"Just because he has political enemies in France doesn't mean this was a setup. You would be amazed at how patient political adversarie
"I wouldn't be surprised if DSK's enemies in France knew it was just a matter of time before something like this would happen given the man's past. And even if he's innocent of the charges, his political career in France is finished."
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's 'Women Problem' Was Scandal Waiting To Happen
By Rapahelle Bacqué
LE MONDE/Worldcrunch
PARIS - He has always had a double reputation. For some time now, he has been recognized for his genuine economic capabilities and his careless behavior, his sparkling intelligence coupled with an apparent dilettantism, a mind as brilliantly clear as his relationship toward women is troublesome.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn has long been seen as a figure whose promising talent has lived side-by-side with what his friends – before his May 16 charge of sexual assault for allegedly attacking a hotel maid in New York – would discreetly refer to as an "unbearable lightness of being."
For years, Strauss-Kahn, known throughout France as "DSK," was saddled with a troubling reputation that worried even his top collaborators. "Too hedonistic," insiders of France's political left would say, ever fearful of potential attacks against him. In this word "hedonistic," so incompatible with the dreams of a righteous progressivism, those closest to him would see the risks of overconfidence in his own intelligence, alongside a certain free spirit, a taste for material wealth and a frenzied desire to seduce women.
This "lightness of being," a reference to Milan Kundera's 1984 novel, has caused him several significant stumbles just as he was appearing to reach the top. After being named French Finance Minister in the late 1990s, he was forced out of office in 2000 after corruption accusations, of which he was eventually cleared.
People gossiped about his private life as well, even as he married his third wife in 1991, the television star Anne Sinclair. In Paris, at the bar of the Lutetia Hotel, a favorite haunt of many a Socialist Party head, one could spot him being too pushy with young women. His advisor, Gilles Finchelstein, his most trusted friend, once drew up a list of the faults that lined up across his political path: flaunted frivolity, and an attachment to a bourgeois lifestyle. But despite criticism, DSK remained a major political player thanks in part to the networks that he established within his own party.
At a dinner in 2006, just before the Socialist party primaries in which he ran against Ségolène Royal, his friend Alain Minc, a prominent French businessman and political advisor, told him exactly what he thought of his presidential ambitions. "You'll never be capable of such asceticism," Minc said, to which DSK responded, "Maybe not for my whole life…but for two or three years, sure!"
In the press however, his taste for women had become a subject, broached in veiled terms. While campaigning with his wife, he had to respond to a question in a June 2006 interview with L'Express magazine: "You have the reputation of being a seducer. Do you fear the power of rumor in public life?" His return-to-sender response was: "This is not a weapon I would use." The same weekly asked Anne Sinclair if she suffered because of his reputation as a seducer. "On the contrary, I'm rather proud of it! It's important for a political man to be able to seduce."
No charges filed
At that time, the journalists Christophe Deloire and Christophe Dubois published a best-selling book, Sexus Politicus (Albin Michel, 2006), dedicating a chapter to the private life of DSK. The testimonies were anonymous and no complaints were ever brought forth. His loss to Ségolène Royal in the primary for the right to take on Nicolas Sarkozy was chalked up solely to his political positions, rather than his private behavior.
In 2007, he was given the opportunity to make a quick comeback, as the head of the International Monetary Fund. At the time of his nomination, Jean Quatremer of Libération pointed out in his blog: "Strauss-Kahn's only real problem is his behavior with women. Too pushy, he often narrowly excapes [charges] of harassment. This fault of his is well-known by the media, but no one speaks about it…" Several months earlier, on February 5, 2007, during an interview on the Paris Première program, a young woman, Tristane Banon, daughter of a Socialist party regional council member, said Strauss-Kahn had attempted to rape her in 2002. But the television network, fearing defamation charges, covered the name of the former minister with a bleep. Her failure to press charges casted doubt on her testimony.
In 2009, the book written by Antonin André and Karim Rissouli, Hold-Ups, Arnaques et Trahisons (Scams and Betrayals), reported the comments – half-heartedly denied – of Sarkozy supporter Frédéric Lefebvre to some journalists that: "DSK wouldn't last a week. We have photos, they exist! We will circulate them, and the French will not be pleased." A threat to which the head of the IMF responded by asking Nicolas Sarkozy "to stop the rumors."
In these last months, DSK has shown an awareness of the criticisms that he could face. At the editorial offices of the Libération daily, where he was having an off-the-record lunch meeting on April 28, he enumerated three: "Cash, women, and my being Jewish." As far as his religion is concerned, he was expecting someone to take advantage of a declaration he made years before to the Tribune Juive that he "woke up each morning asking himself how he could be useful to Israel." As for money, he was able to notice its immediate consequences with the circulation of a recent photograph showing him next to one of his advisor's Porsche sports car.
But in front of the staff of Libération, he had begun with the subject of women: "Yes, I love women…So what?" Then he imagined a scenario in which his reputation could be ruined by a false claim by "a woman…raped in a parking lot and to whom someone promised 500,000 or a million euros in exchange for her story…"
----- Original Message -----From: Omolola Ijeoma OgunyemiSent: 7/3/2011 11:48:08 PMSubject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The latest allegations in the NewYork Post surrounding the DSK Affair--Since DSK's defense appears to be a claim of consensual sex, his lawyers' only strategy for a win is to completely damage the alleged victim's credibility and put her on trial instead of the accused. Once consensual sex is claimed, it's down to a "he-said, she-said" situation; the medical report doesn't help her much. The jury has to believe that he is guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt." Leaking all sorts of damaging allegations about her makes it easier to brand her as a liar and a lowlife unworthy of sympathy. It doesn't help matters that the prosecution itself has questioned her credibility due to false statements she made when she was filing for asylum in the US, etc. The attempt to recast her image from "hardworking widow and single mother of one" to "prostitute" obviously works to the defense's benefit. A troubling insinuation in the NYPost hit piece is that a prostitute cannot possibly be raped. Even if she is telling the truth about what happened at the Sofitel, any jury will have "reasonable doubts" if she appears to be a habitual liar (based on false asylum claims, etc). DSK may well be guilty and walk because a jury has reasonable doubts. She may face deportation, no matter the outcome of the court case, given the prosecution's assertions about her asylum claims being false.At the end of the day, I think only the two of them will ever know what truly transpired.Lola
From: "Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 3, 2011 6:58 PM
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The latest allegations in the New York Post surrounding the DSK Affair
The alleged rape victim would have to be a total idiot to engage in prostitution
under the watch of the DA.
We all know that in many African communities, when someone lost a loved one or suffered
some setback, including rape, gifts would be showered on the victim in sympathy.
The person would be visited by all and sundry in the community.
The victim could actually receive lots of gifts, including jewelry.
The New York Muslim community is very united and usually rally
around members of the community in times of disaster and tragedy,
so this would be an expected pattern of behavior.
The DSK prosecution seems to be going overboard, in an attempt to damage the woman's credibility.
It seems to me that her innocence or guilt hinges on the medical report rather than these wild
allegations.
GE
emeagwali@ccsu.edu<mailto:emeagwali@ccsu.edu>
...............................................................................................................
NewYork Post
Maid 'laid' low as DA paid for digs<http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/she_laid_low_as_da_paid_for_digs_8Udq6nhQaHaC4KOOfkctpI>
By BRAD HAMILTON and LARRY CELONA
Last Updated: 7:16 AM, July 3, 2011
Posted: 1:06 AM, July 3, 2011
She was turning tricks on the taxpayers' dime!
The Sofitel <http://www.nypost.com/t/Sofitel> maid who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of a sex attack in his suite
wasn't just a hotel hooker -- she continued to work as a prostitute in a Brooklyn hotel
where she was stashed by prosecutors, The Post has learned.
The so-called victim, whose web of lies has crippled the Manhattan DA's case against
the former International Monetary Fund <http://www.nypost.com/t/International_Monetary_Fund> boss, played host to a parade of paying male
visitors in the weeks after Strauss-Kahn's arrest, a prosecution source said.
"While she was under our supervision, there were multiple 'dates' and encounters
at the hotel on the DA's dime," the source said of her paid hotel room.
"That's a great deal for her. She doesn't have to cover her expenses."
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/she_laid_low_as_da_paid_for_digs_8Udq6nhQaHaC4KOOfkctpI#ixzz1R5xYGP9D
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment