An instant classic and hard-to-beat quote of the day:
In matters of sex, as of war, Europeans are from Venus. They mock Americans’ puritanism about the sex lives of public figures. For a politician to cheat on his wife in America is a sign of dishonesty. Witness the opprobrium heaped on Arnold Schwarzenegger over the new revelation that he had fathered a child out of wedlock. In much of Europe, affairs can be a badge of virility. That is the insinuation of an interview given by none other than Mr Strauss-Kahn’s wife, Anne Sinclair. Asked in 2006 whether she minded her husband’s reputation, she replied: “No, I’m rather proud of it! It’s important for a politician to seduce. As long as he seduces me and I seduce him, that’s enough for me.”
Can we stop using the word "seduction" when talking about this case? It isn't about American attitudes toward sex outside marriage, it's about rape.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAs a conservative, I deplore the damage that the Europeans do to the efforts of us naïve Americans to hold civilization together by honoring the web of hypocrisies about God, romance, friendship, loyalty, etc. OTOH, the sooner we can get over all of this, the sooner we can get back to partying in the jungle.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSomething tells me that Anne got seduced with rather less punching and arm-twisting than the hotel maid.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseArnold did not father a child "out of wedlock."
She was married when she had the kid. Just not to Arnold.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis case is illustrative as yet another example of just how much the left wing cares about womens' rights.
Oh, they care all right, just as long as their favorite male socialists are not accused of violating them. In the face of such allegations, it's politic over principle.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse(Say, Jonah...since you have so much time on your hands today, how about putting up a post on zombies. That would give us an opportunity to comment on Palin suddenly acting our candidatey on Greta's show.)
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"In much of Europe, affairs can be a badge of virility."
I'm pretty sure the writer means "affairs by men." Heh...they label us as backward and in the same breath, thoughtlessly define politician = man job.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEven a Eurpoean should be able to understand the difference between an open an a closed marriage (and yes even an American should be able to see the same difference from the other side). If a couple has such an arrangement, fine.
But if they don't, and the husband (or wife) is potentially bringing home serious diseases unbenownst to his spouse, obviously she has a right to hit the roof when she finds out - and obviously voters are within their rights to take such untrustworthiness into account.
But as This Dave notes, none of this has anything to do with forcible rape, which is what DSK is in trouble for in the USA, not for having an affair. Real bait and switch being pulled by the libertines here. Of course the same thing happened with Clinton.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOr "as long as he pays the bills and I live a privileged life".
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn France "seduce" seems to be a euphemism for rape.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI wouldn't say everyone in Europe acted so "sophisticated" as the French when it came to amour. Empress Maria Theresia of Austria had a great marriage to her husband, Francis of Lorraine; they had 16 children, one of whom was Maria Antionette. Of course, in that case, the apple did fall far from the tree.
I'm not sure when France, a nation that gave us Charles Martel, Charlemagne, and Lafeyette, evolved when it did. Rural France, once upon a time, was very conservative. Thier took thier religion seriously. Perhaps the decadence was originally purely from the aristocracy. Fluabert gave an inkling of thie in Madame Bovary. And eventually, the bourgeoisie adopted this decadence as thier own.
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