Roman Scandal

Iran's revealing secret nuclear sites, shooting off missiles, and threatening Israel, and we're arguing over convicted child molester Roman Polanski. (I wrote it that way because a sociologist on Patt Morrison's KPCC-FM program this afternoon said, in fairness to other child molesters, that's what we should be saying instead of "Oscar-winning director".) Okay: Root around here, and you'll learn that Polanski copped a plea to a crime that sounds nowhere near as bad as what he might actually have done to his 13-year-old victim. On the other hand, was Polanski right to believe that the judge in the case, now deceased, had committed misconduct? Maybe. Either way, I'm with former LA DA John Van de Kamp. Polanski should stop wasting our time, fly home on his own nickel, and make his best case. It's what he would've had to do years ago if he weren't rich and famous.