Some French media, elite see IMF’s Strauss-Kahn as victim of rough U.S. justice - Polidicks

[quote]After several years of relative bonhomie in the U.S.-French alliance, new strains have become apparent in the wake of the arrest in New York Sunday of International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on attempted rape charges. According to an opinion poll published Tuesday, [URL="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_theenvoy/ts_yblog_theenvoy/storytext/some-french-media-elite-portray-imfs-strauss-kahn-as-victim-of-rough-u-s-justice/41509135/SIG=12unp7psf/*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13443085?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter"]57 percent of French citizens[/URL] believe that Strauss-Kahn, 62, a former French finance minister who had been presumed frontrunner in France's 2012 presidential elections, was the victim of a setup. Some French media, meanwhile, including Paris [I]Match[/I] magazine, have identified the Guinean-born U.S. immigrant maid and widowed mother, 32, who has accused Strauss-Kahn of trying to illegally detain and rape her. French reporters also interviewed sources on the question of the woman's relative attractiveness. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers "apparently declared they were surprised to discover "her face was 'not very seductive,'' when they saw her at the lineup where she formally identified the head of the International Monetary Fund as her attacker," Paris [I]Match[/I] reported, according to Newsweek's Christopher Dickey. "But the French tabloid [I]France-Soir[/I] interviewed a limo driver who works with the hotel, saying the housekeeper "was a very pretty woman in her thirties, with big breasts and a beautiful rear.'" In France, "a much louder chorus of voices ... [was] rising to declare Strauss-Kahn himself a victim," Judith Warner reports in Time. "The corps of French journalists ... appeared horrified by the fact that, in America, "his accuser's name and face were kept hidden from public view, whereas he himself was humiliatingly photographed in handcuffs and subjected to 'pitiless media pressure,' as [I]Le Nouvel Observateur[/I] put it. 'What do we know about the chambermaid?' was a suspicious headline in the respected daily [I]Le Monde[/I]." Meanwhile, French humanitarian activist and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, who played [URL="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/yblog_theenvoy/ts_yblog_theenvoy/storytext/some-french-media-elite-portray-imfs-strauss-kahn-as-victim-of-rough-u-s-justice/41509135/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theenvoy/20110404/ts_yblog_theenvoy/in-sarkozys-war-in-libya-a-not-so-hidden-hand"]a large role in persuading French President Nicolas Sarkozy to intervene in Libya[/URL], published a piece in the Daily Beast that sought [URL="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/yblog_theenvoy/ts_yblog_theenvoy/storytext/some-french-media-elite-portray-imfs-strauss-kahn-as-victim-of-rough-u-s-justice/41509135/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110517/ts_dailybeast/14166_lailalalamidefendsdominiquestrausskahnsaccuser"]to heap suspicion on the story of the African immigrant hotel maid[/URL]. Levy argued that it was unusual for hotel maids to go by themselves into luxury hotel suites such as the room Strauss-Kahn was using at New York's Sofitel hotel. Levy insisted that it's more common for such suites--which in Strauss-Kahn's case, cost $3000 per night--to command a team of maids. (The New York Times' Maureen Dowd counters that she [URL="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_theenvoy/ts_yblog_theenvoy/storytext/some-french-media-elite-portray-imfs-strauss-kahn-as-victim-of-rough-u-s-justice/41509135/SIG=12qa19boj/*http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/opinion/18dowd.html?_r=1&smid=tw-NYTimesDowd&seid=auto"]has stayed frequently at the New York Sofitel and never seen such a maid brigade[/URL]; she compares such French conspiracy theories to the overheated speculation that took root in Pakistan in the wake of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden.) Defense lawyers for Strauss-Kahn suggested Tuesday that the IMF chief may argue in his defense that [URL="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_theenvoy/ts_yblog_theenvoy/storytext/some-french-media-elite-portray-imfs-strauss-kahn-as-victim-of-rough-u-s-justice/41509135/SIG=13mt8t5ld/*http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/18/nyregion/strauss-kahn-may-claim-consensual-sex-as-defense.html?partner=rss&emc=rss"]any sexual activity between himself and the hotel maid was consensual,[/URL] the New York Times reported Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether that argument will fly with a U.S. jury. In the meantime, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner [URL="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/yblog_theenvoy/ts_yblog_theenvoy/storytext/some-french-media-elite-portray-imfs-strauss-kahn-as-victim-of-rough-u-s-justice/41509135/SIG=12njq1up5/*http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13435283?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter"]weighed in Tuesday to say Strauss-Kahn is "obviously not in a position" to run the IMF[/URL] any longer, and urged that an interim managing director be named.[/quote][quote]Strauss-Kahn's lawyers "apparently declared they were surprised to discover "her face was 'not very seductive,'' when they saw her at the lineup where she formally identified the head of the International Monetary Fund as her attacker,"[/quote]So they're resorting to scrutinizing the victim's looks now? To say nothing of actually giving out the victim's name, which is a pretty low blow. Source: [URL]http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theenvoy/20110517/ts_yblog_theenvoy/some-french-media-elite-portray-imfs-strauss-kahn-as-victim-of-rough-u-s-justice[/URL]

Did I read this right. [quote]"her face was 'not very seductive,''[/quote] He couldn't have raped her because she's so ugly? Are you fucking serious?

I was going to vote for him :saddowns:

Wow...that's a low blow France.

What a bunch of cunts.

The IMF is made up of dicks anyway.

[QUOTE=archangel125;29917293]The IMF is made up of dicks anyway.[/QUOTE] How can you say that? It's a huge organisation of thousands of people that manages the finance systems the world runs on. That's like saying "The UN is made of dicks".

[QUOTE=TrouserDemon;29917836]How can you say that? It's a huge organisation of thousands of people that manages the finance systems the world runs on. That's like saying "The UN is made of dicks".[/QUOTE] The UN is made of dicks

[QUOTE=TrouserDemon;29917836]How can you say that? It's a huge organisation of thousands of people that manages the finance systems the world runs on. That's like saying "The UN is made of dicks".[/QUOTE] The IMF protects primarily US interests - and have ruined the economies of many, many countries around the world by forcing Free Trade on them - which is a nice way of saying that huge U.S. businesses dominate their markets while the U.S. buys nothing from them. The World Bank is exactly the same. Don't believe me? Look up Jamaica's economic history.

[QUOTE='[sluggo];29917957']The UN is made of dicks[/QUOTE] Wow, I like your attitude. You should definitely be our ambassador. [editline]18th May 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=archangel125;29917997]The IMF protects primarily US interests - and have ruined the economies of many, many countries around the world by forcing Free Trade on them - which is a nice way of saying that huge U.S. businesses dominate their markets while the U.S. buys nothing from them. The World Bank is exactly the same. Don't believe me? Look up Jamaica's economic history.[/QUOTE] How about you post sources instead of making us do it while you claim stuff.

[QUOTE=Swilly;29918693] How about you post sources instead of making us do it while you claim stuff.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.lifeanddebt.org/[/url]

I know this isn't a matter to take lightly, and i consider him very much innocent until proven guilty but i feel like i need to bring up this point: FP: Julian Assange allegedly rapes somebody, it's a setup FP: Strauss Kahn allegedly rapes somebody, that mother fucker is [b]guilty[/b] I don't even hate Wikileaks, but come on facepunch. Your shame.

[QUOTE=s0beit;29918801]I know this isn't a matter to take lightly, and i consider him very much innocent until proven guilty but i feel like i need to bring up this point: FP: Julian Assange allegedly rapes somebody, it's a setup FP: Strauss Kahn allegedly rapes somebody, that mother fucker is [b]guilty[/b] I don't even hate Wikileaks, but come on facepunch. Your shame.[/QUOTE] Its bias, its strong bias because one represents what the majority of FP find as their bible while the other man represents their devil.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD8f5h4Zvxw[/media] perfect song for this situation

[quote]"The corps of French journalists ... appeared horrified by the fact that, in America, "his accuser's name and face were kept hidden from public view, whereas he himself was humiliatingly photographed in handcuffs and subjected to 'pitiless media pressure,' as [I]Le Nouvel Observateur[/I] put it. 'What do we know about the chambermaid?'[/quote] So I take it that in France it's not a common practice by Law Enforcement over there to, you know, [I]keep the identity of a potential rape victim confidential, pending trial and investigation?[/I] Especially in this case so that, you know, [I]she doesn't suffer undue emotional distress being blitzkrieged by hordes of journalists everywhere she goes?[/I] And the French Media are calling [I]us [/I]perpetrators of "rough justice..." :colbert:

[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;29919586]So I take it that in France it's not a common practice by Law Enforcement over there to, you know, [I]keep the identity of a potential rape victim confidential, pending trial and investigation?[/I] Especially in this case so that, you know, [I]she doesn't suffer undue emotional distress being blitzkrieged by hordes of journalists everywhere she goes?[/I] And the French Media are calling [I]us [/I]perpetrators of "rough justice..." :colbert:[/QUOTE] If I ever get arrested, I'll tell the cops France made me do it.

[QUOTE=thisispain;29919316][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD8f5h4Zvxw[/media] perfect song for this situation[/QUOTE] Wow, back when Thom Yorke didn't hate guitars!

[QUOTE=Sourcream&onion;29920081]Wow, back when Thom Yorke didn't hate guitars![/QUOTE] don't be silly he's hated guitars ever since bjork made bad-ass records without em his words not mine

[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;29919586]So I take it that in France it's not a common practice by Law Enforcement over there to, you know, [I]keep the identity of a potential rape victim confidential, pending trial and investigation?[/I] Especially in this case so that, you know, [I]she doesn't suffer undue emotional distress being blitzkrieged by hordes of journalists everywhere she goes?[/I] And the French Media are calling [I]us [/I]perpetrators of "rough justice..." :colbert:[/QUOTE] Don't forget the comment by Bernard-Henri Levy: [quote]I am troubled by a system of justice modestly termed “accusatory,” meaning that anyone can come along and accuse another fellow of any crime—and it will be up to the accused to prove that the accusation is false and without basis in fact.[/quote]

[QUOTE=]'What do we know about the chambermaid?' was a suspicious headline in the respected daily Le Monde."[/QUOTE] I hate that these kinda of statements are acceptable for use in the media. Empirically the writers don't know a lot of things. Like whether or not some of their own politicians even exist. It's not a defense of random not-skepticism. Plenty of reason to be genuinely skeptical, really, but you gotta pick a reason that doesn't make you look 3 years old and bewildered. [QUOTE=s0beit;29918801]FP: Julian Assange allegedly rapes somebody, it's a setup FP: Strauss Kahn allegedly rapes somebody, that mother fucker is [b]guilty[/b][/QUOTE] I don't see bragging from the maid about the guy she bagged floating around either. [QUOTE=Swilly;29918693]How about you post sources instead of making us do it while you claim stuff.[/QUOTE] How about you stop posting nothing but arguments from ignorance? Every thread I see you in you're incredulous, wrong, and then proven wrong.