Something wildly unexpected happened the other day: Film director Roman Polanski was taken into custody in Switzerland for his rape of a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson's house in 1977. The grand jury transcript is stomach-turning. His victim, Samantha Gailey, said the director plied her with champagne and drugs and asked her to remove her clothes for pictures in a hot tub. Polanski then had sex with her despite her resistance and requests to be taken home. He pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of sex with a minor, but fearing a prison term, he fled the country.

Now something utterly expected is happening: Morally bankrupt libertines in Hollywood and other artistic banana republics are rushing to Polanski's defense.

Welcome to the world of Roman Polanski, Child Rapist/Victim.

An even bigger lout is Miramax studio boss Harvey Weinstein, who organized a petition of filmmakers to demand freedom for Polanski: "Whatever you think about the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time." Read On

It's my genuine belief that when the ball in Times Square dropped and displayed the year "2000" nine years ago, something must have occurred to transform our nation and the world into a permanent version of "Alice in Wonderland."

Early in the decade, America sustained an unimaginably devastating attack on our soil, and yet the media refuse to do more than mention in seeming embarrassment that Islamic terrorists were responsible -- and are probably trying to it again.

We quickly came to recognize that the hiding place for those who want to kill us was Afghanistan. So we went there in force and cleaned it up a bit. Later, we let it simmer. Now we have a president who once declared this the necessary war, and yet who now isn't sure he wants to send the additional troops there to try to keep this breeding ground of evil from becoming a permanent base for future attacks on America. Read On

A CBS News producer charged with trying to extort $2 million from David Letterman is out of jail for now on $200,000 bond, but a New York judge also issued a temporary order of protection, which requires Robert (Joe) Halderman, 51, to stay away from the late-night star.

The producer, who was reportedly desperate and deep in debt, is accused of demanding the lump sum in exchange for not releasing information revealing the comedian's sexual relationships with staffers.

He pleaded not guilty to attempted grand larceny in the first degree — a felony.

Letterman told millions of viewers on his show Thursday the threat concerned sexual liaisons with women who work for him. Read On

A man accused of taping surreptitious nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews while she was alone in hotel rooms appeared in federal court Saturday and was ordered returned to California.

Michael David Barrett made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys, who ordered him returned to Los Angeles, where charges against him were filed. Keys set another hearing for Monday to determine if Barrett will be freed on bond to return or must go in custody.

Barrett, 48, was arrested Friday night at O'Hare airport as he arrived from Buffalo, N.Y., the FBI said. He faces federal charges of interstate stalking for taking the videos, trying to sell them to celebrity Web site TMZ and posting the videos online, the FBI said.

Defense attorney Rick Beuke told reporters after court that he had known Barrett for about 10 years and never known him to be in trouble. Read On

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