All news I hear of come to me through the different TV channels. I read an US weekly but this is more for in depth info world wide. If I am feeling they try to force-feed me some half truths or that I get only a lopsided picture I go to Google to find out.
So about ten days ago this stunning affair about the accusation of rape and sexual violence in a New York hotel against Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK as he is called here) came to my knowledge. Via the French TV, sure, at the evening news.
I know the man, like most people who live in France. He might well have been the next French President and I said to my wife, some months before "could be I would vote for him, if I were French".
The very day of these accusations and the videos showing him handcuffed in front of the NY prison, people, important well-known people, were interviewed and asked to comment .
Here is what I heard:
- Jack Lang, former minister of culture on television TF2 : "This was a kind of lynching inspite of the fact that no one was dead".
- Jean-François Kahn, journalist, writer and politician on France-Culture: "what happened there was a stripping of a servant".
- Robert Badinter former minister of justice) on television TF2 during a lengthy interview where he talked endlessly about the plight of DSK but not a word about the victim. When asked about this he said : "Yes, the victim, sure, that's a problem".
Bernard-Henry Lévy, philosopher, writer, movie director, journalist etc. on his blog and on the DailyBeast website : "...what I know is that nothing in the world can justify a man being thus thrown to the dogs...".
Jean Daniel, writer and journalist: "The fate inflicted upon Dominique Strauss-Kahn by the American justice system makes me think that we don't belong to the same civilisation ".
All these words have two things in common: first the men commenting seem not to care very much about the victim and second they are all jewish. The first point has been amply commented by now and I suppose this was the last time you can hear or read this kind of thoughts over here. Next time they will be more prudent I guess. But point number 2: nothing. Not a word. They are all rushing to the defence of the party but the very fact is not mentioned.
Now something else but there is a relation.The number 1 sports activity here is soccer, football as we call it rightly and the French national team won the World Championship some years ago. Have a look at this photo of "Les Bleus", the blue ones as they are called affectionately in the media.
About 3 or 4 years ago there was an uproar about the national team. The President Georges Frêche of the Langedoc-Roussillon region (bordering the Mediterranean) said one word too much "... in this crew of 11 there are 9 blacks. It would be normal to have 3 or 4...."
This triggered a big scandal. His party stripped him of his membership and they tried everything to avoid his reelection as president. Now have a look. What did he do? Nothing more than state a fact.
To conclude, Shakespeare's Hamlet comes to my mind: "There is a method in the madness" and the other one "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark".
Posts
Your ending with the quotes from Shakespeare for this post is perfect.
ReplyDeletepour ma part je déteste autant le parti auquel il appartenait que le bonhomme "proprement dit". Sa suffisance, son luxe ostensible, mais je reconnais en lui un grand.
ReplyDeleteEt je persiste à croire en une sorte d'embuscade qui lui était tendue. C'est pas possible autrement.
Sachant que dans une embuscade ou un piégeage on emploi souvent une innocent gibier pour attirer le fauve.
bon rétablissement Georg.
pour ce qui est des quotas en football, Frêche avait tout a fait raison. L'équipe d'un pays de blancs représentée par des noirs exclusivement!!!!!
ReplyDeleteVoit on des blancs dans les équipes africaines? Sauf en Afrique du Sud.
To Princess
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing that this 400 year old author is still so much relevant to today's happenings. Maybe that is so because "there is nothing really new under the sun".
To Vincent
En fait, je ne partage pas ton idée d'une embuscade. Cela aurait demandé un minutage quasi surhumain. Imagine-toi, quelqu'un sortant de sa douche, et juste à ce moment-là...... Les Services Secrets se distinguent généralement par leur bourdes qui sont légion et aussi par leurs budgets énormes. A cause de leur inefficacité notoire il a fallu installer les satellites. Non, non.
Georg
RE: ""there is nothing really new under the sun".
ReplyDeleteAh, yes one of my favorite sayings!
It's absolutely true! Shakespeare's quotes as with many other poets and writers from that era are still very relevant in today's world.
You always have a clear perspective on things, Georgy! :o) That is pretty twisted the way the press there kept overlooking the victim indeed. I think the coverage was a bit better here, though we have the same problem where the famous and rich folks tend to get treated a lot better by the court than the ordinary folks. :o(
ReplyDeleteHope you arms and ankle are healing well!
To Princess
ReplyDeleteYes, some of these writers are the backbone of our civilization.
To Smorgy
Thank you, my friend. A Roman proverb comes to my mind "Quod liced jovis, non licet bovis" meaning something like what the gods can do the oxen may not be allowed to do.
Georg
Merci pour ta visite!
ReplyDeleteIl semblerait que la justice ne fonctionne pas pour tous de la même façon... c'est un peu dommage... nous ne sommes que des humains et seulement des humains...
Bien entendu, il y a des humains pauvres et des humains riches... des humains prédateurs et des humains victimes... il est surtout là le problème!
L'équipe de France est formée de joueurs français, il me semble que c'est ce qui devrait compter et rien d'autre, ces français venus "d'ailleurs" sont français et ce sont nos "pères" qui sont allés les coloniser... je me trompe? Il faut assumer cet héritage!
Ce que je déplore c'est pouvoir posséder la double nationalité, une aberration! comment peut-on être à la fois d'un pays et d'un autre pays? C'est de la lâcheté, c'est avoir peur de choisir une terre et la reconnaître pour sienne... s'il y en a dans l'équipe de France, là oui ça me poserait un problème d'ordre moral, mais je ne suis rien et je ne pourrais rien changer alors.... je me tais!
Amitiés
Viviane
Pour Viviane
ReplyDeleteOui, la double nat. est une chose bizarre; elle existe maintenant dans beaucoup pays occidentales. C'est un peu comme si on a deux pères et deux mères, une aberration concoctée par nos politiciens à la recherche d'une solution facile.
G.
There's truly something 'rotten' not just in the Denmark, but the world around, 'and men have lost their reason' and hence claim "when beggars (chamber maids) die there (should be) no comets seen."
ReplyDeleteShakespeare has a quote for all : )
Interesting read, it was informing for me to read it.
ReplyDeleteman and van in London
To Nora
ReplyDeleteYes, absolutely, in case I need to straight out my hair - whatever that means - I'll buy the stuff in Australia. I swear.
To Timmy
Thank you, Timmy wherever you are.
Georg
This brings to light the difference between the Euro-Culture and that of the North Americans. In the North American culture, the rights of the victim are paramount, even with relation to the supposed purpatrator. When the powerful are accused, they are usually locked down fairly quickly due to flight risk and to stop them from bringing influence to bear on the accusers (pay them to keep quiet).
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the recent exposed affairs of Arnold Schwarznegger and John Edwards, they are exposed fully but their victims are given relative annonymity and not brought out into the light.
Hello Bruce,
ReplyDeleteWell, I hope you don't mind too much but there is no Euro-Culture. We are all a bit diffeerent. The European nations have lots in common but the judicial system varies widely between such nations as Great Britain, France and Germany.
What I was writing here was typical French, and French only.
Strange to say, not a single comment mentioned this kind of "racism" practiced over here. Another taboo, I suppose.
Georg
hey check out my blog please.
ReplyDeleteFirst, there is no point for anyone to mention that the insensitive commentators were all Jews because that IS racist and, simply a flawed argument. Second, mentioning that it's normal to limit the number of black people in any organization seems to imply a certain racial inferiority, which also hinges on racist. So, I can see why some clear explanation by Georges Frêche regarding these words would be needed. Finally, these are two very different situations. The former is a situation where someone committed a crime and then the people you quoted simply commented on the situation, and the other the person you quoted was directly involved in a position pf power over those people being referred to. Shakespearian connection? I think not!
ReplyDeleteBonjour Krys,
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks for commenting. And you are the first one who attacked this head-on. That's already something.
As for racists, I think this is a word that is in urgend need of a definition. What has one to say or to do to be qualified a racist. Before this has been clarified, useless to dwell on it.
Georg
It is so interesting.
ReplyDeleteICH GLAUBE SIE SIND EIN KLEINER RASSIST GENAU WIE IHR FREUND VINCE UND WAS HABEN SIE GEGEN DIE DOPPELTE NATIONALITÄT ?
ReplyDeleteEIN BERLINER UND EIN WENIG EIN ANTISEMIT ? WARUM VERBINDEN SIE STRAUSS KAHN, BHL ETC MIT DEM JUDAISMUS ? WÜRDE ES IHNEN PASSE WENN MAN SIE SYSTEMATISCH MIT DEN NAZIS IN VERBINDUNG BRINGEN WÜRDE ? SIE SCHMEISSEN MIT ZITATEN UM SICH UND BELEHREN IHRE LESER VON DENEN EINIGE GANZ ALLEIN DENKEN UND SICH EINE MEINUNG BILDEN KÖNNEN. IHR FREUND VINCE GLAUBT DASS DIE DINOSAURIER WEGEN EVENTUELLER HOMOSEXUALITÄT AUSGESTORBEN SIND UND SIE LASSEN SO EINE HIRNVERBRANNTE SACHE IN IHREM BLOG OHNE KOMMENTAR DURCHGEHEN. SO WAS NENNE ICH GEISTIGE VERROTTUNG.