When a public intellectual of the left makes light of rape and makes excuses for an alleged perpetrator, we see how much work there is to do on sexism among progressives.
What is the simplest explanation for the misguided logic suffusing recent discussions of the alleged rape of a hotel maid by the former head of the International Monetary Fund? A generational disconnect? A lack of appreciation for the complex links between social issues and economics? A warning that high-brow progressive culture may be in need of some self-reflection?
Robert Kuttner, the well-known journalist and editor of the American Prospect, responded on his new blog yesterday to recent leaks suggesting that the alleged victim in the sexual assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is an unreliable witness. Reports are circulating that the maid, an African immigrant, lied about her U.S. residency status on her asylum application (on a lawyer's advice), claiming a gang rape that prosecutors say she has since admitted never happened, and that after the arrest of Strauss-Kahn, she called someone for advice who happened to be in jail on a marijuana charge.
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2 comments:
Well, the "excuses" are that he wasn't there at the time and that she made the whole thing up. Why do people think that false accusations are funny?
Oh, yes, by the way, the call happened to be about the windfall she was expecting from all this. And, so far, all these revelations are coming from the prosecution.
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