Power of the Press

Saw this on the NBC News this morning and it made me laugh for hours despite the tragic note.

A 52 year-old grandmother was found stabbed to death in her home in The Bronx. Tragic, yes. Upon interviewing the neighbors, the response was one you always see in these cases:

"She was a very sweet old lady who did whatever she could to help out her neighbors"...yadda yadda yadda. You can always expect to get that kind of comment whenever someone is murdered. The person is always the salt of the earth and all. Something similar happens when they arrest someone for being a mass murderer: "He was such a nice boy, a quiet neighbor, very friendly, etc, etc et al".

But back to the case in point.

Literally in the same breath it took to say that this grandmother was a sweet neighbor, the newswoman reported that drug paraphenalia was found in her home and it was unclear wheteher it belonged to the victim or the assailant. WTF!!!???

When did she go from being Granny Goodness to being a drug dealer??!!! What, was she making crystal meth in her kitchen? Was she cooking up Extasy? It raises some questions, no doubt. Just how was she able to help out her neighbors, hmmm? Was she well connected?

I'm sure some people watching the news this morning didn't catch the drug reference. Unfortunately, I did. So did my wife. We both pulled a Scooby Doo (HRUUUHHH?!!) and just stared at the TV set for a second. I'm sure there could be thousands of reasons why the old lady had drug paraphenalia in her house, I don't think it belonged to the assailant though. I mean, why would he have his stuff in her house anyway? It's a weird case and I hope they solve it soon if only to clear the poor woman's reputation.

It's kind of like a case here in PR. A man named "Coquito" was found murdered. EVERYBODY knew him. He was a "shining pillar of the community". He helped politicians in their campaigns, he got Don Omar the help and finances he needed to become the star he is today. Tego Calderon also claims help from Coquito. Funny how not even his closest friends knew that he was a major drug czar on the island. Of course now the politicos deny having known him (despite one of them living next door to him), and those who do admit knowing him, deny knowledge of any shady dealings he may have been a part of. He was just this really nice guy, you know?

Anyway, I'm not making light of the tragedy that occured today. Nobody deserves to die that way. My deepest condolences to the family. But after watching the news, you just gotta wonder: how well do we know our neighbors?