According to a poll, 57% of the French public and 70% of French Socialists believe that Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) was the victim of a set-up (I couldn’t find a gender split on the numbers). The French have an admirably long history of political intrigue. Yet, it seems a bit rich for Socialists to overwhelmingly take the side of the wealthy powerful politician with a history of sexual abuse allegations against what appear to be quite credible allegations of a poor Guinean refugee. Our new favorite magazine has some theories as to why so many Frenchmen think DSK was framed. (h/t KM).
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This is really interesting, since “Le Monde,” the biggest left-wing newspaper in France, seems to be pushing back against these kinds of conspiracy theories. At least, the stuff that’s getting translated into English at Worldcrunch trends that way.
interesting…. I wonder what percent of the French public also believes that Obama was born outside of the U.S. or the Bush II was behind 9/11.
a quick correction… I meant to type “or that Bush II” rather than “or the Bush II.”
The French belief in a plot against DSK is more a reflection of their utter distrust in Sarkozy and his henchmen, rather than an endorsement of DSK’s assumed innocense.
@Harvey Feigenbaum
So you suspect that this conspiracy theory has a particular justification, and would not exist if not for Sarkozy? As if the French are not attracted to conspiracy theories in general? There is a difference between dislike of a politician and accusing him of setting up a rape charge against a rival.
Let’s see – does DSK have a history of pushing limits with women, or does Sarkozy have a history of getting and retaining power by setting up rivals for hard time in prison?