(“SAVE ME A HIGH LIFE, ASSWIPES.”)

Roman Polanski is currently in Swiss prison waiting for US lawyers to file a “firm extradition request.” (so far, all they’ve done is passive-aggressively hint drop, apparently).  If he decides to challenge extradition, the process could keep him in jail another year.  Now, one of his lawyers says he might just come back to the U.S.

For the first time, one Mr. Polanski’s lawyers, Georges Kiejman, floated on Wednesday the idea of a possible return in an interview with the radio station Europe 1. “If this process drags on, it is not completely impossible that Roman Polanski could choose to go finally to explain himself in the United States where the arguments in his favor exist,” he said.

“Not completely impossible?”  Jesus, how long does this take?  The guy’s been in jail a month.  How many GD hours can you bill over a yes or no question?

For many years, Switzerland was a refuge for Mr. Polanski. Though he lived in Paris, he traveled to the country frequently and owned a chalet* in the Alps.
But, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press, the government that ignored him for decades eventually raised an eyebrow in his direction [and twiddled their mustache, no doubt], tipping off the United States on Sept. 22 to his imminent arrival in Zurich and setting the stage for his arrest four days later.
The documents shed further light on the process that led to Mr. Polanski’s arrest and how quickly American officials were alerted by the Swiss, whose actions have been criticized by Mr. Polanski’s supporters.
The Swiss Federal Office of Justice sent an urgent fax to the United States Office of International Affairs, a division of the Justice Department, saying that Mr. Polanski was to be honored at a film festival in Zurich and asking if the United States planned to request his arrest.
Federal officials informed the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, which drafted an arrest warrant. By Sept. 26, Mr. Polanski was in Swiss custody after he arrived in at the airport from Austria.  [NY Times]

Good heavens, they sent a fax and got a response four days later?  The wheels of justice slow for naught!  Anyway, even with our economy in ruins, health care reform at a standstill, and other things people with real jobs say, it’s nice to see that the US can still put the squeeze on a tiny, landlocked nation over a 30-year-old rape case.  USA! USA! USA!

*There was a place in San Diego when I lived there called Sports Chalet, and every time I passed it, in my head I imagined it being pronounced like an unathletic cholo.  Sports?  Chale. Haha, good story, Vince.