talk (signed by “Cassandre.”) Incidents rather like the ‘NY Sofitel maid’ have taken place many times.
The French are forgiving of this kind of stuff and draw a different line between private/public.
from L’express, about the book, in Fr. and hard to follow, only posted to show it exists and the kind of stuff one can read in it:
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/le-livre-qui-demonte-la-strategie-dsk_889807.html
See also the Daily Telegraph (all the info there is based on other published ‘facts’ in the French media, not inventions by them), a quick summary:
The complaint that will soon re-surface in the MSM is an old one from a journalist/author (lovely young woman) Tristane Banon, whom he trapped and aggressed, they fought horribly and she managed to run off.
This story is well known in F though it was disappeared by the MSM.
The article is in French, and it explains what happened, very plainly.
The video linked shows her talking about it very frankly on TV - mainstream TV. She did not push a legal complaint for all the reasons one may imagine (explained in her own words, see article) - mostly she did not want to be known for the rest of her life as the woman who ‘had that story with DSK’ and have her books an articles sell (or not) because of her status as a victim. (Possibly failed victim.) She has been effectively cut out of journalism because of it. She never complained, always spoke out if asked without making a big deal out of it.
http://www.agoravox.fr/tribune-libre/article/temoignage-exclusif-la-troisieme-46125
DSK’s ‘affair’ with the collaborator / subordinate at the IMF Piroska Nagy followed a similar pattern. (It was a one night stand and not an ‘affair’ as the press like to portray it.)
from der spiegel, in Eng. See the internal workings at the IMF:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,586763,00.html
Assault is not comparable to homosexual / bi- tendencies, consensual mistresses, paying sex workers, children born out of wedlock, etc.
Today, someone asked me, so why not have the porter send up an escort for a quickie, before his flight?
Because DSK has no interest in paid sex, that would be demeaning. His thing is domination, conquering, bodice ripping, semi-rape, someone in his milieu or low down in it, or someone who has a servant role, a relationship where he masters and dominates and then can discard or control, manipulate. That is what gets him off. Apologies for being so crude. And btw gossip about his Maid Fetish has been on the internet since 2009.
Posted by: Noirette | May 15 2011 20:50 utc | 17
I've been looking through Wiki on Strauss-Kahn. There isn't a history of sexual aggression, though mistresses there are.
Why would a guy like that want to aggress a room-maid?
I don't say that he didn't, strange things can happen, but it is a bit bizarre.
Posted by: alexno | May 15 2011 21:05 utc | 18
@ absinthe at 2.
DSK does not have diplomatic immunity. He is not a diplomat.
Probably not even for parking tickets, which is the lowest level. I have not looked it up, or have any intimate knowledge, but an IMF official, even the director, would only have immunity for ‘actions taken in the service of his job’, i.e. financial stuff related to work. (Forbearance for a famous, rich person might extend to DUI or stuff like that but that might fly for any local celebrity, pol, or TV star - nothing to do with legal status..) His contract with the IMF can be dug up, if needs be I will do it.
In any case any matter that involved penal law would not be exempt. Never.
Besides that, consider, the po-lice in NY are well used to crazy UN diplomats, they would know exactly what they were doing. They would have known or checked it. Now it is not excluded that post hoc some argument along that line for the public might be constructed.
@ somebody at 5.
Lipsky quit the IMF recently, on 13 may to be exact - to leave in August.
So he will be a reluctant interim, they will have to find someone else fast.
first off google:
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/05/13/idINIndia-56986820110513
Posted by: Noirette | May 15 2011 21:25 utc | 19
I used to spend a bit of time working with some of the victims of the justice system that never get access to victim support, that is the crims who get fitted up. I went into it thinking I would be helping the innocent get justice but quickly learned that many of those who had been set up, framed, had evidence planted, or false testimony given against them, had in fact committed the crime. Now the issue in that circumstance has to be about ensuring that law enforcement doesn't break rules regardless of whether they or anyone else, believe the person to be guilty - for obvious reasons.
In this case however, if this low life capitalist scum has been set up, I am not gona lose any sleep over it. I will regard any punishment he may get as fitting, just desserts for a man such as he joining and gaining a position of power in an organisation that calls itself Socialist - cause even after discounting the current rape scenario, everything this man has done from the moment he first drew breath until now, is the antithesis of socialism.
Posted by: Debs is dead | May 15 2011 21:25 utc | 20
So ... he called an escort agency for a hooker to come dressed as a maid ...
Posted by: William | May 15 2011 21:49 utc | 21
See above ...
<
Why would a guy like that want to aggress a room-maid?
I don't say that he didn't, strange things can happen, but it is a bit bizarre.
Posted by: alexno | May 15, 2011 5:05:13 PM | 18>>
Posted by: William | May 15 2011 22:05 utc | 22
I just read the spiegel article which since spiegel is no different from all the other corrupt oligarchy serving media outlets everywhere else, it is best to strip away everything but the naked facts that are uncontested by any of the 'players'. This creep had a sexual relationship with a subordinate staff member, it was discovered and the subordinate got the flick while the boss stayed on.
That of itself is enough to tell me the man is unsuitable in the IMF let alone as french prez. It is sad that many of the european leftist movements haven't undergone the root and branch removal of these creeps who abuse their power to curry sexual favours, for that corrupt abuse of position is at the heart of what most humans see as the issue with conservative leaders.
When such types fill positions on the left, we can be sure that their claimed ideology is one of convenience, an ideology assumed because the person thought that would be the easiest way for him/her to gain power. For a minor aristo, joining those leftish political movements eager to become mainstream the easy way rather than by convincing their fellow citizens of the justice of their cause, grabbing a minor aristo does work-in the short term. Long term when the bloke sells out to curry favour with those who he really wants to impress; the leftist movement is destroyed. We saw this so often last century.
The likes of this creep joined the Socialists because they saw the competition for power in the rightist movements was too intense, that types with better aristo credentials and more dedication to work would beat them every time.
When will political parties dedicated to the ordinary human cease piss-farting around with these lightweight buffoons and insist that the people best placed to represent ordinary people must have been from the ordinary background that they want to serve?
That especially includes the sons and daughters of successful leftist pols that may themselves have come from poverty but who raised their children in the atmosphere of wealth and entitlement granted to any successful pol, no matter where they started.
Nowadays it is close to impossible for someone without 'connections' to get far in an established political movement regardless of its alleged values. That simple reality explains a lot about why we are in this awful limbo.
Posted by: Debs is dead | May 15 2011 22:55 utc | 23
b, I'm perplexed
I always thought the IMF was a (the) loan shark, now it turns out its director was soft on debtors
are there seismic changes in the oligarchy? was SK positioning himself in french politics on a substantially different platform than all the other mainstream politicians in europe?
the debt crisis in Europe, you know well, will be the decisive political problem for next few years
Posted by: claudio | May 15 2011 23:12 utc | 24
The IMF is a loan shark.
It is no loss to anyone that this guy won't be running in the primaries of what the French (whose sense of humour is usually underestimated) laughingly call Socialists.
On the other hand, much of Wall St considers Obama to be a socialist, so it is possible that there really were people scared of (multi-millionaire $7000 suit wearing) SK's levelling designs.
And then there is the strange case of the NY Governor who visited a prostitute and had to resign. Governor Spitzer was a great annoyance to Wall St and a real threat in the way that none of the Washington pols are. His replacement(s) were and are not.
The real question is what the ($3000 a night) hotel was doing letting a female employee, unescorted and unarmed, anywhere near this guy who has earned himself a real reputation over many years.
In the end the real losers are the French right who, if this guy had run for the Socialists, would have been flooded with support from the working class to whom the likes of SK are, quite properly, anathema.
Posted by: bevin | May 16 2011 0:48 utc | 25
This creep had a sexual relationship with a subordinate staff member, it was discovered and the subordinate got the flick while the boss stayed on. That of itself is enough to tell me the man is unsuitable in the IMF let alone as french prez.
Hogwash. It's a basic requirement, for Christ's sake.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 16 2011 2:22 utc | 26
Yeah right derp play the cynical amerikan, I guess tryin to bully the posters here beats actually doing anything about the corrupt, parasitical, and cowardly society you leap to defend.
Posted by: Debs is dead | May 16 2011 2:57 utc | 27
Oh yeah, this "rutting chimpanzee" was set up, just like Julian Assange, sure he was: http://is.gd/tmdGkH
Banon allegedly described him as a "rutting chimpanzee" and described how she was forced to fight him off. "It finished badly … very violently … I kicked him," Banon said. "When we were fighting, I mentioned the word 'rape' to make him afraid, but it didn't have any effect. I managed to get out."...
"All this stupefaction from people is sheer hypocrisy. Everyone in Paris has known for years he had something of a problem. Not many female journalists are prepared to interview him alone these days."
When it comes to the limousine liberals, the sheer hypocrisy of the left knows no bounds.
Posted by: Frank | May 16 2011 3:55 utc | 28
For some reason, I couldn't help but think about the President of Israel (2000-2007), who recently got convicted of rape.
No doubt about it. Power corrupts.
However, Katsav was 10 years younger than DSK when he did it. It's kind of mind-boggling to think that a 62 year old pencil pusher would dare take on a young woman who's been doing some serious manual labor. Or that she wouldn't just give him a swift kick in the groin that he would never forget. But then, I wasn't there...
Posted by: JohnH | May 16 2011 4:30 utc | 29
I am sure he had a well known problem with women, just as Julian Assange probably had a well known problem with women.
Just means, they, and the women, were very easy to trick. French and English comedy are full of scenarios for that.
Was he a regular in the Sofitel? For how many years has he been staying there?
Companies - banks - are full of stories like that. People spend most of their life there. It is usually solved and hushed up in a very professional way.
Posted by: somebody | May 16 2011 5:48 utc | 30
@somebody 30: Does seem a remarkably rapid and decisive police response considering the who, the where, and the what.
Do maids just barge in and start hoovering when a male guest is in the suite?
Blogger in France, associated with the political right wing announced the event (twitter) BEFORE it was public..highly suspect and the hotel chain where it was (SOFITEL) is owned by a closely friend of President Sarkozy. Made your own conclusions…
Not the first time his dramas have botched things, either. Did anybody post this earlier untimely revelation?
A “one-night stand” and an angry husband have endangered the career of the French head of the International Monetary Fund and dismayed President Sarkozy as he seeks to put a French stamp on a new world financial order.... blah blah blah
When he visited President Bush at Camp David on Saturday, Mr Sarkozy presented a vision for this on behalf of the European Union that conflicts with US wishes. Although the romantic troubles of Mr Strauss-Kahn were known in Paris, some politicians suggested that the case had been leaked to the US media to undermine the French effort.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4972855.ece
Properly exploited his little proclivities would not be a bug but a feature.
Posted by: rjj | May 16 2011 9:24 utc | 31
only if the room maid was Jennifer Lopez, or hers sisters, could DSK erect his pencil. With 62 years!. the man who fucked millions of people in all the world every day dont need that blobjob.
Surely it is a plitical trick.
Posted by: an idiot | May 16 2011 11:45 utc | 32
Just like Spitzer, this arrogant creep will have his own show in no time.
the man who fucked millions of people in all the world every day dont need that blobjob.
Precisely. That's the real crime, but the one that is ignored, and in lieu of it, we get these kind of scandals to dither about. I'm not dithering about it, and that's the point of my comment @26. Such scandalous behavior is exactly to be expected from those who hold such lofty and powerful positions in which they determine the literal life and death destiny over millions, and hundreds of millions, of people worldwide. It's representative of their character, but this act itself, even if true, although telling yet not surprising, is the least egregious of this slimy bastard's depravities.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 16 2011 12:43 utc | 33
A little tidbit about DSK I has missed (not living in the EU doesn't help): The revelations of Strauss Kahn @ eurotribe.
That whole affair smell bad, and the script has too many holes so far. But have the elites started to pull the knifes against each other ?
Posted by: Philippe | May 16 2011 12:49 utc | 34
Here's a recent photo of DSK offered by the French Press.
http://www.thereformedbroker.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Dominique-Strauss-Kahn.jpg
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 16 2011 13:25 utc | 36
DSK was staying in a hotel room that cost $3,000 per night.
Is that how IMF officials 'share the pain' caused by their austerity policies?
Posted by: Watson | May 16 2011 14:03 utc | 37
This creep had a sexual relationship with a subordinate staff member, it was discovered and the subordinate got the flick while the boss stayed on.
The IMF has itself to blame.
The Nagy affair (a one-night stand at Davos) was investigated by them, they must have realized that he used his status. (She consented to meet DSK.) I forget where I read this, but she explained that she felt very conflicted; she did not want to accept but felt she could not refuse The Director. Difficult.
But the kicker is that she was handsomely, very generously compensated, paid off if you will, and another good job was found for her. Her consent was coerced.
The IMF should have let him go then. They saw the text messages he sent her, that should have been enough, independently of the fact that DSK and Nagy did get together. Presuming the text messages were the usual crude and insistent type he sends.. and even if not, proposing a tryst in any shape or form to a young, subordinate, married employee is not acceptable in that environment.
I guess the IMF governing body and DSK considered the ‘incident’ a close shave and a wake-up call. He had only been there, what, for a very short time? And measures were taken to ensure that nothing like it would ever happen again - within the IMF.
Besides that I for one wouldn’t expect significant changes at the IMF regarding policy, actions, etc. with DSK gone, it is a sort of committee organization, but I might be wrong. DSK’s visible role was on the diplomatic end, and at that he was very good, he is persuasive, speaks several languages perfectly, etc.
Posted by: Noirette | May 16 2011 14:49 utc | 38
Two random bits.
1. Murdoch got the scoop and is leading the charge using the trog bait term sodomy. NY Post is chumming with juicy tidbits. Yes, this IS what tabloids do. One of the first reader responses at the NY Post is
+1 to the NYPD for acting swift and unbiased after an African immigrant maid files charges against one of the world's top dogs on his way to meet Europe's most powerful politicians.This is what makes America great!
Without apparent irony.
Posted by: rjj | May 16 2011 16:07 utc | 39
noirette, I do not know where you live, my environment is full of women who end up marrying their former boss. the company usually decides to let them serve in different departments, once the connection is known.
lots of people do not have a private life and companies actually prefer it that way. people are human after all, and I prefer them to be human.
idiot, I do not know your age, but guys do get their thing up till 90, and its all in the mind, so you do not need Jennifer Lopez. go down a street around the Gare de l'Est in Paris and you know how different male tastes are. to quote Don Juan, it is the cheeses that smell worst who are the best.
seems like Dominique Strauss-Kahn has got a valid alibi, so the whole thing may backfire, and I would like it like that.
and yes I like the law to take women seriously, however, it is usually the women who are exploited who are on the wrong side of the law.
Posted by: somebody | May 16 2011 16:11 utc | 40
OP and Morocco Bama: Typical sexist leftist assholes who minimize violence against women when it suits their political agenda.
Posted by: b.g. | May 16 2011 16:41 utc | 41
I don't think so, @41. You are wrong on many levels. I take a systems approach to these matters rather than allowing the media to lead me around by the nose with these sensationalized scandals. The harm the IMF does, systemically, results in far more violence to women than anything DSK can do in person because the IMF's policies create an environment where violence against women inculcates...on a broad scale, so when I say his actions as a powerful policy maker results in greater depravities, I am speaking in terms of scale. These large scale depravities are there for all to see. No need for a trial, the evidence is there, unlike this singular event which is, and will be, shrouded in he said/she said for the remainder of its coverage.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself for falsely accusing me of something like that. It shows your true character. Also, come out and show us who you really are if you are a regular poster here, which I believe you are. Don't hide behind multiple monikers. Stand behind what you say, especially when you are throwing around false accusations.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 16 2011 17:43 utc | 42
I think we are clouding the issue. DSK is almost certainly guilty of raping that woman. The judge refused him bail and he is a prisoner in the US with little chance of leaving anytime in the near future. He has been neutralized in a way that is slightly more humane than the way OBL was neutralized. He will never be the leader of the IMF again nor will he be a political figure in France.
So, whether or not there was some kind of conspiracy to put him away is open to debate. He brought this down on himself and has no one else to blame for it. He made it too easy for his enemies.
Bernhard's original question still stands, did the banks want him out of the IMF? I would tend to think they did. Did they arrange this? probably not but they certainly did not let an incredible stroke of luck (for them anyway, not so much for the woman) go to waste! the press was immediately on board and the NYC Police and prosecutors are having a lot of fun humiliating a pompous old rich bastard.
and this puts all of us in a bad position. could it be that even though he is a rotten asshole, what he proposed would have been better for millions of common people in Ireland, Greece, and who knows where else? or are we better off now that a fairly effective politician with a tiny bit of socialism is locked away and a more law abiding evil bastard will take his place and make sure the banks get every last gram of flesh?
would it be so easy to define this in black and white.
Posted by: dan of steele | May 16 2011 19:16 utc | 43
i don't believe in coinidences in this situation or any other
Posted by: remembereringgiap | May 16 2011 20:43 utc | 44
Awwww, how cute, a mansplaining asshole is trying to shame me for calling him out on his sexist bullshit.
And, no, I'm not a regular commenter here. I'd never seen this blog before today, and I sure as hell won't be following it.
Posted by: b.g. | May 16 2011 21:57 utc | 45
@45, if you've never seen this blog before, and this is the only post and comments you have read, then you have no business whatsoever leveling the accusations you are leveling. If what you say is true, you've completely overlooked and ignored a body of work that has led to this thread, and neglected to put not only b's, but all the regular commentators comments here, in perspective.
You're simply wrong. I'm not a "sexist," what ever the hell that is, and I have no idea what "mansplaining" means. Never heard of it, nor do I want to look it up.
Also, you called me a "Leftist." If you had never visited this blog since today, on what grounds do you make that determination of me?
As far as not following this blog, that's your prerogative, obviously, but it's also your loss. There's some wonderful insight to be gleaned from this source. It's your loss.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 16 2011 22:22 utc | 46
As far as not following this blog, that's your prerogative, obviously, but it's also your loss.
well said, MB!
Posted by: claudio | May 16 2011 23:29 utc | 47
Mon petit doigt m'a dit..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldVxoNS9ICU
Posted by: Ménage de printemps | May 17 2011 0:43 utc | 48
So the Moon of Alabama chatterbox is back, what a pleasant surprise.
As far as Mr DSK is concerned, he is going to be the OJ Simpson of high finance (however, convicted).
There are now allegations coming up that he had been molesting/raping chamber maids at this same hotel for years! The hotel allegedly covered it all up for him, until now...
Another blow in the coffin of the existing financial order and, probably, a rather expensive one for Hotel giant Groupe Accor. Furthermore tales of S/M sex parties in Belgium and France are making the rounds. Many more victims no doubt coming soon, recruited by the trial-lawyers about to sue Accor...
This affaire will be glorious entertainment. Too bad Dominick Dunne is dead. No wonder DSK is already looking like a condemned man out a Dostojevsky novel...
No Ma, just this once, there ain't no conspiracy...
Posted by: Guthman Bey | May 17 2011 0:58 utc | 49
... hmmm. Note from the Department of Mixed Metaphors: another blow in the coffin? Make that another blow job in the coffin of the existing financial order, ahem...
Posted by: Guthman Bey | May 17 2011 1:25 utc | 50
Mike Whitney points out in his piece entitled "IMF Chief Strauss-Kahn Bagged in Honey Trap" that Strauss-Kahn was out to reform the IMF in such a matter that it would demand that the banking cartels get a non-trivial haircut for help getting the PIIGS into debt:
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/mike-whitney/36188/imf-chief-strauss-kahn-bagged-in-honey-trap
He goes on to mention that Joseph Stiglitz -- a progressive economist who is no friend of the TBTF banks -- firmly believes that Strauss-Kahn is no friend of the TBTF banks either. Here's an excerpt from Joesph Stiglitz's piece titled "The IMF's Switch in Time":
"Strauss-Kahn had set out on a 'kinder and gentler' path, one that would not force foreign leaders to privatize their state-owned industries or crush their labor unions. Naturally, his actions were not warmly received by the bankers and corporatists who look to the IMF to provide legitimacy to their ongoing plunder of the rest of the world. These are the people who think that the current policies are hunky-dory because they produce the results they're looking for, which is to say they steal more wealth from the poor while making the rich even richer"
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stiglitz138/English
Adding to that, Dean Baker -- another progressive economist who is also no friend of the TBTF banks -- won't go as far as to say that Strauss-Kahn is a victim of entrapment by the banksters, but he does fear that if Srauss-Kahn is thrown out of the IMF and replaced by John Lipsky, a bankster from JP Morgan, then the chances of IMF reforming itself in a progressive direction is next to nil:
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/dominique-strauss-kahn-and-the-imf
Then Nouriel Roubini, the man who warned us for years that the TBTF banks are out to turn us into their own personal debt slaves, tweeted this:
"DSK is innocent until proven guilty. One cannot rule out a setup as a smear campaign against him had started in the French press close to Sarko"
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43048213
Which leads me to believe that the Wall Street industrial complex, led by America's top kleptocratic banks, paid to entrap Straus-Kahn as a gift to Sarkozy for assisting the US in its invasion and soon occupation of Libya.
So from much needed input from first Mike Whitney and Joesph Stiglitz and then from Dean Baker and Nouriel Roubini, I find myself in perfect agreement with b on this issue, as I do on most other issues that are addressed here at Moon of Alabama!
Posted by: Cynthia | May 17 2011 1:30 utc | 51
A haircut for the TBTF banks will have to come. The IMF is the logical advocate for this, as it, unlike the various central banks, isn't a direct outgrowth of the banking system. No matter who replaces DSK, whether it's his no2 Lipsky or someone else, is likely to advance the very same agenda. Debt haircuts have always been a part of the IMF turn-around formula, even back when the IMF was generally portrayed as the devil incarnate.
Posted by: Guthman Bey | May 17 2011 1:43 utc | 52
@somebody. I live in Switzerland, and also know many who married their boss. I too prefer that ppl’s private lives be left...private. DSK’s actions however in the Nagy case don’t fall under the rubric of romance/sexy friendship/mutual attraction - as I read it. What happened was misrepresented. The press called it an ‘affair’ - he did not have an affair with her. The official statements from the IMF are mealy mouthed and carefully worded, as was his wife’s. They couldn’t call it an affair, and didn’t, but implied it was a ‘fling’ - his wife (who wrote about it on her blog) passed it over as a one-night encounter, the kind of slip many marriages deal with. (Implied: party, lotsa of drink, foreign place..). That is not what happened, as I read it. DSK coerced here into meeting him, he used his status as her boss, she probably was afraid and flattered, and thought she could deal with the situation. He has done this many times. DSK is presented by the French press as a ‘seducer’, ‘gallant womanizer’, ‘keen on the ladies’, etc. etc. but that is a false portrait, it is a way of smoothing over and excusing a very ugly image.
For those who think that the story on its face is somehow not credible, and that some kind of entrapment or plot took place, William’s idea above, which I have seen expressed now on several F blogs, of DSK ordering a prostitute who would be in maid’s costume and pretend to be a maid, and a real maid entering can be made to fit the entrapment scenario. All that would be needed is to intercept the prostitute with some excuse, and send in a real maid. DSK’s wild insistence would be explained; as his total disarray once he realized that the situation was not what he believed, that her resistance was real and not simulated - real sobbing, tears, for ex.
What kind of defense would that lead to? I can think of a few mistaken-identity murders, where the error doesn’t help, of course. But such a case would be different...The scenario would help in explaining his quasi immediate not-guilty stance. The lawyer also sounds like he has something up his sleeve, but then he would act that way in any case.
Posted by: Noirette | May 17 2011 7:58 utc | 53
Or just offer the vulnerable immigrant maid the practical choice between charges of prostitution, theft, deportation or other trouble versus compromising the guy in the suite for a modest/generous bonus.
It doesn't matter if he jumped the maid. It's not about some blow job.
He is on Rikers island for a week. No bail because he is a flight risk even though there are bail sitters for criminals in his income bracket.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/nyregion/27bail.html
This is a show [pre-]trial.
Posted by: rjj | May 17 2011 10:42 utc | 54
Noirette @53, also the rapid and overly-concerned response of the NYPD. These corrupt, jack boot thugs do not ordinarily treat rape in this fashion, especially with a high profile VIP such as DSK. Remember, this is the same NYPD that Frank Serpico encountered, and the same NYPD that likes to shove batons up the asses of perps who don't cooperate, and now we are to believe that they are there "to serve and protect." Yeah, serve and protect the Plutocracy, that's about it. They're all on the take and they receive their marching orders, and the marching orders were go get this guy quick. No need for you to know why is the implied message that comes with those orders, just do as you're told and apprehend him now....and don't think the plain uniforms and plain clothes haven't figured out immediately why they are required to arrest this VIP when ordinarily, probably multiple times a year, different VIPs are accused of the very same thing, and they are given a pass because no orders have come from above to treat them like common perps.
I'm not excusing DSK of anything, but this does stink to high heaven, as well.
Considering, why would the Plutocracy neutralize him? I still don't buy the IMF angle. He was going to resign in a few months anyway, so it can't be that, and as the article that someone linked to earlier in the comments indicated, he was conspiring with the Greek leader for austerity measures behind the scenes as the future Greek leader was campaigning to the opposite tune.
This either has to be about Sark, or something of which we are not aware....and that is a strong possibility. There may be much that we do not know about why they would want to take him down.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 17 2011 11:09 utc | 55
Guthman Bey,
The US has put itself on a warpath to dethrone Muammar Gaddafi from power not only because he wants to nationalize Libya's oil supply, but he also wants Libya to finance its own debt without any assistance from the US banking system. This is why I have come to believe that the Wall Street industrial complex, led by America's top kleptocratic banks, paid to entrap Strauss-Kahn not only as a way to prevent themselves from getting a much-needed haircut, but also as a gift to Sarkozy for assisting the US in its invasion and soon occupation of Libya.
Posted by: Cynthia | May 17 2011 13:22 utc | 56
And then there's apologia garbage like this, which makes my stomach turn. If this is what the Unwashed Masses of the world have to rely upon for their ungrateful Beneficence and Daily Bread, Dog help us.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/05/16/the_meaning_of_strauss-kahn/
I liked Brook's comment to Monsieur Clemons:
SK was nothing more than a tool of the BIS bankers! The IMF, I will remind all, is an unelected body of wealthy elites that have ravaged entire nations by loaning them money in exchange for "collateral" meaning national resources, and of course they efficiently know how to move in and take possession of these assets, when the inevitable happens.SK was simply a very clever pitch man. A man who would listen to the people -- and then do what the bankers wanted. When the French people rejected the EU Constitution, and then Brussels went ahead with their federalist plans anyway, where was SK? He clearly sided with the Europhile globalist elites.
Like the rest of this nefarious crowd that deem themselves above the laws of nations, he had a double life. There are too many rumours out there to try and explain away. There are plenty of rumours about other members of the EU High Commission. For the law abiding citizens of the world, it is a red flag waving us away from a globalist movement that will clearly be led by degenerate elites who have enjoyed immunity from the rule of law for so long, they no longer have the ability to know right from wrong.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 17 2011 13:45 utc | 57
--Setting aside some of his treatment of women.--
DSK is mainstream: center right, Keynesian, neo-lib but not too obviously, and goes with the flow, not in any way original. In some ways he reminds me of Obama.
He was proposed as IMF chief by Juncker and then Chirac. The Internationals agreed, and of course Sarkozy jumped at the chance of getting rid of him and of seeming to be responsible for the pick, a Frenchman in that post, glory be.
It was probably just the right slot for him, in the normal run of things, it would have been his last post.
His political success in F is rather like that of Kouchner - always nominated and never voted in! (With a few exceptions for DSK.) DSK lost the last Socialist ‘primary’ to Segolène Royal, he only got 20% of the vote. Ordinary ppl don’t like him, and I very much doubt he could have won this second primary, the head of the IMF who lived in the USA and returned to F to campaign at the last minute? And on to..Winning the F election? Pipe dreams..which he would have understood.
The idea that he was to be F Pres based on some polls here and there so long before the election - hype. Shows up the total deliquescence, idiocy and contradictions of the Socialist Party, seriously considering or even counting on his candidacy to get their checkers in a row, and thus a lot of jobs, posts, control, etc.
Posted by: Noirette | May 17 2011 14:57 utc | 58
The time of the incident has been moved from 1-1:30 to noon because because a CCTV has him rushing out of the hotel at 12:30.
The coverage is being heavily larded with Never-Mind-That-Look-Over-There. As one reporter asked "why would he be rushing away from a crime scene?"
CorpsMedia debauching the mob is more obscene and destructive than whatever DSK is supposed to have done.
Posted by: rjj | May 17 2011 15:18 utc | 59
There is no absolute way to prove this case one way or the other. It all depends on whom you choose to believe. If you choose to believe her, then this was a clear-cut case of rape from the get-go. If you choose to believe him, then this started out as consensual sex and turned into something that was mistakenly perceived by her as rape. And this kind of thing never really gets fully resolved in terms of public opinion.
A good example of this is Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, who is now also dealing with sex-charges. A lot of people believe, myself included, that he was a victim of a “honey pot” scheme as a favor to the US government or by the US government itself. And regardless of the outcome of that case, many people, myself included, will continue to believe this.
The same thing will probably happen with Strauss-Kahn, especially in France. This kind of thing might actually turn French public opinion against the US, if many people there see this case as a US attempt to influence French politics.
When a socialist was elected President of Spain a few years ago, then Spain withdrew its military from Iraq soon after that. And many people in France might now suspect that the US has entrapped Strauss-Kahn in order to prevent French voters from electing a socialist president, who might take France out of Afghanistan.
It is also well within the realm of possibilities that Obama is doing everything in his power to prevent losing France as one of his key allies in his war against Libya. And what better way for him to do this than to order his black-ops goons to conduct a mission to entrap a socialist candidate like Strauss-Kahn, thereby preventing him from becoming president of France.
Regardless of how this all pans out for Strauss-Kahn, there is a lesson in this for him and others whose job it is to determine the fate of trillions of dollars of the world's assets: Keep It Zipped!
Posted by: Cynthia | May 17 2011 18:39 utc | 61
Here's the link to bevin's suggestion, and it is an excellent article, although I take exception with this French individuals characterization of American Culture.
In his comments, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan was the first public person in France to express concern for the victim. “If the facts are proven, it is very grave, all the more in that nobody speaks of the victim. If it had happened in France, I am not sure that the police would have dared to arrest DSK.” Dupont-Aignan deplored the fact that France “will go on having that image of a culture of impunity for important personalities. … The United States”, he concluded, “has a lot of faults but in such sex cases they have much less of the culture of impunity which prevails in our country.”
It depends, of course, on who the particular celebrity is in the U.S.. If it's a male black athlete, you can be certain it will be front page news for months on end. If it's a white male Plutocrat who is in favor and good standing with his peers, there will be no arrest, no prosecution and no news.....as though it never happened.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 17 2011 18:59 utc | 62
This white male plutocrat was so heretical he lost his immunity.
What did he do to become Fair Game?
The rest is distraction.
Posted by: rjj | May 18 2011 6:59 utc | 63
As for keeping it zipped, it won't happen. It's not power that is the aphrodisiac, it is the stress of high-stakes games. Threat activates the intrinsic DNA conservation imperative in ALL living creatures. It even happens in microbes and plants.
Posted by: rjj | May 18 2011 7:14 utc | 64
As a 60 years hotels-experienced man, I can simply do not believe that any man in that circumstances (a maid who knew who was there - she is French spoken and Sofitel announce VIP on each suite - open your door, see you naked and decided not to immediately get out?
How can you get erected, get that maid from the bed to the bathroom to force her to suck your penis?
I have any particular interest in DSK being innocent, but although not being a psychiatrist, I simply and sincerely think this can happen the way is being claimed.
Can any man using common sense confirm/ infirm that the NYP sketch is simply not possible?
Posted by: Jose CACERES | May 18 2011 9:12 utc | 65
http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/10/markets/dollar/index.htm
By Ben Rooney, staff reporterFebruary 10, 2011: 4:37 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The International Monetary Fund issued a report Thursday on a possible replacement for the dollar as the world's reserve currency.The IMF said Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, could help stabilize the global financial system.
SDRs represent potential claims on the currencies of IMF members. They were created by the IMF in 1969 and can be converted into whatever currency a borrower requires at exchange rates based on a weighted basket of international currencies. The IMF typically lends countries funds denominated in SDRs.
While they are not a tangible currency, some economists argue that SDRs could be used as a less volatile alternative to the U.S. dollar.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, acknowledged there are some "technical hurdles" involved with SDRs, but he believes they could help correct global imbalances and shore up the global financial system.
"Over time, there may also be a role for the SDR to contribute to a more stable international monetary system," he said.
The goal is to have a reserve asset for central banks that better reflects the global economy since the dollar is vulnerable to swings in the domestic economy and changes in U.S. policy.
In addition to serving as a reserve currency, the IMF also proposed creating SDR-denominated bonds, which could reduce central banks' dependence on U.S. Treasuries. The Fund also suggested that certain assets, such as oil and gold, which are traded in U.S. dollars, could be priced using SDRs.
Oil prices usually go up when the dollar depreciates. Supporters say using SDRs to price oil on the global market could help prevent spikes in energy prices that often occur when the dollar weakens significantly......
Of course, since I believe as Brook says in my quote a few posts up that DSK is ultimately one of "them," meaning a Plutocrat, Phillipe may have it right. The Elite are pulling out the Long Knives....and also sending a message that the Soft-Sell side of Empire is being jettisoned and it will be full-on in your face from here on out, meaning it's no longer necessary to play the appeasement game with The Masses. The Plutocrats are feeling rather confident that The Masses don't matter and won't pose any kind of rebellious threat.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 18 2011 12:30 utc | 66
If you thought things couldn't get worse for DSK:
It emerged today that Strauss-Kahn may have to undergo an HIV test following claims his alleged victim could be a carrier. The hotel chambermaid who is accusing the IMF chief of rape is reported to have been under the care of a charity helping people with HIV and Aids.It has emerged the 32-year-old and her 15-year-old daughter were being housed in a Bronx apartment block by Harlem Community Aids United. The charity has not revealed the medical status of the maid, who is a migrant from Guinea, west Africa, but did confirm it only rents apartments for adults with either HIV or Aids.
...
It comes as a European journalist, named only as Martina, alleged that Strauss-Kahn offered her an exclusive interview in exchange for sex.She said: "He was incredibly insistent ... He made it almost explicit that I had to sleep with him for the interview."
Economist Piroska Nagy, who worked at the IMF, warned the organisation about Strauss-Kahn's behaviour towards women in a letter in 2008 after they had an affair.
French author Tristane Banon, 31, has accused Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her a decade ago and is considering reporting him to the police in Paris
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/ ... of-plot.do
And things are getting worse for the alleged victim as well - she's been named by slate.fr
Posted by: bokonon | May 18 2011 13:13 utc | 67
Sorry bad link, here it is:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23951148-strauss-kahn-faces-hiv-test-as-60-per-cent-in-france-believe-he-is-victim-of-plot.do
Posted by: bokonon | May 18 2011 13:14 utc | 68
Murdoch press is the most virulent.
The name Diallo - how common is it in Guinea?
Is she related to Amadou.
Posted by: rjj | May 18 2011 13:39 utc | 69
@Morroco Bama
It is not credible that Sarkozy (or his party the UMP) had anything to do with a possible ‘entrapment’ or some kind of cracking down on DSK.
First, look at the result for France - horrific.
1) DSK, a Frenchman, at the IMF, with possibly a F successor, was great for F. Also DSK was out of the way. Sark supported this situation 100%. F’s image is in the toilet, and Sark’s as well as officially as the nom. took place under his watch.
1) DSK as a rival in the election may, and I say may, have presented a threat. The types who analyze these things for Sark are smarter and more informed than me, but it was abundantly clear that DSK winning was rife with obstacles, of various kinds.
The left strand of the Socialist party can’t stand him, the base dislikes him, and the woman/man in the street thinks he is various kinds of scum, before the latest incident.
Winning the primary - already lost it once with an abysmal score, might be overcome - if he had not treated his opponent, Royal, with a dismissive and disdainful attitude, very blatant. He didn’t call her a potiche in public (stupid woman, housewife acting up, etc.) but it wasn’t far off. Ppl remember that.
2) The UMP’s plan was to knock him away after his declaration, using what I describe above: DSK is a hyper-rich, a neo-lib, for privatizations, a jerk-off intellectual, a false leftist, a center-right candidate, haughty and superior, not ‘really’ French as an Internationalist and Jewish*, the ex-boss of the biggest ripper-offers (IMF), a sexual aggressor, a fraudster (he was out for 2 years from pol life for financial matters for which he was eventually cleared) etc. etc.
Imho they would have succeeded. The campaign had already begun, with a pix of DSK about to get into a Porsche which was not his.
No way was a famous Frenchman in Riker’s Island part of the plan. No way.
In fact, DSK was a friend-cum-rival Sarko could scotch and then name as Minister of the Economy (or ..) and now all their plans are shredded, the field is wide open and Marine Le Pen is a more serious opponent, as she is not part of the center establishment which makes deals.
*B Henri Levi has come out in his defense, you can imagine what F Tv watchers think of that!
Posted by: Noirette | May 18 2011 13:43 utc | 70
SDR seems heretical enough to make an example of the man.
Posted by: rjj | May 18 2011 13:56 utc | 71
Noirette, I never hung my hat on it being Sark and his close friends, although, if it is a conspiracy, or quasi-conspiracy, you know the Plutocrats, of which DSK and Sark are members, the former obviously not in good standing, were behind it. I threw Sark out there trying to determine motivation for a possible conspiratorial set-up. I agree with you that it seems illogical for it to have been directly related to Sark and DSK's bid for the French Presidency based off of the remainder of the links provided in this thread by various commentators.
Still, this I am sticking to, and that is it is not coincidental that the NYPD acted so rapidly and urgently, especially considering DSK is a foreign VIP, and you know this same kind of thing, this depravity, occurs often, and goes unnoticed. They're perp walking him, for Christ's Sake. There is no greater insult to members of Club Plutocracy. He's an example to the other members. The Long Knives are out........Make Our Day, go ahead, in Clint Eastwood fashion.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 18 2011 14:20 utc | 72
"Libérez Dominique" (pas vraiment !) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGXLbJnl9Rs
Posted by: Ménage de printemps | May 18 2011 16:30 utc | 73
@Noirette
Thinking that Sarkozy and his clique have any consideration for France's image is quiet naive.
The Clearstream case and the repeated attempts to destroy Dominique de Villepin, the attacks against Chirac's clan through the conviction of Alain Juppee and the systematic destruction of every political opponent either by including them in his team or breaking their notoriety through scandals are a specialty of the dwarf and his clique.
Believing that Sarko would hesitate for a second to destroy DSK to preserve France's image to ensure his reelection is as naive as to believe that the pregnancy of his wife happened accidentally a year before the presidential election.
Oh yes, he can.
Posted by: The Arrow | May 19 2011 3:22 utc | 74
celebrity porn
brought to u by the same producer of the infamous osama videos
http://tinyurl.com/nqask
http://tinyurl.com/3v4fk8l
Posted by: denk | May 19 2011 7:27 utc | 75
Believing that Sarko would hesitate for a second to destroy DSK to preserve France's image
Well, if that's the case, they've certainly succeeded in preserving France's image with RED-blooded U.S. Residents. This is just another example to them of how the French are terrorist-loving, liberal, philandering rapists. Mission Accomplished.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 19 2011 10:48 utc | 76
Sarkozy's reach probably does not extend to the NYPD and it would take more than a few hours to call in a favor.
What is the name of Sarkozy's Rovian aide?
Posted by: rjj | May 19 2011 15:17 utc | 77
Never mind the above "hours to call in a favor" brain fart.
Posted by: rjj | May 19 2011 15:28 utc | 78
I agree, rjj. Sark takes Marching Orders, he doesn't give them. This goes much deeper, and higher up the Totem Pole. The Power behind the Power, so to speak.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 19 2011 16:00 utc | 79
what debate, out with the socialist in with the fascist. who out there in the ether still thinks coincidense happens like fruit falling from a tree. private central banking sponsors assasination of the most vile sort, kahn escaped with his life. the common person wastes not only his breath but also the little self respect that the elite will allow us. grow a pair, read history and not mythology, realize class warfare is directed at you stupid!
Posted by: hueyislo | May 19 2011 19:44 utc | 80
The attraction to conspiracy amongst all you commentators makes me reach for the awful phrase - the banality of evil.
There is nothing so special about a powerful man raping a powerlesss woman but you prefer to conjure an invisible hand, a subterfuge rather than this:
This man - a man - could be imperfect. And all that follows.
Posted by: bokonon | May 21 2011 5:30 utc | 81
@81, I can't speak for the rest, but that is not true about my view of this. One does not preclude the other. Yes, not only is this man imperfect, but he also a scum of the highest orderm regardless of the verity of the allegations. That still doesn't preclude the other from being possibly true.....that this man not only may have done this act, but that he was also set-up. Is your world so simple that you have to deconstruct, and then reconstruct it again in patterns of either/or? Sorry, human life and human interaction is much more complex than that. Rarely is it an either/or proposition.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 21 2011 12:40 utc | 82
Strauss-Kahn's ex-CIA buddies may be asked to help polish his image: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/21/us-strausskahn-advisers-idUSTRE74J78320110521
Posted by: Ménage de printemps | May 21 2011 12:56 utc | 83
This is an interesting twist on and dimension to the protection racket.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/21/us-strausskahn-advisers-idUSTRE74J78320110521
Morocco, I quibble about the highest order scum ranking. The people who excite the mob's appetite for spectacles of scapegoating and public degradation are far FAR scummier.
And they do much more violence: this is how in troubled times whole classes of people can be fed to lions, burned at the stake, or sent off on trains to concentration camps.
We are only in the early stages of our troubled times.
Posted by: rjj | May 21 2011 13:14 utc | 84
The people who excite the mob's appetite for spectacles of scapegoating and public degradation are far FAR scummier.
If this is a characterization of my stance or what I just said it is a Strawman. For starters, it's not even what I implied. If you follow what I've said on this board, I think in terms of the System, so for a mob to guillotine the heads of the Plutocrats without addressing the System that creates Plutocrats.....and The Masses, it will amount to nothing more than Wack-A-Mole, because once you knock one down, another pops up to take its place.
However, that being said, he's still a scum of the highest order. He is deserved of that distinction because of his status in the hierarchy. With all those rich rewards that accrue to this slug and his fellow Plutocrats, also should the greatest criticisms of the System accrue to them, so I stick by my characterization of those at the top of the heap who ensure that anyone who might want to break free of this System, and break free all of Humanity from this System, are properly squashed in their tracks. They are scum of the highest order, and whereas I wouldn't take any delight in their potential suffering from misdirected violence, I also wouldn't lose any sleep over it. What I would lose sleep over is the Mob, once again, not seeing the true derivation of their discontent.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 21 2011 16:18 utc | 85
French women attack misogyny in Strauss-Kahn case : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/21/us-strausskahn-feminists-idUSTRE74K21S20110521
Posted by: Ménage de printemps | May 21 2011 18:22 utc | 86
Miscommunication, Morocco. I was referring to CorpsMedia's Fair Game game. That is what is scummier and more destructive than the relatively unremarkable depravities of a single plutocrat.
Posted by: rjj | May 21 2011 18:25 utc | 87
Christ. I misinterpreted that.
Never mind. It's not that useful to construct hierarchies of depravity.
Posted by: rjj | May 21 2011 18:36 utc | 88
@82. I get your point, of course it can be both. I don't visit this site because I like a simple view of life. But my instinct is for Occam over Rube Goldberg.
Anyway. Nearly all the "setup" narratives implicate the maid as complicit: a prostitute or agent despatched by an invisible hand (the local bogeyman - Sarkozy? Geithner? Zhongnanhai?) and it was this that I was criticising.
Is your theory that DSK (allegedly) attacked the innocent woman but that this time his usual protectors stood back and let law intervene? Wouldn't he know these puppetmasters and couldn't he turn the mirror back on them?
How about this: He was unprosecutable everywhere on the planet except the USA (you may have seen the rumours of Mexico and the lawsuit in France). This was his MO - and he finally pushed his luck too far. Is that too obvious?
Posted by: bokonon | May 22 2011 4:36 utc | 89
Just to add a little humour, I saw these on Twiiter:
-- DSK: Putting the MF into IMF
-- To all the inmates of Rikers Island who are railing and raging against "The Man": He's just down the hall.
Posted by: bokonon | May 22 2011 4:38 utc | 90
The application of occam's razor to a situation with so many unknowns would be premature.
Posted by: rjj | May 22 2011 8:17 utc | 91
@89, I'm not convinced it's a full-fledged conspiracy, meaning the maid was some form of operative. I'm just looking at things that pop out as Red Flags, and the reaction of the NYPD to this is a HUGE Red Flag.
It's why I said in another post that perhaps it was a quasi-conspiracy, as you mentioned, the maid may have been unwitting and she herself was set-up in the process. They used her as bait without her knowing. Of course, this would mean they were banking on her reporting it, and how could they count on her behaving in what they saw as a predictable way. People are peculiar, and often don't respond as we would want, which begs the question, perhaps they tried it in the states several times prior, and the maids then didn't report it......and this one finally did, and they were ready to go with their plan of nailing this bastard.
Why is the true conjecture in all of this?
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 22 2011 13:05 utc | 92
fwiw, I think the story that the maid is HIV positive completely explains everything. I believe she fought him off with much vigor and even performed oral sex on DSK in order to not have sexual intercourse. I believe she did this because she did not want to infect him with the virus. but a bj was not enough and he still wanted penetration.
why did she simply not say she was HIV positive? well she would have immediately lost her job.
I suspect that one of her coworkers noticed how upset she was and found out what happened. she, or one of her coworkers probably then told management and someone there called the police.
what happened afterwards has a lot to do with power and influence. either it got out of control before the ptb could make it go away, or the ptb wanted to teach DSK a lession. it is hard to say....I don't believe that those people are all that good at running things and this happened very quickly. pulling DSK off the plane was kind of a point of no return. that took balls and whoever ordered it either had top cover or had no idea of who he was dealing with.
ymmv
Posted by: dan of steele | May 22 2011 15:27 utc | 93
She was living illegally in the HIV/AIDs residence for people with HIV and is probably homeless now.
Take home is around 1600 plus tips in a town where 800 rents a room.
They could scare her by telling her she owes back taxes on the tips.
She will be subject to her male relatives and vulnerable to their sense of dishonor.
Ophelia.
Posted by: rjj | May 22 2011 17:40 utc | 94
To belabor the obvious, if her family were sensitive to their honor she would be extremely susceptible to the threat of charge of prostitution. Not saying that happened, only noting a possible pressure point. There is no reason to believe that the NYPD handled things in anything other than a sensitive, caring, and sympathetic way.
Posted by: rjj | May 22 2011 18:10 utc | 95
There is no reason to believe that the NYPD handled things in anything other than a sensitive, caring, and sympathetic way.
Precisely the reason it is a HUGE Red Flag, because it's contrary to its Modus Operandi.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 22 2011 18:55 utc | 96
'Nice arse': Strauss-Kahn's 'comment to air hostess' just moments before he was arrested for sexual assault
Source: Former IMF chief sought company of two hotel receptionists : http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/05/22/new.york.former.imf.chief/
Ex-IMF chief in new sex claims : http://www.smh.com.au/business/eximf-chief-in-new-sex-claims-20110522-1eyvz.html
Posted by: Ménage de printemps | May 22 2011 23:49 utc | 97
@96 - citation needed. what are your assumptions here?
@93 - you pretty much nail it. To develop that: PTB can't solve everything, this escalated with speed beyond anything they could ever expect to triage.
He was the aristocrat who bestrode the narrow world like a Colossus. He was impervious to laws in France and Mexico and probably every godforsaken place the IMF were called to, where the rape of your locals was part of our fee.
I think he took a risk too far. Maybe some agency's unexpected efficiency has just subverted all the will in the world. Black swan event in his life.
Posted by: bokonon | May 23 2011 2:49 utc | 98
I meant to say: I expect DSK's lawyers will plea-bargain this case and hope to limit the sentence, admitting to the lesser offences. Of course he'll forfeit heavily in civil court. Then, because that's the way we play, there's a Polanski-DSK swap. King safe.
Posted by: bokonon | May 23 2011 3:14 utc | 99
@96 - citation needed. what are your assumptions here?
I don't think so. Good try. You keep drinking the Kool-Aid, or you want others to keep drinking it. The cops are there to Protect & Serve...especially the least powerful when they are abused by the most powerful. NO, you provide citations to me that Santa Claus really is a fat old man who rides in a sleigh and slips down people's chimneys at Christmas.
Serpico resurrects his decadesold criticism of NYPDNEW YORK CNN Frank Serpico, the former New York City cop who became a symbol for police honesty, lashed out at societys leaders Tuesday, saying We need good role models, and they have to start at the top.
Twentysix years after testifying at hearings on police corruption in New York City, the 61yearold Serpico told a city council hearing on police misconduct that much of the problem lay with Americas leaders.
In a 15minute statement, Serpico cited examples of what he considers poor behavior by those leaders from President Clintons refusal to take his suggestion that he reward an honest police officer, to an incident in which New York Police Commisioner Howard Safir ate in a restaurant that is offlimits to officers because of its alleged links to organized crime.
Tanned and lean, wearing a white beard and his long gray hair tied neatly in a ponytail, Serpico said after each example, What kind of a message does this send out to the honest cop
The City Council is considering legislation to establish an independent commission to monitor police conduct in the wake of the August 9 beating and sexual torture accusations leveled by Haitian immigrant Abner Louima.
Also appearing at the hearing was Milton Mollen, whose 1993 commission linked police corruption to brutality and warned that the NYPDs internal affairs division had broken down.
Mollen made the point again Tuesday.
What we did find shocking was a total ineptitude of police fighting corruption, he said. They are superb in fighting crime except among themselves.
The city has paid 27 million to settle civil claims against the police in recent years. And yet when the city council passed a resolution for an independent police monitor, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani successfully challenged the reform in court.
The irony of Serpicos appearance was lost on no one.
A police officer for 15 years, Serpico repeatedly turned down payoffs and turned in corrupt fellow officers. Labeled a rat by colleagues, he was shot in a drug raid in 1971 that he says was set up by corrupt officers.
I can anticipate your response to this. It's entirely predictable and typical. It's just a few Bad Apples in the Big Apple. Yeah, alrighty then.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | May 23 2011 11:04 utc | 100
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oh my, this is really juicy. either the guy is seriously deranged or the move to push him out of the IMF and or the presidency of France is a no-stops effort. Here is a quote from the Seattle PI
fwiw, any man that forces another person to put their teeth on something with so many nerve endings has got to be seriously stupid.
Posted by: dan of steele | May 15 2011 7:30 utc | 1