Steve Lopez is ...

[agilebrit]

My frakking HERO today.

Okay, not only was he played by My Celebrity Boyfriend in "The Soloist," but his column weighing in on the Roman Polanski thing hits the nail on the head.

And yet we have such "luminaries" as Martin Scorcese and Woody Allen signing a petition begging Switzerland not to extradite a man who, at the age of 44, raped a 13-year-old girl?

What. The. Fuck.

Yes, you read that right. I just dropped a rather rare f-bomb on my LJ, and I'm not quoting Ben.

I don't give a crap how long ago this crime happened. Roman Polanski gave a barely-pubescent child quaaludes and champagne, raped her, and then skipped the country before he was sentenced. He's living like a king overseas while she gets to deal with that for the rest of her life.

Would any of these clowns be defending my husband if he did the same thing to our babysitter? HELL FUCKING NO. Nor should they. Read the column, read her testimony, and then come in here and defend this guy. I dare you.

What the HELL is the matter with these people?

Comments

[expectare.livejournal.com]

I read that some people are saying that she doesn't want charges to be pressed, therefore the government should not press charges. So fucking what? Maintaining a civil (and a civilized) society requires rule of law to prevail.

[pensive]

GO STEVE!!!!!

[crayonbreakygal.livejournal.com]

Lopez hit the nail on the head with this one. WTF is wrong with these people? He committed a crime; a terrible crime that he needs to pay for in spades. Then he ran. Probably if he hadn't, he would have been out and free, which he shouldn't have been anyway.

[aadler]

I had a little trouble with the link you provided; this one worked better for me.

And, though I like Lopez’s view of things, I was even more impressed by Kate Harding’s commentary RIGHT HERE.

That Polanski escaped justice for so long doesn’t mean he’s no longer guilty, or ‘has paid enough’, or that the law no longer applies to him. It just means it’s about damn time that a pedophile rapist should get what’s coming to him.

And the people who signed that petition protesting the arrest … beyond contempt. It puts the elitist argument directly up front: “The normal laws shouldn’t be applied to someone like him [us]; we’re different, we’re more important, we’re special.” Despicable arrogance.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Ack, sorry, html Fail on my part there. It's working now.

Also, "paid enough" WHAT, exactly? Oh, damn, he gets to live like a king in France and can't come back to the US. He gets to make movies and win Oscars and make millions, and this is a hardship, how, exactly? The poor baby. We clearly just don't know what it's like.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

Polanski was indicted for furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, committing a lewd or lascivious act upon a child under 14, unlawful sexual intercourse, rape by use of drugs, perversion (oral copulation) and sodomy.

He RAPED a thirteen-year-old girl. THIRTEEN! I knew Hollywood was out of touch with the common man, but I didn't realize they were totally devoid of pure human decency.

But Whoopi Goldberg says it wasn't "rape rape," so that's okay.

This makes me so angry.

[aadler]

But Whoopi Goldberg says it wasn’t “rape rape,” so that’s okay.

Hey, it’s not like Polanski is a — *brrr* — Republican.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the Harding commentary. I'm surprised Salon.com printed it.

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

It's the classic one rule for people you like and another for people you don't like or don't know. I think people honestly convince themselves that if their "friend" did something it can't be as bad as all that. Delusional.

I'm not surprised the victim doesn't want to press charges. I feel so very sorry for her. She's my age now and she's got to live through this horror yet again! Not only did he rape her as a child, but he's tormenting her to this day.

[gates-end.livejournal.com]

"What the HELL is the matter with these people?"

A lack of morality, elitism, self-righteousness...

I am sick of these people!!!!

[fierynotes.livejournal.com]

Aw, come on. Do you really expect me to believe that you're surprised by WOODY FUCKING ALLEN supporting Polanski?

(Heh. Sorry. Someone had to go there. You'd think that Woody Allen would have kept his mouth shut, even if only to avoid unpleasant associations like the one to which I just alluded.)

Polanski seems to have set the internet on fire. All the bigwigs seem to support him. All us "little people" want to lock him up. And while the bigwigs control the media, the internet is full of little people.

I am saddened by that petition, though. I had much more respect for Terry Gilliam before I saw his name on it.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

*snicker* I don't think anyone is surprised by Woody's attitude, considering... well. Everything. But, yeah, you'd think he'd keep his mouth shut and his head down.

Oh well. No one ever said that the denizens of Hollyweird ever had their heads screwed on straight. There's Them, and there's the Rest of Us, and we don't matter because we are not Artistes.

[fierynotes.livejournal.com]

So far, Bill Maher, Neil Gaiman, and Kevin Smith have all stated their disagreement with letting Polanski off the hook. I'm sure there are others, but since there's no online "Throw the book at the bastard" petition (as far as I know), their names are trickling in as their fans become aware of their blog posts, tweets, or what have you.

I happened to see Faux Noise a couple of days ago, at my gym -- and they were discussing Polanski a lot. It felt so weird to want to cheer them, considering how I usually feel about them.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

LUC BESSON is on the list of people who want to throw the book at his head. Considering the fact that I love "The Fifth Element" beyond all reason, this gives me a happy.

Maybe we should start a "Throw the book at the bastard" petition...

ETA: Oh, wait. Someone has. Excellent.

Oh, Terry Gilliam, no.

Seriously, I'm holding onto the faint hope that the people who signed onto this thing really have no clue what he really did. I would rather they were abjectly ignorant than willfully evil.

[foxybrownsgc.livejournal.com]

Didn't he kick ass in this column or what? Dude is a rare breath of fresh air in that cesspool known as LA.

Polanski needs to be hung by his nuts. I am not exaggerating.