Monday, October 05, 2009

Some very simple ethics...

There is one basic physical crime against another's person: Assault.

This can be further subdivided into two specific charges: Physical assault that causes the other person's death, which we give the high-falutin' Latin name "homicide", and physical assault that doesn't do so.

A subcategory of the second kind is assault of the type, involving the sexual organs, which we call "rape".

Now, generally speaking, we recognize some possible rationales for these kinds of physical assault. For instance, there is the "self-defense" claim, in which it is claimed that the final victim was trying to do That Thing to the perpetrator first. To wit: "He tried to kill me, so I killed him before he could do so," or "She punched me in the nose, so I punched her back."

Then there is the defense of "It was an accident." For instance, "I was driving along in my car when she ran out in front of me," and "I was going for the slam-dunk and I didn't mean to hit him in the throat with my elbow there under the net."

Lastly, there is the claim of "I was just frickin' crazy and didn't know Right from Wrong," where the perp's excuse is "I was just frickin' crazy and didn't know Right from Wrong."

In the first and second incidences, we realize that there were mitigating circumstances. In the third, we realize (or used to) that the perpetrator is as crazy as a rabid dog and warehouse them away from normal people or dispose of them dispassionately.

Rape is an unusual type of physical assault in that it is hard to claim either of the first two mitigating circumstances: Both self-defense ("The altar boy was coming right for me!") and accident ("I tripped and fell on top of her and my you-know-what accidentally landed you-know-where") ring pretty hollow as defenses, and that leaves only the third excuse, the one where we realize that the perpetrator is as crazy as a rabid dog and warehouse them away from normal people or dispose of them dispassionately.

Watching people who should damned well know better reach for one of these excuses to cover one of their own is positively sick-making.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said. There is nothing wrong with a rapist that a .45 round (dear as they are these days) cannot fix.

Jim

Crucis said...

The support for Polanski by the Hollywood illuminati is an example of why we should ignore these elites and their sources of livelihood.

Perhaps if they had to experience similar incidences like the rest of us, they'd learn---nah, they'd never learn.

I remember a comment of my late Uncle when discussing rape. "Get a rope. He'll never rape again." A great disservice was made when rape was not considered tp be a capital crime.

Jeff the Baptist said...

high-falutin' Greek name "homicide"

*cough cough* Latin *cough cough*

Tam said...

D'oh! Fixed.

Do not compose a post while half-awake, then drive across town and attempt to type it out from memory, while engaged in conversation.

I'm happy as dammit that it was semi-coherent. :o

Marja said...

I never paid much attention to this before, mostly because nobody in the local press did. The fact that he left USA because of rape charges was usually mentioned in stories about him, but the impression was sorta that it was one of those cases where a guy gets drunk, has what he thinks was consensual sex with somebody he thought was old enough (maybe because she lied her age) only to later find out that she was underage, which, I think, is kind of forgivable, as people do make mistakes. But what I have read now - he knew the girl's age, he drugged her and she asked him to stop and he didn't - that's just sick. He really should hang. Or at least go to jail. There can be no excuse for that kind of behavior.

So one more nail to the coffin of my confidence on what gets told in the press.

cma said...

Crucis said...
"I remember a comment of my late Uncle when discussing rape. "Get a rope. He'll never rape again." A great disservice was made when rape was not considered tp be a capital crime."

Not as long as there are 'victims' like Crystal Gail Mangum (the one one in the Duke lacrosse case), and prosecutors like Mike Nifong.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, and it wasn't like she was 17-18 (and, cough, well developed) and begging for a chance to be with the great man, or anything that might be remotely considered a greyish area.

Nevermind that arresting him for that specific crime, was a little like convicting Bernie Madoff for pick-pocketing (assuming that had happened) true, but only the tip of the iceberg.

Wasn't Polanski "an item" with Natassja Kinski when she was oh, 15 or so? I suppose she looked younger.

Midwest Chick said...

My understanding is that Polanski took up with Kinski right after he took it on the lam to avoid sentencing for the rape he admitted to committing. In many places 15 is still statutory so to me that shows a predilection towards pedophilia.

Anonymous said...

The bastard had the gall to admit it and leave the country to avoid punishment.

Send him to Texas. Let them show him their...electrifying hospitality.

Anonymous said...

Wait, "the people that should know better"?

You count the feminists in that group? Sarcasm, right?

Shootin' Buddy

Wolfwood said...

It's easy if you don't care about the victims. Treating people as things is common in society and leads to all sort of overcliched-yet-still-true things like slavery and genocide and more mundane things like broken contracts.

To me, the more interesting question is to what degree is Polanski simply a sociopath by nature and to what degree does it reflect the values he's learned during his life? Him simply being crazy as eights versus him seeing others as untermenschen tells us very different things about our own society.

WV: aughantl = the Aztec licensee for Steyr's rifles

NotClauswitz said...

Agewise 13 is way-different than 15, and much more different than 17-18, so much in the way that Junior High is closer to Grade-School, and much mo' different than High School. Slipping a Quaalude to sonomubulize a 13yr. old so that ass-rape can proceed with the tip of his fudgy manliness - hey, maybe Madoff has conveniently dropped the soap too.
It's a good thing some people remain anonymous.

Anonymous said...

A very long time ago I read that a Central European culture had a unique way of handling rapists. They would strip the perp and tie him foot, waist and hands above his head to a post in a barn. They would then place a newborn calf at his feet and walk away.

Those of you who grew up on farms understand that if he survived he would no longer have any use for a woman--or they for him.

WV: ouncer. Yeah, that is about the weight of what might be left.

cap'n chumbucket

Linoge said...

["liberal"]But you forget the most important thing - rapists are just victims of society, and thus cannot be held responsible or accountable for their actions. Instead, we should seek to understand them, and help them, and guide them to being better people, even if it means the occasional slip-up on their part. [/"liberal"]

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go take a shower, to get all of that filth of me.

This scumbag committed rape, he knew it, he admitted to it, and he successfully evaded punishment for the past few decades. To say he has some catching-up to do would be putting it very mildly.

Windy Wilson said...

Marja, that is exactly the impression I got from the media all those many years ago. Without the benefit of the internet, that is all we'd have today, too.

As to Actors knowing better, they claim to know better, and were very vocal in a precisely inverse way to what they say now when it was Catholic Priests and Boy Scout leaders in Polanski's position.

How good of Woody Allen and Whoopi Goldberg to be so supportive and understanding of Father Polanski as he tries to rise above this mistake and get on with his life.
[/sarcasm]

og said...

Succinct, clear, and true. Should be printed and laminated to the bench of every judge in the country, because it seems a few have forgotten. And maybe inked on Polanski's member. If it's not big enough, which I suspect is true, a clothes wringer will flatten and expand it so it is.

Robert McDonald said...

"Well said. There is nothing wrong with a rapist that a .45 round (dear as they are these days) cannot fix."

Ditto.

r said...

I believe all rapists deserve a Fair Trial and a First-Class Hangin'.

Immediately and Publicly. For the encouragement of others, you know.

Unknown said...

When the subject of rape comes up, all you responsible gun owners go wild with tough talk about justified retribution. Why is that? I thought you guys believe in innocent until proven guilty, constitutionally protected rights and all that? It doesn't sound like it here. Is rape just too distasteful for you to consider that like in any crime, the offender has rights too.

And where do you draw the line? All rapists, regardless of the particulars, get capital punishment. Is that the idea? All murderers too? Are there no mitigating circumstances allowed? Do you all think it's as simple as Tam described in the post?

Why do you guys have such a deep need for things to be either black or white, either good or bad? There's an entire spectrum of possibilities even when talking about rape. Justice would be to investigate them, consider everything dispassionately and strive to render an appropriate sentence.

SpeakerTweaker said...

I apologize in advance for the following multiple expletives:

Unbelievable. "...so much has happened to him since then..."? Really? Not a one of these liberal fucks has gone on the record with so much as a Goddamned whisper of what's happened to her. When are they gonna talk about her being brutalized instead of minimizing it as an unfortunate thing that happened long ago? When are they gonna show some fucking concern for how she's fared since her violent, repeated sexual assault, or how long it took that poor girl to sort through the rest of her skewed childhood (or if she ever did)?

Fuck Polanski, fuck every shit-stain that's calling for his release, fuck Hollywood. Fuck the lot of 'em. May they all die in a fire. Every last one.

I have a six-year-old daughter. If some fucktard did to my kid what Polanski did to that poor girl and then skipped town after confessing and before sentencing, I'd have been locked up in some Frog Prison years ago.

Yes, it makes me sick, but it angers me ever so much more. Sorry for ventilating here.



tweaker

Caleb said...

That whistling noise you're hearing mike was the sound of the point going over your head.

Again.

randy said...

mikeb302000, I at least, do believe in innocent until proven guilty. But, in case you missed that tidbit, Polanski has admited his guilt, and fled to avoid sentencing, not prosecution.

Based on the facts of THIS case to which he has admited, he should be taken out to the nearest landfill,stripped, shot in the head, and left to rot with the rest of the garbage. (Why yes, I do have a daughter almost 13 years old, why do you ask?)

However, I am willing to let the rule of law deal with this animal and lock him away for as long as is legally possible.

And yes, rape charges can have mitigating circumstances (misunderstanding, false accusations, statutory where we're talking about and 18 and a 17 year old, etc).

But I can't think of any mitigating circumstance for the use of drugs and physical force against anyone, let alone a child. Certainly not because said scum happens to make movies the artsy fartsy self appointed elite like.

Unknown said...

Caleb said, "That whistling noise you're hearing mike was the sound of the point going over your head."

Thank god for that, I thought it was a bullet for a minute there.

og said...

I love how its always "you guys"

Yes. "Us guys" believe in the rule of law and the blindness of justice.

Mike W. said...

I can't believe MikeB is talking "innocent until proven guilty" to other people.

I thought it was pretty clear you didn't believe in that concept MikeB?

Polanski is scum. He drugged and sodomized a 13 year old girl and was convicted of it.

Kristophr said...

Mikeb302000: Anyone here make death threats against you yet?

No one is going to send a bullet your way unless you initiate some form of force that no amount of restitution can fix.

Want to be safe from us nasty libertarians? It's easy ... don't physically initiate a first attack upon any of us, or have an agent do it for you.

If you don't strike us, we are absolutely harmless. If you do throw the first blow, ghod help you.

Unknown said...

Kristopher, Good sense of humor you've got there, man. I can't believe you responded to that joke seriously. "You guys" are a riot.