Feminist Majority Foundation Founder on Polanski: "It's bad a person was raped. But…"

LA Times asks, "In Roman Polanski case, is it Hollywood vs. Middle America?" The answer? Yup. Or more precisely, as Matt Welch notes below, it's almost everyone against folks in Hollywood:

"My personal thoughts are let the guy go," said Peg Yorkin, founder of the Feminist Majority Foundation. "It's bad a person was raped. But that was so many years ago. The guy has been through so much in his life. It's crazy to arrest him now. Let it go. The government could spend its money on other things."

Whole thing here. Jeebus H. Christ! What else can you say?

Hat tip: Andy Levy

French director Luc Besson is among those who respect the rule of law:

"There is one justice, and that should be the same for everyone. I will let justice happen." He added, , "I don't have any opinion on this, but I have a daughter, 13 years old. And if she was violated, nothing would be the same, even 30 years later."

The French government has also apparently backed off their calls of support for Polanski, saying that the admitted sex offender is "neither above nor beneath the law."

Comments

[OO=======D]

Hey Peg,

Got any minor daughters? If so, I'd love to fuck them.

[Matthew]

OT - don't like the new graphics.

Why??

[bonze]

Uh-oh, looks like Reason has fallen victim to the Change Mantra!

[Tomcat1066]

They're actually hopeful that the change will be well received.

Now, they're batting two for two. Hope AND change! How about them apples!

[JB]

I'd say Peg deserves the rape, not her daughters. No one says you actually have to touch her...that's what brooms are for.

[Kramer]

There was a war on. It was a crazy time for everybody.

[Solanum]

"Hat tip: Andy Levy"

What the hell, SF. Are you slacking?

[Isaac Bartram]

More than 100 industry leaders and prominent authors -- including...Woody Allen...

OOkay....

[Art-P.O.G.]

Good catch. Now if only R. Kelly would come out in support.

[John Thacker]

Me? I need to know Phil Spector's position.

[The Extispicator]

Classic feminists, always with their cavalier "rape, schmape" attitude.

[ClubMedSux]

I guess one way to keep women from being seen as victims is to no longer recognize 13-year-olds who are raped as victims.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

Besson could also teach Polanski a few things about making money in the movie business.

[aelhues]

I'm sorry, but why should I care what he's been through in the years that have passed while he has avoided justice? If hardships he has experienced aren't explicitly punishments for this crime, then they have no bearing.

If some shitbag managed to get my underage daughter in this situation, and then avoided justice, he'd likely end up dead.

Whether it's been 30 years of 30 minutes, he needs to be tried for his crime. Those in hollywood and other places that think this really wasn't a big deal, need to have their heads examined.

[kinnath]

He plead guilt, so has been tried. He needs to be sentenced for the crime he plead to.

Also, there is the pesky problem of the new crimes he committed by fleeing the jurisdiciton to avoid sentencing.

[Natalia M]

Aa a vicitm of incest 30 minutes can feel like 30 years! I was a victim of rape, my abuser has since gone through some severe personal hardships and none of his grievances makes up for what hardships he put me through!

Anyone who thinks a long lapse of time makes his actions ok needs to stop and think of someone they know who has been raped. Did a large lapse of time make them feel ok about what happened to them?

It is sad that his fame and reputation are viewed as reasons for him not to be punished for this crime! Honestly, if he has done this once the chances are that he has done it again!

[Xeones]

Shut the fuck up, Peg Yorkin.

[John Tagliaferro]

It never ends with the batshit attic of the feminist house.

[Spoonman]

Goddamn. He raped a child. Fuck.

[Lester HUnt]

Peg Yorkin is very much a Hollywood person. That's probably what that's about.

[kevrob]

I've take shots at RP in the past, as I think the crime of drugging Samantha Geimer and then using her as a sex toy is a pretty ugly one. What has me wondering if I should change my mind is the public declaration by his now-grown victim that she would like to see the whole contretemps over with, and doesn't have a problem with Polanski going free.

If our legal system were more libertarian, and prosecutions depended, as do civil suits, on the initiative of those wronged, that would be a perfectly fine end to the whole mess. As it is, RP's "real crime," in the eyes of the State of California, is that he fled, putting himself outside the reach of the "sovereign power." The dignity of the court system was injured, and judges, prosecutors and other gubmint employees don't take kindly to their authority and majesty being flouted like that. The pros in that line of work will make Prof. Kingsfieldish speeches about respecting the process of the law, but that's not the same thing as achieving a just result in any particular case.

Kevin

(What, no preview function any more?)

[mitch]

Crimes like rape aren't just against the rape victim, but against "the people."

Besides, the victim's attitude is the kind of thing to be brought up at a trial. The trial is already over, Polanski fled after he plead guilty.

[kevrob]

Crimes like rape aren't just against the rape victim, but against "the people." - mitch

I understand that's the present theory. I'm just woolgathering as to whether that's how they ought to be treated. In some cases, especially those of homicide victims who left no freinds nor family interested enough to stand as the aggrieved party, some instrumentality would have to pick up that banner. It needn't be the state. A society to defend the friendless could emerge, either as a profitable concern or as a non-profit. Their could be a role for insurance companies, too.

The UK has a tradition of private prosecution, not much used anymore, but still extant, IMS.

Certainly, at the time of SG's violation, she wouldn't have been considered competent to decide whether RP should be charged or not, nor would any other 13-year-old. I could easily see a kid's parent or guardian pressing the charges on her behalf, with the possibility of a case dragging on until the "victim" reaches majority, at which point she could demand the court recognize her as the decision-maker for her side.

[Dude! I was so going up the river for statutory, `til my girlfriend turned 18 and got the charges dropped! Her ol' man is pissed, but what can he do?!]

Kevin

[Hobo Chang Ba]

Kevrob, the problem with basing punishment on the victim reaching an acceptable civil agreement and desiring to have the charges dropped is that it puts a rapist back out in society unpunished and puts the rest of society at increased risk for a repeat offense. A billionaire could keep raping victims and then paying them off with his extra millions and avoid jail. This is bad for his potential future victims. Justice should be blind to certain features, including the victim's willingness to forgive.

[guy in the back row]

If our legal system were more libertarian, and prosecutions depended, as do civil suits, on the initiative of those wronged, that would be a perfectly fine end to the whole mess.

Would that make it open season on shy orphans who are of age? If no one complains about their murder then their murderer gets to go free?

[guy in the back row]

OK, next time I will read down and see the other posts saying the same thing I was thinking.

carry on.

[kevrob]

See my post @ 2:57 p.m, upthread.

I'm not sold on a return to a "bronze age" legal system, just blue-skying. I will confess that "crimes against society/the state" seems like less a libertarian standard than "this crime against this/these person(s)."

Kevin

[Brian E]

It doesn't work like that. In absence of an impartial system of justice, if I think you're going around raping 13-year-old girls, I'm probably just going to strangle you to death to stop you from raping my daughter. If victims acquiesce to the crimes perpetrated against them, innocent bystanders will exact a much worse form of justice to protect themselves.

[Hobo Chang Ba]

It's not so much about "crimes against society/the state" as the need to separate the feelings of the victim from the requirement for punishment. For instance, what of a victim that has been abducted and brainwashed to accept their abductor's rape and abuse? The victim may be brainwashed into a Stockholm syndrome where they love their captor so much that they do not want them prosecuted. That doesn't mean the abductor should be allowed to stay on the streets potentially looking for other victims, just because the victim does not seek punitive justice.

For the record, I think sentencing for child molestation is totally bunk, considering a child molester is likely to get less years than a weed dealer due to mandatory minimums. Child rapists should be put away for a long time, and I wouldn't be upset at all if Polanski rotted away in jail and never made a movie again.

[MJ]

It would also make extorting the victim (or whomever represents the victim's interests) for leniency an effective tactic.

[John Tagliaferro]

Preview has been gone for hours, man. It's outtahere!

[J sub D]

"If our legal system were more libertarian, and prosecutions depended, as do civil suits, on the initiative of those wronged, that would be a perfectly fine end to the whole mess. "

And we could murder the homeless with impunity. Have sex with Alzheimers victims too. Whoo Hoo!

[*]

Have sex with Alzheimers victims too. Whoo Hoo!

Isn't that just like a man - always after the brainless sluts with big, saggy boobs. 😉

[Tacos mmm...]

If our legal system were more libertarian, and prosecutions depended, as do civil suits, on the initiative of those wronged, that would be a perfectly fine end to the whole mess.

This is not a "libertarian legal system;" it's a bronze-age legal system that worked (somewhat) because of the family/tribal organiziation of the societies that used it.

I would not advocate returning to a system where those without social networks or mental capacity are not afforded justice.

[Russ 2000]

In actual practice, those without social networks nor mental capacity, nor deep pockets, aren't afforded much justice in the present system. Especially the mental capacity part - jails have become our modern sanitariums.

[Brian E]

Dude fled before sentencing. Regardless of whether the victim of the original crime is willing to forgive and forget, the crime he committed in fleeing from the justice system needs to be punished harshly, because there are many victims.

[Hazel Meade]

If our legal system depended on the initiative of those wrongs, Polanski would have been in jail many years ago. She didn't give up trying to get justice until 30 years and a civil suit later.

[thread]

My reaction was the same until I heard the transcript. Then I added my neices, friends daughters and just about any teenage kid I knew. Good luck prosecuting any dad that would put a bullet in this guys head.

I'm not shocked often. But I had a hard time anyone would want to let him off for doing this to an adult. But a 13 year old. Bastard anally raped a junior high kid. Do these people not grasp that?

[@]

"The guy has been through so much in his life. It's crazy to arrest him now. Let it go."

Does the same thing go for Nazi war criminals?*

*First Godwin of the New H&R?

[B.P.]

I'd be curious to know if the Feminist Majority Foundation, in spite of its name, a major player in the feminist world a smaller fish.

It will be interesting to see if NOW and others give Peg's comment a smack down.

[dbcooper]

According to the wikipedia they publish Ms. magazine. They have the domain feminist.org.

Can we get some formatting buttons?

[mitch]

Feminist Majority Foundation is big; Wikipedia says, "The FMF was founded in 1987 by Eleanor Smeal, who served three terms with the National Organization for Women before founding the FMF. The FMF, an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 501(c)(3) tax deductible, non-profit organization, is a research and education organization and the publisher of Ms. magazine."

[Death Panelist]

"Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion," [Harvey] Weinstein said. "We were the people who did the fundraising telethon for the victims of 9/11. We were there for the victims of Katrina and any world catastrophe."

So the telethons were celebrities soliciting donations solely from other celebrities? Because, if not, the rest of America gets a little credit for any success of that fundraising and thus, a credible moral compass of its own.

[Art-P.O.G.]

"Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion," [Citation Needed]

[Tomcat1066]

Oh come on! You know Hollywood has the best moral compass on Earth. That's why they have all the exact same vices, only in larger quantities, as good old "middle America"...so they know where the morals are.

Usually behind them, but still...

[Roman Polanski]

You all suffer from Triskaidekaphilia.

Grow up!

[Tulpa]

The French government has also apparently backed off their calls of support for Polanski

You can always count on those cheese-eating surrender monkeys lemurs to back down!

[Cheese-eating surrender monkey]

I fart in your general direction.

[dbcooper]

Will the Republicans use this to smear Democrat politicians who have had visible support from these celebs (those who have supported Polanski)?

[John Tagliaferro]

Does this mean that since the Roe v. Wade oman has changed her mind the Femanazis are going to be pro-life?

[Tulpa]

What? No more strike tag? That cuts my forum comedy material in half. At least.

[Bubba]

I feel your pain.

[J sub D]

I've been writing "The War on [s]Drugs[/s] Sanity/Youth/Liberty/Brown People/Human Nature for years here.

I claim squatter's right and demand that strikethru be restored.

[CaptainSmartass]

Does <s> work?

[CaptainSmartass]

I guess so. Just use <s> and </s> to do your strikethroughs.

[Old Mexican]

"It's bad a person was raped. But that was so many years ago. The guy has been through so much in his life."

This is a clear example of the Feminists' wobbly ethical base - on one hand, all men are dirty, chauvinist, patriarchal pigs - they all rape women, one way or the other; on the other hand, those men we happen to like are not those things.

This means that Feminists are like any other ideological group, in that when it comes to protecting their ideological equals, they suspend any semblance of philosophical consistency.

[Hazel Meade]

I'd have to argue that at this point, there is very little that is genuinely "feminist" about any of the major feminist political groups. They are just parts of the Democratic Party political machine.
Comments like this just make it mroe clear - it's not about protecting women. It's about protecting "your own" - members of the political class you belong to and it's social milieu.

[Michael Ejercito]

"Feminists" hyave little credibility these days.

[JB]

That's why I lose lots of respect for any women that label themselves 'feminist'.

At the worst they are guilty of being stupid for not realizing what a bunch of nutjobs they are grouping themselves with.

[JB]

argh...At the LEAST

"Does this mean that since the Roe v. Wade oman has changed her mind the Femanazis are going to be pro-life?"

It would stand to reason.

[Lord Jubjub]

Actor Peter Fonda said he thought "celebrating the arrest of Osama bin Laden and not the arrest of Polanski" was far more important.

If and when Osama bin Laden shows up for an award at a Zurich film festival, he should likewise be arrested.

[Peg Yorkin]

If and when Osama bin Laden shows up for an award at a Zurich film festival, he should likewise be arrested.

Really? 9/11 was so long ago. It's bad people got blowed up. But...

[J sub D]

And look at all Osama gone through. Living in caves, relocating to Pakistan in the dead of night ...

Give the poor guy a break, he's suffered enough.

[PC]

9/11? Was he charge for that? If he was caught wouldn't the justification be the embassy bombings if it was done through the legal system (extradition) method. Militarily they'd probably just ship him over here no questions asked.

[PC]

Well actually Bin Laden should go free just like Polanski, I mean I saw a documentary about 9/11 that said Bin Laden didn't do it, so that obviously means he should go free. Are not documentaries the deciding factor on jail or no jail?

[John Tagliaferro]

Release him in Brooklyn with a sign around his neck, where his remaining parts will be paraded in the streets. Not Del Ray, VA where he will get a parade.

[reply to this]

What else can you say?

Rapist-For-Hire Wanted
Must be able to work in presence of feminist.

reply to this

[Tman]

That Weinstein quote was a classic. Moral Compass?

Really Harvey? The day we need to rely on Hollywood for bearings on our moral compass is the day that civil society will cease to exist.

Pretty messed up that Peg said this. You would think from the feminist perspective this would be a no-brainer.

Pretty dam amazing it isn't.

[Spread This]

Michael Deacon of the Telegraph has unearthed a wonderful little quotation from an interview Roman Polanski gave to Martin Amis in Tatler in 1979, one that, along with the original grand jury testimony, should be spread far and wide:

"If I had killed somebody, it wouldn't have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But? f?ing, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f? young girls. Juries want to f? young girls. Everyone wants to f? young girls!"

Do you girls get the girls impression that girls the only thing girls on his girls mind is, well, girls? (And young ones at that.)

[Pro Libertate]

There are people who'd demand that we free bin Laden if we caught him. Assuming he's alive or at least undead. Some of the same people who think that raping a 13-year old is okay. Hey, she got over it. She says.

[R C Dean]

Polanski getting arrested has provided me with more entertainment and amusement than all of his movies combined.

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah, this is some of his best work. But Chinatown was a fine film. Lots of actors and stuff. And at least the underage sex in that film was merely incestuous and not of the drug-and-rape variety. That's what Woody Allen told me, anyway.

[Les]

Hey, Woody never had sex with an underage girl. Leave that brilliant, neurotic Jew out of this.

[Pro Libertate]

I like his earlier, funnier movies.

[Roman Polanski]

Who wouldn't hit this???

http://www.zimbio.com/Samantha.....res+Photos

[0boy blows]

Uh oh, there's a pretty picture of little Malia on there too! I know we're bitter enemies and everything, Mr. President, but take some advice: keep those cute little girls of yours away from your Hollywood constituents. You never know what they might do to them. Just sayin'.

http://www.heebmagazine.com/po.....en_746.jpg

[Pro Libertate]

Jesus. She looks like. . .a 13-year old girl. What a sick fuck.

[smartass sob]

To me she looks more like 14 or 15...but even if she was, he's still a sick fuck.

[Mister DNA]

No shit. It's not like he could use the "But judge, she told me she was 15" defense.

[P]

Excellent use of the passive voice on Peg's part. "A person was raped.", like it's just some unfortunate random thing that happens from time to time, with no one really to blame.

[Passivist]

"Mistakes were made."

[Meta4]

"Jesus. She looks like. . .a 13-year old girl. What a sick fuck."

It helps to have visual aids, no?

I agree, what a sick fuck.

[R C Dean]

I certainly hope that word gets out to the Ms community about Yorkin's attitude on this. Having sown, I have the feeling she will reap the whirlwind.

[already happening]

Dear Feminist Majority,

When your founder goes on record and says,

"My personal thoughts are let the guy go. It's bad a person was raped.
But that was so many years ago. The guy has been through so much in
his life. It's crazy to arrest him now. Let it go. The government
could spend its money on other things."

you make a mockery of EVERYTHING feminists have and should stand for.
Roman Polanski, a child rapist, being defended by a "feminist"
organization? What in the hell is Ms. Yorkin thinking?

You are neither feminist nor do you speak for any sort of majority of women.

I am angry, appalled, and disgusted. In the future I'll be sure to
avoid anything having to do with your organization.

Sincerely,
A real woman

[Peg Yorkin]

"I certainly hope that word gets out to the Ms community about Yorkin's attitude on this. Having sown, I have the feeling she will reap the whirlwind"

Bullshit. You don't flash an over the shoulder, school girl, cum hither look like that unless you want some expert cock.

[Jeffersonian]

Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who.

[Zombie Ted Kennedy]

What's the big fucking deal, it's not like the bitch died or anything.

[Pro Libertate]

Here I am, imposing my bourgeois morals on people again.

[JW]

Doubtful. The left (and right as well) is all too forgiving about "their bastards." See William Jefferson Clinton, Edward Kennedy, Charles Rangel, et al....

[JW]

Hit "submit" too soon....hmm, kinky [ /zap brannigan]

I suspect that if Fatty Arbuckle were part of the Hollywood elite, he would have been given a pass today too.

[J sub D]

Fatty was never found guilty of nor pled guilty to anything. The accusations, three trials(two hung jurys and an acquittal) ended his career.

[Biersal]

How was the Fatty Arbuckle situation analagous to Polanski or even Clinton, Kenedy or Rangel? I think I missed the joke.

Fatty Arbuckle was eventually acquitted...the jury even issued a statment saying "Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him ... there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime."

[P Brooks]

"Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion," [Harvey] Weinstein said.

Yup.

(There's really not much else to say.)

[Pro Libertate]

Make that "scumpassion" or "dumbpassion", and that might make sense.

[Johnny Longtorso]

I thought Arbuckle was actually innocent.

[JW]

OK, bad example, but you get the drift.

I'm at a loss, right now, to think of another Hollywood insider who got the "look the other way" treatment.

[P Brooks]

Rock Hudson?

[JW]

"Hollywood has the best moral compass, because it has compassion," [Harvey] Weinstein said.

Really, it's the thought that counts.

Caring is the important part. Doing? Meh, notsomuch.

[JW]

Rock Hudson?

Who'd he rape?

[KateC]

If so, how does Peg Yorkin feel about prosecuting Nazis? So long ago.

[KateC]

If so, how does Peg Yorkin feel about prosecuting Nazis? So long ago.

[SusanM]

Let's all remember this insane episode the next time some sanctimonious Hollywood star starts moralizing. It is a sad sign of our times that this is even an issue.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, Bush never drugged and raped young girls.

[JW]

This would have never happened if a Democrat was in the White House.

[Sam Grove]

It seems these Polanski apologists perceive him as a fellow "progressive".

Worked for bill Clinton.

[Crazy Pills]

I'm sure if Michael Vick killed a dog 30 years ago people would still think he was an animal. It's sick that many people have more compassion for animals than humans.

[Nick]

Holy shit, am I really able to finally post? If this only works at home and not at work, I really need the old site back. I can't go through my entire day doing my mindless job. Seriously.

[Seward]

Hollywood has no moral compass; if they did they would make more movies - amongst other things - about the horrors of Communism.

[John C. Randolph]

Well, there was The Lord of the Rings, which was a great bit of anti-communist allegory.

Of course, that had to be done in New Zealand, but still.

-jcr

[Hazel Meade]

I recall hearing the Samantha Geimer's weight problem developed as a result of the rape. Don't have time to investigate at the moment.
One of the reasons she wants it to go away, probability. Her grand jury testimony suggests it: "I was upset with myself so I started eating."

[John C. Randolph]

Let us remember this as the day when the "feminist" movement abandoned all pretense of being for women's rights.

-jcr

[Michael Ejercito]

Yes.

[Tulpa]

That happened a long time ago. Remember that one time in 1998 that male executive penetrated a female intern in the workplace and got a free pass from the feminist outrage-industrial complex.

[Brave_Odysseus]

Good Bob, where'd all the social conservatives come from? Have I been surreptitiously redirected to Focus on The Family or some such? Sheesh ...

[Dear Cowardly Greek Leftard:]

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?!?

Sincerely,
Everyone else.

[Pro Libertate]

So the subduing and rape of 13-year old girls is a socially conservative position? Well, okay, if you say so. Damned social conservatives and their bourgeois morality!

[Deet]

Why Sir,

In the highly sophisticated world of drugging and anally raping children, your views are outright neanderthalic.

[Roman Polanski]

That chick was just playing hard to get. Everyone knows that when a drugged 13 year old says "no", what she really means is "Yes! Harder! In the Ass!"