I’ve refrained from writing until now about Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the sexual assault allegations against him, and the sorry state of ethical culture at the International Monetary Fund because, frankly, so much of this tale tells itself. You get tired telling the same story of failure so often.
Let’s dispense with the worst part of the story immediately. First is the misconduct of Strauss-Kahn himself, and that chapter—if the allegations against him are true— is straightforward: A man forced himself on a woman. That he was rich and powerful and she poor and vulnerable makes the story more sad, but not more reprehensible. We should all be equally outraged at his boorish behavior even if he assaulted the Queen of Sheba, not some immigrant chambermaid at a New York hotel.
