The Strauss-Kahn Case

I have admittedly not kept up on the Strauss-Kahn case for one reason, namely because there have been many scandals revealed lately from Arnold in California to Anthony Weiner that I just didn't feel like reading about another one including the head of the IMF.  While I don't know the details of the case, I have at least heard snippets here and there to garner enough information about it.  Just yesterday, as the case against Strauss-Kahn began to unravel as questions arose about the credibility of the alleged victim, I read an article which delves into the renewed anti-Americanism that is gushing from France.  Personally, the article ticked me off to hear the perception of the French about our society as a whole based upon one incident.  As soon as the case began to unravel, the French started to lambaste every facet of American society that was involved in the case, from the media, to the judicial system, to people's personal reactions.  Now in terms of the media, they have every right to be critical.  The media in the United States is full of blood thirsty, life sucking individuals who will exploit any news story to its very end, building a mountain out of a veritable molehill, and then dump that news and individual like a used diaper when it doesn't serve their purposes anymore.  In the French's assessment of our media, I agree for the most part.  However, when they start to ridicule our judicial system for its efficacy and apparent crudeness, I have a problem.  Personally, if the victim was legitimate and credible, then I would have wanted our police and judicial system to act exactly the way they did.  It seems the French are looking at the whole case as if Strauss-Kahn is this harmless, flawless individual who should be exempt from being treated like an ordinary human being simple because he is wealthy and powerful.  Don't get me wrong, it is horrible that he lost his job and got all this media attention, but if the case was legitimate, then people would be singing a different song. 

I think that the fact that the prosecutors are discovering the fallibility of the victim and deeming her as illegitimate speak to the fact that we do have an efficient judicial system, one in which the truth is searched for, discovered, and brought to light so as to either exonerate an innocent person or convict a guilty one.   The French are claiming that we have a system that promotes guilt before innocence, yet regardless of innocence or guilt, with a foreign individual accused of rape and other acts and deeds, it makes perfect sense to detain that person till the truth is found out.  How was anyone to know when the news first broke that the hotel maid was spinning a tall tale?  One must go on the facts at hand and proceed from there.  If in the process, an accused person is found innocent, then they will be let go as it seems Strauss-Kahn will be let go if things proceed as they are.   Therefore, I personally find fault in the accusations of the French about our judicial system and the way it operates.  On top of that, for them to assume that every American prescribes to the same ideals put forth by the media is absurd and unfounded.  Their view would be akin to me saying that all French are racists for not allowing Muslim women to cover their faces.  It just doesn't make sense, flies against reason, and erodes any sense of camaraderie that may have been felt between our two countries. 

Lastly, there was one little piece in the article that talked about the death penalty and how it paints our society as barbaric and crude.  The death penalty has nothing to do with the Strauss-Kahn case and is therefore just another excuse for the French to dredge up more items they don't like about Americans to lambaste us.  I have news for the French, not every American agrees with the death penalty and supports it.  I for one do not and will never support the death penalty.  Is it archaic and pointless?  Yes, and I do hope we one day rid ourselves of the death penalty, but at this point, it is what it is.  Maybe instead of pointing out all our flaws as they see it, the French should worry a little more about their own situation, their economy, and the issues in their country.  If all goes as it is right now, their beloved Strauss-Kahn will be found innocent and be allowed to leave, go back to his home country to welcoming open arms, and hopefully we will be able to move on from this incident.  I have said before and I will say it again, the United States is not perfect as no country is perfect.  Every society and nation has its flaws and every nation has its benefits.  Let us not pick at the nitty gritty, exploiting it to our own ends, but lets try and look past it to the human aspect that is at the heart of every nation and society, the individual who makes up part of the whole and adds to the uniqueness and variety that a given country has.   Maybe by relating to one another on a personal level we can get past these "anti-American" and "anti-French" sentiments and start to solve the bigger problems that we are all facing in this world.