How Do You Say "Paul Wolfowitz" in French?

Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Proving that one good sex scandal at an international finance institution deserves another, Mr. Strauss-Kahn, formerly France's minister of the economy and now the International Monetary Fund's managing director, reportedly gave a padded severance package to his mistress working at the IMF. Mildly ironically enough, Mr. Wolfowitz gave his World Bank mistress a higher-paying job and promotions, which may be some comment on French and American approaches to capitalism: on one side, greater safety net during unemployment; on the other, conniving upward mobility. Also worth noting, while the Times was all over Wolfowitz, one of the architects and champions of the failed Iraq war, the main reason why he was eventually forced out of the World Bank -- the rest of the international community gleefully wanted his (deserved) comeuppance -- it's coverage has been quite passive of Strauss-Kahn, even using AP briefs. And the Wall Street Journal has been breaking the Strauss-Kahn story -- that freedom-hating Frenchie. Editorial policy never influences coverage.

Though an internal investigation has cleared Strauss-Kahn, I remain skeptical, as gladly does the WSJ's editorial page. As the generally vitriolic posters to my newspaper's comment boards often say, Throw them all out. Maybe they're right sometimes.