Libertines, Puritans and Devout Muslims

On Sunday, the head of the International Monetary Fund was arrested in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a maid at the Sofitel hotel in midtown Manhattan. And not just any head of the IMF but the man who was widely expected to become the Socialist candidate for the French presidency, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

There are many details to this story. He was pulled out of the first-class section of an Air France jet just as it was supposed to take off. (Who knew that socialists stayed in $3,000-a-night hotels and flew first class? Actually, we all probably knew that.) He may have fled the hotel and seems to have lost his cell phone in the process. He was successfully identified in a line-up and is now being held at Rikers.