In other news, some donors to the Obama campaign have not called for Polanski's release. Details at 11.

Ah, another example of the Fallacy of Causality!

The founders of Politico (John Harris et al) USED to be consider legitimate political reporters. What the h_ll happened to them?

they wanted to get "Polanski" and "Obama" in the same headline

All for the sake of Google.....

And let's be honest... when has $34,000 bought anything in politics anymore?

just shoot me... but Al will have to chime in, he just has to.

give the money back to hollywood, give the royalties to ayers, but please start filling the concentration camps with republicans, and please please start gittin' whitey...

Movie industry types calling for the release of director Roman Polanski

This may be the most trivial of trivium, but WTF is the word "types" doing in that sentence? I don't think that sense of the word is ever anything but a term of abuse, and "movie industry types", in particular, sounds like some kind of code. Not that I think the Politico author means that, but they damn well shouldn't be trafficing in that language.

Does this mean we get to start nut-picking Republican donors and Politico will publish that as well? Because I am betting that there are a lot more interesting skeletons there than "hollywood liberals" will ever produce.

No, it's also the fallacy of the undistributed middle:

- Some people support Roman Polanski
- Some of those people support Barack Obama
- so we can infer that Barack Obama supporters are pedophiles, degenerates, etc.

The left certainly does this logical fallacy as well, although there it is usually a guilt-by-association.

Meanwhile, notorious child molester Ted Nugent is not only still at large but an iconic figure for the teabagger right.

I keep telling you folks - "Politico" was financed by a far right winger as a right wing disinformation project. They give just enough "real" information for the Beltway morons to think they're "real," then they come along with this sort of garbage (and this is far from the first time), and it gets taken seriously by the otherwise-unemployables of the political chattering class, thus causing troubles for progressives (these things never happen to conservatives). That is a classic description of a disinformation project.

Stop taking the Politico seriously, let them dry up and blow away! Of course, that would mean the DC press corpse would have to grow a brain cell to accomplish, and I ain't holding my breath for that - the sun will rise in the west first.

It's part of the cognitive dissonance that the self righteous live with.
Thirty Republican Senators voted against victims of gang rape and attempted murder being able to pursue justice through the courts.
All Republicans know that monolithic Hollywood is all Democrats all the time, with three notable exceptions. If Hollywood is pro Polanski they must be pro rapists and if they are pro Obama and pro Polanski it is a clear case of guilt by association. Therefore Obama is pro rapists.

One of the most frustrating things about today's journamalism is the tendency to write speculative fiction about one person while you blissfully ignore the facts that are in your face about another.

Well, I supported Obama, too. I guess that means I directed Chinatown.

This is a stupid web trick. Post an obviously flawed banner headline and story and wait for click-throughs. And we're all falling for it!

Reading the comments on politico's site for that article is laughable.

Does Politico really want that type of reader base?

It's freerepublic all the way in the comments.

Wait! Wait! Didn't Adolph Hitler and Jesse Owens occupy the SAME stadium during the OLYMPICS?

Glenn Beck needs to get this up on his blackboard ASAP. . .

OK, so let's see. The operating principle here would appear to be that if random person X has anything at all kind or favorable to say about unsavory character Y, then all of person X's contributions to candidate Z are thereby tainted.

So then it would be perfectly fair to start listing all of the X's who've given money to Republican Z's while praising or defending various unsavory Y's.

Shit. I'd better get started. This is going to be a long list.

The Politico has a meme they want to espouse, and by God they're going to do it. Facts are for hippies.

Politico is obviously trying to distract their readers from the fact that Ted Bundy was a Republican that helped elect Republican candidates, and worked for the Republican party.

After reading that, a lot of Republicans out there said that they enjoyed "Married..with Children" and didn't understand what the fuss was about.

Any number can play this game. Ronald Reagan received Michael Jackson at the White House, called him a great American and role model. One of Jackson's possessions left in his estate was a get-well letter from Reagan after he was injured while filming a Pepsi commercial. Here's what the letter said, and isn't it just what you'd expect from "Hollywood types?":

Dear Michael:

I was pleased to learn that you were not seriously hurt in your recent accident. I know from experience that these things can happen on the set—no matter how much cautioned is exercised.

All over America, millions of people look up to you as an example. Your deep faith in God and adherence to traditional values are an inspiration to us all, especially young people searching for something real to believe in.

You've gained quite a number of fans along the road since "I Want You Back" and Nancy and I are among them.

Keep up the good work Michael. We're very happy for you.

Sincerely,

Ronald Reagan

"Wait! Wait! Didn't Adolph Hitler and Jesse Owens occupy the SAME stadium during the OLYMPICS?"

Oh, God! Do you mean Adolph Hitler was black? Or is it that Jesse Owens was the head of the Nazi Party?

I'm so confused.

Ed

Yes, I'm sure you're right that they wanted the names in the same article. But I think if you spoke with these people, the idea of "guilt by association" truly does make sense to them. No, critical thinking isn't their forte.

Let me see if I've got this straight:

1. Polanski, who was on the lam for thirty years, has finally been apprehended.

2. Some people who are now supporting Roman Polanski gave the President some money last year.

What, precisely, am I to make of this?

WTF is the word "types" doing in that sentence? I don't think that sense of the word is ever anything but a term of abuse, and "movie industry types", in particular, sounds like some kind of code.

Sure it's code; code for: "dirty gay liberal Hollywood hippie communists who hate the troops, want America to fail and are trying to take away our guns!"

So can we now stop reading, "According to Politico....." (link)

on so many LEFTY blogs?

Please!?

I eagerly await the Politico's hard-hitting expose detailing the ACTUAL complex linkages between the confessed terrorist Alishtari and the RNC.

Yep.....the right wing has made an entire industry out of these type of "ties"

Weren't some of those Hollywood 'types' friends of Joe McCarthy, 25 years before Polanski made Chinatown?

Of course, it was the Justice Department that asked the Swiss to arrest Polanski in the first place. Best to just ignore that fact -- it gets in the way of the narrative.

Interestingly, the article can't be found at 3:00 CST on the Politico site, and a search of October 7 articles comes up with it missing.

Think Politico realized its own article was crap and deleted it?

Huh... I was aware of Politico's existence, but I only rarely followed links to it. I had no idea they had become so tabloid, or that their commenters were such dittoheads (in fairness, the later comments display more critical thinking).

I don't think I ever need to go to Politico ever again.

Does Politico really want that type of reader base?

It's freerepublic all the way in the comments.

Well, when you put out a pile of manure, you will attract dung beetles.

Does that answer your question?

As the story goes, a prominent filmmaker is accused of a horrible crime.

Good gawd, how did I just know that Steve's first toe into this issue would involve Polanski apologia? Look, jackass, the rapist is *not* merely accused of raping a child -- the rapist effing pled guilty to raping a child. There is no doubt about his crime.

You also totally ignore the issue with Harvey Weinstein's defense of Polanski. It's not how much money he has donated to Dems, but that he is abusing, and attacking from within, the liberal project and causes by asserting that allowing a child rapist to go free is part of being a liberal.

That ugly, gross distortion *has* got to be slammed down, and slammed down thoroughly, but yet all you SCP (so-called progressive) men can manage to do is ignore wealthy Dem donors who are making the Dem party look like jackasses, until of course you can somehow make the issue about wingnutters.

"...by asserting that allowing a child rapist to go free is part of being a liberal." Disputo (on Harvey Weinstein) @ 6:12 PM

Two things:
First, your email to Mr. Benen requesting a correction on Polanski's true criminal status seems to have gone astray; could you please resend it?
And secondly, anyone who believes Harvey Weinstein is the grand high arbiter of liberalism in the United States is either an idiot or a self-seeking publicity hound. Can't rule out both, of course, what with politics being involved...

There are too many people on staff with too little to do. Really, look around. What publication is more overstaffed than Politico?

And this "tidbit," as the publisher called it today, is the result.

An image to ponder: Someone at Politico scoured the donor lists of thousands and thousands and thousands, and then cross-referenced them to the Polanski apologists. That person (or persons) then added up the vast totals ($34K) and posted the piece online. That isn't something that happens by accident -- that is something that happens when someone has nothing better to do.

evie is correct. The Politico bigwigs put a lot of pressure on their staff to rapidly churn out stories that will generate a lot of hits. If you don't keep up the reader flow, you're out of a job. That, of course, means minimal fact-checking and minimal thinking, and in this case, cheap Drudge-bait posted by a guy who didn't really feel like doing any work today.

Does this mean Roman Polanski will become the Willie Horton of the next election?

Well, when you put out a pile of manure, you will attract dung beetles.

You owe an apology to dung beetles everywhere. They're beneficial to mankind.

Politico attracts Freepers like shit attracts flies.

I've given money to Obama and so have many of my friends. My friends and I want to see the hand of justice smack Polanski around but good. Maybe Obama needs to give our money back too. I'm so confused.

Perhaps Politico should rebrand: Propaganado? Pravdo's to cute, I know. Spinco?

But then these days we have laws about truth in advertising. None about truth in journalism, much lest politics.