Jonah G (not to be confused with Whoopi G) describes the good news in the Polanski arrest saga:

That brings us to the even more refreshing aspect of this controversy: It is not a Left-Right issue. I’m not normally one to celebrate bipartisan unity, but it’s nice to know there are some things political or ideological opponents can agree on. Some of the most ardent and clear voices on the Polanski issue have been on the Left…

And yet, there is a controversy. Many of the international community’s leading lights are rallying to the Free Polanski movement…It all boils down to the fact that Polanski is famous and talented and an Olympian artist, living above the world of mortals.

He concludes:

His defenders don’t care. They are above and beyond bourgeois notions of morality, even legality.    

And that’s the main reason I am grateful for this controversy. It is a dye marker, “lighting up” a whole archipelago of morally wretched people. With their time, their money, and their craft, these very people routinely lecture America about what is right and wrong. It’s good to know that at the most fundamental level, they have no idea what they’re talking about.

A whole archipelago of morally wretched people.

Phrase of the Year.