Polanski

I'll be very glad to see Roman Polanski serve his long-overdue time in jail. I'm as much a fan of his films as anyone, but the man drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl when he was in his 40's and no amount of fame or talent mitigates the sleaziness of that. Furthermore, his own cavalier attitude and clear lack of remorse indicate beyond a doubt that he deserves to be in jail, which is right where he is and where he will stay, thanks to a wise Swiss judge who denied his bail citing his flight risk. No duh. The BBC reports this morning that Polanski's lawyers are wrangling over whether or not to appeal the US request for extradition since such an appeals process can go on for many months. Fine, he stays in jail either way.

What I don't look forward to is the media circus that seems to always accompany such events. On the one hand, I think it's good for the US and its national press to witness a high profile figure being held accountable for his crime via our justice system. Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, Washington press corps, you watching? On the other hand, our national appetite for reality TV-style navel-gazing is apparently insatiable and I dread the endless fawning, sickeningly solicitous interviews and exposes of both the perp himself and his victim (though for all I know she may welcome the monetary gain from exploiting her notoriety - whatever. I still hate it).

Still, it's good to see justice done. Better late than never. Maybe we won't wait so long to do the right thing to those responsible for doing to our country what Roman Polanski did to a 13-year-old girl.