Polanski: Celebrities v. everyone else?

Earlier today on Twitter, I wondered aloud why the Roman Polanski thing seemed to be shaping up as a liberal v. conservative issue. Clearly, plying a 13-year-old girl with alcohol and drugs so you can forcibly rape and sodomize her should be something we can all agree is wrong, right?

It appears we are in agreement on that...at least for the most part. According to Christian Toto at Big Hollywood, it appears to be liberal celebrities who seem to harbor moral ambiguity about child rape. And I use the term "celebrity" here in the broadest sense of the term.

• Kim Masters: “Roman Polanski understands women” – starts with her exasperation over the Polanski witch hunt.
• Bernard-Henri Levy: Let’s start a petition in support of Polanski.
• John Farr: Leniency for Polanski.

But HuffPo readers aren’t buying it. And boy, are they angry.

Check out the comments left on each of these essays and you’ll see faithful HuffPo readers aghast that the site could be defending the indefensible.

Here are just a few comments:

“Nope, it’s not a “conspiracy.” Child rape is a crime and Polanski should serve his time- he should have served it long ago instead of trying to pay off his victim”

“I am an California attorney, a confirmed Democrat-liberal and admirer of Mr. Polanski’s talents and those of many who have niavely signed this petition … Mr. Polanski did what he did and no amount of spin or the passage of time can change that. He drugged and raped a child. What don’t you understand about that? Is it O.K. to do that to your daughters? … Shame on you, all of you. You should (and probably do) know better.
“Let’s see these artists sign their names to a petition to excuse the drugging of and forced sex with a 13 year old. Let’s put it bluntly.”

I say "broadest sense of the term" because I've no fucking clue who Masters, Levy and Farr are, but if they're writing for HuffPo - and defending Roman Polanski - I'm guessing they're a collection of failed journalists and/or B-list actors.

In any event, good on HuffPo's readers for having none of this bullshit.

Update: Do these depraved fuckers even know the details of Polanski's case? Or do they believe that art transcends morals and puts them beyond judgment? Once again, Allahpundit at Hot Air says it better than I can.