…and fails to disclose that her husband is lobbying for his release.
In 1977, 44-year-old movie director Roman Polanski pled guilty to raping a drunk and drugged 13-year-old girl. After plea-bargaining the drug/rape/sodomy charges down to unlawful sexual conduct with a child under 14 and serving 42 days for the evaluation period, Polanski fled to England, then France, to avoid extradition. He’d been on the run ever since. Until September 26. Polanski was arrested in Switzerland.
Anne Applebaum, Washington Post columnist, defended the child rapist, writing that he “can be blamed, it is true, for his original, panicky decision to flee. But for this decision I see mitigating circumstances, not least an understandable fear of irrational punishment. Polanski’s mother died in Auschwitz. His father survived Mauthausen. He himself survived the Krakow ghetto, and later emigrated from communist Poland. His pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered in 1969 by the followers of Charles Manson, though for a time Polanski himself was a suspect.”
Got it? That Polanski and his family were in concentration camps and his wife was murdered are “mitigating circumstances” to his avoiding serving time for drugging and violating an intoxicated child. This was a column Applebaum should have written just to get it off her chest, then deleted. I’ve done the same many times myself.
Blogger Patterico found out that Applebaum’s husband, Radoslaw Sikorski, is a Polish politician who’s lobbying for the dismissal of Polanski’s case, and Applebaum failed to disclose this fact.
Uncovering this kind of thing is one of the reasons people blog. Back in the day, you had to find undisclosed conflicts of interest going through hard-copy documents (if you lacked personal knowledge), then calling the newspaper and/or sending a letter to the editor. Nowadays, a few minutes on Google and a blog will do.
Addendum: In a child rapist’s defense, Applebaum said it’s possible Polanski didn’t know the victim’s real age. Not likely, since he had to obtain the mother’s permission for the so-called photo shoot. Forgot to mention that part, and was reminded reading Hot Air.
Check out Polanski’s grand jury testimony.
