The Dominique Strauss-Kahn affair

continued from IMF thread

new 'the maid works for sarkozy' answers

This is the rare instance where the conspiracy theory in some ways seems more plausible than the actual purported scenario. But stranger things have happened.

'notorious shagger tries to force himself on the wrong woman, legs it' -- s0 implausible

Well, he's not a notorious rapist. He's a well-known womanizing French politician who allegedly raped a maid, in the afternoon, in a more or less public place, not long after he reported he feared being set-up to take a fall. Again, stranger things have happened, but if true - and it could very well be true - it would go down as one of the most reckless acts by a (apparently not insane) public figure in history. That's what makes it so shocking.

The implausibility part, btw, arrises because this is a dude powerful and apparently sleazy enough that he really likely could get away with something so heinous ... had he not gone about it the way it has been alleged he did. That's what's so odd.

uh

This is the rare instance where the conspiracy theory in some ways seems more plausible than the actual purported scenario.

Why would the rape seem implausible?

'notorious shagger tries to force himself on the wrong woman, legs it' -- s0 implausible

it's not *that* implausible... he could either be so arrogant that he cannot believe anyone would really refuse him, or he could be the kind of predator who reckons that there is no way that some African woman in a service industry job will ever rock the boat by reporting him.

Or it could be a setup, or a complicated hoax, or whatever.

i was being sarcastic

why is it in any way implausible?

The implausibility part, btw, arrises because this is a dude powerful and apparently sleazy enough that he really likely could get away with something so heinous

he appears to have gotten away with sexual assault before w/o suffering any consequences

i would say that getting a blowjob in the oval office counts as a rather more "reckless" act

Yes, there's a youtube link where a journalist talks about him attacking him.

I don't think he really fled though. Didn't he have lunch with his daughter? He probably was so arrogant to think she wouldn't report this (as so many).

I doubt this is a hoax, a set-up.

if this were a right-wing conspiracy and people figured it out, the french right-wing would have to suffer the consequences for a generation, watergate-style.

http://www.lemonde.fr/dsk/article/2011/05/18/une-majorite-de-francais-pense-dsk-victime-d-un-complot_1523603_1522571.html#xtor=RSS-3208

(lol france maybe they won't even need solid evidence for a conspiracy)

I'm willing to put my money on 'rape-y french dude raped her' but I do think that this would be a pretty easy conspiracy to hatch! 'get one person to lie' is a lot more conceivable than 'the government plants dynamite on every level of the WTC'

"Getting one person to lie" is quite difficult when you consider the ridiculous, sustained amount of pressure that person would be put under.

Think DV's analysis is closer to the mark, I think it just hadn't occurred to him that he wouldn't be able to get away with it.

he's saying it (whatever it was) was consensual... so i mea,n did the conspirators get to her before or after? was it she who in fact moved on him, or did they just rely on the high likelihood of DSK making an afternoon play for his maid?

xpost

http://a2zbusinessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/dominique_strauss_kahn_et_anne_sinclair_reference.jpg

I didn't say I believed in a conspiracy. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he did it. The rape itself (horribly) is not implausible. The implausibility stems from the audacious circumstances. He surprised the maid by rushing out of the shower naked and immediately raping her? Then he went out for lunch with his daughter and then off to his flight? He allegedly called the hotel before that and claimed he forgot his phone? How did he call them? And where did the story that he called his wife in France and claimed to be in trouble come from? The cabbie? Lots of weird questions. Again, stranger things have happened, but that seems like pretty odd behavior for a prominent public figure.

Hypothetically speaking, an immigrant maid seems like the perfect victim mark for exploitation, btw, though I agree a cover-up seems impossible. But what if, like, DSK was told a call girl was on her way up, and then the maid showed up instead? Doesn't excuse him at all, but might account for some confusion. It's a mantra now, but stranger things have happened. Maybe I've seen too many movies. Of course Occam's Razor says he raped her.

He allegedly called the hotel before that and claimed he forgot his phone?

wait is this actually in dispute

Considering that everything we know comes via leaks and anonymous reports, I'd suggest right everything is in dispute short of the charges and his arrest.

But what if, like, DSK was told a call girl was on her way up, and then the maid showed up instead?

Raping a prostitute is still rape.

Rape is rape, no debate there.

I saw this shocking tidbit in the Times:

“Oftentimes, male guests will order the pay-per-view adult movies, and then call for towels, perhaps hoping that a woman will be sent to bring them up,” said Peter M. Krauss, chief sales and marketing officer for Plasticard Locktech International of Asheville, N.C., which provides card keys to hotels. “So whenever they can, the hotels will send up a male if the call comes from a male guest.”

Wow, men suck.

Raping a prostitute is still rape.

indeed ! and frankly a maid in an international hotel is not exactly dressed/look like a call girl...

xpost
Oftentimes + perhaps != all men are rapists. That's just tabloidspeak for "hey, have a discussion below this article because we get paid by the pageview"

Is the implication here that it is common hotel protocol for housekeeping to check with the front desk every time a male guest calls for extra towels to see whether that room has recently purchased pr0n???

Wow, left-leaning man having zero consideration for the personhood of women shocker. WELL I NEVER.

this dude runs my country ffs

Piece in Slate pointed out again the obvious: everything we know about this case so far has come from law enforcement or friends of the victim, which of course follows the prosecution script. So really, asshat though this man may be, we don't know anything about what went down beyond dubious leaks and conjecture. Look forward to the trial in, like, two years or whatever.

How left-leaning can you be when simultaneously running the IMF anyway?

And x-post to Dan, yeah, isn't that strange/gross that that happens enough that the quoted guy is pretty blase about the habit of men ordering adult PPV then calling for the maid? Lots of PPV dudes in a Vegas state of mind, I guess.

I don't order hotel pr0n (it's free on the Internet, ffs) but every time I've been in a hotel room and ordered extra towels, in my ENTIRE LIFE, a woman has delivered them. I can't think of a single time when a man has delivered them... oh wait I take that back; on the cruise ship where our hall steward was a man, he got us extra towels once.

So basically I think that dude is making up inflammatory bullshit.

Kind of wondering what all you people are doing with your extra towels.

I don't think I've ever ordered extra towels in a hotel, they give you new ones every day ffs.

(Hah, concentrating on the important issues here)

^^ OTM.

Considering the hotel charged FOUR TIMES AS MUCH for a room the night after the arrest, they'll be looking to stay in the media for quite a while surely.

xp

Piece in Slate pointed out again the obvious: everything we know about this case so far has come from law enforcement or friends of the victim, which of course follows the prosecution script. So really, asshat though this man may be, we don't know anything about what went down beyond dubious leaks and conjecture. Look forward to the trial in, like, two years or whatever.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, May 18, 2011 3:29 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

well, we know he was accused of a sexual assault, and that local law enforcement took the accusation seriously -- that isn't a dubious leak or conjecture

how do we know that local law enforcement took the accusation seriously

Considering the hotel charged FOUR TIMES AS MUCH for a room the night after the arrest

I'm not sure I buy this. Does being the site of a well-publicised alleged rape make a hotel a more desirable tourist destination? It's more likely that they offer a reduced rate to delegations from the IMF, or just tabloid bullshit.

re: extra towel consumption; I would invite you to travel with my wife sometime so you could witness firsthand the myriad amazing ways a determined woman can use up every towel in a hotel room but I am certain she would punch me

x-post The French guy was reportedly getting a massive discount on the room, for $800 a night rather than $3000, which explains the rate jump when he moved out.

i dont think "knowing only what law enforcement and friends of the victim are saying" is the same thing as not knowing anything

but at any rate we also know what the defense attorneys are saying: it was consensual.

and also what many women who have dealt w/ dsk in the past are saying: hes a creep

we also know what bhl thinks, thank god (and ben stein!)

it is... "within the realm of possibility" that the guy was the victim of an elaborate sarkozian set up. maybe this muslim african immigrant is actually a right-wing french agent?

i've never ordered extra towels in a hotel but often room service, and come to think of it, it's usually a dude who brings that. it was also a dude who always brought me a daily goldfish for my room in miami.

If I were a shadowy manufacturer of Francophile conspiracies in the current political climate I might consider smearing the Nazi ahead of the probably-not-that-Socialist-really candidate fwiw.

i dont think "knowing only what law enforcement and friends of the victim are saying" is the same thing as not knowing anything

c'mon, everyone knows how much the police aggressively pursue rape cases. it's like their number one thing. that's why the conviction rate is so high.

xxp: ... by request, or...?

not by request, it was quite a surprise to have a goldfish presented to me within 10 minutes of checking in, and i worried that i was responsible for eg feeding it, checking it didn't die, for quite a while

I might consider smearing the Nazi

kinda difficult if you think abt it

haha aw, I was hoping this was some weird hotel rider you insisted upon, like "I will not stay at this establishment unless you provide me with one (1) goldfish, to be changed daily with a new, fresh goldfish or goldfish equivalent (no guppies!)"

How many goldfish did you have by the end of your stay? Did they replace the previous day's one or what?

"Ohoho, you are totally rocking the waitress/schoolgirl/hotelchaimbermaid/womanwaitingforabus look...."

Which is to say that prostitutes probably should have an official uniform, like firemen or doctors.

Surely this would cause more confusion than anything else?

Not if the firefighter hats have a big sign reading "PROSTITUTE"

Haha, I just laughed out loud in 't office here

uhm, at this I mean:

"I will seek to demonstrate, your honour, that, when it comes to the female sex, my client is used to fighting them off with a shitty stick - pardon my French."

― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, 21 February 2012 14:07 (2 hours ago) Bookmark

Well, I laughed at the firefighter's helmet, sorry.

Sounds a bit rude

Well, you know that the moment there *is* a "Prostitute's Uniform" so that DSK can tell the difference between sex workers and hotel maids, there will be 20,000 "slutty prostitute uniform" costumes marketed for college girls to wear on Halloween. You can't win this one. You really can't.

LOL, "slutty prostitute"

Sounds like the worst Ben & Jerry's flavor yet.

Is there a 'sleazy eurocrat' uniform?

I thought the existing Halloween costumes were the "slutty prostitute" costume?

Those are just the regular prostitute costumes.

guys this thread shouldn't be so funny

only way to deal with the relentlessly toxic bullshit coming from DSK's direction

his defence is, tbf, laughable

Is there a 'sleazy eurocrat' uniform?

― Charles Kennedy Jumped Up, He Called 'Oh No'. (Tom D.), Tuesday, February 21, 2012 10:55 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://festival-de-cannes.gala.fr/files/2010/05/bhl-428x295.jpg
See BHL, DSK's most vocal defender. (And what Daphne Guinness sees in him surpasseth my understanding.)

Surely Silvio was the definitive sleazy eurocrat?
http://www.apoliticus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Berlusconi-Black-Suit.jpg

How can you tell when a woman is a hooker?

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/doonan/2012/03/dsk_questioned_about_orgies_how_can_you_tell_whether_a_woman_is_a_prostitute_.html

let's ask Rush Limbaugh

This guy...

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2012/05/04/dsk-and-a-sex-party-in-the-w-hotel/

The latest news, reported this morning in the New York Times, is that French investigators think DSK's penchant for orgies wasn't limited to France, and his alleged stateside rapes weren't limited to New York. Reports in the French press are more detailed: The court is looking into whether Strauss-Kahn assaulted a high-priced Belgian prostitute who'd been flown in for a 2010 orgy in Washington.

The Post carries the AP's report:

Investigating judges in the northern French city of Lille have asked for prosecutors’ permission to broaden a suspected prostitution probe to examine claims of rape during an orgy in Washington in December 2010, said an official at the Lille prosecutor’s office.

The new evidence centers on an alleged sex party at the W Hotel, the New York Times reported.

man, who imports a prostitute

I guess he couldn't find an American prostitute with the skill set for what he wanted to do?

that, or he's a giant cock with too much money

Maybe all these women simply like the guy and it's just a coincidence that they're prostitutes and/or he's a raping sex addict?

he can't help it if so many naked women are constantly demanding sex from him

just being an obliging gentleman n'est ce'pas

The scale of this is starting to emerge

not it wasn't somewhat evident before, but this guy's a fucking sociopath huh?

fucking sociopath

Literally.

yeah, kind of amazed that he was able remain afloat in french politics and public life for so long

How many people must have possibly known of his behavior for years, from his wife to his peers, and just brushed it off, like, oh, DSK, you scoundrel?

jinx

"New investigation of ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn includes allegation of gang rape, French police say. "

also saw recently that he is suing the maid for $1 million in damages. stay classy!

that... will not happen.

b-b-b-but I was going to be ze prezident of France!

He says whatever happened was consensual.

"saying she seriously damaged his reputation"

i'd say DSK has done a pretty bang-up job of that himself, what with all the orgies and the rapes and etc.

hey he can't help it if naked prostitutes are constantly throwing themselves at him

Consensual gang rape.

they were ALL asking for it

The Belgian lady's fellow escort's testimony isn't going to help the gang rape case much.

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is to go on trial for pimping, French prosecutors have announced.

Authorities in the northern city of Lille on Friday said investigating judges had determined that Strauss-Kahn, 64, who has been under investigation in the case since 2012, should be judged by a criminal court.

The decision comes as a surprise after a public prosecutor had recommended in June that the inquiry be dropped without trial.

"We're not in the realm of the law, we're in ideology. We're sending someone to court for nothing," said Henri Leclerc, one of Strauss-Kahn's lawyers.

Somewhere Jay-Z is breathing an extra sigh of relief he didn't name the song "Aggravated Pimping."

DSK we're making that green

Very revealing

Puts the attack on the maid in context

What I always wondered about sleazy politicians and other VIPs is were they like this when they were young and have carried on, or is it something that develops with age

prosecutor recommends acquittal