June 13, 2003: Washington is Burning – Turn Up Larry King – Nancy Grace is On
This week has led me to the conclusion that we get the government we deserve – we have abdicated our responsibilities as citizens all in the name of entertainment. I am not talking Hollywood here, I am talking mainstream media – CNN, in particular. For the record, I am a generally decent person. That being said, I really do not care about the daily snippets and sludge surrounding the Laci Peterson case. Does anyone else question the need for an almost nightly play-by-play on Larry King on disclosures, events and discoveries during the past day? Is anyone else the least bit queasy that this crime has been made entertainment 101? More importantly, would we even care if this happened to a poor Black or Latino family? We are watching this mindless garbage while all around us hell is, or should be, breaking loose. Do we care, no, just turn up the volume on Larry – Nancy’s talking.
Speaking of Nancy Grace – one of Larry King’s favorite talking heads – all I can say is SHAME ON YOU. For those not familiar, Nancy Grace is the blond former prosecutor who never saw a suspect who could be innocent, with a condescending smirk for all those who dare to adopt the motto “innocent until proven guilty.” Remember the Elizabeth Smart case – the Mormon pre-teen stolen from her bedroom by some stranger. Richard Ricci, an ex-con, was labeled the “prime suspect” – for this crime, mostly because of his past, his prior employment as a handyman by the Smarts and unexplained miles on the odometer on his white Jeep Cherokee. That is all Nancy needed to brand him guilty until proven innocent. I think I recall her stating something like “if it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck... ” Shortly after the abduction, Richard Ricci was jailed for unrelated parole violations. Call me a cynic, but perhaps he was jailed on the “unrelated parole violations” for the sole purpose of trying to coerce his confession to the crime. Unfortunately, because he had nothing to do with the kidnapping no confession came – and he sat in jail for parole violations that most likely would have gone unpunished but for the media circus and its presumptions of guilt. If you recall, Mr. Ricci did the ultimate disservice of suffering a brain hemorrhage while in custody and dying.
Luckily, police found Elizabeth Smart alive in March 2003 in the company of a drifter and a religious fanatic named Brian Mitchell and – her abductor. Richard Ricci had nothing to do with Elizabeth’s abduction – yet, I believe, he paid for the accusations against him with his life. Now, we are starting this strange circus all over again, this time with the fresh meat of Peterson case. Let the carnage begin, along with the presumption of guilt. While, there is a very good chance that Scott Peterson has committed the crimes he is charged with, I really don’t care. The man, under the law, is innocent until proven guilty, and is entitled to a fair trial, by his peers. We are not on the jury, have not heard the evidence, and instead, are merely bystanders to zoo-like atmosphere surrounding this case. Until the jury, after hearing all of the evidence presented, comes back and says “guilty” or “not guilty” – Scott Peterson is PRESUMED INNOCENT. The only people who really matter during the course of his defense are the judge and jury hearing the case. Not you, not me, not Nancy Grace, not Larry King. Yet, we cannot get enough of this drivel, and seem intent to ignore the real issues requiring thought and insight because, well, they are just not as much fun and actually require us to think.
We stare intently at the Larry and Nancy show, ignoring serious issues blazing around us. It seems that the Bush Administration’s continued attempts to undermine our constitutional rights under the 1st and 4th amendment have little import when compared to the Laci Peterson case. John Ashcroft’s two-hand grab at power edging us closer and closer to a police state apparently doesn’t sell tampons. I would think that the antics of this Administration would be sufficient to sell at least headache medicines, if not something for nausea, because the whole thing is making me sick.
We sit and point fingers at corporate America for the pressure it has placed on its auditors and financial officers to justify inflated earnings reports, but stand by silent, when Cheney and Rumsfeld do the same thing to intelligence analysts. They wanted an Iraqi threat, and by God, they were going to get one, regardless of whether or not the facts supported the conclusion. What is the harm: It’s not like anyone got hurt. And you know we sure looked good on TV kicking some Iraqi ass. And, for good measure, Saddam Hussein is a very bad guy, he needed to be taken out. I am sure that is a comfort to the parents, wives, husbands and children of the young men and women killed in Iraq, as well as the thousands of Iraqi civilians killed by our “strategic” bombs. These men, women and children died in the name of lies, distortion, deceit and arrogance of the Bush administration. The Bush Administration didn’t just cook the books, it declared war on common decency and honor, turning the United States into nothing more than a schoolyard bully. Now that the revisionist history is being written at a frantic pace, all I can think of is an administration being slapped by Jack Nicholson when questioned about its motives: “we are defending, we are liberating, we are defending, we are liberating . . . I am her sister and her mother”. Rumsfeld has nothing on Faye Dunaway.
Is this commercial over yet? I want to hear what Nancy has to say.
Anyone catch 60 minutes last Sunday night, and the interview with that hate spewing “Christian” Jerry Falwell. Well, the crux of the piece has Falwell advocating war in Israel for the sole purpose of fulfilling his religious prophecy. In brief, he wants the Palestinians and Israelis to continue killing each other and their future, thereby triggering Armageddon, resulting in Christ returning to earth. Of course, the Muslims, the Jews, and the rest of the non-believers will be left behind, dead beyond conversion. By the way, in the event Christ ever does come back, he is going to be kicking some ass and taking names – the evil perpetrated by those allegedly following his teachings is nothing short of disgusting. But, that is for another rant. OK, back to Falwell – according to his agenda, peace - bad, war – good. Anyone else feel like a puppet in some twisted puppet-master’s movie? Why isn’t anyone calling this guy what he is – an insane, dangerous man advocating the death and destruction of innocent civilians to advance his own personal agenda. Hmmm, if he was a Muslim, I betcha we would call him a terrorist, confiscate all of money, and make him feel the full, unconstitutional wrath of the USA PATRIOT Act. Get real - don’t you know that there are no such things as Christian terrorist – Eric Rudolph notwithstanding – these are nice, white, well-fed, Christian folks reading the Bible. Oh yeah, and they give LOTS OF MONEY TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND VOTE REPUBLICAN.
No, this is something we don’t want to hear about, because then, we will have to look at ourselves in the mirror and really take responsibility for the world we are creating. It is just too much work. . Motives – hell that only counts in murder cases. Anyway this Falwell thing isn’t playing well in the Midwest – let us go back to the Petersons. Hey, turn up CNN, Nancy Grace is back on, and she has something important to say.