Former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn pled a firm Not Guilty this morning to charges that he raped a maid in a New York hotel. I'm not quite sure why many news reports are saying that he's charged with "attempting to rape" the woman in question. This is turning into a He Said/She Said kind of case and apparently She Says she was raped.
So if they did indeed find traces of Mr. Strauss-Kahn's semen where it shouldn't have oughta been, what's the story here? News reports suggest his defense will argue that whatever happened was consensual; that they'll say the woman is a liar and dredge up whatever they can from her past life to prove she's just the kind of person who'd do such a thing. I'm trying to think if there's anything — anything else they could say. If the physical evidence is what reports say it is, is there any other scenario that makes DSK the innocent victim here? Can we dream up one where it was all an innocent misunderstanding? Maybe the man's bodily fluids were forged by an international conspiracy that's out to frame him. Hey, that happens to me all the time.
But who knows? Maybe his lawyers and Ben Stein are right. I hate following these kinds of tabloid-oriented stories but I shamefully admit I'm hooked. Strauss-Kahn has an awful lot of money to spend on his defense. I'm curious as to what it's going to buy him…and whether they're angling for the best terms they can get in a plea bargain or if they're really going to go to the mat and try to get him a complete acquittal.
And I can't help but notice that Ben Stein's been awfully quiet about this lately…