Jury did not trust media in Anthony case Re: “Anthony verdict may signal death of circumstantial evidence,” July 6
Casey Anthony was found not guilty of her daughter’s death because the media convicted her long before the trial — and the jury did not trust the media.
Jurors had unreasonable expectations from the “CSI” syndrome of fantasy evidence, so they raised the bar from reasonable doubt to unreasonable doubt. And they suffered from CSD (common sense deficiency) caused by our superficial, celebrity-obsessed society.
It is well known and understood that circumstantial evidence cases are usually stronger than eyewitness testimony, which is often questionable, but not in many jury trials. That understanding has been severely diminished by high-profile cases and feeding frenzies by the media, leaving unconscionable triple standards of justice for high-, middle- and low-profile cases.
Anthony is a self-absorbed, convicted liar who destroyed her family and got away with time served awaiting trial. Sadly, she will undoubtedly cash in on her infamy while her daughter’s death goes unpunished.
Daniel B. Jeffs
Apple Valley, Calif.
Debt ceiling is a big problem
Re: “Obama doesn’t understand the family budget,” Editorial, June 30
I’ve seen a lot of bad, uninformed editorials, but this one takes the cake. It has to be read to be believed.
In effect, it emulates Michele Bachmann’s statement that our debt ceiling is really no problem at all — it’s just a matter of prioritizing which bills we will pay and which ones we will not pay.
And if the dumb traders panic and sell the markets down 50 percent overnight, well so be it. We all know markets fluctuate.
Note that the editorial writers — who are not burdened with consequential thinking — do not specify what those payment priorities should be. They merely throw dumb ideas against the wall and hope they stick in the minds of equally dumb readers.
At present, businesses are unwilling to hire more workers because they keep seeing editorials like this one and wonder how long our nation can survive.
Richard C. Kreutzberg
Bethesda
Decisions on Medicare, Medicaid will define our nation
Medicare and Medicaid should be major issues in the 2012 election season. Thereneeds to be a comprehensive, civilized debate to thoroughly hash out how our country can continue to make the two vital social programs work.
The results of that debate and the election will show what kind ofpeople we are: a compassionate nation or a survival-of-the-fittest nation.
Compassion unites us, while selfishness divides us. The money is always there. It is the political will to do the right thing that is lacking.
The litmus test for determining America’s greatness and prospects for survival is centered around how well we, both individually and collectively, meet the needs of the most vulnerable among us.
Paul L. Whiteley Sr.
Louisville, Ky.
