Wait, what was that about the Jews ??
Give it up, nobody’s listening. I really hate people.
Holy fuck.
Yeah, I feel the love.
Yeah. That’s why these stories abound from expensive hotels. I have no idea if he is or isn’t guilty of course, but Stein has degrees and has taught at some of the most prestigious law schools in the country and I think most junior college pre-law students could make better arguments.
Was Ben Stein always this much of a Kool Aid drinking nutjob or has he gone extreme as he aged? I know he wrote speeches for Nixon and all but he holds some impressive education credentials and used to seem conservative but intelligent and now he’s gone off the deep end with embracing creationism (which I didn’t know even existed) and calling for bans on video games and near fanaticism on abortion and the like.
Except for his comedy shtik, he’s pretty much always been an idiot.
Of course he wouldn’t be an exogamist – he would be a banker, 'cause we all know that bankers are rapists whereas economists simply breed outward with the consent of each third world country.
It used to be the case, Loretta Lynn was rather famously married at 13, and had her first child at 14. I think that was Kentucky in around 1948, I can check if anyone cares enough to ask, but not enough to Google.
Not only is he an apparent exogamist, he is allegedly a pretty forceful one.
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I used to, until I learned about security cameras the hard way. 
When I read this in Stein’s article:
My first thought was – yeah, they should let him stay in a nice hotel with all the amenities. What could go wrong?
Ben’s idea was to have him on home detention with a guard on hand 24/7. Maybe that would work, if he’s willing to pay $3K/night for it.
For 3k a night he can stay at my house. A French Rapist wouldn’t even be in the top five worst roomates I’ve had.
Strauss-Kahn has a daughter in NYC that his attorney suggested he stay with. With an anklet I wouldn’t have any real problem with this, except Polanski ruined it for everybody. The French are now supposedly irate (well, some- I seriously doubt most give the event much thought any more than most Americans do) at S-K being perpwalked.
You’d be surprised how much thought the French are giving this. Think John Kerry, instead of “swiftboat”, gets arrested for rape, with all the attendant media circus. DSK was widely held to be the guy who was going to beat Sarkozy at the next presidential election. Sarkozy has (I believe) the lowest popularity rating of any president since the 60s. This has been on 24 hr news coverage since Sunday, front page of every newspaper. It’s also striking to see that he was already on the cover of last weeks news magazines (which are still on the stands) - where he was being criticized for riding in a friend’s Porsche.
This is a really strange situation - a very prominent (and smart) public figure suddenly decides out of the blue to forcefully rape a complete stranger in his own hotel room - an act which is almost guaranteed to put him behind bars. We’re not even talking about “date rape”, or some kind of an ambiguous situation with a stripper and a kilo of cocaine - but out of control, violent, opportunistic, stranger rape in his own hotel room.
I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s a very strange story. If he did it, it’s a complete meltdown from a previously high-functioning individual. A guy who not only suddenly comes out as a violent animal, but also completely loses any capacity for self preservation or ability to cover his tracks.
You’re agreeing about the strings, are you disagreeing that they are painful? They often involve significant austerity measures which were not the first choices of the governments involved. They may or may not be merited, but they are often painful.
Do you consider Ben Bernanke a banker? He never worked for a bank before, (unless in school) since he was an academic. The person in question was Finance Minister. The Fed isn’t supposed to make a profit, but it sure as hell is a bank.
The whole point is that rich banker is not a totally bogus term. Someone involved in ruining the economy is.
Or the prominent smart public figure has been acting in those ways for years, before finally crashing into a wall.
I remember stories of Sarkozy warning DSK to keep it in his pants if he was appointed to head of IMF when he backed DSK for the job (ironic to receive lectures on proper behaviour from Sarkozy, that should give you a clue you really have a problem). I cant say in any way that he did rape before but his stalker like behaviour with women has been the source of jokes for years.
P.S:You live in France, Themenin ?
Not my experience. It struck me that people seem to have very strong opinions on the matter (For the record, I’m on the “He did it” side), and very few have told me something along the line of “wait and see”.
I heard this morning that according to a poll, 57% of French people think he was trapped (by Sarkozy, the American government, hiw socialist rivals (since he wasn’t yet even officially candidate given his position at the IMF), the IMF,…even the Greeks (because of the current new round of negociation about their debt)
As someone wrote, I think people have a hard time imagining someone at the apex of his career and with expectations of becoming president running naked after an hotel maid. I don’t have such illusions about the common sense and self-control of important people who aren’t in my opinion any better for this than us lowly worms (see the already mentionned Israeli president, or Berlusconi).
According to many commentators, it’s not so sure, now. It seems that DSK (as we call him) was Sarkozy’s prefered adversary because he didn’t think he would be able to be dedicated enough to go through the tempest of a presidential campaign (some socialists seem to have thought the same, by the way) and because his personnal lifestyle (women and taste for luxury) would prevent any attack against Sarkozy’s own personnal flaws, that irritate a lot of voters (and with any luck for Sarkozy, would get DSK in trouble over some isue or another).
For the record, DSK was according to the polls the best socialist candidate against Sarkozy (due to his rather centrist political leaning, and to his generally recognized competence, especially in matter of economics), but the candidate hadn’t been chosen yet (he will be in some months by way of primaries, a first in French politics, and maybe even in European politics as far as I know) so it’s not such a big blow for the left. There are several heavy weight candidates to the candidacy left.
A lot of people have trouble believe that rape occurs as often as it does, especially if it involves men they know, or men who are public figures. There are an awful lot of women who have been raped, and for every woman who has been raped there is a man who raped her. Why is it so impossible that a famous figure has committed this crime?
From what I have read, this man has done several things like this before, and that it’s common knowledge in France that he is “seducer”. Yet, when asked whether they think he raped a woman from Guinea who has been in the states for seven years, in the same job for three, who didn’t even know who he was, well, that’s where they draw the line.
How is this so unbelieveable? I truly don’t get it.
So what if he has money and importance? He’s been allowed to get away with things like this in the past, without any repercussions. That would have encouraged his behaviour. Hell, maybe he even thought these women wanted it, because he was so rich and important and powerful - probably thought he was irresistable and that if they said no they were teasing him.
If I told you the story that one of my close friends has told me about being raped, I bet people would start poking at it right away…why? If I said that some guy in middle school hit me, you wouldn’t disbelieve me. If I detailed other abuse I suffered during those years you wouldn’t disbelieve me.
I really am curious about this.
This scandal will serve as a rorschach test for how people view rape, race, and class. It’s actually good to have these every so often.
There are particular reasons to ask whether the story is genuine which would not apply to someone not in S-K’s position:
- He is high profile, runs the IMF (an organization steeped in controversy), is (presumably) running for high office in France and has a lot of enemies who might potentially be willing to engage in dirty tricks; and
- Being rich and powerful and about to run for high office, he has an awful lot to lose by attempting to rape a hotel maid.
Now of course, rich and powerful men do do stupid things, especially when sex is involved (look at Berlusconi or that Congressman who posted topless pictures of himself on Craigslist) but there’s enough reason to ask whether what is being reported is what really happened, and whether the previous stories of his behavior are likewise accurate.
I’m neither assuming that he did this or didn’t do it until I hear more (current reported evidence suggests he’s guilty but it’s early days), but “he’s rich and powerful and those people think they can get away with anything therefore he must have done it” is not a compelling argument.
The “unbelievability”, such as it is, is how stupid this rape would be. Sadly, I don’t think too many people would be shocked to discover that some politician is an amoral asshole, but it seems harder to credit that a man who has reached such lofty heights would do something so boneheaded and self-destructive.
Another factor on the French side is that the timing is really “convenient” - the anti-DSK smear campaign was just starting to gear-up as election season got underway. Also, so far no evidence has been made public, so all we have is an accusation and a rush to convict in the media (and the sdmb :))
The initial decision to ignore the issue of diplomatic immunity, and the spectacular nature of the arrest also seem kind of fishy, but could of course just be the result of time pressure and general chaos.
It would seem though, that an accusation of rape really is sufficient to put an end to a previously distinguished career.
So sure - DSK may have undergone a spectacular public meltdown and suddenly thrown his life away, but it’s hardly surprising that a lot of people are having a hard time accepting that. Obviously if after a public hearing evidence emerges that points at his guilt, we’ll just have to count ourselves lucky that such an out-of-control degenerate didn’t make it to the Elysée.
@Capitaine Zombie Yes, I mostly live in Paris.