I don’t agree with Eugene Robinson on much. But on Roman Polanski and the indignation on the Left (primarily the Left coast) over his potential extradition, he has it exactly right:
Brilliant auteur or no, Polanski has been a fugitive from U.S. justice since 1978. And there was certainly no artistic merit in the crime he acknowledged committing: During a photo shoot at the Los Angeles home of his friend and “Chinatown” star Jack Nicholson, Polanski plied a 13-year-old girl with champagne and drugs and had sex with her.
That is grotesque. In general, I agree with the European view that Americans tend to be prudish and hypocritical about sex. But a grown man drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl? That’s not remotely a close call. It’s wrong in any moral universe — and deserves harsher punishment than three decades of gilded exile. . . .
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a huge deal. Even in France, it should be a big deal. This isn’t about a genius who is being hounded for flouting society’s hidebound conventions. It’s about a rich and powerful man who used his fame and position to assault — in every sense, to violate — an innocent child.
Robinson is immune, it seems, to the new thinking. We are obligated, according to some segment of supposedly sophisticated thinkers, to consider things from the point of the perpetrator, no matter what the crime. The Lockerbie terrorist is sick and dying (well, he says he is), so he gets to die on home soil after a hero’s welcome. (Is this the new rule for all murders?) The overriding concern is neither any “abstract” notion of justice nor the victims’ families. We must prove our “civilized” credentials by extending accommodations to the convicted butcher. That the butcher forfeited his claim on our sensibilities when he killed 270 people seems lost on those, at least in Scotland, who decided there were ”humanitarian” grounds for releasing him. (This supposes, perhaps unwisely, that all this was not subterfuge for a real “blood-for-oil” deal.)
Polanski’s no murderer, but he is a child rapist. Now we are now supposed to feel terribly bad that his life on the lamb might end. How horrid that after so many years this has “come back to haunt him,” his defenders coo. (Well yes, the intervening years were caused solely by Polanski’s flight from the country, but they don’t dwell on that detail.) Once again, the entire moral universe is skewed to the concern about sparing the criminal too much stress.
I suspect that the vast majority of Americans don’t buy into the twisted logic of those who defend Polanski’s desire to escape justice. Indeed, because most ordinary Americans (the Bible clutchers Obama disparaged in the campaign) retain an appreciation of the moral distinction between victim and criminal, they are probably baffled by those who believe we prove our humanity by catering to the whims of criminals. That, of course, is a constant source of irritation and exasperation for many of our cultural elites, who once again may be shocked to learn that their views are anathema to most of their countrymen.
I thought Obama was going to engage and negotiate with Iran? Ha, the Mullahs smell his weakness and know they can get away with this hostage situation. They would have never dreamed of pulling a stunt like this with Bush or Reagan. Change you can believe in.
What’s one American life compared with the prospect of World Peace and Plenty??
I’m certain barry would be willing to sacrifice Michelle, Malia and Sasha if he knew that the result would bring down the Dew of Heaven!
JR223: Just the beginning!
Of course, Obama will get tough on right-wing extremists, Rush Limbaugh, Bush “criminals,” CEOs, evil corporations and other assorted political enemies who oppose his descent into a Leftist Utopia!
#2, I personally believe Obama is acting out a Messianic vision of himself. However, I feel your 2nd sentence is completely over the line.
The real issue is how far do “no-conditions” dialog go? What other conditions could Obama possibly drop?
Clinton is using Arab support to stop Iran as a pressure point on the Israelis to make peace with the Palestinians. That’s a win for the Iranian agenda. Clinton is talking about funding the PA with Hamas ministers. As the primary funder themselves, that is also a win for the Iranian agenda. Obama and Clinton have made little mention of Saberi, abandoning an American citizen to a regime that they are certain can be reasoned with. Taking hostages to be used as a meauring stick for American will power is a central Iranian game. Another win for the Iranian agenda.
It appears that the only condition is that there is absolutely no condition. The American government is sacrificing our core principles, our own standard of who we can reason with, to give A’jad yet another platform. Unlimited access to dialog gives a genocidal maniac the false aura of reasonability on the International stage. Its already a tired line, but another win……
Pacifico was born in Gibraltar, a British possession. He was therefore technically a British subject.
In 1847 Don Pacifico’s home in Athens was vandalised and plundered by an antisemitic mob, which included the sons of a government minister, whilst the police looked on and took no action.[...]
Whig British Foreign Secretary Palmerston, a philhellene and supporter of the Greek War of Independence 1828-1829, took unilateral action in support of Pacifico by sending a Royal Navy squadron into the Aegean in 1850 to seize Greek ships and property equal to the value of Pacifico’s claims.
The squadron eventually blockaded the port of Piraeus, the main port of the capital, Athens.
The blockade lasted two months, and caused great tensions between Britain, on the one hand, and France and Russia, on the other.
…
The affair ended only when the Greek government agreed to compensate Pacifico after Greek ships were seized by the Royal Navy.
…
Palmerston delivered a famous five-hour speech in which he sought to vindicate not only his claims on the Greek government for Don Pacifico, but his entire administration of foreign affairs. “As the Roman, in days of old, held himself free from indignity, when he could say, Civis Romanus sum [I am a Roman citizen], so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him from injustice and wrong.”
Clearly, Saberi is a distraction. Fortunately, one that her Iranian heritage, and media complicity, will keep from being too visible.
- recount of the 20 seconds spent on Saberi at this morning’s Oval Office Security Briefing
It been reported that Saberi is a dual citizen. The position she finds herself in at this time is of her own making. Dual citizens have an allegiance of convenience, and so do I.
#4, Jonas: Let’s assume that Obama doesn’t actively wish Saberi harm. But surely He’s done some contingency planning re what his response should be if she were to die. And it’s a lot easier spin for him than if she survives.
With her death, he could take a pre-approved question at one of his press conferences, and tell us all that her death is a matter of “concern.” He could say that Iran will be held “strictly accountable” for the death. And then slam the door on yet another distraction on his shining path to socialist immortality.
I’m afraid #7 is correct,Ms Saberi is not a perfect symbol to dramatize our failures to halt Iran”s nuclear or terror programs.
“They would have never dreamed of pulling a stunt like this with Bush or Reagan. Change you can believe in”
thye did stuff like this with bush all the time. and clinton. in fact, they do pretty much whatever they want regardless of what is going on in the rest of the world.
this woman is an accused spy. if we caught an iranian spy my guess is we would have them behind bars pretty fast as well
#8, Do I believe Obama is propped up by the media and by the teleprompter? absolutely. Does he dither on every issue to the very last moment? Yes.
Do I know his actual intentions or thoughts about his family or a captured American journalist. no.
However, I essentially agree with you on the point that he is all talk without action. The world understands this now, esp. after the N. Korean launch, and the Pakistan peace agreement with the Taliban. Things are not looking good out there.
This further example of Iran pissing on America, by abducting and holding an American citizen for ransom [an old Persian/Islamic cultural practice to be used while emasculating the unbeliever, and especially the "Great Satan", I'm told] and the “correct” manner in which to deal with it, is something to which the interested reader may find an answer, after a careful perusal of the Jimmy Carter Playbook for Advanced International Negotiations, developed during the administration of that great one-term Presidential failure, specifically for events such as the present imbroglio.
Psst. Wanna make a quick fortune? First, you buys up the entire national supply of Yellow Ribbon, right now.Then, you lease some tree-trunk wrapping premises in a high visibility area and keep watching this space for further directions. Alternately, you stay tuned to your own special Mass Media Outlet for some super-duper deals on still more Roxana-a-Dana Specials, coming soon to an Obama-bama/Zbiggy Discount Warehouse near you.
And, have a nice day!
Obama hasn’t said anything publicly in recent days, has he? And let’s keep in mind there are 3 Americans being held hostage by rogue regimes- two of them are in prison in North Korea.
“thye did stuff like this with bush all the time.”
Yesh, but they also freed them and didn’t put them in jail for eight years.
Hmm. Saberi alive or Ahmadinejad dead. American citizenship has come to mean nothing? Dual or not?
rot in jail neo con!!