Yesterday it was Bernard Henri-Lévy, the Cirque du Soleil of modern philosophy. Today, it is Ben Stein, professor and presidential speechwriter, roused to insinuate that IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s alleged victim must be lying. Henri-Lévy merely waved his literary arms passionately, but Stein suggests class warfare is behind the hotel maid’s claims and the “embarrassing” treatment that Strass-Kahn received.
Also, did you know that in France, even printing photos of Strauss-Kahn (or anyone else) in handcuffs is illegal? He needn’t worry much, though, because the French media’s obsequiousness to political and cultural elites is legendary: in 2009, after one satirist mocked Strauss-Kahn by suggesting buildings be fitted with alarms to warn women of his approach, he was fired. [Reuters]