Journalism: Where is the Consistency?

The news article below was posted here on November 27, 2007. I am saddened by the loss of life in this accident, and for those who were injured. Especially on Thanksgiving Day.

The atrocity of this accident is portrayed very effectively. When you read it, you might feel blind anger at illegal immigrants in general, and drunk drivers most certainly. Then you will feel anger that our law enforcement failed to keep this particular immigrant within his country's borders, only to return to the US illegally and kill innocent victims.

Nowhere in this article does it say if anyone was wearing a seatbelt, and surely not the young man who died of his injuries.

Illegal Immigrant Accused Of Driving Drunk, Causing Fatal Boone Crash

BOONE, N.C. -- An illegal immigrant is accused of driving drunk in Boone over the Thanksgiving holiday and plowing into a sport utility vehicle, killing a man inside.

Boone police said Juan Manuel Juarez Reyes slammed into the rear of a Lexus SUV that was about to turn from Highway 105 onto Poplar Hill Drive shortly before 11 p.m. Friday. The SUV was skidded 250 feet, hitting a Watauga County deputy’s patrol car. The occupants of the SUV were trapped inside their vehicle but the deputy was not hurt.

The driver, Sallie Ellis Newell, and passenger Jacqueline Elizabeth Newell were taken to the Watauga County Medical Center where they were treated in released. But Brian Alan Newell and Andrew Russell Newell, who was in the back passenger-side seat, were flown to Johnson City Regional Medical Center.

Andrew Newell, 22, died at the hospital. His father remains in critical condition.

Family members said the Newells were returning from a Thanksgiving trip to South Carolina and were only a quarter-mile from home.

Authorities said Monday that Juarez Reyes was caught in the country by Border Patrol agents in 2002 and was sent back to Mexico. They aren’t sure when he re-entered the United States.

Police say he was speeding and drunk when the crash happened.

Juarez Reyes was first charged with driving while impaired, driving without a license and three counts of felonious assault with a deadly weapon causing serious injury by vehicle. On Tuesday he was charged with second-degree murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

He is being held under $1 million bond and has asked for a court-appointed attorney. He’ll be back in court Jan. 14.

What is astounding about the outcome of this accident are the charges, and the bail.

At this point, you're probably asking why I would be astounded. After all, this man, an illegal immigrant, was drunk, speeding, and he killed an innocent American and injured others. Doesn't he deserve harsh punishment?

Why yes, I believe he deserves to go to jail the rest of his natural life. He broke the law - driving while alcohol impaired, and disobeying traffic laws, which resulted in one death and critical injuries to another.

I may be astounded at the severity of the charges and bail amount, but I am even further astounded that law enforcement sufficiently charged this man with his crimes in this case.

However, I'd bet a year's pay that it would not read this way had it been an innocent motorcyclist who had been plowed into and killed. I see it every day in the newspapers. Motorist runs down a motorcyclist, driver NOT charged, motorcyclist wasn't wearing a helmet. You could write a canned report, with [insert rider's name here], and [insert at-fault driver's name here] and they would look no different than the hundreds of articles written in newspapers about motorcycle accidents involving death or injury.

Even when the driver is drunk and kills a motorcyclist, the charges are never so severe as this report. So what is it this time around? Is this man being charged this way because he is an illegal Mexican? It can't be because he was drunk, as that hasn't produced charges like this for a dead motorcyclist. Is it because he caused the SUV to strike a deputy's patrol car? The officer wasn't hurt, so that can't be it. Why then?

When I read this report, and saw the injustice committed on those inside the SUV, I actually feel kindly toward the Journalist who wrote this, because it was written without placing any blame on the SUV driver who was merely making her way home with her family, after a Thanksgiving dinner.

So why is it when a motorcyclist dies at the hands of another at-fault driver, the Journalist must immediately discount the rider, and excuse the at-fault driver? He wasn't wearing a helmet, he was speeding slightly, the auto driver "didn't see him coming".

Would it matter if the motorcyclist was "just a quarter-mile" from home? Or returning from having dinner with his family? From what I've seen, the answer is no. All that matters is he was riding a motorcycle, taking a risk in competing with a 4000 lb automobile, and he lost. Too bad.

Even when the driver of the auto that kills him has been drinking and leaves the scene, when they turn themselves in, they get a pat on the back for being so "honest" and coming forth and confessing. "It's alright, we know you didn't see him".

I used to think Journalists were just stupid, and were blinded by the government about motorcycle accidents. I used to think that the pitiful laws we have are what allows people to walk away with a $45 fine and no jail time for killing a motorcyclist on the road.

From what I see above, in this news report, Journalists do know how to report an accident with facts in an unbiased way. Law enforcement does have the wherewithal to charge accordingly for killing someone in an at-fault accident.

Just not when it's a motorcyclist that dies.

I don't know whether to be angrier or sadder. Until now, I still held out hope that it really wasn't a predjudicial act upon bikers. I needed to be in that cocoon of naive trust, believing that I wasn't being profiled because I ride a motorcycle, that it was all just a coincidence.

But it isn't. My rights to due diligence won't be upheld if I am run down by a negligent motorist. Here's what it will read when my time comes:

"Early this morning, on her way to Starbucks just a mere quarter-mile from home, a woman riding her Harley Davidson motorcyle struck an SUV, who was attempting to make a left hand turn in front of her. She died on the scene. She may have been speeding, according to the driver of the SUV, I didn't see her coming. The driver of the SUV was not injured. She was wearing a helmet. The driver of the SUV was not charged."

Think that sounds farfetched? I challenge you to find me a newspaper report of a motorcyclist who is killed by an at-fault motorist, like the one in the report above, and show me where the driver was charged as that one is.

You won't find one. Your news report will read the same as mine, mark my words. But will it matter when we are already dead?

Journalists are just as bad as law enforcement. Both are responsible for the injustice done to dead American motorcyclists. Journalists are responsible for the attitude of the American public, who blame bikers for their own injuries and deaths at the hands of those same Americans.

And law enforcement could do something about it, but they don't. Not unless it's a scenario like above. They may be kind officers, they may shout 'rah rah' about Motorcycle Safety week (for that week only), but when the chips are down, the bottom line is, they don't care if we live or die. Better to target specific groups for being stupid and pulling wheelies; just another finger pointing game to say we kill ourselves. They might as well say I chose that SUV with the dumb driver behind the wheel as my suicide weapon of choice.

For the family in that SUV whose son is dead now at the hands of the drunk, speeding, illegal immigrant, I hope you see justice done. At least someone should have the right to it.

I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag

I was just sitting here wondering what to write in my next blog, when in comes a couple of emails.

The first is about our Pledge of Allegiance.

OK, I admit to being old enough to remember the Red Skelton Show. I was a little girl, and I'd beg to watch Red's show each week. I still hold Red as being one of America's comedians of distinction. You see, Red never used any bad words, or disparaged anyone. And each night when his show was over, he would say, "Good night and God bless". He instilled a love of God and a love of country early on in my life.

The following link is a narrative of the Pledge of Allegiance by Red Skelton. Listen and remember, and wonder, if you will, if Red could possible have predicted the future.

Red Skelton on the Pledge of Allegiance

The second email was about a man who heard of an injustice regarding this country's flag and refused to stand for it. This man, an American who loves his country, fought for his country, became enraged and did what any American should do.

Jim Broussard of Reno, NV just couldn't stand by when he heard a downtown bar was flying a Mexican flag above an American flag. Jim is an Army veteran, and one who paid a price for the freedom of all Americans. And Jim did what every American should not be afraid to do - stand up for what this country means to him.

OK, so what did Jim do? Jim jumped in his vehicle, drove down to the bar, and cut down the two flags, then walked away with the precious American flag, daring anyone to take it away from him.

See full story here.

See news video here.

Hear an interview with Jim here.

This report makes a very blaring statement: Americans are afraid to speak out in fear of being called a bigot. Jim is not a bigot, he is an American, and one who is proud of his country, as all Americans should be.

Our tax dollars are being used to supply Hispanic speaking teachers, Hispanic printed materials, and any other thing Hispanic groups wants. And if they don't get what they want, they cry discrimination. Simply because a number of the Hispanic immigrants in this country refuse to assimilate into our culture.

I am not a bigot. I don't care what race, religion, or "flavor of the week" you are. You move here, you become a citizen, you are American. Your heritage may be of some other nation. Your religious beliefs may be different than mine. Your holidays might be on different days. But this is The United States of America, not Mexico, not France, not Russia, not Canada. It's OK to be different, just don't ask me to be you.

I am proud of the legal immigrants of this country who assimilate into our society. I am proud of their accomplishments. In a small way, I can relate. I once moved from the west coast, where I'd lived 44 years of my life, and traveled 3300 miles to New England (which is darn near a country all by itself). I had no money and no job, and I was on my own (single and free). People asked me where I was from, since I didn't talk like them. Grocery stores didn't have the things I was used to, and driving laws were different too.

I survived, and I didn't take one hand-out from the government. Imagine that! Even more amazing is I didn't remarry and get some man to support me. (That's not to say I would have said no if some sugar daddy showed up on my doorstep, but sadly there aren't any that look like The Rock.)

Seriously though, I am delighted that I, as an American citizen, can offer a better life to those who come here seeking it. Here's what I owe you: the freedom that comes with being a legal American, same as I have; the freedom to earn a living and make your life better because of it, the freedom to worship any God you choose, the freedom from slavery, and the freedom of speech.

Don't ask me for any more than any other American deserves. I don't go to work every day for you, I work for me and mine. But I will fight for your freedom, same as mine. You're free to speak any language you want, in the privacy of your own home, and to others who understand you.

But, NO, I will not press 2 for English. When I get this "command" after the Spanish request to press 1 for Spanish, I hang up. I can find another merchant to do business with. If companies don't respect my right as an American to speak English, I don't need to give them any of my hard earned money.

I view this incident with Jim Broussard and the American flag with outrage too. How DARE anyone disgrace our American flag that way? Had it been a different nation's flag, I would still see it the same way. Could an American do such a thing in Mexico and not be crucified? What Jim did was true and right. He righted a wrong, and he didn't hurt anyone in the process.

I view Jim Broussard's actions in the same vein as the crew and passengers of Flight 93. Jim decided what he would do, and he just did it. "Let's roll!". I believe I would have done what Jim did too.

Hear me now immigrants of this country - French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese or any other language but English, is not my language. I was born here. My parents and grandparents were born here. No, I will not learn Spanish, nor will I frequent a business where I am not understood. I will not tolerate the disrespect any longer.

And to all the Hispanic "watch-dog" politicians out there, who plan to make a big deal over this incident. Americans are watching. I personally will stand behind Jim Broussard with everything I have. Too bad this had to happen, as now Americans will look at this disrespect of OUR culture as a major affront. Americans have been far too tolerant, for far too long.

To all our American immigrants who are of Hispanic descent, and have embraced the American way of life, I salute you. Stand behind this issue as an American, stand with all Americans who came here looking for a better way of life. If not for that, there would be no America to come to.

Voice your concerns over others of your heritage who are making life more difficult for YOU, by their demands that Hispanics be given more consideration than anyone else in this country, by their blatant disrespect for the country that made them citizens.

Flying any other flag above an American flag is a federal offense. Where was local law enforcement, I ask you? According to this report, they didn't know what to do. Perhaps they were afraid of being called a bigot? Well, let me tell you, Reno PD, I am disgusted that you didn't have the cajones to stand up for our country's flag.

Jim Broussard did.

What would YOU do? I know what I would have done.

I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Isn't that what immigrants are asked to recite when becoming a citizen? Was this pledge not understood?