--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_re...@...> wrote: <snip> Several of the prosecutors in the > case, in the years since, have gone on the public > record saying that *after* the deal was agreed to > they were actively lobbying the judge to do just > this.
I could be wrong, but I believe only one former prosecutor has said he lobbied the judge. At any rate, only one of them has played any kind of major role in this regard. It was a former prosecutor (who was not actually on the Polanski case) who claimed in a pro-Polanski documentary released last year that he had lobbied the judge. This claim is what inspired Polanski to insist that his lawyers file for a dismissal (which, in turn, is most likely what drove the current prosecutor to make a new effort to have Polanski arrested). Turns out the former prosecutor has just admitted he lied in the documentary; he did not lobby the judge after all, a big setback for Polanski. (Hilariously, Barry posted a piece from HuffPo describing the former prosecutor's admission, but he misread it so badly he thought it was an admission of misconduct in the case itself.) Barry has claimed in another post, BTW, that the judge in the case had admitted to committing "misconduct" as well. That appears not to be true; the judge acknowledged that *there was misconduct*, but I can't find him quoted anywhere as saying it was *his* misconduct (as opposed to that of the legal teams). <snip> > What I can blame him for is the original act, and > I do. But that doesn't excuse this travesty of > justice. The few posts that have been made here > about Americans and their tendency to take their > "dark side" out on celebrities are all Right On. > Americans just *can't wait* for someone they have > placed on a pedestal to fall, so they can take > their everpresent anger out on them. Polanski > was just the "scapegoat du jour." This is just silly. First of all, it's not just Americans who think Polanski should be extradited; a majority of the French do as well. Second, celebrity crimes get lots of public attention because *celebrities* get lots of public attention. People become just as exercised over the crimes of nonentities when some feature of their cases makes the news. There's no indication I'm aware of that people get angrier at celebrities than at anybody else whose crimes come to their attention. Typically, what people *do* get very angry at is when celebrities accused or convicted of a crime appear to receive more lenient treatment than nonentities, which is all too frequently the case. This is a major factor in the Polanski controversy, of course. Barry claims he got *less* lenient treatment, but that doesn't justify his fleeing the U.S. to avoid having to serve any jail time beyond the 42 days he was imprisoned for psychiatric evaluation. That he's been swanning around the world free as a bird, living the high life, for 30 years after having raped a child doesn't sit well with people, no matter what kinds of misbehavior occurred on the prosecution side. Most people don't want "revenge," they want to see fairness. This case is so complicated and so unsavory that it's hard to know exactly what would constitute fairness to Polanski. That's why you see the very wide range of opinions on the issue. <snip> > And, as reported by the AP, > it seems they have blackmailed Switzerland to > arrest Polanski and send him back to the US in > exchange for "going light" on Swiss bank UBS, > which they were investigating for hiding money > to enable Americans to not pay taxes on it. Actually, what it "seems" is that AP accidentally released an internal memo in which its reporters were *speculating* that Switzerland was trying to curry favor with the U.S. in connection with the UBS case. But there's no evidence for this, and the Swiss Ministry of Justice has vehemently denied it. > It's all politics, it's all *dirty* politics, > and IMO it all reflects the true Protestant nature > of the United States Of Hypocrisy. "The things > these people did were bad, 'sins,' so we should > torture them until they see God the way we do." Once again Barry's sociopathy stands out. > And the amazing thing to me is to see the fervor > and the *perversion* with which many long-term > TMers join in the blood frenzy and the desire for > revenge. I'm sorry, but that's barely human, much > less spiritual. "Revenge" isn't the issue. Fairness and deterrence are the issues. <snip> > They're not being "spiritual" or "moral" or caring > about the "child." That's right, it's not about "the child." It's about *children in general* and doing whatever can be done to protect them from sexual predators. They're in it for the revenge > fantasies. They're GETTING OFF on fucking Roman > Polanski in the ass, just as he did with the girl. For Barry, being held accountable for the crime of rape is the same as *being* raped. Sociopathic. There's no other word for it. > The difference is that he was stoned, and they're > pretending to not only be better than he is, but > "spiritual." But for Sal and Alex, both former TMers, it's absolutely OK to want Polanski to pay a penalty for raping a child. Nobody, of course, is suggesting that their stance toward Polanski is "spiritual"--except Barry. Nor is anyone suggesting that they're better than anyone else--except Barry. > The whole phenomenon makes me want to spit. Too bad the wind's blowing toward you.
