L'Affaire DSK, Revised

An aging Parisian roué,
In New York in a suite for a stay,
Though glad that the maid
Would have him get laid,
Was much too high-minded to pay.

So... many (including Dr. Goose) had joined in the fun of rushing to judgment against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, because of --

1. His reputation as a cad or, if you will, "Le Grand Seducteur;"
2. The fact that boorish behavior toward hotel staff is a real and acknowledged problem;
3. The fact that they indisputably had sex, which couldn't possibly be consensual unless...

Well, it seems now that "l'affaire" was not so much consensual as transactional, at least in the view of the other party, who is said to have become insistent when the first party declined to compensate her, and by the forensic evidence he did so rather roughly.  A downgrade from a felony to a misdemeanor?  While better than rape, this hardly counts as a moral victory for the man who would be president of France.

Overheard at the Chinese Finance Ministry

"With the IMF head in ignominy,
His replacement is just what I wanna be,
Since, with all due regard
To Madame Lagarde,
We're the world's up-and-coming economy."

Now that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned in disgrace as head of the International Monetary Fund, his countrywoman, French finance minister Christine Lagarde, has moved into the spotlight as the European favorite for a position traditionally held by an Old World banker. However, China and India have seized on this moment to challenge the tradition and assert their growing weight in global business and financial affairs.  Notwithstanding the Greek debt crisis, the calls for an emerging market successor to DSK are growing.

L'Affaire DSK

A maid whose hotel greatly trusted her
Once confronted a sight that disgusted her,
And beat a retreat
From a luxury suite,
When an IMF package was thrust at her.

In a case that recalls the feudal practice of droit de seigneur, in which the lord of the manor was entitled to the favors of his female serfs, the worlds of politics and finance were rocked on the weekend by the news that Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund and a front-runner in the upcoming French presidential race, was arrested in the first class cabin of an Air France jet at JFK airport for the attempted rape of a chambermaid at the Sofitel New York. In a stroke, this development has roiled not only French politics, but also the negotiations over the bailouts of Greece and Ireland as well as the leadership of the IMF itself.

Forint Affairs

Those liquidity problems  of Hungary's
Shook the Eurocrats down to their dungarees;
Said the IMF head:
"Zees 'ungarian dread
Ees more fright'ning than George Bush ze younger ees."

A Soft Spot in his Heart

Said the IMF head, Dominique:
"While Athens' finances are bleak,
As a good European,
I regard the Aegean
As the cradle of l'Europe Antique."