Insulated from the firestorm, perhaps
Sep. 30th, 2009 02:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bktheirregularI don't hear much about the whole Roman Polanski thing from here in Athens. Maybe it's because there's this snap election coming up, and local idiocy has swamped whatever's coming from France and Switzerland, and the local news from Stateside doesn't penetrate here, anyway.
So what I hear is third- and fourth-hand. And somehow, I can't summon the outrage. Does that make me evil in my own right?
Granted, what Roman Polanski did thirty years ago was sick and wrong and pretty much evil, and if I'd been in the DA's office back then instead of first grade, I probably would have held out for years of hard prison time, instead of offering a plea-bargain that amounted to a slap on the wrist.
That being said ... I can't seem to find the outrage within myself. Don't get me wrong: I'm not asking "why are so many people outraged?" - I'm asking "why am I so 'meh' about it?". Whenever I think about it, I'm drawn to the process of the judicial system - the meat grinder that apparently broke down spectacularly in this case.
It's a bit like the O.J. Simpson case. If I'd been on the jury, I would have voted for a verdict of "not guilty" - not because I believed he didn't do it, but because I believe the state, with its awesome power to deprive a person of his freedom, must be tested every step of the way to make sure that it hasn't just shown that the defendant did it, but that the state itself didn't break the rules of society to demonstrate that.
(Also, I once tried to replicate the thing with the gloves, and I couldn't accomplish it with my own gloves over a pair of surgical gloves, no matter how I contorted my hands. Then again, maybe O.J. bought gloves that fit his hands more snugly than I do. But that's neither here nor there.)
Outrage fatigue, maybe? He committed a grievous act against one person, and he fled the country when it seemed his lenient plea-bargain would be thrown out, instead of staying and accepting the consequences (or demanded his day in court; anyone, no matter what they're accused of, has an absolute right to go to court and insist that the State prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt). But...
...worse things happen all the time. Murders. Mass murders. Bombings. People getting executed by the state for things they didn't do.
Maybe there's only so much energy for outrage before the tank runs dry.
So yeah, extradite Polanski back to the US, have him face a judge (and jury if he so chooses) for the fugitive charge.
Is it OK for me to say I'm sick and tired of the whole thing already?
So what I hear is third- and fourth-hand. And somehow, I can't summon the outrage. Does that make me evil in my own right?
Granted, what Roman Polanski did thirty years ago was sick and wrong and pretty much evil, and if I'd been in the DA's office back then instead of first grade, I probably would have held out for years of hard prison time, instead of offering a plea-bargain that amounted to a slap on the wrist.
That being said ... I can't seem to find the outrage within myself. Don't get me wrong: I'm not asking "why are so many people outraged?" - I'm asking "why am I so 'meh' about it?". Whenever I think about it, I'm drawn to the process of the judicial system - the meat grinder that apparently broke down spectacularly in this case.
It's a bit like the O.J. Simpson case. If I'd been on the jury, I would have voted for a verdict of "not guilty" - not because I believed he didn't do it, but because I believe the state, with its awesome power to deprive a person of his freedom, must be tested every step of the way to make sure that it hasn't just shown that the defendant did it, but that the state itself didn't break the rules of society to demonstrate that.
(Also, I once tried to replicate the thing with the gloves, and I couldn't accomplish it with my own gloves over a pair of surgical gloves, no matter how I contorted my hands. Then again, maybe O.J. bought gloves that fit his hands more snugly than I do. But that's neither here nor there.)
Outrage fatigue, maybe? He committed a grievous act against one person, and he fled the country when it seemed his lenient plea-bargain would be thrown out, instead of staying and accepting the consequences (or demanded his day in court; anyone, no matter what they're accused of, has an absolute right to go to court and insist that the State prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt). But...
...worse things happen all the time. Murders. Mass murders. Bombings. People getting executed by the state for things they didn't do.
Maybe there's only so much energy for outrage before the tank runs dry.
So yeah, extradite Polanski back to the US, have him face a judge (and jury if he so chooses) for the fugitive charge.
Is it OK for me to say I'm sick and tired of the whole thing already?
