“Sometimes, the American justice system shows an excess of formalism, like an infernal machine that advances inexorably and blindly,” said Jack Lang, former French Minister of Culture, on hearing of director Roman Polanski’s recent arrest in Switzerland. Yes, that “infernal machine” advancing toward Polanski is American blind justice. The marble lady holding the scales and wearing a blindfold doesn’t care how many awards the filmmaker has to his credit, she seeks justice for the 13-year-old girl Polanski drugged and then raped.

What upsets and confuses the child molester and his supporters is that he has traveled to Switzerland many times since his 1977 rape conviction by a Los Angeles jury. What’s behind the sudden interest in arresting Polanski for extradition to America? It may boil down to money. Recently, the U.S. Justice Department threatened to burry Swiss banking giant USB under an avalanche of litigation if it didn’t hand over the names of wealthy Americans hiding untaxed millions in secret bank accounts. Polanski’s arrest may be Switzerland’s way of throwing a bone to American prosecutors, showing that Europeans don’t always sell themselves to the highest bidder (e.g., Hitler, Saddam and Gaddafi).

While working on his latest film “The Ghost” in Germany, Polanski “occasionally avoided the set, directing through a remote communications setup and leading some members of the cast and crew to believe that he was trying to make apprehension more difficult…,” the New York Times reported. If Polanski is extradited to America and deposited in San Quentin, his remote control filmmaking skills should come in handy.

– Mr. Curmudgeon