Portrait of the Lecher as an Old Man

Here's a telling photo of transatlantic rapist Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) at the 2009 G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. Saw it today on the Daily Beast. Points of interest:

• The president's expression of mild disgust or disapproval;
• The president's hand on DSK's forearm, as if to keep him from going further into Michelle Obama's personal space;
• Michelle's expression of surprise (is that a "WHAT did you just say?!" smile?) and the slight backwards tilt of her torso; and last but not least,
• DSK's lunging posture and a facial expression that looks like, shall we say, intense approval of what he's looking at (namely, Michelle Obama). All his attention and energy is directed towards her; it looks like he barely notices that the President of the United States (and the lady's husband) is right next to him.

Here's how my brilliant brother put it:

Obama's like: "Settle down there tiger. And by 'tiger' I mean 'asshole'."
And Michelle is like, "Wow, that was technically a compliment, but wildly inappropriate."
And DSK is like: "This smile means you can't get angry at what I just said, because then you're the jerk for taking seriously what I obviously meant as a joke. Except I didn't mean it as a joke, but this smile means you cannot prove that."
Sometimes a picture really is worth 1000 words.

And remember, folks, this is what DSK is like with the PRESIDENT AND THE FIRST LADY of the United States, IN PUBLIC, at a major international event covered by the international press.

So what do you suppose he's like with the average attractive woman, alone, in private? Ask the hotel maid. Ask Tristane Banon. Ask Piroska Nagy, a subordinate of his at the IMF, whom he relentlessly harassed. They'll tell you.