As I stated in a previous post, I didn’t follow the Casey Anthony trial. In fact, because I rarely watch television I only became aware of the whole sad, sorry spectacle a few weeks ago. Now the verdict is in, and much as I may have wanted to I couldn’t avoid hearing the results. It seems that everyone in America except the people sitting on that jury think she's guilty of murder.Okay, maybe she did kill her daughter. Maybe she really is a sociopathic, inhuman monster. Like I said I didn’t follow the case, so I can’t speak authoritatively regarding the evidence against her. There are many things to deplore about this case and how it came to be a sick national obsession, most of which are already being pored over ad nauseum in many other quarters.
Instead, let me pose a question I don’t think is being asked but seems entirely relevant: what if Casey Anthony really is innocent of murder? What if the only thing she is guilty of is what she was convicted for, lying to the police and not reporting her daughter's death? If so, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time there was a rush to judgment that turned out to be entirely wrong.
I ask that question not to defend her, but to point out that if she did happen to be innocent of the crime of murdering her daughter, the shameful way the whole situation has been exploited by our corporate owned and utterly corrupted mainstream media has effectively ensured that when she gets out of jail she will not be safe walking the streets anywhere in the country. Far too many people who've been whipped into a rabid frenzy by the media would be willing to form a lynch mob and string her up from the nearest tree.
America has a long, sad, sorry record when it comes to lynching people, especially blacks, that we finally overcame just a couple of generations ago. Seeing any mob braying for retribution even after the accused has faced a jury of her peers ought to make our collective blood run cold, however despicable the defendant might appear to be. In this case that mob is literally tens of millions in number, which ought to frighten the living hell out of anyone who believes that the justice system, however flawed it may be, is all that stands between civilization and barbarism.
If I had my way, every mainstream media figure who participated in whipping up this terrible holographic lynching along with the management and owners of the networks that presented it as the latest high rated reality show, would themselves be confined in Casey Anthony's cell block. Nancy Grace, in fact, would warrant a life sentence. Without their their hideous manipulations, this would have been just another routine murder case, and maybe, just maybe, true justice would have been served.
Those among the general public who obsessed over this unfortunate woman’s fate really ought to be ashamed of themselves. Let it be enough that Casey Anthony is going to remain a virtual prisoner of her own infamy for the rest of her life. Your country is being stolen right out from under you by the same assholes that own the networks that turned her travails into a voyeuristic spectacle. Wake the fuck UP, already, and direct your anger instead towards those who so richly deserve it--the ones who are screwing you every day of your lives.
What we have here is a modern day Lizzie Borden.
ReplyDeleteAnd as I have stated before, I have localized my efforts at waking somnambulists at the individual or small group level.
Lizzie Borden--great analogy. Though even poor old Lizzie didn't have to fret that the image of her face was seared permanently into the memories of tens of millions of her fellow citizens.
ReplyDelete...not to mention the whole 'innocent until proven guilty' ideal is completely and UTTERLY dead.
ReplyDeleteRight from the start it crossed my mind.... that this woman if innocent not only LOST her daughter.... but has been put through 3 years of complete and utter hell as a result. Reminded me of the Lindy Chamberlain case in Australia and the terrible media hounding of that entire family when little Azaria was taken by a dingo. Again the lifestyle suspicion and choice (they were seventh day adventists) was the issue with the public at the time. Worth reading about.... and yes she served time and YES she was INNOCENT. It should scare the crap out of people that this huge media circus even was allowed to happen. In this day and age where we have instant information, GPS tracking and an appalling sense of justice... i fear for her life.
Again... WHAT if she is innocent? I just can't say enough about that. What IF? It appears to me that there is already too many people judge jury and executioner in the USA.
Peace people.
I have to say that although I was not surprised to see you had a comment on this, what I WAS totally surprised about was your article and comments regarding it. And I am sorry but have to absolutely, wholeheartedly disagree with what you have written.
ReplyDeleteI read your blog every day. I also read Zero Hedge, Fiat's Fire. A host of others when I can. I AM Fully aware of, and more than angry about, what is going on, and has been allowed to be done to this country.
But, I also paid attention to this trial. I also know, that if you WOULD have been paying attention to this trial, with your level of intelligence, you in NO WAY would have written this. That girl murdered that baby. It may have been an "accident"...overdosed chloroform... that she had probably found quite helpful in knocking the child when needed, so she could party when grandma refused to babysit. Just as she did the night Casey wanted to stay with her boyfriend that didn't want the baby there. But she did it.
She didn't "lose her child"
That baby was dumped in a swamp. With her own blanket, and wrapped in materials from her own house, like a piece of trash. Casey Anthony was the last person ever proven to be with the child. She lied about where the child was for 31 DAYS. Borrowed a shovel from her neighbor. Smell of decomposing body in her truck. Hair from decomposed body, that only could have come from Grandmother or mother, (both alive) and child (dead) found in trunk.
The bodyguard who was assigned to Casey Anthony for 18 days ( who is utterly convinced she did it), has stated that she did not lift ONE finger to search for, or help the search teams, search for, her child. WHY? Because she knew exactly where she was.
What happened here WAS an "appalling sense of justice".. but for CAYLEE, not that sociopath of a mother. It is a horrible, tragic miscarriage of justice.
Is it the worst thing going on right now? No. Yes, there are way more things that we all should be more concerned about. But that does not make what happened here any less completely wrong.
Don't waste one breath, or another click of your keyboard, on Casey Anthony. Don't use her, or this situation, as an example of anything, let alone as an example of some "modern day lynching". It's sickening. Your heart should be broken over the miscarriage of justice for that child.
@Wendy - I remember when I was a kid that cameras were banned from courtrooms. Not only should that not have changed, they should be banned anywhere NEAR a courtroom. They do nothing but pervert the whole process.
ReplyDelete@klabbo44 - you seem to have missed one of my main points which was that had the media stayed the hell away from this case, perhaps it would not have become such a spectacle and Casey Anthony WOULD have been convicted.
ReplyDeleteUnless we were in the courthouse, and heard every scrap of evidence presented to that jury, then I think we can safely say that none of us has the full story. We have what we were told, by people who had a vested interest in telling us what they wanted us to hear. No more, no less.
ReplyDeleteIf she had been found guilty by a jury of her peers, then the public would have been satisfied, and we would hear that "justice has been served". Well guess what - justice WAS served. Evidence was presented before a judge and a jury, and the accused was given the opportunity to defend herself against that evidence. The jury made their decision, and we have to abide by it.
Using the media to whip the public into a frenzy is an appalling thing to do. Saying that you know, without a doubt, that this woman is guilty, because of what you heard in the media, is buying in to EXACTLY what Bill Hicks is talking about. You might be convinced of her guilt, but the 12 people who *actually heard* the evidence, the arguements, the expert opinions etc, came to a very different opinion. You might not like it, but you have no choice but to accept it, along with the idea that you may be completely wrong about this person. You may not be. But you might.
Trial by jury. Not by media. That's how justice is meant to work in your country, right?
@tarabrae - absolutely right. And thank you.
ReplyDeleteHere is a little item from the Cleveland Leader today that only proves my point:
ReplyDelete"The backlash against Casey Anthony and the jury finding her "not guilty" of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee continues. According to her lawyer, Cheney Mason, someone is threatening to kill Anthony, her lawyers, and the jurors that reached the verdict.
Mason says that his team has been receiving "all kinds of threats" at his office since the controversial verdict was announced, including "one we just turned over to law enforcement."
It has also been reported that Anthony's parents have been targeted and that they have gone into hiding."
"someone is threatening to kill Anthony, her lawyers, and the jurors", very funny, they are so mad at a "murderer" walking free that they are going to kill 14 people to prove how mad they are. As Brendan Behan once said "you couldn't make it up"
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much in ad revenue the media made from covering this case (more specifically, Headline News, which covered this case 24/7). While, as a result of their unrelenting coverage, which kicked the public into a frenzy, the state of Florida probably had to spend untold amounts of money in security for the trial. There is video on Youtube of people camping out so they can get a seat at the trial, and acting rather unruly, with security trying to maintain order. To me, this is a good example of business "privatizing the profits and socializing the costs".
ReplyDeleteJeff - that's a good point. The State of Florida is broke, so maybe they should send CNN-HLN the bill for their security costs. Only seems fair.
ReplyDelete