Here are two stories about the tragically unfortunate death of JonBenet Ramsey. I wouldn't have written any of this except at the urging of my employers--since I'm on scene it probably makes sense in an editorial publishing business kind of way.It just makes me feel sad.
Because I live in Boulder, Colorado it is especially difficult for me to avoid being sucked into the frenzy of speculation surrounding the murder of little JonBenet Ramsey that occurred the day after Christmas. Each day there are new and shocking revelations that at this time, are adding up to an inside job. You are probably familiar with the background: the six year-old "Little Miss Colorado" was a junior beauty pageant winner, stage-mothered by her ex-Miss Virginia beauty-queen mom (who has lost her hair to chemotherapy and turned 40 on December 29th). The father, John Ramsey, is the powerful president of a prominent local business, Access Graphics (a subsidiary of Lockheed-Martin). The little girl was tucked in bed at 8pm, reported missing at 5:30am the next morning and found dead in the basement that afternoon. Let's review what has been discovered since the murder:
- The night of the murder the house was locked, but the burglar alarm was not activatedLocal rumor mongers focus on two facts: that the family was allowed to leave the city the day after the curious tragedy, and that they are refusing to give a formal interview to the police. There is no law that would legally compel them to give such an interview, but one would think if the family truly wants to assist the investigation there would be no reason to refuse. There is also the impression of special treatment for the rich, as everyone doubts a poor family in urban Denver under the same unfortunate circumstances would be allowed to flee the city for a week the day after the crime was committed under their very noses.- No evidence of forced entry was found
- As many as fifteen sets of keys to the house may be held by friends and workers
- The mother found the ransom note at 5:30am and called police
- The ransom note was written on a pad that came from inside the house
- Police report they have discovered a first draft, or "practice note" in the house as well
- References to a "small foreign group" being mentioned in the ransom note have not been clarified
- There are spelling errors in the note, but it was neatly written with a felt tipped pen
- The first place the father looked for JonBenet was in the 9 year-old son's room because, as he said, ". . .she sometimes sleeps in there."
- The ransom note demanded the unusually small sum (for a family of the Ramsey's wealth) of $118,000 (which Mr. Ramsey managed to have available in cash before 7:30 that morning)
- JonBenet's skull was fractured with what they believe was a baseball bat
- Her hands were bound, duct tape around her neck and across her mouth, a cord with a wooden handle was apparently used to strangle her
- Her body was sexually abused but no details are available
- DNA samples have been collected from the immediate family members, the baby sitter and the baby sitter's boyfriend
- There are conflicting reports as to whether the police searched the house that morning or not--officially they say they didn't, which is not standard procedure
- The FBI has pulled out saying it doesn't consider the case a kidnapping
- The father, and a family friend found the body at 1:30pm, removing it from the basement crime scene and polluting the evidence as he removed the body and the duct tape--there was no police presence in the house at the time, again not standard procedure
- The mother, in a CNN interview, curiously referred to the Susan Smith case (the mother who drowned her own children)
- The father was allowed to take his 9 year-old boy and the mother to Atlanta the next day on their private jet--Boulder police had to fly to Atlanta to get them to return
- The Nanny described the 9 year-old son's behavior at JonBenet's funeral as disassociated, not connecting with the reality of it all, and showing no emotion
- The family refuses to give formal videotaped interviews to the local authorities
- Mrs. Ramsey warns Boulderites that there is a "killer out there."
- Boulder Mayor Mary Durgin assures Boulderites there is not.
- Three days before the murder, a 911 call oringinated from inside the Ramsey's home, but as soon as it was answered the phone was hung up.
I used to have to tell people where Boulder is--not since the JonBenet Ramsey murder. Some of the local residents are angrily suggesting that if the little girl had lived in a trailer park, no one would have heard a word about it. I sadly agree. As it is, the Ramsey's are rich and powerful enough to have the issue of The Globe which featured stolen autopsy pictures of their daughter's body effectively banned from Boulder, most of Denver and many cities nationwide. They actually had their media people contact the stores and parent corporations requesting the boycott. The Ramsey's media consultant (every victim family should have one) has even built a custom web site (with a snazzy logo treatment!) just in case enquiring wired minds want to know the family's spin on the emerging details. (Yahoo! has its own section on the murder case--just search on "JonBenet Ramsey.") Meanwhile, Boulder's Chief of Police wasted no time lining up six people to take lie detector tests to determine who was responsible for stealing the coroner's photographs and selling them to the tabloid. Conversely, no lie detector tests have been given the Ramsey family members, who were in the house at the time of the murder. Power and prestige pull pretty hard in this little college town.
I usually wouldn't write about something in relative ignorance (some of you might disagree) but I'll make an exception this time. Noted film critic Michael Medved, talking with director Milos Forman about his new film, "The People Vs. Larry Flynt," reports that Forman maintains he has never seen a copy of Flynt's skin rag Hustler Magazine. Oh really--then since I haven't seen the film I feel equally "qualified" to comment. For those of you who haven't delved into the arena of plastic-wrapped periodicals, Hustler was never Playboy. Hustler is about as tacky as mainstream porn can get and still be hawked on neighborhood newsstands. Where Playboy's treatment of women is arguably idolatrous and admiring, Hustler's treatment of women is pretty much the opposite. Milos Forman, who has created some masterpieces ("One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest," "Amadeus,") and some turkeys ("Hair," for example) would like us to think he is taking the high road, protecting our First Amendments rights and tackling tough censorship issues. I just wish Milos would have cared enough to read a copy of the magazine around which this immorality play is based . Flynt's own daughter asserts that Larry never cared a whit for the First Amendment, only money. Forman wants it both ways: to be admired for a lofty pursuit of principles and to be forgiven for lying down with dogs.
The latest version of teaching a pig to dance is using your browser to watch "television." Now that people can surf the web with their television sets it would seem somewhat logical that you could turn that around; but it's not. Large numbers of people pulling huge amounts of data for long periods of time threatens to hog major chunks of bandwidth as more companies and sites begin to stream audio and video data. This affects all of us negatively. The latest Stupid Net Trick is The American Film Institute's plan to put classic films on its web site, downloadable in their entirety. (Let's hope they're one-reelers.) Additional software is needed to allow what they are calling "real time" downloading from a company called Vdonet. Charlie Chaplain's "The Rink" should be available for viewing about now if you're interested. I'm not. I'd rather rent a video. With all the streaming, web phone calls and quick-start movies flying around the net these days it's no wonder the backbone is about to break. We need to get a grip on what makes sense to host, not who can boast the most bells, whistles and features on their site. You'd think AFI would know better, as if a good idea would be to publish a book on a slowly scrolling film expecting audiences to read it sitting in a theatre. I doubt that pig would jig.
The Grammy Awards continue to be a frustrating experience for popular music fans. (Well for me anyway.) I mean, a straight-ahead, tired blues progression like "Give Me One Good Reason," as the year's best song? Please. Give me one good reason! The lyrics? It certainly couldn't be considered an inspired performance and the tune is anything but innovative; but it's Tracy Chapman. Maybe it's because as an artist, Chapman "matters," which is just great, but I'm afraid the song isn't. The Grammy's struggle for relevance continues from an all-time low in 1989 when they decided to add the Heavy Metal category, and inexplicably awarded it to twenty-year verteran art-rock group Jethro Tull. (True, the leader of the band plays a flute, which is made of metal, but that's where the similarity ends.) Heavy metal flute? Oh, and that was the year Milli Vanilli took home their Best New Artist Grammy. Then had to give it back becoming the only "artists" in history to be forced to return their award when it was discovered they weren't singing their own hit. This year you can bet on a vanity Grammy for Hillary Clinton's spoken word version of "It Takes A Village." (The production would have been more interesting if she would have allowed her ghost writer to trade off reading what SHE wrote.) I don't want to get my hopes up,. but there will be no justice, no peace in my heart unless Shawn Colvin, Beck and Garbage walk away with something, for these are major artists with major talent in my opinion. But I still think it should be the MUSIC that matters.
When Paula Jones asked The National Organization for Women for help back in the early '90's with her complaint against William Jefferson Clinton they ignored her. It has taken continued court pressure from Ms. Jones and several years for NOW's president, Patricia Ireland to finally issue a meek statement about "if these allegations are true" that President Clinton's ability to preside over our great land "might be in question." Well isn't that hard-hitting? Compare this to the orchestrated attacks, from NOW and various feminist and liberal groups, against Justice Clarence Thomas for his alleged "sexual harrassment" of Anita Hill. I wonder what the difference is, at least for the liberals and feminists, between a Democrat harassing a woman and a Republican harrassing a woman? In any event, the worst offenses Justice Thomas was accuseed of pale in comparison to Paula Jones' allegation. According to her complaint an Arkansas state trooper was enlisted to bring Ms. Jones to Bill Clinton's hotel room where he propositioned her, touched her leg, then exposed himself and requested oral sex. Ms. Jones has provided a detailed description of the "Little Governor" to the police and would like a little justice in return. In the meantime, The National Organization of Women seems to be a little slow taking her side on this one. I wonder why? While feminists and liberals were calling for Justice Thomas' head, Clinton's clandestine request seems to be something they don't want to touch. Neither did Ms. Jones.