ABC News: Meeting the usual MSM standards of inadequacy
Posted on 03/12/2009 5:50:29 AM PDT by Zakeet
The ABCNews.com Law and Justice front page currently features an article, dramatically titled "Will Steal For Food: Crisis Creates Criminals." On that same page, alleged bank robber Bruce Windsor is featured in an orange jumpsuit above a caption that reads: "In poor economy, police have arrested a rash of atypical alleged bank robbers."
If you click on that story, you will get to read about a grand total of three bank robberies supporting the authors' main point that "[a]cross the country, seemingly upstanding citizens like Windsor are being accused of committing crimes just to pay the bills."
Starting with Bruce Windsor, ABC goes out of its way to describe him as a "church deacon," but gives little explanation for his crime other than to save his real estate company which had fallen on hard times. ABC describes Windsor as a father of four with no criminal record. And criminal defense attorney Thomas Mesereau commented that, "[c]learly the defense will try to bring in that this person acted out of character, that something had to have gone wrong." ABC concludes, based upon scant facts, that the economy must have been the "something" that went wrong for Windsor, rather than the more typical motive for bank robberies: greed.
ABC allows Windsor to play his own sympathy card in the article, quoting his courtroom testimony:
"This doesn't even register. I'm just ill," Windsor told a judge in a subsequent court appearance. "I've never stolen anything in my life."
ABC's second bank robber is Keith Giammanco, sympathetically described as the father of 17-year-old twins who lost "everything in the stock market." Giammanco "allegedly sacrificed everything to buy his daughters nice things and keep them in private school." And one of Giammanco's daughter's heroically described him as "Robin Hood" and delivered this timely money-quote: "You know, take from the rich -- these banks are greedy -- and give to better -- his daughters' lives."
But if you examine local coverage, you will learn that Giammanco is allegedly the "Boonie Hat Bandit." And rather than being described heroically, Giammanco's neighbors described him as an "odd guy" who "never had a day job" and "was constantly bragging about the next big thing he was going to purchase."
And Giammanco was hardly a desperate one-time offender, having allegedly robbed 12 banks of $100,000. While ABC does include this last point in its article, it also claims these robberies occurred "in September," which would tend to indicate a more desperate criminal (possibly) if all the crimes were committed in a month. But the local story linked above indicates that the 12 robberies occurred over the course of a year - and predated the worst of our recent economic difficulties.
ABC's final bank robber is the so-called "Ohio granny robber" Barbara Joly, who was recently sentenced to six years imprisonment for robbing three banks. Again, ABC finds sympathy for Joly in that "[h]er husband said she was trying to support her son, who had fallen deep into debt."
"She is a wonderful and loving grandmother who simply could not say no to her son's request for more and more financial help," he said.
ABC's main point is that the criminals cited (all three of them) are atypical bank robbers, presumably affected by the tough economic times. But elderly bank robbers, while possibly interesting, are hardly unusual. The ABC story in question links to a story about the "Grandpa bandit" who committed a series of robberies in late 2007. And a basic search for "grandmother robs bank" turns up a surprising number of hits - including these two granny robberies - which also predated the economic downturn.
The overall sentiment of the article is to excuse - or at least explain away - criminal behavior because of the current economic downturn. The ABC readers, though, are not entirely buying this argument. As one commenter put it: "The true test of a man's character is not when everything is fine, but when everything is falling apart around him."
And ABC has not even established that these criminals' lives were "falling apart" at all. I have a news flash for ABC ... every criminal defendant has some excuse, sometimes real - but often manufactured for the purpose of mitigating against a long prison sentence. The courts, after examining all the circumstances, will decide whether these criminals deserve sympathy and mercy. For some reason, I think the "Boonie Hat Bandit" will have a tougher time with the judge than he did with ABC.
ABC News: Meeting the usual MSM standards of inadequacy
How profound, Charlie. But...ummm....when are bank robberies NOT about improving the economic situation of the robber?
LOL
So bank robberies during good economic times are the result of what exactly?
Can these people pretending to be journalists get any dumber?
No. Crises like these cause more criminals to show their stripes. It does no NOT create them.
They constantly surprise me
So, I see we’ve had a visit from Captain Obvious! Nice going, ABC.
So, what causes crime when the economy is good? Do some people follow crime as a hobby?
Follow-up questions:
1. If these robbers are “atypical”, then it follows that you have a preconceived stereotype of a bank robber. Would you please tell the audience what that stereotype is?
2. If these crimes are, in fact, essentially due to worsening economic times, then what is the essential reason for crime during good economic times?
Obama and the demofascists fault.
The one thing held in common by all bank robbers is that they rob banks. This should be the primary concern.
News Flash to ABC News:
PEOPLE COMMIT CRIMES BECAUSE THEY ARE CRIMINALS!
They are just doing in small scale, what their dear leaders do on a grand one, redistribute wealth.........
If the banks received bail-out money, I have a hard time blaming the guy.
Crime is skyrocketing in this area, but it has been for a long time. The bank robbers, home invaders, and the other assortment of thieves, have records a mile long. Even so, we hear on the news that it is because of the economy. Thieves are thieves in good and bad economies, but the MSM needs to make these criminals into victims.
Wonder if they’ll be so understanding when some other people have had enough, and start administering frontier justice......
The ABCNews.com Law and Justice front page currently features an article, dramatically titled “Will Steal For Food: Crisis Creates Criminals.” On that same page, alleged bank robber Bruce Windsor is featured in an orange jumpsuit above a caption that reads: “In poor economy, police have arrested a rash of atypical alleged bank robber============
As a Security professional for over 35 years let me assure you that this is horse shit. Its politics and not reality.
Having worked in private security during past recessions I know that the economy had little effect on who or what is stolen
I worked loss prevention in retail grocery for a number of years. I covered 3 large cities. I made an average of 100 arrest each year for 4 years for retail theft. In all those cases there was 1, let me repeat that ONE, person that stole lunch meat and bread to feed her kids. The rest (nurses.schoolteachers, a deputy sheriff numerous lawyers and a doctor stole steaks,shrimp,high end healthcare products that could be resold and the highest theft item every year consistently was cigarettes. They stealto resellfor cash in almost everycase to support drug,gambling or other negative habits.
People steal because they are thieves. I do not doubt that there are a few people (parents likely) that get to the point that they feel they need to steal to feed or clothe their children. They are the exception to the rule.
At least they do it the old fashioned way with a weapon instead of the political way with a pen.
hear hear!
With the likes of Barney’s Fank forcing banks to open the cash drawer to “the underserved”, you have to be a real dumb crook to rob a bank the old fashioned way.
C’mon crooks...Show a little enterprise! Fill out a fraudulent loan application!
You make more sense, present more facts, and speak more truth, in one paragraph than, 0, Biden, Corn-Holeder, Flying Nancy, and Cap’n Teddy Kennedy, (D-UI) have made, collectively, in their entire careers.
It has nothing to do with the billions and billions that government is stealing from tax payers to give to political players. Nor jails that arbitrate which criminals are back out on the streets. Blame it on bad policies, if anything.
It’s supposed to be like we are back in the 1930s again. Except this time the media isn’t making heroes out of bank robbers or promoting their names.
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