Could DSK Just Be Guilty of Incredibly Bad Manners?

At the time of his arrest on rape charges in May, the case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn looked strong.

Now there are problems with the victim's credibility. She allegedly lied about being gang raped when she lived in Guinea on her asylum application. Money has been deposited in her bank account she can't fully explain. But the real problem for prosecutors may be that the timeline of her story has changed.

The new timeline is that after the alleged rape but before she reported the crime, she went back to DSK's room. Yes, she was a hotel maid and that was her job, but it's still odd. DSK's story has flip-flopped too, but lately he has been saying the sex was consensual.

The new timeline suggests the possibility that she made up the charges out of remorse, only after she went back to the room and saw that DSK had checked out, possibly crushing her expectations she would see him again.

DSK faces possible charges in France from writer Tristane Banon over a February 2003 incident. However, the victim in that case did not report the alleged crime to the police at the time. She did make it the subject of her 2006 book, in fictionalized form in her 2006 novel Trapéziste (Trapeze Artist). That raises the possibility she wants to sell more books.

DSK's story there is that he had several conversations with her mother after the alleged event. In one of those conversations he is said to have admitted he behaved boorishly.

In any event, the Banon book is the second writer to come to light featuring DSK's overactive sex drive. The first was Spanish poet Carmen Llera.

Has Dominique Strauss-Kahn just been guilty of applying the old socialist principle "to each according to his needs" a little too liberally? Even if NYC prosecutors drop the criminal charges, he may still face a civil lawsuit. That may give opportunity for application of the other old socialist principle, "from each according to his ability."