The Bush-JonBenet nexus
I'm still catching up on the two weeks of news I missed, but the biggest splash by far would have to be the arrest in the JonBenet Ramsey case. And don't think we didn't notice that this "news" just happened to coincide with Bush plumbing new depths in the polls! That Rove is a crafty one, all right, but we're not buying it this time.
This whole JonBenet thing is a real touchstone for Bush critics, for reasons I don't altogether understand. And it's not just Jill, either. My in-laws, who live in Switzerland, were grousing about it yesterday. The world is going to hell, they said, and Americans aren't interested, because they're mesmerized by wall-to-wall JonBenet coverage, and that isn't even real "news," they sniffed, not like they have in Europe.
Ironically, not more than two hours later they were going on and on about some Austrian girl who had been held captive in some pedophiles tiny cellar for eight years before she escaped last week. Apparently this qualifies as real news, because Europe is abuzz with it. That I fail to appreciate the qualitative difference between this and interest in the JonBenet Ramsey case merely underscores my daft American simplisme.
Comments
Didn't you think that Karr resembled Lee Harvey Oswald?..a tiny bit?
Posted by: Jane | August 27, 2006 02:39 PM
Okay- I'll call off the search party. Guess I'll just party instead.
I'm also disgusted by the whole JonBenet thing. While we're obsessing about the sideshow, old Nutjob is doing ribbon cutting on a heavy water plant. My guess, if he's smart, the plant's a dummy and the real thing is disguised as a dairy farm. If the CIA is smart, they have already noticed that some Iranian cows glow in the dark.
Posted by: Paul Moore | August 27, 2006 05:43 PM
Hey Barry,
As I am visiting europe now, I can assure you that the story with the Austrian girl is barely mentioned in the news here. I think your in-laws are right. The whole coverage of the John Karr case is more than bizzare. It is incomprehensible how CNN could constantly cover this.
P.S. I guess I can be the correspondent of Cynical Nation for Europe for the next week or so. Wanna hire me?
Posted by: Blue Wind | August 28, 2006 05:50 PM
Well, now that the idiot has been found to be delusional and all charges against him are dismissed, will the media show any introspection over their ludicrous coverage of this obviously sick but deluded man?
Somehow, I doubt it.
Posted by: mal | August 28, 2006 09:31 PM
> I guess I can be the correspondent of Cynical Nation for Europe for the next week or so. Wanna hire me?
Sure, Blue. You'll get the exact same wages as my Israeli correspondent. I just hope you'll be more productive. ;-)
Posted by: BNJ | August 29, 2006 07:34 AM
Great,
I will have later in the week an update on the US-europe relationships and, of course, I will be reporting on any important breaking news :)
Posted by: Blue Wind | August 29, 2006 10:29 AM
The American media is controlled by Corporatist, so they do whatever will serve Bush.
Posted by: Bailey Hankins | September 4, 2006 10:34 PM