A Scandal Waiting to Happen
May 16, 2011
AT Galliawatch, a blog which reports the latest in French news, Tiberge writes about the sexual assault charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund who has been accused of attacking a hotel maid in New York City. She writes:
In a culture weakened by so much rot, Strauss-Kahn is just another symptom. But the problem is that he is an international celebrity and he has temporarily dragged France down with him. And he may have committed a crime, not merely an immoral act.
I should add to the above that the United States strongly approved Strauss-Kahn’s nomination to head the IMF. This was in September 2008.
Second, I really do not think any French person should feel ashamed. This was a scandal waiting to happen. The best thing for the country now is just to get rid of the worst politicians and put in people who have some integrity. To do this, someone has to disentangle the web of errors, misunderstandings and lies created by the vectors of State propaganda, in which men like Strauss-Kahn, but also Sarkozy, are participants.
Finally, I’m just a bit surprised. The French always chided us for our puritanism in the case of Bill Clinton, but also in the case of John F. Kennedy, who was an incorrigible “ladies’ man.” In both cases there was a national scandal, then acceptance, then forgiveness. In the case of Kennedy it all happened posthumously. Had we known about his behavior while he was in office, he would have had to resign. In a way, I’m glad to see the shock and the feelings of shame from the French, because that is how many Americans felt about Clinton. I think, though, that DSK may have gone even further, with his “partouzes”, i.e. orgies by arrangement, his fabulously extravagant life style, and his ability to manipulate such huge sums of money, affecting the lives of so many people in poorer countries. I understand his wife, Anne Sinclair, receives about half a million euros a month as well as other luxuries.
It should be noted, of course, that the charges are just charges at this point. But Tiberge is referring to his conduct in other matters as well.
— Comments —
Joe Long writes:
See Steve Sailer on this scandal (more Ted Kennedy than John F., and “Clintonesque” in the Paula Jones rather than the Monical Lewinsky mode).
Sailer suggests the inevitable adaptation of this story to television crime drama:
When ‘Law & Order” rips this story from the headlines, what changes will they make? Well, the maid will be dead, the country will change from France to Germany, the party from left to right, and the name from Dominique Strauss-Kahn to something like Franz Josef Strauss.
Jane writes:
While I appreciate the tone of Tiberge’s notes, her words, like so many armchair philosophers, lack real world wisdom. For example, she writes: To do this, someone has to disentangle the web of errors, misunderstandings and lies created by the vectors of State propaganda. I don’t mean to be rude but that sentence literally caused me to lugh out loud. Disentangle the web of errors, misunderstanding and lies. Could we put it any more lightly than that? And that someone should be you, me, and everyone reading your post Mrs.Tiberge.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a very powerful public person. I assume you know who he works for; those that own all the fiat currencies of the world, those whose names we never hear and faces we never see. What kind of person works for the IMF? I can tell you right now if you fully understood what the IMF does you would not under any circumstances work for them, morally you would object. So what kind of people are attracted to these types of positions? We could almost ask what kind of people are bred for this type of work? People exactly like DSK.
She also states, The best thing for the country now is just to get rid of the worst politicians and put in people who have some integrity. Really now? What a profound statement. And the reason that never happens in France, the US or anywhere else for that matter?
I think it is time for Tiberge to put down the philosophy and theology books and open the economics book. A good start would be Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins.
Laura writes:
Tiberge’s point is that there is immorality at the top, in the politicians and their worldview. Isn’t that what you’re saying too?
