While it’s no more than one would expect, the New York Post is loathsome.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn may have more to worry about than a possible prison sentence.
The IMF chief’s alleged sex-assault victim lives in a Bronx apartment rented exclusively for adults with HIV or AIDS, The Post has learned.
The hotel maid, a West African immigrant, has occupied the fourth-floor High Bridge pad with her 15-year-old daughter since January — and before that, lived in another Bronx apartment set aside by Harlem Community AIDS United strictly for adults with the virus and their families.
The Post has not been able to ascertain whether the maid, 32, has HIV/AIDS because of medical confidentiality laws.
It’s apparently not true.
A lawyer for the alleged victim has shot back, saying the woman does not live in housing for people with HIV. “Absolutely not,” said attorney Jeffrey Shapiro on the Today show.
Even if it were true, the irrelevance of the information and the awful sensationalism and scaremongering contained in the article make this simply appalling reporting.
“Once again the New York Post proves that they are happy to trample on human dignity to sell newspapers. There is no public interest in knowing this woman’s HIV status—yet the woman herself could suffer greatly from the revelation,” said Housing Works President and CEO Charles King. “The Post’s story is an attack on women and all people with HIV.”
The Post story intensifies the stigma surrounding AIDS by implying that HIV is an inherently horrifying disease.
FTFNYP.
PurpleGirl
Rupert Murdoch is loathsome in the extreme. He has so destroyed the New York Post from what it once was.
inkadu
I thought people bought it for the sports section, honestly. It’s the only part that I ever see people reading.
General Stuck
Reckon it’s slim pickens on the juicy gossip front, there at the sanitarium you park your fanny these days, Sarah. Maybe the orderlies can scare you up some decent porn, as I wouldn’t wipe my ass with the pages of the NY Post.
Having heady little Murdoch hot flashes again?
Emma
The Post is birdcage liner. Poop scooper. Not worth thinking about. But… it would be lovely if they managed to slip into libel territory someday.
Cacti
The savaging of the alleged victim’s character has begun.
Corner Stone
I honestly can’t figure out who needs to destroy this person?
I get why they’re taking down DSK, but who is counter-propping him up?
Steve
People have been talking about this all week in NYC. A lot of people were talking about this story today. Every single person, without exception, focused on how the guy must be freaked out that he was exposed to HIV, which I think was the point of the story. I didn’t hear anyone suggest that it reflects negatively on the victim, even though of course it’s none of our business. I think people, or maybe just the people I talk to, are generally sophisticated enough to know that HIV rates are high in sub-Saharan Africa and it doesn’t necessarily imply anything about lifestyle.
The Post, which is a complete rag of course, is consistently pro-cop and anti-accused. I think the story should be understood in that context. The Post is not looking to do the dirty work of the unpopular Frenchy in Rikers.
arguingwithsignposts
Defamation suit, anyone? Where are our lawyers to weigh in? She’s clearly not a public figure here.
Suffern ACE
I only read the headline today as I went to get something at the store. I thought that “HIV shock” was something that the victim was suffering from due to the trauma of the experience. I had never heard of HIV shock before, but it still didn’t induce me to pick up the Post and find out more.
becca
@PurpleGirl:
If only the Post was all that Murdoch had a hand in destroying.
Cris (without an H)
America’s oldest continuously published daily piece of bullshit. Founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton. That is 190 years continuous of fucked up news.
Benjamin Cisco
America’s oldest continuously published daily piece of bullshit.
Cris (without an H)
Commander Cisco and I agree: New York Post, get your shit correct.
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
Since the French newspapers have published her identity and hunted down her relatives in Guinea for interviews, now she has to worry about morons connecting her identity to falsehoods about her HIV status and stigmatizing her even further. Lovely.
Benjamin Cisco
@Cris (without an H): Awesome.
__
I remember my dad slagging the comPost. Circa 1970.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Steve:
no, but it does raise the whole, ooh scary immigrant aspect. which is a seed to plant for future exploitation.
even at that, its prejudicing of the potential jury pool who aren’t likely to be as open minded to african immigration,or hiv.
the absurdity is also that, what does a guy who supposedly is on suicide watch, care about contracting hiv?
gex
@Corner Stone: People like Ben Stein, I’d imagine. In order to prove that she the class of person we shouldn’t give a shit about while proving that he’s rich and white so he can’t be a rapist.
Rihilism
@Steve:
This. Whether people are sophisticated regarding AIDS in Africa is irrelevant. This woman’s AIDS status is nobody’s fucking business.
You must have missed the quote from SP&T:
Apparently the Post has accomplished it’s mission…
Rihilism
I should have stated HIV/AIDS in my last post…
Steve
@Rihilism: I must have missed a political correctness memo at some point. It is not intently horrifying to find out the person you just had sex with is HIV positive? Okay, if you say so.
People are paying no attention to the context here and just projecting their own preferred narratives. Prejudicing the jury pool by reminding people that the victim is an African immigrant? You have to have an IQ below 60 to think that was the Post’s agenda here. Seriously.
Corner Stone
@gex: I just don’t know what the hell to think about this. I can’t fathom who the hell is slagging the victim here to counter DSK’s dirty shit.
He’s obviously going down, and a new non-European will be the next head of the IMF.
Who’s fighting this rear guard action on DSK’s behalf?
hamletta
@Corner Stone: Maybe they don’t care about DSK. Maybe they’re just racist, xenophobic assholes who assume anybody from Africa is HIV-positive.
asiangrrlMN
@Steve: It’s your statement of all the people focusing on how the accused must be freaking that HE Might have HIV/AIDS, when HE’S being accused of sexual assault. THAT’S the mission the Post has accomplished. Oh no, they’re not saying she has it, but….it’s disgusting.
Ms. Sarah, here’s the rusty pitchfork. Have at it.
ETA: Edited for clarity.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Steve:
i believe the context is, that new”too soon” york, isn’t as sophisticated as you would like to believe.
El Cid
What the lamestream media won’t mention, though, is that the same housing is known for its Al Qa’ida training camps complete with lesbian Satanist orgies.
I heard this from a reliable unnamed source.
james
@steve:
don’t waste your time with these people. The idea that the Post would have an agenda to defend a frenchman (a socialist even!) is laughable. well, apparently not for this blogger.
if she’s trying to push an “aids is cool; relax” agenda- this is a stupid way to kick off the campaign..
btw, what i dont see is how the lawyers statement disproves any of this . he never said she doesnt have HIV! plus, he’s her freaking lawyer!
i wouldnt even waste your time reading SP&T. not sure of the function she serves here. humor? no, sorry. news? no, sorry. reasoned commentary? again, sadly, no.
MattMinus
The New York Post may be reactionary and retrograde, but it is fucking entertaining. New York Post headline writer is my dream job.
Ike ‘Beats’ Tina to Death
Classic
It is also the perfect size to read on the subway.
Lolis
Wow, French media is smearing the rape victim worse than the good ole USA:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theenvoy/20110517/ts_yblog_theenvoy/some-french-media-elite-portray-imfs-strauss-kahn-as-victim-of-rough-u-s-justice
Mnemosyne
@Lolis:
Despite how much we feminists bitch and moan about the crappy state of rape prosecutions in the US, it’s 10 times better here than in most of Europe. The estimate I saw was that 10% of rapes in France are reported.
(We’re gonna keep bitching and moaning, though, because “better than France” isn’t much of a metric.)
Sarah Proud and Tall
@james:
I’m not suggesting they are doing it to defend Strauss-Kahn. I’m suggesting they are doing it because they want to roll out the scary AIDS and scary brown people idea yet again.
HIV/AIDS is not cool or something to relax over. It is a nasty disease that thankfully is now manageable in many cases. It is also an intensely private matter and for any newspaper to splash speculation about anyone’s HIV status on their front page is reprehensible, let alone giving detailed information on where that person allegedly lives.
I don’t respond to paragraphs which contain multiple apostrophe errors. Learn to punctuate.
If I’ve managed to piss a pissant like you off, then I must be doing something right.
Church Lady
My takeaway from the story was more of a “ha ha you asshole” dig at the IMF dude. Something along the lines of enjoying the idea that a rapist might contract HIV/Aids from his victim. Just deserts and all that.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Corner Stone:
a projection of conservatives, of conservative values, onto what they believe are liberal orthodoxies.
he is french, he is liberalish, at least as much so, they reckon as any of the other cause celebre that liberals take up, in defiance of good ole fashioned conservative law and order.
so conservatives like murdoch inc, and stein figure they can cause cognitive dissonance for liberals, because they believe our tribalism uber alles, is like their tribalism uber alles, and thus, there might be some seam in liberal opinion, they can frack, by stepping up for frenchie.
why, no, they aren’t considering that him being a probable criminal rapist, a dramatic example of class warfare in the most literal sense, would register above the alleged love the left has for the french, why would you ask?
Rihilism
@Steve: Personally, I’d hesitate to throw out IQ insults until I was certain I understood what another person was saying/not saying.
This is not about an individual being justifiably freaked out about being exposed to HIV/AIDS. It’s about people in general being freaked out about HIV/AIDS. The Post rolls out the scary AIDS story (H/T SP&T), makes some money and manages to further stigmatize
with HIV/AIDS. Perhaps you and the people you talk with are too sophisticated to fall for the Post’s ploy to sell papers, but that only suggests that you are not part of the Post’s demographic. Plenty of other people will read the story and imagine that HIV/AIDS is the absolute worst thing that can happen to someone and that people with HIV/AIDS are modern day lepers to be avoided at all costs.
As for political correctness, if pointing out that speculation regarding the victim or perpetrator’s HIV/AIDS status (and/or conjecture as to the perp’s reaction to potential infection) is unsavory at best and highly damaging at worst is PC, then I plead guilty.
Pot, kettle, black…
Since I never claimed that this was the Post’s agenda, I don’t know how to respond to this. Seriously.
Rihilism
My apologies for the “everyone” formatting error….
Ija
@Church Lady:
Well, there’s no reason the Post can’t multitask. It’s crowing about the Frenchy probably contracting a disease, plus scary story about scary immigrant etc etc.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
The thing I’ve gotten hung up on tonight is the fact that a whole lot of people, in France and in America, seem to not understand that “serial womanizer” and “rapist” are not the same thing.
Here’s me foaming at the mouth http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/rapists-are-not-womanizers-rapists-are-criminals/
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
@Church Lady: I think you’re right, and that just makes the whole thing more loathsome — because that poor woman’s body is still being used to achieve someone else’s ends.
GAH – I am so fucking mad!
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
@james: I don’t generally engage trolls, but I’m curious. What part of “i wouldnt even waste your time reading SP&T” were you engaging in when you read her post closely enough to allow you to make your series of dim-bulb responses? I sense a lack of intellectual rigor.
Anne Laurie
@Cris (without an H):
Oddly enuogh, I suspect Hamilton and Rupert would make great frenemies — from what I’ve read, they seem to share a lot of the same character traits.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@El Cid:
They’re lesbian Stalinist orgies. Otherwise Obama wouldn’t be able to participate. Jesus, the spellchecking around here sucks.
Colette +several, with several more to go.
Villago Delenda Est
@Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther:
Classic understatement, along the lines of Deanna Troi observing Worf trash his quarters over some fool thing and stating that she “senses some anger” in him.
Calouste
@arguingwithsignposts:
In the UK the maid’s lawyer’s phone would be ringing of the hook with offers from libel lawyers. Even if they would only get a 10% cut of the settlement, it would still be the easiest 100,000 they will ever make.
Ecks
@Calouste: UK libel laws != American libel laws.
Though she is NOT a public figure, and that matters a lot here.
prufrock
Every time I see some stupid thing the N.Y. Post has written relayed on any blog I frequent, I am reminded of a line from the movie Top Secret. Val Kilmer is about to be tortured by the East Germans (really, it’s funny) and one of his torturers is described this way:
Seems a paraphrase would accurately describe teabag nation and Fox News.
Benjamin Cisco
@Villago Delenda Est: Well played.
alwhite
When I saw the headline the first thing I thought was ‘OMG – He exposed her to AIDS!’. That would be a shocker. The fact that any one person might have HIV/AIDS is not a shocker. Seems they just want to be titillating and sell an extra copy or two.
But it does fit in well with the really odd dynamic around this story. It is interesting how many people – and which ones (I’m looking at you Ben Stain – rushed to the guys defense. I’m pretty sure rape charges are not unheard of in NYC, but I doubt many of the accused get such an elaborate “defense” from those quarters.
rickstersherpa
Poor Alexander Hamilton, founder of the Post, is spinning in hs grave (although he to knew a bit about sex scandals).
Chris
@Corner Stone:
Krugman blogged about it yesterday, suggesting that Ben Stein and co were closing ranks around Strauss-Kahn because class loyalty trumped politics. I suspect it’s more about some twisted gender loyalty. You know, because of the belief on the right that most rape victims are just innocent men looking for a bit of fun and that there’s a vast underground conspiracy of women crying “rape” just to ruin men’s lives.
Still, I’m floored. I expected most of them to react like my conservative uncle: condemn the hell out of Strauss-Kahn while slipping in as many jabs as possible about entitled or deviant soshulists (I mean, the guy’s French, Soshulist and the head of an international institution: running with a “he’s guilty” narrative wouldn’t kill them with their base). I thought Ben Stein was an aberration. Looking at this article, I guess not. It’s bloody amazing that their poor-person-hating, black-person-hating, immigrant-hating and woman-hating extend as far as they do.
Chris
@Lolis:
I want to say this: when I read through the comments sections in French articles, that’s not the consensus. Yeah, there are disgruntled supporters crying foul because of suspicious timing and all that, but most comments were anti- rather than pro-Strauss-Kahn. If anything, there were quite a few compliments to the NY justice system for treating a powerful man like any other.
Steve
@Rihilism:
Believe me dude, the reaction of the Post’s demographic is precisely “holy shit, dude must be crapping his pants to find out he raped a woman with AIDS.” That is the whole point of the story. If the guy was instead accused of, say, running someone over with his car, do you think the Post would have a huge story proclaiming “immigrant lady who got run over has AIDS”? No, they would not.
The entire point of this story is to titillate people by suggesting that the guy unknowingly exposed himself to HIV and is getting his just deserts. It is a horribly invasive and wrong thing to do to the victim, I think we can all agree on this. But the purpose of the story was not to smear the victim, much less to remind people that she’s an immigrant (a truly mind-boggling theory).
Then don’t respond. That paragraph wasn’t referring to you, nor did I say it was. It was expressly referring to the brain-dead people who think the Post’s agenda was “prejudicing the jury pool by reminding people that the victim is an African immigrant.”
Paul in KY
@james: I’d rather read her comments than yours.