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Post by htmb on Jul 26, 2013 14:50:50 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 15:01:58 GMT
Of course it is always "old news" whenever any of us in France read things like this, even if it is a new twist in a continuing case. He won't be convicted. I just take solace in the fact that his wife finally dumped him after all that crap.
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Post by htmb on Jul 26, 2013 15:37:55 GMT
She probably tired of selling off the paintings.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 15:49:50 GMT
Or having to stand next to him and smile or have him lay a finger on her.
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Post by htmb on Jul 26, 2013 16:20:48 GMT
Quite frankly, I can't imagine how she ever tolerated any of that even before his publicized recent troubles.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 16:54:48 GMT
I am really sorry to explain it this way, but "she's French." Actually, I mean that she is an upper class Parisian, and you would absolutely not believe how these people live and what they think is normal. The fact that Mitterrand's wife and mistress attended his funeral together or that President Hollande travels around the world with his current partner are an indication that the rules are different here.
Frankly, I would like to find this normal since one's private life should not affect one's public life, but there are certain aspects of the way that it is done that disturb me.
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Post by htmb on Jul 26, 2013 18:35:44 GMT
Oh, I'm not naive. That type of "normalcy" happens here, too. I just think many French may be more tolerant of the behavior, while here we pretend it's not going on. Seems to me that most of it is about money, power, greed, and control on the part of the "players."
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 18:41:27 GMT
Absolutely. But here it is considered to be less (?) hypocritical.
A bit off topic, but I remember reading some sort of international poll a few years ago about what criteria voters thought were the most important for their national leader.
France was apparently the only country that placed "intelligence" as #1. The United States placed "honesty" as #1.
That would be an interesting debate in itself, but neither quality is really sufficient to make a great leader with just that one aspect.
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Post by mossie on Jul 26, 2013 19:16:30 GMT
Over here it is considered that no French politician can succeed unless he has "a bit on the side", as the tactful expression has it.
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Post by htmb on Jul 26, 2013 21:26:06 GMT
If honesty placed first, what came second in the U.S? Was it intelligence? I certainly would hope (in the ideal world) voters in any country would look at all the attributes of someone running for office and decide who was the most well-balanced and best able to manage the job.
Thinking it through, if I had to choose between a candidate who was brilliant, but who I could not trust, and a candidate who was honest and trustworthy, I'd most likely select the second with the idea he or she could be trusted to select good, intelligent support-staff.
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Post by mossie on Jul 27, 2013 7:18:14 GMT
If honesty placed first, I don't think we could find enough candidates for all the seats
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2013 16:00:46 GMT
Very true. I certainly have little faith in most, if not all, of our politicians.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2014 16:57:30 GMT
Tonight we have a special treat in France. Anne Sinclair, DSK's former wife is appearing on a prime time interview show where she will get everything off her chest for 90 minutes.
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Post by mossie on Apr 22, 2014 19:50:33 GMT
Was she a stripper ?
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Post by waterhazardjack on Apr 23, 2014 1:30:53 GMT
Tonight we have a special treat in France. Anne Sinclair, DSK's former wife is appearing on a prime time interview show where she will get everything off her chest for 90 minutes. Should be interesting, Kerouac. French version of Princess Diana's (in)famous interview with Martin Bashir, perhaps? As a skilled media operator, it'll be interesting to see how she handles this. Of course, having turned a 'blind eye' to so much of DSK's, er, 'recreation' over the years, one might imagine she'll have to be pretty savvy in how she now delivers her 'version' of these events? But there again, this is France...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2014 5:28:21 GMT
It was disappointing as these things always are. Since it was recorded ahead of time, there was absolutely no possibility of anything really surprising being said. About of the time was devoted to a hagiographic biography of the tough life of this immensely wealthy woman, her previous marriages, family life, etc. Nothing wrong with that, because she is very much admired in France and has always been an excellent journalist known for very uncompromising interviews with world leaders (sort of like Christiane Amanpour or Barbara Walters).
The interview was mostly a confirmation that "love is blind" and that even though she had heard all sorts of rumours, DSK is one of the most convincing and crafty people in the world and was always able to allay her fears until that day she had to fly to New York...
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Post by bjd on Apr 23, 2014 7:41:51 GMT
I actually watched most of it -- at least, I sat through the "biography", wondering when the interview would happen. After 15 minutes of the interview (2 TV news colleagues chatting) I gave up.
I never watched her on TV when she worked as an interviewer, but I have always had the impression that French TV journalists give politicians a free pass when they interview them. They rarely ask difficult questions. Maybe she was different but I don't know -- the little extracts they showed yesterday were not much to judge by.
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Post by waterhazardjack on Apr 24, 2014 0:44:41 GMT
the tough life of this immensely wealthy woman... Kerouac, did it get even 'tougher' lately? I think I may have read that one or two of her family's 'lost' art treasures may have turned up in that apartment in Munich and/or Salzburg where Nazi-looted art was recently discovered?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2014 14:28:31 GMT
Oh, it looks like the worst is behind her now. After finally dumping DSK, she became the director of the French version of the Huff Post, so that keeps her busy.
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Post by bjd on Apr 30, 2014 18:22:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2014 18:55:04 GMT
Ah yes, the famous Carlton Hotel scandal in Lille. That started as soon as he got back from NYC and has been "under investigation" ever since then. I'm not surprised that good old "Briny Dodo" in Belgium is trying to make money off the name, because when you already have a nickname like that, anything goes.
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Post by waterhazardjack on May 2, 2014 21:38:22 GMT
That started as soon as he got back from NYC Speaking of which, one can't help feeling that an American branch of this erotic franchise can't be far away - JFK anyone?
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Post by bjd on May 3, 2014 8:19:18 GMT
Ah no -- JFK has a much better reputation than DSK. The old Camelot reputation didn't completely disappear, even if it was a bit tarnished by revelations over the past decades.
DSK has a problem if the only time he is making the news these days is when he is trying to prevent publication of a book about him (by an Argentinian woman) or a brothel being named with his initials.
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Post by waterhazardjack on May 4, 2014 2:21:33 GMT
DSK has a problem if the only time he is making the news these days is when he is trying to prevent publication of a book about him (by an Argentinian woman) or a brothel being named with his initials. Yes, he doesn't seem to be thinking too straight, right now. In times like this, a man can always benefit from some kind of break or vacation. Maybe a get-together with Senor Berlusconi for a relaxing sojourn in a sunny clime and a chance to recharge the batteries. The island of Bunga-Bunga is very pleasant at this time of year, I'm told...
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Post by bjd on May 4, 2014 5:27:27 GMT
They'll have to wait for their island break on Bunga-Bunga, at least until Signore Berlusconi has started doing his "volunteer" work in the Italian old folks home. We had dinner with Italian friends the other evening and they said that he hasn't started yet -- keeps putting it off.
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Post by waterhazardjack on Feb 26, 2015 22:54:54 GMT
When DSK appeared in court a few weeks ago and claimed: "women had a habit of offering themselves to me. It was not uncommon", some people laughed.
They're not laughing now...
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