The whole Dominique Strauss-Kahn affair looks like it’s coming to a painful close (with even the close itself looking painful in some such terms as, when will it close?).
As we look askance, I am trying to ask myself…what have we learned? Not much. Except perhaps that Americans still believe the French to be rutting perverts (and rutting-pervert enablers) and the French still believe ugly Americans are ugly and…well, American. Not necessarily an oxymoron.
File the 20 minutes of DSK-maid time in Room 2806 of the Sofitel New York next to the 18 and a half missing minutes from Nixon’s “Watergate Tapes,” Jimmy Hoffa’s burial ground and Lord Byron’s lost canto.
Slow curtain, the end.
It might have started this simply, A fear most business travelers have learned to their dismay. Articles left in the room may be subject to pilferage.
In this case just perhaps, it went like this, like this; Maid supposed to be cleaning next door, but checking rooms for occupancy–notices that the room of this fat-cat is still occupied but articles unattended whilst he is in the shower. So just perhaps she is in the bedroom doing a quick search for a wallet–etc; credit cards and cash. [She seems to have had the access to credit card theft use?]
But unexpectedly, maybe, just maybe, she is caught in the act——and offers a “deal”—-a quick sex act for silence? Stupid for him to be sure, poor judgment etc—we expect better from the guy in charge of the world’s money. Or the President of France. So stupid and inexcusable yes–rape no.
She does her thing and moves back to cleaning the adjacent room. She thinks about it for awhile and suspects he will go ahead and report her anyway—probably does not know he would want to keep it under the rug–hes a big shot with a need for clean skirts. Lots of dumb stuff in past to cover up So she may tell her supervisor she was forced to CYA–a lot riding on this possible report right? She figures its just a defense a CYA—-hotel will not make a fuss over her–but being who he is and possible political implications known to perhaps partisan senior hotel staff, they turn it into a big deal. No downside for them–not even a false police report.
He goes about business –late because of his stupid daliance–and completely unexpectedly gets yanked off the plane.
The maid gets some outside advice and figures shes pretty much stuck now—-maybe can parlay it into some bucks.
Maybe simply two flawed people bumping into each other doing what each tends to do-no great conspiracies–no mad attacks. If the guy simply wanted to get quick sex–he could have gotten it easily enough with his money. From somebody a whole lot more professional than and attractive than an immigrant hotel maid. Of course we do not know–we do not know much about her really. Maybe stupidest thing for him was his misconception that oral sex was safe.
Seemingly the only real certain takeaways are that he is too undisciplined and tolerant of theft——and shes just a small-time crook. Not Mata Hari. No matter how you cut it–he should have been out of that job and any other–hes undisciplined, has lousy judgment, more sneaky and manipulative than smart, arrogant and maybe early stage senile etc.
The real story here is not his sex life–her criminal activity—but what was he doing in NYC obviously knowingly holding up a meeting with the German Chancellor–on one of the most important issues of the decade??? Who was he there to see and why?
I think it says a great deal about the relationship between the West and the Developing World. The idea that the head of a development bank has an unequal and possibly exploitative relationship with a woman in the developing world and that that is not a problem as she is an unreliable witness to any subjugation she may or may not have experienced. I do not know if Miss Legard can put that right and create an empowering global sisterhood that is less potentially exploitative. I think this says a lot about power which is why DSK had to leave office but I think there is no way that we are going to make a simple structural adjustment to these kind of exploitative relationships
Says a lot about the exploitative nature of our world, doesn’t it, when maid and IMF chief alike are bottom-feeding for their smash-and-grab spoils…
Similarly, you make a good point about the IMF existing to help the disadvantaged and developing nations. Ironic what ended up happening instead.