Comments on: Jail is for Good Samaritans, party crashers, and poor people

By: Things that are more interesting than Tiger Woods sleeping with blonde women

Things that are more interesting than Tiger Woods sleeping with blonde women — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:25:33 +0000

[...] The last time I visited my family over Thanksgiving, I was subjected to the 24-hour news networks’ fascination with two idiot party crashers. [...]

By: Things that are more interesting than Tiger Woods sleeping with blonde women - Allison Kilkenny - Unreported - True/Slant

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:05:23 +0000

[...] The last time I visited my family over Thanksgiving, I was subjected to the 24-hour news networks’ fascination with two idiot party crashers. [...]

By: Megan Cottrell

Megan Cottrell — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:17:06 +0000

This is a story I actually probably wouldn’t have followed except for the situation you described perfectly – in a house with family and a 24 hour news channel. I missed balloon boy because even after I heard all the details through twitter, it still didn’t seem like it was worth turning on the tv for.

Sometimes I think we media types are told we can’t sell stories about the real issues you present here – like the “war on drugs” and who it really targets. But I think it’s sort or a chicken and egg problem. There’s almost no media like this out there – at least not regular media that speaks to people in a language they understand and gives them a reason to relate – and so people don’t consume it. Will there always be a market for sensationalism? Yes. But it doesn’t mean we choose to cover those stories to death while missing out on the real issues of our time.

I keep this quote on my desktop. “If we can get people interested in Grey’s Anatomy and Prison Break, can’t we also get people interested in health care and judicial reform?” I think the answer is yes, but we have to try and stop giving excuses on why we just have to spend 24 hours tracking two wanna-be reality tv stars and their escapades.

By: adamsgranny

adamsgranny — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:38:33 +0000

Allison,
You are so right on regarding the war on drugs. Perhaps this was not the article in which to pursue it but the general public, and perhaps even the legislators do not understand the real victims of the minimum mandatories and the way these laws are abused by the legal system.
My own daughter, a former honor student, is caught in this type of trap and it is the must unjust, unethical, unfair…
A mother can drug her children and then set the house they are in on fire, receiving only a 7 year sentence, and a man can rape and kill a 6 year old child and get a 7 year sentence. How is it justice for an honor student who has never committed any illegal acts, but made some poor decisions due to a brief dependence on illegal substances be faced with serving 15 YEARS for being in a room when a drug deal involving a bottle of prescription pills happend?
We are in a terrifying situation and eveywhere we turn for help, we are told to stay quiet or they (the police & prosecutor) will crucify our daughter if they catch on that we are anxious to speak up. She has been acting as an informant and has been severly injured both body & soul. There is MUCH to the story, but I hesitate to disclose more detail.
I believe the only way will go forward is to raise awareness of what is really going on. Care to help me?

By: andylevinson

andylevinson — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:05:43 +0000

Doesn’t matter what their names are, they are stealing press time from obama, just as Tiger is…that is the REAL crime

By: Bill Barol

Bill Barol — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:06:20 +0000

…and apparently it’s “Salahi,” not “Salihi.” If I’d been watching more TMZ I probably would have known that.

By: Bill Barol

Bill Barol — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:54:24 +0000

Allison — I agree with a lot of what you write above, but don’t buy the argument that the Salihis should get a pass because there are people in jail who shouldn’t be, people who aren’t in jail but should be, and stories more worthy of coverage. That’s a false equivalency. My belief is that these two numbskulls should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, if only to discourage the next party who thinks it might be keen to get their picture taken with the president, and maybe, as long as they’re already there, try to kill him. The threats to any president are real and the ones to this president in particular are no joke, and although I never want to see the Salihis’ faces again, I don’t mind the press poking into how the USSS let this happen. In many respects, yes, the MSM is silly and trivial. And yes, in many respects the criminal justice system is broken. None of that leads to a logical conclusion that these two idiots shouldn’t get the book thrown at them for their little prank, which in addition to being annoying was legitimately dangerous.

By: andylevinson

andylevinson — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:00:53 +0000

The press put out a fine article on the dress worn by Michelle O for the state dinner. Did you miss that?

How is it that the press can come up with the low down on Michelle O’s clothes…but can’t seem to find Barack O’s birth certificate….but can come up with jokes about the people who want it released from the government building it is locked in in Hawaii?

By: tomdalziel

tomdalziel — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:09:24 +0000

And let’s not forget innocent people! I guess framing and arresting innocents for unsolved crimes is easier as they’re sure as hell not expecting it! Takes the heat of the police, gives the public someone to demonise, and, like us woolly liberals, innocent people don’t tend to make as much of a fuss about injustice like when they’re wrongfully arrested.

By: daleheiser28

daleheiser28 — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:56:54 +0000

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