Dominique Strauss-Kahn Is Not Guilty -- but He Is Still A Problem
It's nearly certain Dominique Strauss-Kahn isn't guilty of the charges which cost him his job as head of the International Monetary Fund. Even so, his past behavior remains -- well, let's just say, "problematic."
Authorities say the hotel housekeeper who accused him of sexual assault has repeatedly given inconsistent accounts of what happened, and was caught on tape talking to a convict about the possible benefits of pursuing the charges against Strauss-Kahn. The press has delicately referred to this as "raising issues about her credibility." That's not true. It clearly proves she is not credible, period.
This gentleman was no gentleman
That said, the gentleman in question is clearly no gentleman. In the wake of his arrest on what we now know are false charges, the response from friends and acquaintances was practically unanimous: We were afraid something like this might happen. As Phillip Gourevitch reported in The New Yorker: "It was the handful who knew [him] best who now spoke most convincingly about his history as an aggressive and incessant groper of women."
Let justice be served and set M. Strauss-Kahn free and return him to his position as a feasible candidate for president of France. With the U.S. history of presidential malfeasance, it's not like we can turn up our nose at a leader who proudly proclaims: "Not yet indicted!"
But still ... let us remember some things about Strauss-Kahn. This was hardly his first brush with issues of impropriety -- sexual or otherwise.
- In 1999, a corruption scandal forced him to resign from Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's government. A court later cleared him.
- In 2008, he was investigated by the IMF over possible abuse of power involving an affair with a senior IMF economist who subsequently left the fund. The probe cleared him and he apologized publicly for "a serious error of judgment."
The press is already beginning to run stories portraying Strauss-Kahn as a man whose previous reputation was unjustly harmed. That would be more believable had that reputation been based on facts and not press releases.
Image: WikiCommons
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