The End of the DSK Story?

Well, Dominique Strauss-Kahn closed what may be the last door by settling with the hotel maid who accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex.  The details of the settlement are confidential, but the number $6,000,000 has been bandied about. 

Mr. Strauss-Kahn has had a tough year-and-a-half.  He lost his role as head of the IMF, his chance to run for President of France and his wife.  All because he's had trouble keeping it in his pants.

Has DSK become a whipping boy?

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was served with preliminary charges that he was involved in a prostitution ring.  On Wednesday in New York the civil trial relative to his hotel stay begins. 

Be glad you don't have three names.

Men with Three Names - Part 4

In case you've forgotten, the man here is Dominique Strauss-Kahn (aka DSK). Edward Jay Epstein has a very different take on the reason for DSK's travails this past summer. Epstein does not come right out and say that DSK was set up by the folks trying to get Sarkozy re-elected as President of France. But he makes a strong case for it. Epstein does not deny that some form of sex took place in Room 2806 of the Sofitel Hotel; it would be impossible to do so as DSK's sperm was found with the maid's saliva.

A review of Epstein's web site makes evident that Epstein is a somewhat different individual. However, my recollection is that his work is very good, different in the positive sense.

Men With Three Names, Part 3

Yesterday was the accuser's day. The NY Times says that the hotel records support the the maid's story.

• She thought the room was empty. DSK did not answer the door for a room service person, who removed a dining cart from the room. The room service person told the maid that the room was empty.
• She was distressed. Four of her fellow employees spoke with her very soon after she had left DSK's room. In their opinion she was "shook up' and "in distress"
• She did not proceed to clean another room. The key system used by the hotel records the time of use. She left DSK's room at 12:26 and returned with her supervisor seconds later.

I'm still waiting to hear Mr. Strauss-Kahn or his lawyers say specifically that there was no rape. That seems a fairly simple thing to do.

Men with Three Names, Part 2

The question remains - is she telling the truth? It is a fact that sexual congress took place between Mr. Strauss-Kahn and the maid. Her attorney claims it is a fact that her stockings were torn, her shoulder damaged, which facts indicate she did not consent to DSK's advances.

Does the fact that she lied in an immigration application mean she is lying now? Does the fact that she associates with a prison inmate mean she is lying now and perhaps trying to shake down DSK?

How much credence should we give Mr. Strauss-Kahn? His lawyers have not said there was no rape. They - and the prosecutors - have said that they don't think the maid is a sterling citizen. But the question is: sterling citizen or not, was she raped? It still looks that way to me, but I've been wrong before.

Men with Three Names

I tend to look askance at men who use three names. Usually they seem to want to elevate themselves above we commoners and believe they have more rights than we do. The latest three-namer is Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He seems to have a hard time keeping it in his pants.

Over the past nine years he has now been publicly accused three times of sexual offenses. Granted accusations are just that, but when one is accused more than once of the same offense, there may be some truth behind the accusations. In 2008, the IMF, of which he is managing director, chastised him for having an affair with one of his subordinates. The current accusation of a hotel maid seems to have the ring of truth, but we have to wait for the forensics to be analyzed.

What's that saying about power?