Anti-American sentiment is not a fictional occurrence. Many people in many nations throughout the world harbor ill-will towards the United States and it's citizens for any number of reasons. Last week, Dominique Strauss Kahn (DSK), a French politician and Director of the IMF was arrested in New York City on sexual assault allegations. The crime that is being attributed to DSK is one of a disgusting, humiliating, and degrading nature. This is also not his first time being accused of such a heinous crime, however guilt is hard to pin in he-said, she-said occurrences and that goes for both accuser and the accused. According the BBC and some French media outlets, the US media is the entity being put on trial, though. Apparently, the photos of Kahn's arrest do not sit well with the French and their Anti-American sentiments are awakening from a brief hibernation. They do not like photographing people who still await trial. They deem it to be brutal and inhumane.They have no problem photographing people who are famous, engaging them in a high speed car chase, putting them in extreme peril, and ultimately causing their death. But taking a picture of an alleged criminal after his booking before his official trial is taboo.
I don't know if it is merely their hate for all things American or the fact that sexual assault is merely a seduction tactic in France, but I think the Frenchmen denouncing the US media's tactics should take a look at their own pot before calling our kettle black. I will never deny that the American media is lacking in more ways than one. However, the overseas reaction to the DSK arrest seems to be spawned more from a sick sense of Nationalistic pride from a spineless nation of whiners who never hesitate to come knocking when their soil is endangered. America is not a perfect nation, not by the wildest stretch of the imagination, any American will tell you there are things they don't like about our fair nation. But hating just to hate is a whole other story.
The French are so quick to criticize every move made by the Americans because they have a preconceived notion that they are better than everyone else. Ironically, citizens of many other nations would say the same thing about Americans and wouldn't be too far off base. Nationalistic pride is nothing to be ashamed of. But when the line is blurred between right and wrong, when people are taking sides blindly based on your passport's origin, it may be time to take a step back and look at the facts.
In America, they say you are innocent until proven guilty. Most people know that the trial in the court of public opinion has it's verdict decided long before a prosecutor presents their opening arguments. The Italian media did it to Amanda Knox. The American media has done it to our own citizens countless times. Nobody is innocent of a little bit of dirty journalism thus nobody is fit to point their finger at somebody else for doing the same. Maybe it's the cultural differences, maybe the US and France will never see eye to eye. Everybody has their day in court and DSK will get his, too. The outcome of his trial should be an interesting one since he was believed by many to be a favorite in France's 2012 Presidential election and has already resigned his post as head of the IMF.
I will leave you with this: Imagine an American politician being accused of sexually assaulting a woman in France. Would the French media be as kind as they suggest?
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