As far as I'm concerned, Roman Polanski can rot in hell.

Not normally the stuff I'd blog about, but a passage from this CNN report has me agape:

"He's a brilliant guy, and he made a little mistake 32 years ago. What a shame for Switzerland," said photographer Otto Weisser, a friend of Polanski.

A little mistake...the same article has the following description of what happened:

Polanski was accused of plying the [13-year old] girl, Samantha Geimer, with champagne and a sliver of a Quaalude tablet and performing various sex acts, including intercourse, with her during a photo shoot at actor Jack Nicholson's house. He was 43 at the time.

These facts are not in dispute, nor is the fact that Polanski fled the country when it became clear he might have to serve real jail time for his "little mistake."

Brilliance, whatever that might mean, is no defense against child rape. Isn't that something we can all agree on?