DSK
In different circumstances Dominique Strauss-Kahn might have spent this week reacting to events in Libya or giving his considered response to the latest crisis facing the world economy. The biggest upset for him personally -- a bit of a shake to the system thanks to the East Coast earthquake. Instead DSK (as he is known), elder statesman and one-time French presidential hopeful, is viewing the wreckage of his career and trying to salvage what he can after the sex charges he faced were dropped.
Some in France still believe Strauss-Kahn could go from Rikers Island to the Elysée Palace, home of the French President. It would be a remarkable journey indeed. It would satisfy those who believe he's been the victim of a rush to judgement, an American legal system that was more high drama than justice, and an anti-French sentiment that still grips the United States.
From prison to the presidency has a heroic ring to it. But DSK is no Nelson Mandela. For him to make a late entry in the Socialist party primaries would be a reckless and frankly insane thing to do. For the party to choose him would be bordering on the suicidal. France has been split down the middle on whether DSK should make a comeback. But the latest poll showed 53% of people against him re-entering public life.
Guilty or not, it is not only Mr. Strauss-Kahn who has been humiliated in recent months. Much of France feels the same way. Searching questions have been asked about the country's culture of machismo. There's been a surge in calls to rape crisis centres. The media have aired discussions about sexual harassment and the conspiracy of silence that has kept the abuse of women largely unreported for generations. Some have even been brave enough to point out that, by comparison, women in the United States demand and receive a lot more respect.
It's been a sordid affair but some good may have come of it. France has been forced to confront some of its own failings as well those of the man who might otherwise have been its President. This is Lance Price for CBS News in London.