Peterson Dad
A jury unanimously sentenced former fertilizer salesman, Scott Peterson, to death today at 4:30 EST, in Redwood CA. Thus ends a two-year American obsession with the latest high-profile murder trial, which was mostly an obsession with Scott himself, whose smugness and arrogance captured our imaginations in that he became a national icon for that generic high school date rapist type, whom we all knew. I have no comments on the trial itself, the media frenzy, the prolonged Ken Burns zooms into Laciâs warm and toothy smile, the parallels to Robert Chambers. There are, however, a couple of instances--ancillary to the main media coverage of the verdict itself--that are more telling of our declinist state of affairs than the obvious statement that we have turned a murder trial into entertainment. First, while watching the verdict with a friend, we both noted with dismay that in the midst of the announcement of the Peterson verdict there scrolled across the bottom of the screen a single unsettling sentence, ââ¦Former General Augusto Pinochet was indicted in Santiago Chileâ¦â That was it. Now back to Scott. Is he going to fry or become someoneâs prison bitch, come on, come onâ¦we are a nation salivating.
Do we have our priorities straight here? The notorious political dictator of one of the worst regimes in the southern hemisphere is finally being brought to justice. Murderer of Salvador Allende in the CIA assisted Chilean coup of 1973, Architect of the DINA (a Gestapo tactics organization), commander of the âCaravan of Death,â a roving band of terror and murder is finally being indicted for the kidnapping of nine dissidents and the killing of one of them during his 17 year reign.
Does our narcissism have no limits? What it seems we really want to know is, did Scott show any emotion when he heard the verdict? He clenched his jaw, but that was it!â¦hmmm clenched his jaw did he? Wonder what that means?
Do we care about the thousands of desaparecidos? about nearly two decades of human rights violations? of the implications for our cuddly Dr. Kissenger if under oath Pinochet confesses to U.S. involvement in the coup? No, the question for us today is how loud was the cheer of the bloodthirsty mob outside of the courtroom in Redwood City, CA? Did Scottâs mom cry? When will Scott be transferred from his holding cell to death row? What did Laciâs sister wear?
Still need more evidence we are in decline?
Just take note of this picture posted on http://www.myway.com/ just after the verdict was announced. Here we have a dad (unrelated to the trial in any direct way) who has brought his four-year-old son to the Redwood City courthouse to spectate the announcement of this historic verdict. This photo is an important node of decline. Note how the boy is swathed in cartoonishly violent pajamas while talking on a cell phone. A cell phone!? Who on earth does a four year-old need to call from outside a courthouse? Note how he deftly wields the phone like a desensitized publicist or an irritated consumer on hold with customer service. Or perhaps he is checking his rollover minutes to see if he has enough time to call his playmates to gloat that he made it to the event of the year. Observe how the dad has ostentatiously supported his son atop his shoulders in a gesture of moral rectitude, as if to perform his normalcy for us all. HE certainly isnât a dad like Scott. Ahhâ¦but we know better. We can see the macabre underbelly to this little-league dad and his malevolent transmission to his young child of the spectator/mob mentality and a new culture of death. This moment very well may end up being one of the boyâs most formative memories, and what does that mean for us as a civilization? Certain Peril. If he doesnât remember it, it will most definitely lurk in his unconscious only to resurface again in an instant of suburban rage 20 years from now. Perhaps it will become a drunken night Hooters, or in incident of SUV road rage in the year 2025, it is hard to say, but the boyâs bearing witness to the Peterson courtroom trial will find its way out of the psyche. Now multiply that boy by a million.
Decline.
One thing is certain, in 20 years when this boy is asked, âWhere were you when Agusto Pinochet was indicted.â He will answer, âPino-who?â
Do we have our priorities straight here? The notorious political dictator of one of the worst regimes in the southern hemisphere is finally being brought to justice. Murderer of Salvador Allende in the CIA assisted Chilean coup of 1973, Architect of the DINA (a Gestapo tactics organization), commander of the âCaravan of Death,â a roving band of terror and murder is finally being indicted for the kidnapping of nine dissidents and the killing of one of them during his 17 year reign.
Does our narcissism have no limits? What it seems we really want to know is, did Scott show any emotion when he heard the verdict? He clenched his jaw, but that was it!â¦hmmm clenched his jaw did he? Wonder what that means?
Do we care about the thousands of desaparecidos? about nearly two decades of human rights violations? of the implications for our cuddly Dr. Kissenger if under oath Pinochet confesses to U.S. involvement in the coup? No, the question for us today is how loud was the cheer of the bloodthirsty mob outside of the courtroom in Redwood City, CA? Did Scottâs mom cry? When will Scott be transferred from his holding cell to death row? What did Laciâs sister wear?
Still need more evidence we are in decline?
Just take note of this picture posted on http://www.myway.com/ just after the verdict was announced. Here we have a dad (unrelated to the trial in any direct way) who has brought his four-year-old son to the Redwood City courthouse to spectate the announcement of this historic verdict. This photo is an important node of decline. Note how the boy is swathed in cartoonishly violent pajamas while talking on a cell phone. A cell phone!? Who on earth does a four year-old need to call from outside a courthouse? Note how he deftly wields the phone like a desensitized publicist or an irritated consumer on hold with customer service. Or perhaps he is checking his rollover minutes to see if he has enough time to call his playmates to gloat that he made it to the event of the year. Observe how the dad has ostentatiously supported his son atop his shoulders in a gesture of moral rectitude, as if to perform his normalcy for us all. HE certainly isnât a dad like Scott. Ahhâ¦but we know better. We can see the macabre underbelly to this little-league dad and his malevolent transmission to his young child of the spectator/mob mentality and a new culture of death. This moment very well may end up being one of the boyâs most formative memories, and what does that mean for us as a civilization? Certain Peril. If he doesnât remember it, it will most definitely lurk in his unconscious only to resurface again in an instant of suburban rage 20 years from now. Perhaps it will become a drunken night Hooters, or in incident of SUV road rage in the year 2025, it is hard to say, but the boyâs bearing witness to the Peterson courtroom trial will find its way out of the psyche. Now multiply that boy by a million.
Decline.
One thing is certain, in 20 years when this boy is asked, âWhere were you when Agusto Pinochet was indicted.â He will answer, âPino-who?â
posted by The Declinist at 4:53 PM
1 Comments:
How to discuss this with the kids.
Q: Why is this trial different than all other trials?
A: Because Scott Peterson is US and Laci is what we were.
Q: Why was her fetus named Conner?
A: Why not? Why would she he nammed anything else.?
Q: What's The Difference Between Catholics & Christians?
A: All Catholics are Christian, but not all Christians are Catholic.
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Q: What is the difference between The Murdering Community and The Incarneration Community.
A: All members of the Murdering Community are part of the Incarceration Community, but not all members of the Incarceration Community are members of the Murdering Community.
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