Presumed guilty until proven innocent?

The American media is a grand old institution. For most part, they do a great job covering various sensational cases. But one Achilles heel that I have noticed time and again, is the propensity of the media to presume guilt even before some cases go to trial. This has been a particularly virulent form of aggression and it does great harm to the defendant.


In the past few weeks, two cases come to mind: the Rod Blagojevich case of the Illinois governor who is accused of trying to sell Barack Obama's recently vacated senate seat to the highest bidder. The press has gone bonkers about this case and every single news anchor I've watched so far, has spoken as if Blago is guilty. Truth be told, there are accusations against him, but nothing has been proven so far, because the investigation is still going on.


In the more serious case of Casey Anthony, who has been accused of killing her 2 year old child, the press has tried and passed a verdict on her. Nancy Grace on CNN has been especially unrelenting in accusing Casey of murdering her child.

Now, this may, in fact, turn out to be the case, but that is not the issue I am talking about. I am speaking about the fact that Casey will not be provided a fair trial under the law because Nancy has sensationalized the case so much. Not only that, she has spent many hours accusing Casey of being guilty. There are other people out there, some are "psychologists" who, purportedly, profiled Casey Anthony as a "sociopath" based on scant 3rd hand evidence.

Thanks to Nancy's innuendo's, outright accusations and sarcastic remarks, and others like her, who have heard the evidence (3rd or 4th hand), deliberated, tried and indicted Casey, she has lost the basic human right of presumed innocence until guilt is proven in court with no shred of doubt.

While I am all for the media making hay while the sun shines, it must not be at the expense of other human beings. Everyone deserves a fair shake at justice and in these two cases (in the recent past) justice is not being served. Let the police and the court systems do their job. The media, in these cases, seem to have erupted like vultures after a carcass.

Please don't misunderstand me - I don't imply either guilt or innocence in these two cases. I would like to withhold any private opinion - simply because it is not my place to judge until the courts have tried and come to a verdict. I implore everyone else to withhold judgment until then too.

I would urge the media and the people to BE FAIR and BE NON-JUDGEMENTAL - If not for the sake of the defendants, at least for THEMSELVES!

Lame duck ducks!!

I don't consider myself a big fan of George W. In fact, like many others in the US, I do believe he is at fault for a lot of our economic pain.

But I have to be fair and applaud him for his gamely handling of the shoe-throwing incident at Iraq. I have to admire him for his fantastic ducking reflexes and his diffusing the situation immediately afterward with the joke about the shoe size. I must especially commend him for the White House press secretary, Dana Perino's recent press conference when she said that Bush had requested the Iraqis to desist from overreacting to the incident.

Much has been written about the shoe throwing incident. Perhaps, the one of the most vitriolic articles about this is written by one of the New York Times writers, Nicholas Kristof - "Paying down the deficit with whizzing shoes". I know I laughed when I first read the blog post, but as I started reading the comments in response to that blog, I started feeling a bit uneasy. There was a deep undercurrent of anger in many of the responses. Now, who am I to judge what people feel is George Bush's legacy to the US? But I still felt a certain sense of disquiet at Bush's image in this country. Much blame has been laid at Bush's door. I am sure a lot of it is well deserved.

But this actually begs a larger question: wasn't the US constitution written to protect the people from a despot? How is it that Bush became so powerful that he could do all the damage that he is reportedly accused of? Why do we assume Bush and only Bush is culpable in the mess that is left behind at the end of his era?

Where is our share in all this? Is not omission also a part of commission? Are the people themselves not responsible? Who voted Bush into office, not once, but twice? Who looked the other way or convinced themselves that he was "protecting" the country when he set up Gautanamo Bay and when he instituted the Patriot act? Who voted for Bush because they felt he was perfect for being one of the most powerful men in the world, simply by virtue of the fact that he was someone they could drink a beer with? Who allowed the congress to renege on their responsibilities to the people by continuously allowing Bush / Cheney to do whatever they wanted with the legislation? Who ALLOWED the Constitution to fail?

WE, THE PEOPLE!

Home to none

It was a cute little suburban home. The gables in the roof shone in the sun, the grass was green, the walkway was lined with cute little purple and white flowers. The windows sparkled, and the siding was clean and well kept. Two small children rode their bikes in the sidewalk that snaked through their yard. A couple walking their little yappy dog, waved at the children. A jogger smiled and waved hello to the couple. Another couple stopped to pet the dog and exchange small talk with the neighbors.

Everything was perfect in suburbia.

And then came the storm clouds. It grew dark and ominous. Thunder was in the air. The children rushed inside to their mother. The mother gathered them in her arms and soothed their fears. She took them into the warm kitchen filled with the smell of baking bread and gave them their dinner. She then capped it with a cup of hot cocoa and shooed them up to their rooms to complete their home work before going to bed. Once the kids were safely tucked into bed, she finished chilling the wine, as she waited for her husband to come home from a long day's work. They would relax, unwind together and enjoy the quiet evening. Tomorrow is yet another day.

Six months later: same neighborhood, same house. The grass is dry and wretched. The flowers are dead. There is no one strolling on the sidewalk that winds through the yard of the house. People hurry past with eyes averted. The windows are shuttered and there is no sound of happy laughter emanating from within.

Inside the house, a couple is walking through with a black suited realtor, who is trying to convince them that this house is a steal. The house smells musty from being shut up for the past six months. There are some cobwebs around and the dust has settled thickly on the kitchen counters. The kitchen tap is leaking with a drip, drip, drip leaving a dull, rusty mark in the stainless steel sink. The hardwood floor has numerous footprints of the multitude who have come to see the house in the past months.

The realtor doesn't stop talking. She is expounding the value of the "steal". She says that the house is much cheaper than other comparable houses, because the bank only wants its investment in the house. The family who lived there have had to forgo their equity and leave because they missed a few mortgage payments due to a job loss. So the house is on the market, for a much lower price.

But the couple walking through sense the damp, the dust, the dreariness and the lost soul of the house. They are looking for a home to live in, not a dead shell. They move on to the next home on their list.

FORECLOSURE - HOME TO NONE.