It was an eventful day in New York yesterday. The rape case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn collapsed and, soon after, an earthquake struck that corner of the States’ eastern seaboard — thankfully there have been no reported deaths and damage appears to have been light, although there were fears about the safety of an ageing nuclear plant after the tremors.
Medieval chroniclers might have drawn equivalence between the two events: the natural disaster being the judgement of God on the human drama in court. DSK was the premier contender for the Socialist presidential nomination to fight the despondent Nicolas Sarkozy, a battle he might have won. Those ambitions almost certain never to be realised, not least because the judge, Michael Obus, said there had been no determination on whether or not DSK was guilty (£). The case collapsed because the plaintiff’s evidence did not convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
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