Opus 2017-398: Headlines: Another Day, Another Accusation, Garrison Keillor

I wonder sometimes if the media is playing with us to keep ratings up.  Do they have a long list of revelations about celebrities and politicians who have erred and they are stretching out the release in order to get us to tune in?

Yesterday it was the turn of Garrison Keillor.  Drudge sent me to Minnesota Public Radio.  My total experience with him involves reading Lake Woebegone Days after years of hearing about how the children were all above average. 

I read through the article and no specific charges are made, just “inappropriate behavior”.  That lets the imagination run wild.  As I look at the headlines about yesterday’s expose I see a wide assortment of actions being attributed to Matt Lauer.  I am not going to read all the articles because if the media follows its regular path there will be no way of knowing which are the ugly truth and which are ugly lies.  It is the job of the justice system to work those out.

It seems that the situations with Matt Lauer and Garrison Keillor were both known by many people for a good time and nothing was done.  Maybe at last it is.  If they are guilty of serious crimes like rape or molestation of children then the death penalty would be appropriate.  If all they did was pat someone’s derriere, then maybe being fired will be enough.  I hope they get a jury but I don’t want to bet on it.

There is good and bad coming out of all these accusations.  The good is that a winked at behavior that was demeaning to other human beings is finally getting some attention.  The bad is that the press corps is using emotion to railroad the rule of law rather than due process to seek justice under the rule of law.  In our enthusiasm for one we must not let the other be lost.

homo unius libri