So I guess they definitely would not have released that picture of bin Laden's brains blown out, either

The French are outraged over a great American tradition, the "perp walk':

Though horrified by those alleged crimes, the French press and political elite on Monday seemed perhaps more scandalized still by the images of Mr. Strauss-Kahn's brusque treatment by the New York police, and his exposure in the American media.

"I found that image to be incredibly brutal, violent and cruel," the former justice minister Elisabeth Guigou told France-Info radioon Monday, referring to widely published photographs of a beleaguered-looking Mr. Strauss-Kahn, handcuffed and led by several New York police officers. "I am happy that we do not have the same judicial system."

As justice minister, Ms. Guigou, now a parliamentarian, oversaw the passage of a law prohibiting the publication of photographs of handcuffed criminal suspects.

If they think a perp walk is offensive, I guess they wouldn't have released that bloody OBL picture. Personally, I don't think there's any issue of defendant rights here; instead, the public has the right to see the accused. There probably should be more "perp walks," not fewer. The rights of the defendant are all about getting a fair trial, which is why I find this part of the story so puzzling:

Ms. Joly also suggested that the 'perp walk' images of Mr. Strauss-Kahn in handcuffs were a product of a justice system quote unlike the French one, because American prosecutors always needs to think about convincing a jury of a suspect's guilt. At present, there is no jury in many French courtrooms, although French President Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed changes that would make juries more common.

So the French are outraged about a perp walk but don't think suspects should be tried by a jury of their peers? Weird.

Regarding the sins of "DSK," I don't think you can make any kind of broad political statement about the alleged rape, although I'm sure that won't stop many from trying. (I think it was Freud who said that sometimes a depraved lunatic is just a depraved lunatic.) But then there are those who find it outrageous that the head of a fund that goes around imposing austerity measures on Third World nations (and a so-called "socialist," to boot) is staying in $3,000-a-night hotel suites and flying around first class.

Count me among those people.