"We're In A New World!"

The publisher of the Rocky Mountain News, John Temple, writes today that there is one big difference in the Jon Benet story today as compared to the original story ten years ago. It is now an internet story, and it moves much more quickly than 1996. He also notes that he now realizes that a local newspaper like the Rocky "can now speak to a global audience in real time, once the province only of major broadcasters." Furthermore, he notes that their reporters no longer write for the paper; they write for the web, where their stories can be noticed immediately by sites such as the one run by Matt Drudge.

Read the whole thing.

We Could Do A Better Job, "If We Felt Like It!"

Ace of Spades has a post today that I think is right on target: "I know the media, which loves to voice its not-so-secret belief that they are smarter than everyone in the world and could do everyone else's job better, if they felt like it, is going to play the "Mary Lacy is a dumb duped dummy" meme constantly if this goes south, but they really ought to get over themselves, and stop pandering to an audience that also needs a "villain" or at least an incompetent somewhere in the "story."

Right now the people who are being blasted in the media are the people who dug the deepest and worked the hardest to find the truth in the murder of Jon Benet. I am reminded of the Rathergate incident, in which CBS for weeks attacked those who had found the truth in the obviously forged documents concerning President Bush's National Guard service. Those bloggers were attacked unmercifully by CBS, who later quietly got rid of Rather and his producer when the truth became widely known.

Currently the villain is Peter Boyles, who doggedly sought the truth in the Jon Benet Ramsey murder case. Doggedly? Now I know the derivation of that word! Peter reminds me of my two male dogs who refuse to let go when in a fight. Peter was attacked by Vincent Carroll, the editor of the Rocky Mountain News yesterday, but then when Peter had him on his radio talk show the Rocky editor could only say, "I don't know this case as well as you!" Then give the man some respect! I know of no one in the media who knows this case better than Peter Boyles. But the media elites always believe they could do a better job if they were as "obsessed" as Peter. By using the word "obsessed," the Rocky editor cleverly put down Peter, and for what? For taking the time and energy to dig deep and do the hard work to try to ascertain the truth in the story.

Who Will Be The Next To Apologize?

The American teaching second grade in Thailand has given his bizarre confession of the killing of Jon Benet Ramsey. Local and national media are attacking people like Peter Boyles of KHOW radio in Denver, who closely followed the evidence as it was unveiled, and strongly suspected an inside job, rather than an intruder. So, if and when the teacher's confession is proven to be bogus, will all those self righteous critics who are now attacking Boyles rush front and center with their apologies to him?

Traveling The World On Behalf of Children?

Crisismesh today posted the resume of John Mark Karr, who has confessed in Thailand to the 1996 murder of Jon Benet Ramsey. It seems Mr. Karr has been quite a world traveler, although there is no mention of Boulder, Colorado being one of his stops.

"I Got Questions"

Well, it is time for me to apologize for my own cynicism. I said "not a chance," when I asked if those who had gained national prominence in their coverage of the Jon Benet Ramsey case would apologize if Mr. Karr is the killer. Two of the local guys who did attain national prominence, Craig Silverman and Peter Boyles, have both said they would apologize if there is corroboration. Peter Boyles took a lot of heat from callers and emailers this morning, but hung in there and signed off by saying, "I got questions." Indeed.

Update: Karr's Ex-Wife Says He was with Her In Alabama at the Time of the Killing of Jon Benet

Fox News is reporting: "A Petaluma woman who said she was Karr's ex-wife told KGO-TV in San Francisco that they got divorced after his arrest.

Laura Karr said her ex-husband spent a lot of time reading up on the cases of Ramsey and Polly Klaas, who was abducted from her Petaluma home and slain in 1993. She said she does not believe her former husband was involved in JonBenet's killing and said she was with him in Alabama at the time of the Christmas 1996 homicide."

As Dan Caplis theorized on the Caplis and Silverman radio program this afternoon, maybe Mr. Karr is making this confession in order to be brought back to Boulder, instead of doing time in a jail in Thailand! Peter Boyles' skepticism is appearing justified. If the guy was not in Colorado on the night Jon Benet was murdered, then he could not have been her killer.

Update: One apology

Craig Silverman, a local attorney and radio talk show host, said he was one who had been on local radio hundreds of times and national televison hundreds of times analyzing the Ramsey case. Mr. Silverman apologized twice on air this afternoon for anything he might have said that led to the huge local and national suspicion that the Ramseys killed Jon Benet. He said that if Mr. Karr is indeed the killer of Jon Benet, then Patsy and John Ramsey are the victims of the most unfair avalanche of suspicion in American history.

Peter Boyles, a nominee for a coveted Marconi national award for excellence in radio broadcasting, did not apologize. In fact, he chastised and angrily confronted Silverman. I was one who was glued to Mr. Boyles' coverage of the Ramsey case in the nineties. He filled the airwaves with his contempt of both John and Patsy Ramsey, just like he now fills the airwaves with his barely containable contempt for George W. Bush. Later in the afternoon Boyles called Silverman back and was calmer. In response to a question from either Silverman or his radio partner Dan Caplis, Boyles said that if the man's DNA is found on Jon Benet, he would accept that the man's confession is valid.

Jon Benet Ramsey's Alleged Killer Arrested in Thailand

News is just breaking that authorities have arrested a second grade teacher, 41-year-old John Mark Karr, in Bangkok Thailand. Law enforcement officers say that the man has confessed to the murder of Jon Benet, and that he has given details that only could have been known by the killer.

If this is true, I am drawn back to Dr. Sanity's discussion today about denial and displacement, especially displacement. The same people who today are filling the airwaves with their hatred and utter contempt for President Bush, were filling the airwaves back in 1996 with their hatred and utter contempt for Jon Benet's parents. These media stars got themselves on national television, and increased their local listening audience significantly. Mrs. Ramsey died recently from ovarian cancer. Do you suppose they will now apologize to Mr. Ramsey? Not a chance.

More On Denial

Dr. Sanity has a new post today on the huge problem of denial and displacement so prevalent in today's world.

Denial

Both Denver papers today have stories about a woman who lives in a trailer park near Strasburg Colorado on the plains east of Denver. Allegedly this woman gave birth to a baby last October, then put the child in the back of her boyfriend's pick-up truck. The truck was not being used, so it and the baby sat in front of her trailer through the winter, spring, and summer until the boyfriend recently sold the truck for $100.00. The purchaser of the truck found the remains of the baby and called police. The woman is now in police custody.

One Cosmos has a different example of denial: those who deny 9-11-2001. His piece is entitled "Your Psychodollars at Work and the Tax on Liberal Fantasy." Dr. Sanity says, "At the risk of getting repetitious, the denial and displacement are becoming so obvious that even a Democrat should be able to see them.

I guess they will only open their eyes when they achieve their primary purpose for existing: getting back control of the oval office."

One Cosmos Under God

Dr. Sanity writes today about the writings of Dr. Robert Godwin, who has written a book with the same title as this post. His blog at One Cosmos is a daily must read for me. He has a wonderful humor, makes me think about things I need to think about, and regularly pulverizes the left with just a few well chosen words. (It takes him a little longer to explain One Cosmos Under God).

A Hunger For Beauty

The Anchoress has a post today in which she confesses that she has a hunger for beauty. Then she says that is proof that she is even weirder than we thought. On the contrary, I share her hunger for beauty, and I don't think it is one bit weird. She mentions her enjoyment of looking at beautiful fabric, which I also share.

I also have a dozen gardens surrounding our home. Every other day I cut flowers so we always have at least two vases of fresh cut flowers in the house. I also enjoy buying clothes for my wife and for the kids.

A Night On The Town

Last night Colleen and I headed to downtown Denver for a rare night on the town. We planned to go to the historic Mayan Theater to see a satirical movie about a dysfunctional family ("Little Miss Sunshine"). The Mayan has three theaters, but only one ticket window, so one of the expectations is a long line outside the theater. Colleen offered to get out of the car and stand in line while I looked for a parking space.

Fifteen minutes later I arrived at the theater, and noticed that there had been an auto accident right next to the theater. A man had attempted to jaywalk or run across the street instead of at the appropriate crosswalk, where he would have had to wait for the light to turn green! The car he was trying to beat did not see him, and hit him head on, the result of which was the shattering of the car windshield and several of the man's major bones. A doctor was in line at the theater, and he went over and checked the man briefly, and immediately came back to the line and announced, "He has a pulse." I am pretty sure the doctor was waiting in line to see Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," so obviously that would take precedence over spending more than a few seconds with the unsuccessful jayrunner.

The driver of the car was a very tall twenty-something blonde guy with braided hair. His passenger was a younger black woman. It was the passenger side window that was shattered. Colleen noticed that the young black woman seemed to be distressed and perhaps traumatized (her companion was ignoring her completely while talking on a cell phone), so she went over to comfort her. The young woman was sure that she and her companion would be deemed at fault. Over and over she said,"We didn't do anything wrong," or "We weren't speeding." Colleen comforted her and talked with her, reassuring her that there were many witnesses. Nevertheless, the woman continued to be certain that she and her companion would be held responsible. A black woman came over to the car. Colleen met her, then introduced her to the woman. The woman then broke down and let out a torrent of sobs, feeling safer now with the black woman to express her fears that she would somehow be held responsible for the behavior of the idiot jayrunner.

The first responders came and took the guy to the hospital. No one from the ambulance paid any attention to the young woman. The police arrived and talked with the two people who had been in the car. The officer, to his credit, saw that the woman was traumatized, and called for an ambulance for her. As a matter of fact, she had just been released from a hospital emergency room, where she had gone to get treatment for a very sore throat. She was taken away in the second ambulance just as the theater posted a sign announcing that our movie was "Sold Out."

I remembered that Al Gore was in Denver signing copies of his book with the same title as the movie, and said to Colleen, "Let's go listen to him speak: I can write about it in the blog!" We hurried over to the wonderful Tattered Cover bookstore, but were too late to hear the inventor of the internet.

So, we ended the evening by going to our favorite Denver restaurant, The Wynkoop, which is one of several Denver resturants owned by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

The Recomposed Self

Shelby Steele wrote an excellent book about sixteen years ago entitled The Content of Our Character. In it he wrote a chapter about what he called The Recomposed Self. It is an amazing concept that is very much alive today, and not just with blacks. Steele shows how in order not to face one's fears and perceived vulnerabilities, one denies those feelings, then distorts reality to some other theme, most commonly that of victimization. When we choose to think of ourselves as victims, we are released from responsibility to face our difficulty rationally, spared some guilt and accountability, and our innocence is restored. Anybody think this applies to today's world? How about to each of us as individuals?

On Second Thought...

Kudos to the Rocky Mountain News for digging deeper into the life of alleged serial killer Robert Charles Browne. In their first report they could only find people who said he was polite and respectful. Now they have talked to one of his six ex-wives, who told of his brutal temper and savage physical abuse. If the powers that be in the newspaper business allowed for in-depth reporting such as in this case, maybe their financial situation would not be in such a horrendous decline. I am still curious to hear something about his relationship with his parents.

Truth, Reality, and the Misuse of Language

Dr. Sanity has a wonderful post today about truth, reality, and the misuse of language. She concludes that truth and reality do matter, and will ultimately win out. Our opponents on the left and among the terrorists more and more are using language not to seek the truth, not to discover reality, but to silence opposition. She urges those of us who are "not deluded by this madness" to fight it with every ounce of energy we can muster. Read the whole thing at www.drsanity.blogspot.com.

Hugh Hewitt Wows Them In Colorado

Radio talk show host and blogger extraordinaire Hugh Hewitt gave a speech to a very large and enthusiastic crowd at the Radisson Hotel in Aurora, Colorado last night. Hugh urged the Republican crowd to work harder than ever this year in order to prevent Democrats from taking control of the legislative branch in this fall's elections.

One of the most interesting things Hugh did with the crowd was to take a straw poll of their preferences regarding Republican presidential candidates. He only gave the crowd five choices: Romney, Frist, Giuliani, McCain, and Allen. Virginia Senator George Allen was the runaway favorite in this crowd, probably because he is strong on all of the issues that these particular Coloradans hold dear. Giuliani was next, and Frist and Romney seemed pretty even in the show of hands vote. McCain was far and away the least popular. One woman was upset that Hugh did not include Newt Gingrich. Hugh said Newt has no chance, because he has been too outspoken, and had put his views down in written form for a very long time. My own favorite candidate would have been Condi Rice. Hugh said that he believes that Dr. Rice realizes that running for President would be a very difficult way to initiate a person's first run for elected office. I still believe she would be capable of meeting the challenge. Another person was really pissed that Hugh did not include Dick Cheney. Hugh said he has been a guest in the Cheney home, that he formerly worked as chief counsel for Mrs. Cheney, and that he knew that the Cheneys no longer wished to serve in public office after they complete their current term.

Hugh revealed that he is writing a book to be titled, Mitt Romney, A Mormon in the White House? He wants to know if voters would vote against Romney just because he is a Mormon. He said Romney seems like a great candidate. He believes Romney is very bright. He likes the way Romney is taking on the challenge of "Big Dig." Hugh's point is that we should elect whomever is the best candidate, without regard to his or her religious preference. Hugh said he would support whomever the party nominated.

Hugh urged the crowd to come together and support the Republican candidate, even if it is McCain. That comment produced some groans in response from the audience. However, Hugh warned people not to limit themselves to one or two issues. Strong defense, a reverence for life, stopping illegal immigration, gun rights, and reigning in government spending were some of the issues that seemed important to this crowd. But Hewitt warned that we may not get a candidate who is good on all of these issues. Hugh, like myself, believes that the most important priority is to find a candidate who is strong on national defense. We may get someone who is strong on national defense, but not so strong on one or more of those other issues. Hugh asked how many in the crowd had walked a precinct. Many had. He reminded the audience that "this is entertainment; the real impact can best be made by people willing to do the hard work of walking a precinct."

Hugh said he worries most about the threat from the Chinese, and he urged the crowd to read a book written by Jed Babbin on the Chinese threat. He said that the Chinese are very likely to make a move for Taiwan. Second would be the threat from Islamofacists. Third would be the Russians, who are seeing a resurgence of the KGB. Hugh, though, said we must remain allies with Russia in the war on Islamic terror, because the Russians face an Islamic threat in Chechnya. Hugh said he lies awake at night worrying about those threats, in the above-mentioned order, then falls asleep.

There were other issues that were important to the audience. For example, one person drew a huge applause when he said we could better spend elsewhere the nearly one and one-half billion dollars we give to prop up the enemies of the U.S. who seem to be in charge at the United Nations. Hugh agreed, but reminded the crowd to"keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer." Hugh seemed to think it would even be possible some day to make the United Nations actually become an effective force for good in the world!

One woman asked if it were possible to do anything any more that might be considered treasonous. Hugh said yes, unless you happen to be employed by either the New York Times or the Los Angeles Times. That got a huge roar from the crowd. Hugh urged the people in attendance to write to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and ask that the Justice Department find and prosecute the leaker(s) of our nation's secrets to those two financially struggling members of the old media. Why didn't Congress name the two newspapers in its recent resolution against revealing national secrets? Because the politicians are afraid of them! They either have something they do not want disclosed about themselves personally, or they have a family member who does, and they worry about the power of the vicious press to embarrass or destroy that person. How sad and scary is that?

It was clear that Mr. Hewitt was very popular with this group of Coloradans. In fact, he said his ratings are higher in Colorado than anywhere else his program is aired. He attributed that fact to the long time success of a Denver talk radio show hosted by Mike Rosen. He said that because of Rosen, Coloradans respond favorably to "smart" talk radio. One person asked Hugh if he would ever consider being a candidate for public office. Hugh said that if it were up to him he might, but that because of objections from "the fetching Mrs. Hewitt," and the fact that, like Newt Gingrich, he has a long record of publishing his opinions, he would not.

Serial Killer

140 I.Q., always respectful, polite and courteous, and Robert Charles Browne may have killed as many as 49 people, young women between the ages of 13 and 26. He had six wives, all still alive, and all petite, weighing between 95 and 125 pounds. Those are some of the highlights mentioned in a story by John C. Ensslin in today's Rocky Mountain News.

Another fact I found interesting is that Lou Smit, who is the man who arrested this killer, is also the same highly respected former homocide detective who continues to look for the killer of Jon Benet Ramsey. He believes Jon Benet's killer was an intruder.

Blacks and Hispanics Get Free Advice

Former Governor Dick Lamm is back in the news (today's Rocky Mountain News) in an article by Myung Oak Kim. Lamm's hair is now whitish/grey, with a matching beard, so he is no longer talking about elderly people having "a duty to die," in order to keep down health care costs, as he did in a 1984 speech. Now he is telling blacks and Hispanics they should be more like Jewish and Japanese Americans, so their kids will do better in school and be more economically successful. His remarks have evoked anger from some black and Hispanic persons contacted by the writer of the Rocky article, but Lamm is not surprised, because, as he modestly asserts, "All great truths begin as heresies." Lamm has written a book on the subject, and will profit, even if blacks and Hispanics don't. Isn't that the point? Even if Lamm's criticisms are valid, it is the individual black and Hispanic who must choose which road to take.

Andrea Yates Not Guilty: "Boomer Narcissism Knows No Bounds"

The brilliant columnist Mark Steyn reprises a column he wrote five years ago, just a few days after Mrs. Yates methodically murdered each of her five children, then phoned her husband to come home and have a look. Quoting Steyn: Five years on from this column, we now have a new verdict on Andrea Yates: "not guilty". Yes, she killed them, in the sense that they are dead at her hands. But no, she's not "guilty" of their deaths because she's "psychotic". Which means she's too ill to know enough not to kill her children but not too ill not to know how to find a legal strategy to get her out of jail. What a pathetic comment on the "justice" system. I can't wait for the first Islamist terrorist to try this defense. Read the whole thing!

As Dr. Helen Smith states in her blog post at www.drhelen.blogspot.com, My bet is she will be out within seven to nine years--wish her five children could have been so lucky.