Defending the Indefensible - Roman Polanski

[Boom_70]

Typical Hollywood:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/09/29/hollywood.embraces.polanski/

 

[OnTheRiver]

I thought this thread was going to be about the New Orleans Saints' offense.

 

[Pancamo]

Whoopi Goldberg takes the cake for being the biggest idiot when she said it wasn't "rape,rape".

 

[outofplace]

I am truly shocked that Woody Allen would support such a person.

 

[Ace]

This is a weird case, though. He did serve time then the judge wanted to give him more time than agreed. I don't blame him for bolting but that doesn't make it right.

 

[Starman]

Whoopi Goldberg takes the cake for being the biggest idiot when she said it wasn't "rape,rape".

Whoopi needs to read the trial transcript. It wasn't just "rape rape," it was brutal ass-rape of a young teen rendered semiconscious by alcohol and drugs.

Arthur Kirkland: [takes a moment to gather himself] The one thing that bothered me, the one thing that stayed in my mind and I couldn't get rid of it, that haunted me was WHY. Why would she lie? What was her motive or lying? If my client is innocent, She's Lying. Why? Was it blackmail? No. Was it jealousy? No. Yesterday, I found out why. She doesn't have a motive. You know why? Because she's not lying. And ladies and gentlemen of the Jury, the prosecution is NOT gonna get that man today, No! Because I'M GONNA GET HIM! My client, the Honorable Henry T. Fleming, SHOULD GO RIGHT TO ****ING JAIL! The son of a ***** is GUILTY!
[The jury rears back from Kirkland and total pandemonium breaks out in the courtroom]
Judge Rayford: Mr. Kirkland!!
Arthur Kirkland: That man is guilty! That man there, that man...
DA Bowers: [jumping up and staying up] Your Honor! The State demands a retrial!!
Arthur Kirkland: That man is a slime! He is a SLIME! If he's allowed to go free, something really wrong is going on here!
Judge Rayford: Mr. Kirkland, you are out of order!! [gavels for quiet]
Arthur Kirkland: You're out of order! YOU'RE out of order! The whole trial is out of order! [indicates the gallery which is up in arms by this point] They're out of order! That man, that sick, crazy depraved man raped and beat that woman there, and HE'D LIKE TO DO IT AGAIN! He told me so!
Judge Rayford: All right, clear the courtroom! Clear the courtroom!
[He continues banging the gavel as the bailiffs begin to clear the court and the jury begins filing out)]
Arthur Kirkland: [trying to get the attention of the last jurors, who are now fleeing the jury box as the bailiffs grab Kirkland] It's just a show! It's a show! It's "Let's Make a Deal!" Let's make a deal!

 

[Joe Williams]

Interesting read:

But what if Roman Polanksi were wearing a Roman collar? Would "Monsignor Polanksi" receive the same considerations? As Father Thomas Reese, a Jesuit, writes at the Post's "On Faith" site, "Imagine if the Knights of Columbus decided to give an award to a pedophile priest who had fled the country to avoid prison. The outcry would be universal." And rightly so, as Reese says. But Polanski gets an Oscar in absentia in 2003 and earns sympathy because he can't receive it in person.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/09/29/roman-polanski-what-if-he-were-father-roman/

 

[TigerVols]

If he were Father Roman, Archbishop Mahoney would be going to court to block his prosecution, just like he has for the other child rapists the Catholic Church has protected in LA.

 

[outofplace]

True, but I still don't see how anybody defends Polanski's actions.

 

[Starman]

If he were Father Roman, Archbishop Mahoney would be going to court to block his prosecution, just like he has for the other child rapists the Catholic Church has protected in LA.

Yes, and Archbishop Ratzinger would be issuing public statements blaming the whole thing "media witch hunts." I hear Ratzinger has another job these days.

 

[poindexter]

Interesting read:

But what if Roman Polanksi were wearing a Roman collar? Would "Monsignor Polanksi" receive the same considerations? As Father Thomas Reese, a Jesuit, writes at the Post's "On Faith" site, "Imagine if the Knights of Columbus decided to give an award to a pedophile priest who had fled the country to avoid prison. The outcry would be universal." And rightly so, as Reese says. But Polanski gets an Oscar in absentia in 2003 and earns sympathy because he can't receive it in person.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/09/29/roman-polanski-what-if-he-were-father-roman/

Please.

Cardinal Mahoney has protected and enabled an army of pedophiles, and he is winning awards.

http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=23955

http://archdiocese.la/archbishop/awards/index.html


The outcry has been barely more than muted.

 

[Boom_70]

No thread discussing Cardinals is complete without a shout out to Cardinal Law-- former boss of the Boston Archdiocese who as a reward for leading Boston cover up received a cushy position at the Vatican.

Perhaps he is the Papal Roman Polanski hiding out in Vatican City.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Interesting read:

But what if Roman Polanksi were wearing a Roman collar? Would "Monsignor Polanksi" receive the same considerations? As Father Thomas Reese, a Jesuit, writes at the Post's "On Faith" site, "Imagine if the Knights of Columbus decided to give an award to a pedophile priest who had fled the country to avoid prison. The outcry would be universal." And rightly so, as Reese says. But Polanski gets an Oscar in absentia in 2003 and earns sympathy because he can't receive it in person.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/09/29/roman-polanski-what-if-he-were-father-roman/

Please.

Cardinal Mahoney has protected and enabled an army of pedophiles, and he is winning awards.

http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=23955

http://archdiocese.la/archbishop/awards/index.html


The outcry has been barely more than muted.

Mahoney, as far as I know, hasn't been convicted of raping anyone.

The comparison of Polanski's treatment vs. pedophile priests is a fair one.

Polanski vs. Mahoney? Not so much.

Doesn't excuse what Mahoney has done, but it's not relevant to the discussion.

EDIT: And Whoppi Goldberg needs to stand in front of the victim and tell her she wasn't "rape raped." Better yet, tell her parents that, assuming they're still alive.

What a ****ing piece of **** human being she is.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

Polanski has a 16-year-old daughter.

I wonder if he would have approved of having some old guy play squeak monkey with her three years ago.

Or now.

 

[Editude]

A couple of folks in Hollywood aren't on board with the point of view:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-polanski1-2009oct01,0,1755914.story

 

[deskslave]

Of course, if Whoopi Goldberg did that, the victim would probably wonder why she was addressing something the victim herself has said she's done with.

The plea deal was crap, but a deal's a deal. The judge tried to go back on it, which is against the rules with plea deals. There are no surprises allowed once the judge accepts the deal.

 

[YankeeFan]

Whoopi should be ashamed of herself. Let her read the victims statements to the cops & then tell me it wasn't rape.

**** this guy and **** the Catholic priests or anyone else who behaved in such a matter. I condemn them all and so should the Hollywood elite.

It's laughable that these idiots in Hollywood's letter objected to his arrest specifically because he was traveling to an International Film Festival when he was arrested. As if you should be free from arrest because you're an "artist" traveling to an event.

Yeah, that will have a chilling affect. Directors will not be able to drug and ass rape teenage girls without fear of retribution. Absolutely chilling.

 

[Ace]

Yeah, that will have a chilling affect. Directors will not be able to drug and ass rape teenage girls without fear of retribution. Absolutely chilling.

It's the producers you really have to worry about.

 

[outofplace]

Of course, if Whoopi Goldberg did that, the victim would probably wonder why she was addressing something the victim herself has said she's done with.

The plea deal was crap, but a deal's a deal. The judge tried to go back on it, which is against the rules with plea deals. There are no surprises allowed once the judge accepts the deal.

If somebody wants to argue based on that last part, I get it. I really do. But to say the case is too old or that he should be protected because of his accomplishments is disgraceful, and those both seem to be arguments coming out of Hollywood.

I guess I can understand justifying how he ran away from more jail time, but there is no justification for what Polanski did to that girl.

 

[Some Guy]

Of course, if Whoopi Goldberg did that, the victim would probably wonder why she was addressing something the victim herself has said she's done with.

The plea deal was crap, but a deal's a deal. The judge tried to go back on it, which is against the rules with plea deals. There are no surprises allowed once the judge accepts the deal.

If somebody wants to argue based on that last part, I get it. I really do. But to say the case is too old or that he should be protected because of his accomplishments is disgraceful, and those both seem to be arguments coming out of Hollywood.

great Chris Rock line about the Polanski case tonight on Leno. "Not even Johnnie Cochran had the gall to say, 'Did you see O.J. run against the Patriots?!?' "