Anne Applebaum has joined the liberal elite by coming to the defence of Roman Polanski. Her article: The Outrageous Arrest of Roman Polanski.
A prize winning journalist, and usually capable of a thoughtful and reasoned article, she seems to wade in with only a few facts, and outlines the reasons to ignore statutory rape of a 13 year old.
That in itself clearly defines the debate going on around the world. Her position on this matter is called into question when it transpires her husband (Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski) is actively campaigning on Roman Polanski's behalf to get him back into Poland safe from the clutches of the Californian courts.
Roman Polanski was found guilty of rape. He pleaded guilty, which is a bit of a giveaway. All that awaits is the sentencing. The original "deal" struck said it was going to be a mere 90 days in jail. He fled when he thought that the deal might be off. Thankfully, that means the sentencing need not involve the victim, who has moved on over all these years, and would quite like every-one to just go away. Said the victim more than 10 years ago in an interview:
I don't carry any feelings of anger towards Polanski ...I even have some sympathy for him, what with his mother dying in a concentration camp and then his wife Sharon Tate being murdered by Charles Manson's people and spending the last 20 years as a fugitive. Life was hard for him, just like it was for me.
"He did something really gross to me, but it was the media that ruined my life."
That's making me feel bad just for commenting on this story. But the cat is out of the bag now, and the best thing we can do is get Polanski back in the States, complete the sentencing and then hope like heck that any other rapists note this story, and the determination to see serious crime punished, even after 20 years.
Otherwise we run the risk of the only crime worth pursuing more than 20 years is a Maori land claim or renaming a city.
That aside, Anne's impassioned defence is less credible given her husband was advocating for Polanski. She's since maintained she didn't realise this was the case, which must surely be more embarrassing for a top quality journalist, given she linked to the very story mentioning her own husband in her Washington Post Blog.
As Whoopi Goldberg said "it's not rape-rape."
I guess that makes all the difference.
A prize winning journalist, and usually capable of a thoughtful and reasoned article, she seems to wade in with only a few facts, and outlines the reasons to ignore statutory rape of a 13 year old.
That in itself clearly defines the debate going on around the world. Her position on this matter is called into question when it transpires her husband (Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski) is actively campaigning on Roman Polanski's behalf to get him back into Poland safe from the clutches of the Californian courts.
Roman Polanski was found guilty of rape. He pleaded guilty, which is a bit of a giveaway. All that awaits is the sentencing. The original "deal" struck said it was going to be a mere 90 days in jail. He fled when he thought that the deal might be off. Thankfully, that means the sentencing need not involve the victim, who has moved on over all these years, and would quite like every-one to just go away. Said the victim more than 10 years ago in an interview:
I don't carry any feelings of anger towards Polanski ...I even have some sympathy for him, what with his mother dying in a concentration camp and then his wife Sharon Tate being murdered by Charles Manson's people and spending the last 20 years as a fugitive. Life was hard for him, just like it was for me.
"He did something really gross to me, but it was the media that ruined my life."
That's making me feel bad just for commenting on this story. But the cat is out of the bag now, and the best thing we can do is get Polanski back in the States, complete the sentencing and then hope like heck that any other rapists note this story, and the determination to see serious crime punished, even after 20 years.
Otherwise we run the risk of the only crime worth pursuing more than 20 years is a Maori land claim or renaming a city.
That aside, Anne's impassioned defence is less credible given her husband was advocating for Polanski. She's since maintained she didn't realise this was the case, which must surely be more embarrassing for a top quality journalist, given she linked to the very story mentioning her own husband in her Washington Post Blog.
As Whoopi Goldberg said "it's not rape-rape."
I guess that makes all the difference.
It wasn't funny then either.
ReplyDeleteits also gone...not gonna tolerate that muck from you Paul.
ReplyDelete