I doubt it

“Bernard Debré, a lawmaker in Mr. Sarkozy’s center-right UMP party, told French television that the arrest was ‘a humiliation and an affront to the honor of France. Everyone will now say, “Look at what the French do.”‘ Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s political career, he added, ‘must be ended — he will be condemned.'”

The part I doubt is that everyone will say “look at what the French do” (I agree with the rest of the statement). Every country has people who go completely off the grid like that without warning, but yes I can understand the national embarrassment. I’d be very embarrassed as an American if John McCain were arrested in Paris for trying to rape a hotel maid.

But the really alarming part of the story is the worry that this could strengthen the Front National. One hopes not.