Roman Roundup: Just How Much Did Polanski Pay His Victim, Anyway?

More developments from the bombed-out front of the Roman Polanski Culture War:

· Offering a little context to Samantha Geimer's avowed support of her recently apprehended rapist, the L.A. Times got a hold of court records saying that Polanski settled the woman's civil suit in 1993 for a cool half-million dollars. Interest had increased the amount to more than $600,000 two years later after Polanski failed to pay up and Geimer's lawyers attempted to garnish Polanski's directing fees. The records don't indicate if or when the parties ever squared up, but they haven't been in court for more than a decade, and Geimer's forgiveness and urge to put the put the matter behind her seem to suggest a resolution was achieved.

After the jump: Cokie Roberts calls for an execution, Bill Maher distances himself, and France shrugs as usual.

· Those commentators curious as to why Polanski is so defiantly fighting the extradition that seems a foregone conclusion need look no further than Cokie Roberts, who took to the air Sunday to argue for her own brand of justice: "He raped and drugged and raped and sodomized a child. And then was a fugitive from justice. As far as I'm concerned, just take him out and shoot him."

· Bill Maher chimed in as well, if not quite so vehemently, joking that Polanski got Polish pedophilia all wrong: "They're supposed to be into adults." Wow, it really is 1978 all over again.

· Brett Ratner didn't mean to paint with such a broad brush last week when he called the L.A. court system "corrupt." He was simply referring to the behavior of the principals in the Polanski case, which, let's face it, could definitely stand to improve.

· Finally, ever wonder why the French are so supportive of Polanski and other native artists with malfunctioning moral compasses? The NYT attempts to explain: "The ruling class in France used to be the ancien régime. Now it's Les People: the conspicuous network of socially connected, similarly schooled politicians, artists and intellectuals. [... P]rominent French artists and intellectuals, or many of them anyway, believe that their work, by virtue of its excellence, allows them moral leeway." Whatever. Did any of these people actually see The Ninth Gate?