[lbo-talk] Polanski

[John Thornton]

Dennis Claxton wrote:
> At 02:22 PM 9/30/2009, shrill.polemic at gmail.com wrote:
>
>
>>> John Thornton writes:
>>
>>> "Not exactly. The DA made him a sweetheart deal (maybe because he was
>>> rich and famous?) but that deal was still contingent on the judge 
>>> signing
>>> off on it. The judge looked at the facts in the case and decided not to
>>> do that."
>
>
> Who knows?  Dead men tell no tales and the judge is in the ground.  
> How this thing was adjudicated is a separate topic and I don't think 
> it's any more interesting than talking about the O.J. trial or Monday 
> Night Football.
>
> What struck me about this latest Polanski tale is the fawning and 
> hedging fresponses rom what Doug aptly calls the cultural elite.  It's 
> a curious sight the way they're circling the wagons and downplaying 
> what got their pal into this frying pan in the first place.

This is what I recall reading at the time.
Anyway, even if the judge and DA worked out the deal together it doesn't 
matter.
Plea deals get changed. It happens every day. I know this first-hand.
If Polanski didn't like the changes to the plea arrangement he could do 
what everyone else could do in such a case. Defend themselves.
Apparently some rich white artists don't think they need to do that.
He wasn't being forced to take a plea deal that wasn't to his liking any 
more as can be claimed for many defendants.
Since he had the financial means to defend himself the options open to 
him were greater than that available to most defendants.
His sense of entitlement is obvious here.

The idea that he wouldn't get a fair trial is laughable. Yeah, rich 
white guys never get fair trials in the US!
If that alone is a plausible excuse for running then every minority and 
poor person in the US is equally justified.
I expect everyone who defends Polanski on these grounds is OK with EVERY 
poor person and person of color simply walking out of court tomorrow and 
from here on claiming they cannot get a fair trial and we should just 
let their case drop.
On the same grounds we'll have to release every poor person and person 
of color currently incarcerated.
It is a laughable defense to claim Polanski was being unfairly treated. 
He was being treated with kid gloves but even they were too rough for 
his sensitive artistic temperament. Fuck 'em.

John Thornton