Hollywood and Roman Polanski

In a bizarre twist of fate, the left of the left in Hollywood have taken a stance that defies everything they have ever said about feminism, the evils of rape and the unjust system that allows wealth to determine pursuit of justice. That was then and this is now. Their rage is always reserved for conservatives that dare to speak against the omnipotent wisdom of liberalism and this is about the defense of a “gifted” filmmaker and friend of the socially adept. Of course, I mean Roman Polanski.

Roman Polanski had been arrested in 1977 for drugging, raping and sodomizing a 13 year old girl. Her testimony in the case against Polanski, who was 44 at the time, indicated that she had met with Polanski for a photo shoot for the French edition of Vogue. Although she was uncomfortable about his behavior during the first photo shoot because he had suggested that she changed outfits in front of him, she reluctantly agreed to a second photo shoot to complete the series. When she resisted his attempts to get her to lie on a bed for photographs he plied her with champagne and Quaaludes, a tranquilizing drug. While the drugs rendered her incapable if fighting off his advances she never the less, remained aware during the entire depraved episode and to spite her repeated pleas to stop, he performed oral sex on her and then engaged in intercourse and sodomy with her against her will.

Polanski was initially charged with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance (methaqualone) to a minor. These charges were dismissed under the terms of his plea bargain, and he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, according to the documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, the court ordered Polanski to report to a state prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation, but granted a stay of ninety days to allow him to complete his current project. Under the terms set by the court, he was permitted to travel abroad. Polanski returned to California and reported to Chino State Prison for the evaluation period, and was released after 42 days. All parties expected Polanski to get only probation at the subsequent sentencing hearing, but after an alleged conversation with LA Deputy District Attorney David Wells, the judge "suggested to Polanski’s attorneys that he would send the director to prison and order him deported". In response to the threat of imprisonment, Polanski fled the United States.

Polanski fled initially to London on February 1, 1978, where he maintained residency. A day later he traveled on to France, where he held citizenship, avoiding the risk of extradition to the U.S. by Britain. Consistent with its extradition treaty with the United States, France can refuse to extradite its own citizens, and an extradition request later filed by U.S. officials was denied.

On September 26, 2009, Polanski was arrested by Swiss police in relation to his outstanding 1978 U.S. arrest warrant. Polanski was seized at Zürich Airport while trying to enter Switzerland to attend the Zurich Film Festival where he was to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. U.S. investigators had learned of his planned trip several days earlier, which had given them enough time to negotiate with Swiss authorities and lay the groundwork for an arrest. The United States had been seeking his arrest and extradition worldwide since 2005. While there had been a U.S. arrest warrant for him since 1978 and he had been on the Interpol "red notice" wanted list for several years, an international arrest warrant was issued in 2005. The United States must make a formal extradition request within 40 days to have Polanski extradited and stand trial.

The Swiss Justice Ministry said Polanski was put "in provisional detention." According to a ministry spokesman, the arrest warrant and extradition to the United States could be subject to judicial review by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court and then the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Polanski announced that he intends to appeal extradition and has hired lawyer Lorenz Erni to represent him.

One would think that the apprehension of a fugitive that has avoided justice for over thirty years in the rape of a minor would be cause to celebrate, and most of the reasonable people on this planet are doing just that. However, the inner ugliness of the Caen and Hollywood elite have once again proven how disconnected from reality they really are. 100, mostly European, filmmakers signed a petition calling for the immediate release of Roman Polanski. Martin Scorsese and David Lynch have also added their names after the fact. In the ultimate irony, filmmaker and degenerate Woody Allen also endorsed the petition, probably using his step-daughter/sex partner’s Hannah Montana musical pen to affix his signature.

In a comment that has many reeling, the insipid and vacuous Whoopi Goldberg ignored the facts in this case and said in defense of Mr. Polanski that, “I don’t believe it was rape-rape. He went to jail and when they let him out he was like, ‘You know what, this [judge] is going to give me a hundred years in jail. I’m not staying’.” Ms. Goldberg’s statement is not only irresponsible but an endorsement of any rape that does not include a weapon, a beating or a death. To say that this was not “rape-rape” is to imply that the act of rape itself is not a violent crime. If anyone in power actually listened to this empty-headed buffoon, it could have set back the prosecution of rape by at least fifty years but fortunately, she is taken as seriously as every other jack-ass activist of stage and screen, which is to say, not at all. Through her comments Ms. Goldberg has displayed her witless logic and she is no longer worthy of our time, attention or money. Anyone that would place a microphone in front of Ms. Goldberg ever again should be regarded equally as insane as she is.

Where is the generally accepted notion that “No means No!”? Let’s not forget that when Mr. Polanski was mixing up a Quaalude cocktail for his young victim that the rest of the world was arguing for the rights of rape victims. They had fought hard to reinforce that “No actually means No” at a time when the defense for many rapes was: if the spoken word wasn’t accompanied by a fight to the death that perhaps “No” only meant “Maybe” and “Maybe” could be construed as some weird form of consent. Advocates for the victims of rape fought hard against the tactics used by scummy defense lawyers to discredit and disgrace rape victims as the accepted method used in the defense of their equally scummy clients. That fight eventually changed the legal system, finally bringing justice to those that were previously afraid to admit they were raped because of what they would have to face in the courts.

This shouldn’t surprise those of us that know what liberals are; especially Hollywood liberals. These are the same people that rushed to the aid of Bill Clinton when he was accused of not only abusing young female interns; but the power of the Presidency, the trust of the American public and the carpet in the Oval office. They are quick to point out their disgust when Republican Congressman Ken Calvert was discovered to have been arrested for engaging the services of a prostitute in 1993. I do not support Ken Calvert’s actions but I would like to point out that paying for sex is not even in the same league with drugging a minor for sex, yet Hollywood sees no contradiction in condemning Calvert while they defend Polanski.

They are an elite club so disgusted by their own wealth and notoriety that they must sooth their slimy souls with curious causes and disconnected advocacies of equally worthless social awareness programs. In boorish, Michael Moorish style, they churn out one so-called public service ad after another, endorsing rights for illegal immigrants, the needs for Marxist government programs or to shut down another American industry for the protection of some obscure species of an endangered swamp gnat. Hollywood has forgotten that their primary function is to entertain and for that job, there is obviously no requirement for a minimum level of intelligence. In fact, I would say that intelligence within the entertainment industry is discouraged.

After the attacks on 9/11, actor Ron Silver broke ranks with the Hollywood elite. Outraged over the slaughter of innocent Americans, Mr. Silver did a 180 and along with most of America, supported the military actions of the Bush administration that would bring retribution to those that were responsible and to destroy their ability to launch further attacks. For the crime of thinking for himself and not following the Jane Fonda mandate of supporting America’s enemies, Ron Silver never worked in movies again.

There is nothing entertaining about the political agenda of the Hollywood left. There is nothing funny or endearing about professing love and support for a convicted rapist. From what I see, the only species that is actually endangered in this country is the elusive sub-species of entertainers that still have a scrap of decency and common sense.

Paul