The French Are Mad — Mad! — at the Arrest of Socialist Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Sexual Assault Charges

At New York Times, "As Case Unfolds, France Speculates and Steams."

PARIS — France’s shock at the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on sexual assault charges has turned among some to suspicion and anger, with his defenders questioning the initial New York police account and speculating about entrapment, and many others characterizing the photos of the handcuffed suspect as insulting and unfair.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62, was arrested on charges of attempted rape and illegal imprisonment of a chambermaid in a French-owned hotel in Midtown Manhattan, the Sofitel, and was arraigned on Monday in New York.

The charges against a man thought to have had the best chance of becoming France’s next president in elections only a year away, and who is the prominent managing director of the International Monetary Fund, have exploded most political assumptions here.

Poor dears.

Actually, I'm with Judge Melissa Jackson on this, as she remarked when denying Strauss-Kahn's defense attorneys' request for bail: “When I hear that your client was at J.F.K. Airport about to board a flight” ... “that raises some concern.”

Well, yeah.

See also Matt Welch, "BHL: France's National Disgrace" (on Bernard Henri-Levy, via Althouse).