Stained Then Blamed for the Stain

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/06-4

It’s no secret that Americans think bankruptcy is for deadbeats, losers and folks with substandard moral character and work ethics. The stain of a personal bankruptcy carries far wider and deeper than a negative credit rating. For the rest of a bankrupt American’s life, the stain will be used as a shield against legal protection from crimes as horrific as rape or sexual assault.

Want proof? Just ask the former IMF chief’s lawyers. Or just ask the NPR journalist or the Wall Street Journal reporter who participated in the interview I am about to cite to explain why they didn’t object to hearing that whether or not the young, female hotel worker involved in the rape charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is determined to be credible will rest in large part on her character. Ask why we will check for personal bankruptcy as primary among the determining factors of her supposed credibility as a victim of rape.

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First, from the transcript of NPR’s Morning Edition, June 3, 2011, host Mary Louise Kelly of NPR and guest Sean Gardiner of the Wall Street Journal , as they discuss how the case against Strauss-Kahn will be defended:

KELLY: Now, you have written that this is a classic he-said, she-said case.

More at the link --