DSK: New Developments

(S)upporters raised the prospect of Mr Strauss-Kahn’s return to French politics, while snap opinion polls found strong popular support for a presidential bid from the man once tipped as the candidate most likely to beat President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s election.   Financial Times

David Seaton's News Links

As far as I can see the proposed scenario is the following: So relieved to discover that DSK is not a pathological sex criminal, but simply a seedy, sordid, old scumbag, -- the sort of person Andrew Weiner would like to be when he grows up (if he ever does) -- the French people go and elect Dominique Strauss-Kahn the president of France.

I think that would be the "coup de grace" to what is left of their tattered, tired and tatty "grandeur"... if you'll pardon my French. DS

Larry and the Pharisees (what a name for a band!)

David Seaton's News Links
One of America's most amusing blood sports is the outing of pharisees. One of America's most useful citizens is Larry Flynt. DS

Flynt, Palfrey target D.C. 'hypocrisy' - The Politico
Abstract: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, already on a hunt for Washington sex scandals, has teamed up with a powerful new ally: "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey. It's an alignment born from coincidental interests: Flynt wants to expose Washington hypocrites, and Palfrey has a long list of people who probably qualify. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) became their first victim when a Flynt investigator linked his name and honorable title to an old telephone number on Palfrey's client list. Vitter's exposure on Tuesday should put any other conservative Republican with sexy skeletons on notice: Start practicing your mea culpa. It's déjà vu for many on Capitol Hill who lived through Flynt's first, successful 1998 sex-scandal bounty hunt, conducted at the height of the sex-driven impeachment drive against President Bill Clinton. With a promise of millions but a payout of less, Flynt managed to expose the sexual promiscuity of former House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde of Illinois, former impeachment prosecutor Bob Barr and -- his biggest catch of all -- the almost-Speaker Bob Livingston, another Louisianan, who confessed to adultery and resigned from Congress when he was on the brink of succeeding Speaker Newt Gingrich. (Gingrich's affair was not exposed by Flynt; that came later.) Most folks on Capitol Hill, for now, are hoping Vitter is an isolated incident. READ IT ALL