Rape and Reality, by Mike Gold – Brainiac On Banjo #230
I don’t have to take a position on rape. Anybody who is actually pro-rape deserves a preemptive strike right between the eyes. But proving rape is another matter.
You can’t automatically take the complainant’s side: according to the Cambridge Law Journal, between two and eight percent of complaints are false. That statistic is in keeping with the five percent number we were working with back when I was in the crisis intervention business. But even if the false complaint number was far lower, we’ve got this “proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law” thing going in American jurisprudence, and that’s a pretty good thing. However, most rapes occur between people who know each other and those incidents usually happen in secluded locations away from witnesses.
This is one of the many reasons why I’m in favor of everybody having their kids trained in martial arts. It’s also why I tend to think of those people who falsely accuse others of the crime as loathsome creatures who are making it a hell of a lot harder for real victims to be taken seriously.
Case in point: Dominique Gaston Strauss-Kahn (DSK, according to current trend) was the super-rich head of the International Monetary Fund. A well-known horn-dog of extreme proportions, this guy was staying in a $3000 a night Manhattan hotel room and had sex with a hotel maid. She later said it was rape; DSK was arrested and held under $5,000,000 bond. He lost his IMF gig, was ridiculed all over the planet, and was counted out of next year’s French presidential race where he looked like a probable candidate and a likely winner.
A couple weeks later, the complainant’s story started to fall apart. She had previously reported a false gang rape, was involved with drug dealers, had over a hundred thousand dollars in the bank, cheated on her taxes by reporting a phony son, told an incarcerated drug dealer she was shaking the guy down for a ton of money, and – perhaps most damning – cleaned another couple of rooms at the hotel before she reported the incident.
Including DSK’s room. Hello?
Of course this doesn’t mean she wasn’t a victim. But absent of other evidence, she certainly appears to be a lying hustler. Con artists are void of credibility. As of this writing, she hasn’t been charged with anything and saying she is a massive con artist would be as wrong as saying at this point in time Strauss-Kahn was a rapist.
Mind you, I do not anoint DSK with credibility simply because he is an abominably wealthy old white man of power and status. Indeed, that’s pretty much a negative in my book. But after spending weeks in house arrest, I don’t blame him for having a $700 meal of prosciutto and orange flesh melon, pappardella with truffles, Mediterranean sea bass, Pinot Grigio and, with the main course, red wine. Personally, I don’t care for sea food but after the $3000 a night hotel room, this was chickenfeed.
He’s not getting his IMF job back; that’s gone to the first woman to hold the position. But if the charges are dropped he might take that presidential run. If so, he’ll have a hell of a lot of name recognition and he should easily score the French “fuck America” vote. That serves us right for conflating pommes frites with freedom.
But if his accuser was having sex with him just so she could turn it into a massive payday, she did a lot more than simply screw a rich guy: she caused great, great harm to every man, woman and child who has ever been raped. Damn near every defendant is going to use this case in his or her defense.
I hold a special contempt for this type of person. As a rape victim, I always will.
Gadfly, anarcho-syndicalist and www.ComicMix.com editor-in-Chief Mike Gold will resume performing his weekly two-hour Weird Sounds Inside The Gold Mind ass-kicking bizarro music and blather radio show and his Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mind political and cultural rants on The Point, www.getthepointradio.com, just as soon as he recovers from his severe medical trauma. When that happens, his Weird Sounds show will be available on-demand. Yay!
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July 4th, 2011 at 11:16 am
When I first heard the story, there was a part of me that thought the woman actually made the accusation to protect her job. I don’t know what the Manhattan hotel’s policy on “fraternizing” with guests is, but most hotels do not allow it even when the employee is technically “off the clock” as it’s deemed somewhat bad for business. I’d thought that she’d agreed to consensual sex and then mentioned it to a co-worker or was found out by a co-worker and reminded about company policy and made up the rape accusation.
But from everything that was reported, there just seemed to be something off about the woman’s story but I just waived it off as her trying to cover her ass to save her job.
July 4th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Not that I disagree about martial arts training, but if everyone is trained, everyone can fight. It’s like everyone having a gun, or a nuke.
I don’t know what the truth is in this story, but it doesn’t seem to me that the fact that she went and cleaned up other rooms means she wasn’t raped. She could have been traumatized. She could have been scared about losing her job.
The lying? That doesn’t look good, but also, in and of itself, doesn’t prove anything. Liars can get raped, too.
July 4th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Agreed, Martha. However, one cannot prove somebody was NOT raped. You can’t prove a negative. And our system of justice requires no such burden even if it were possible. Yes, you can’t prove she wasn’t raped and I didn’t say she wasn’t — but you have to prove she was, and credibility plays an important and a significant role in all criminal accusations that lack compelling physical evidence.
My point here is that a person making such a false accusation makes it all the harder for real rape victims to get justice. Even if the accused were to have a track record of rape, that would not mean that this person was guilty of THIS crime. And I already implied rather dramatically that DSK is a creep.
As for martial arts, it’s not a matter of Mutual Armed Defense (which, by the way, worked). It’s not like everybody having a gun or a nuke in the least — martial arts teaches poise, self-confidence and respect as well as defense. Few martial arts practitioners (outside of warriors and police) ever get involved in real violence, either defensively or offensively. If everybody had such training, we would live in a far less dangerous world.
July 4th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
The Daily News seems to imply that they have DNA and other physical evidence, including (if i’m reading correctly, which is a big if) vaginal tearing. Which sounds less than consensual to me.
And of course I agree that people who lie about being victims of a crime are ass hats at best.
July 4th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
DNA can be evidence of sex, but it’s not evidence of rape. Vaginal tearing is a slightly better argument, but not much: it’s evidence of inconsiderate sex (sans lubricant) and possibly evidence of rough sex. If the maid had better credibility, it could be circumstantial evidence but not enough to convict in a criminal trial. Possibly civil, though.
Given the credibility issue, it would be all the more difficult to argue that the oral sex that seems to have occurred wasn’t consensual; that’s quite easily possible, of course, but kinda difficult to explain in court to those jurors who have limited imagination or experience. Of course the oral sex could have been consensual and not the vaginal sex, but that’s an even tougher argument to make to a jury.
If, as some publisherdreports have stated, she had cleaned the room after the alleged assault prior to reporting the assault, her claim is dead in the water. The argument would be she could have destroyed or simply removed (thank you, Monica!) exculpatory evidence prior to her making the claim.
July 4th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
She’s a maid and she has over a hundred thousand dollars in the bank?
If she’s a victim I hope she gets justice. If she’s a con artist I hope she get’s jail time.
As far as the “fuck America” vote, I say this, FUCK the french often and with gusto!
July 5th, 2011 at 7:52 am
The fuck America vote in Europe is considerable. There’s a reason for this.
July 5th, 2011 at 8:25 am
Certain words need to retain their weight and gravitas. Every time one of those “big” words gets thrown around, it loses some of of its importance. Eventually hearing such words results in eye-rolling, sighs and a “SUUUUUURRReeeee it is” mindset in the public.
Three examples that come to mind (in no particular order) are rape, racism, and addiction. These are Big Deal Words, Level 10 words. When they occur, they needs addressing, redressing, and/or repairing. But they all get used like the town bicycle.
Every time a false accusation is made, or someone declares themselves a victim of one of these heavyweight words (especially if the person making it is from a group you already don’t care for) it gives further argument that the NEXT accusation is suspect.
Level 10 words should not be used frivolously. They should not be used when they don’t apply, and they should not be wasted on Level 3 situations.
This case went from sounding like a classic “rich guy who thought he could do anything” scenario to a “Golddigger bitch who saw a payday in her pants” in like a day. Amazing how easily opinion can turn when facts, or even the suggestion of facts, are applied.
July 5th, 2011 at 9:20 am
Mike wrote: “The fuck America vote in Europe is considerable. There’s a reason for this.”
Mike, I’ve seen a political cartoon from nearly 100 years ago (even before America got involved in WW I) that addresses Europe’s snittish attitude towards America. I think this long-standing “Bash America” tradition is a combination of intellectual elitism and jealousy.
All of this despite the fact that we saved Europe’s ass twice (arguably three times) at enormous cost in American blood and money.
My gut instinct is to say “screw you” right back, but I happen to know that those who hate us in Europe are offset by a sizeable chunk of the populations there who are extremely appreciative of our past efforts and sacrifices.
For example, while I share MOTU’s disdain for the French in general (especially since they unceremoniously kicked our military out of France in 1966), there are those in France who meticulously maintain memorials for fallen U.S. troops buried there, and who still have annual ceremonies for the same.
And while there are arguably other possible reasons for Europe’s attitude, I’ve found that more often than not, the stuff they accuse America of doing business-wise or military-wise is often the exact same stuff they are doing themselves — albeit on a smaller scale. Even many of their accusations regarding social issues is often a bunch of BS.
Frankly, I think the whole issue boils down to the fact that Europe, in general, is intolerant of America because we ARE, in fact, different from them.
July 5th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Russ sez he’s “seen a political cartoon from nearly 100 years ago (even before America got involved in WW I) that addresses Europe’s snittish attitude towards America. I think this long-standing “Bash America” tradition is a combination of intellectual elitism and jealousy.”
To which I say “Yep. You betcha.”
We’re not only different from them, we LEFT them. By the boatloads. Literally millions and millions of people from Europe and Eastern Europe came here. That didn’t change until 1921 and 1924 when laws were passed to almost completely end immigration from Eastern Europe, from Mexico, and particularly from foreign Catholics and to completely end immigration from Eastern European Jews and from Asians. Those caveats aside, there was no shortage of people who expatriated the Old Country for our more welcome shores.
And there still are. A great, great many professionals from Europe who moved here for work reasons (particularly actors) become American citizens after less than ten years.
July 6th, 2011 at 6:32 am
Mind you, I do not anoint DSK with credibility simply because he is an abominably wealthy old white man of power and status. Indeed, that’s pretty much a negative in my book.
Uh… why?
Not why don’t you anoint him with credibility, but why is all of that a negative? White is an accident of his birth, as is his sex. He’s old because he was born a long time ago. Do you view all old white men negatively? If not, we’re left with wealth power and status, things that are often striven for. I’d like to have wealth power and status.
I think your bias is no less offensive than the “Fuck America” attitude in Europe.
July 6th, 2011 at 7:35 am
No, I question the veracity of old rich white bankers. We’ve never had a good track record with those types, particularly recently. Eat the rich.
July 6th, 2011 at 9:18 am
You didn’t specify bankers, just old rich powerful white men.
To your “Eat the Rich” comment, this:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BillWhittleChannel#p/c/ABCC53F051B98328/4/661pi6K-8WQ
July 6th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Sorry, George. My list is not limited to bankers, and I should have specified.
As for eating the rich, today is National Fried Chicken Day but there’s always tomorrow.
July 8th, 2011 at 2:53 am
Chicken?!!
July 8th, 2011 at 7:13 am
National Fried Chicken Day. That was Wednesday. You probably didn’t know since fried chicken is illegal in Los Angeles.
July 8th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
My favorite fried chicken place in L.A. (so far) is Dinah’s on Sepulveda.
I discovered it while staying at the nearby Radisson shortly after I arrived here, and I go back every chance I get. I ate there earlier this week, as a matter of fact!
Damn, it was good!
July 8th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Best fried chicken ever, IMHO: Strouds, in Kansas City MO (there’s also one in Kansas, but the idea of eating mandatory creationist chicken is scary). I do not wait two hours in line for anything… except Strouds. It’s so amazing that when I’m in Kansas City, I actually take a break from my barbecue devotions to eat there.
Damn. I wish they delivered. To Connecticut.
July 8th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Golden Boy and MOTU -
Actually, fried chicken is okay in L.A.. It’s the carbs that make you a pariah.
Proof? At Wal-Mart, a toaster costs less than a bikini grooming kit. The reason is that there is less economic demand for something that prepares a carb than something that prepares you to be beach-ready.
My mother noticed this while reviewing my receipt.
July 8th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Golden Boy -
Caught your last line. That makes you one of the brave ones. I love you for that!
July 8th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Whitney… I haven’t been to LA in a couple years, and with my back racked up that’s not going to happen this month. So you’re telling me I can get good friend chicken, but not a good bagel? How sad. And with H&H Bagels going blooie here in NYC, I gotta get my bagels in Skokie now.
July 8th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
Best place I’ve been to so far to get a bagel in the Northern Chicago area is Once Upon a Bagel in Highland Park. We’ve been regulars there for more than 15 years. They bake fresh about 15-20 types of bagels, and it’s also a full-service deli. I especially like their chicken matzo ball soup.
July 9th, 2011 at 6:59 am
I’ll have to check it out. I was promoting Kaufman’s on Dempster Street in Skokie, near the L. They used to be in Albany Park, my old neighborhood and, btw, Rahm Emanuel’s neighborhood. That makes both Emanuel and Obama my landsmen.
Ever since they closed the water tunnel, NYC’s bagels took a serious dive (as well as their corned beef, but the pastrami remains top of the pile) and it’s no longer worth the trip to Brooklyn. But the old Lower East Side, despite its gentrification, still has the best bialy I’ve ever had.
Amazing how this thread evolved.
July 9th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
I just checked Google Maps and it looks like Kaufman’s is right by the Skokie Swift end of the line. We often start at that train station when we go to Cubs games to avoid the traffic and parking hassle near Wrigley Field. Parking there is plentiful and only costs something like $2, as I recall. Next time I’m in town and we’re heading to a Cubs game, I think I’ll make a little side trip and check Kaufman’s out!
July 9th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
I wouldn’t necessarily call this evolution…
July 9th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Russ, their corned beef is amazing.