Posted on 01/19/2007 9:24:31 AM PST by Free ThinkerNY
SHAME ON BOY'S FOLKS AND OPRAH
By LINDA STASI
January 19, 2007
YESTERDAY, the parents of Shawn Hornbeck did what any parent whose child had been held captive and suf fered hell on earth would do in this circumstance: They put him on TV to suffer further pain, shame and humiliation. On "Oprah" yet.
Yes, Pam and Craig Akers, Shawn's parents, who say they have not (yes, that's "not") asked him about his ordeal because it would be too painful right now, nonetheless had no problem dragging their traumatized child out before God and everyone to answer questions on national TV.
Well, let me rephrase that. They might have turned down a first interview with God if He'd asked, but who can say, "No," to Oprah?
This, mind you, occurred yesterday - less than a week after the boy's dramatic rescue.
At least Elizabeth Smart's smarmy parents waited a month and a half to drag her out to play the harp on "The John Walsh Show" like a little abused, emotionless Muppet.
Shawn, however, looked like he just wanted to die - maybe of shame, maybe of terror, or maybe just because after being held captive by a monster, a child knows when he's being exploited. And yesterday, he was - in the most legal, sanitized, huggy-feely, disgraceful way.
Hey, kid, get used to it - this is your 15 minutes and you better milk it for all it's worth. And if your folks are anything like the Smarmy Smarts, you, too, will be a TV movie before long. Now that's entertainment.
And while no one asked Shawn if he'd been sexually abused by The Monster, Oprah did, in fact, ask his parents, saying, "OK, I'm going to go there and ask you, what do you think happened?
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
That's like any one of our parents dragging us on Oprah, if we were still teens, and discussing whether we're virgins or not. How sick! And the boy was probably sexually abused and they put him on TV to talk about his ordeal? This is probably the reason his captor was able to convince the boy he wasn't wanted. His parents are selfish nuts!
Don't blame Oprah, blame the parents. Oprah did not force anyone to come onto her program.
I'll bet the parents of the other little boy in that monster's possession are relieved the attention is not on their boy. I was shocked too that the parents took the boy on "O". I thought the press conf where the step dad went on and on and the poor boy sitting there mortified was a bit much too. I wondered about that day - you would assume they would keep out of sight and get that poor boy help which unfortunately he will never reoover from this. The only answer to these pediphiles is to put them down. No rehab or treatment "cures" them. To me is worse than murder because this kid will be so screwed up you don't know what the future holds for him and will he in turn hurt or molest someone. The sentence for pediphiles should be death.
But he lost a leg out of trying to help someone else's child. Not a very good exchange I'd say.
I agree completely/ Once about 15 years ago, I came home and my wife said, "The Donahue Show" called,they wanted to know if you'd like to be on a show about people who can't deal with their noisy neighbors". We had, months earlier, an impossible group of young folks living upstairs in a nice 3-flat building: entering the building and noisily bounding up the front stairs at all hours of day and night, barbells dropping down on the floor over our heads, music played at such ear-splitting volume past midnight we couldn't sleep, and a hundred other indignities. Constant requests to PLEASE keep the noise level down was met with assurances quickly forgotten within a few hours. After months of this, I went and filed a complaint, and met them in court---turns out we were both given the wrong courtroom, so the judge told me to re-apply for anew hearing. I dropped the case then because we finally found a house to move into in a FAR better town.When the neighbors found out we were finally moving out the next day they bounced a basketball over the living room for a few hours to further antagonize us, and placed two large stereo speakers face-down on the floor, turning up the music as loud as they could. But shows like the Donahue show at the time, will send assistants to scour court records and cobble together shows like this.
Oprah doesn't need to because she can cherry-pick the highest of high-profile cases everyone already knows about.
But when my wife relayed the info about being on the show, my entire body shook with aversion and revulsion: the LAST thing I would EVER do would be to expose myself on TV,over even a mundane case like that.
I blame oprah as well as the parents. She can always do another Tom Cruise jumping on the couch show, but she chose to exploit this kid instead. She couldn't have done it without the parents ok, but she has lots of money to dangle. All her money doesn't make her right.
Oprah is scum just like the rest of the media.
This kid was once again exploited by an adult. Oprah used him for her benefit. She exploits peoples tragedies and hides behind the lie that she's just trying to draw attention to some issue. It's a prettied up version of the Jerry Springer Show. This case has brought attention to the problem of missing and exploited children without Oprah's help.
Exactly. And you can bet there's an attorney advising these folks as we speak. It's not so much the color of money, it's the smell of money that sets the wheels in motion.
These people went public years ago to try and get their son home. Now they have him and feel a responsibility to continue their work so that other parents of missing children can experience the joy they have.
You've got to be kidding.....
Yeah like they aren't using some compelling person to sway these people to come on. Talk TV is reprehensible.
This boy has amazing parents and because of them, I think he has a much better change of overcoming his trauma. No, I don't think I would do what they are doing, but I wouldn't criticize them. If I criticized everyone who did things differently than I would, I'd have nothing kind to say about anyone.
I have refused too watch Oprah for years now. This just makes me happier that I don't.
IF these parents cared, that kid would be seeing a psychiatrist....not on Oprah... THey are looking for a book deal or movie.
I came up with it on one of my rants to my wife about Oprah/Dr. Phil/Tyra.....
They are todays new secular TV evangelists...."Come on my show, and I will heal you of all your problems and forgive you of your sins"
I agree, twigs.
From what I saw, the stepfather was the one who spoke to the press four years ago, when the kid first disappeared. He had all his teeth and was neatly groomed at the time, too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.