French press on “Anglo-Saxon” sex scandal

“DSK OUT." Along along with the rest of the French press, Libération leads with the story of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested and charged with attempted rape in a New York hotel on Sunday. The managing director of the IMF, who according to the polls was the front-running left-wing candidate in the 2012 French presidential election, is now out of the race. "The socialists have lost the only candidate that, in a range of configurations, was favorite in the polls. The one who could even have beaten Nicolas Sarkozy," complains Libération. “France is now experiencing its first “Anglo-Saxon” sex scandal, and has brutally entered a zone of public debate which, until now, because of cultural exception, “Latin” identity or democratic weakness, was hitherto confined to rumours and gossip amongst a select circle of insiders."

"Dominique Strauss-Kahn will not be the next president of the French Republic," remarks Le Figaro, which insists that "the new idol of the French left has disintegrated. This will prove to be profoundly unjust if DSK is innocent, but, unfortunately for him, the situation is irremediable."

Other titles in the French press have expressed their amazement at the DSK "inflight explosion," as Slate.fr dubs it. Along with discussions of the possibility of a honey trap, several newspapers present the views of analysts, psychiatrists and novelists in their bid to understand what might have led the head of the IMF, who had already been the subject of a 2008 investigation of sexual misconduct in the IMF and may shortly be targeted by another case in France (regarding an incident that took place in 2002), to sabotage his career.

Slate.fr explains what it is to be a "sex addict," while Libération cites American journalist and IMF specialist for the conservative weekly Human Events, John Gizzi, who remarked a month ago: ''what I find strange about Strauss-Kahn, is that he is considered to be the next French presidential candidate, but he does not have the look. He is clearly overweight, and does not seem prepared for the battle to come." Libération continues: "the events of this weekend have added much to the relevance of these remarks: even if we accept that DSK was the victim of a trap, a 'political fighter' truly ready to devote himself even to the last drop his sweat to conquering the Elysée would never have let himself be ‘trapped' so easily."

With this in mind, some commentators like novelist Luis de Miranda, speak of a "political suicide" and point out that "such an act at such a moment in his lifetime could not be anything other than deliberate. This fall from grace is something he desired. The spiritual spark that germinated in the deep core of DSK saved us from a Caligula as president. This New York event is a sacrifice, a renunciation of his much vaunted superpowers, and a gift in the general interest of the French people."