Ever heard of Chris Johnson?
No, I don't mean the running back from the Tennessee Titans who may or may not be going through a slump. I'm not referring to the actor from various TV shows. Negative on the cornerback for the Oakland Raiders as well as the third baseman from the Houston Astros.
I'm talking about Christopher Johnson, the man put on death row for killing his infant son in February 2005. I'm talking about the man who was recently executed despite mental health doubts.
The U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the execution of mentally ill individuals on the grounds it's unconstitutional. As The Collector said in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," it's the law!
Despite being in and out of psychiatric hospitals as a youth and prescribed anti-psychotic drugs, despite never being evaluated by a court as to whether he was mentally competent to be executed, despite showing erratic behavior as of late including banging his head against the wall, secluding himself from other inmates and eating a roll of toilet paper, he was put to death by lethal injection. Guess everything in retrospect is obvious.
On Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011, before he was injected, Johnson was asked if he had any last words. He remarked, "Game over." He was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m.
You Google "Christopher Johnson" and you'll find an article after scrolling through a sea of news stories referring to the Christopher Johnson's I mentioned earlier, the Christopher Johnson's of note according to the media.
So, Google "Christopher Johnson execute" and you'll get articles from random media outlets. Instead of CNN, USA Today or the Washington Post, you'll get The Guardian out of the UK and WKRG out of Alabama as top sources. Where's the rest of the U.S. on this important news story? Asleep at the media wheel.
When Troy Davis was set to be executed a few months ago -- a man many believe to be innocent -- you couldn't turn on the TV or sign on to Facebook or Twitter without hearing about his unfair fate and the uproar from the public. From the NY Times to the Huffington Post, his story was smothered and covered like my Waffle House hashbrowns.
So, I don't get it. Was it because Troy Davis was black and Christopher Johnson not? Was it because Davis was presumed not-guilty by the public in contrast to Johnson being presumed mentally unwell yet still guilty -- mental illness is a taboo in our culture so possibly people thought he should die anyway? Was it because Johnson was convicted of killing his own child, a mere 6-month-old? Was it because he wasn't sorry? Was it because Troy Davis repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and Johnson never attempted to appeal or do anything?
No. It's because the media didn't tell us what to be upset about so the State of Alabama is the bad guy and Christopher Johnson is a good guy ... I learned about it after-the-fact. There's so much going on in the world and big media offers a catered buffet of your interests.
Oh glorious Media Gods, please, I beg of you, shine down on me and hear my prayers. What should I be upset about today? What should I be happy about? Thank you! Without you I am a lost lamb.
They want you to Google something and read about it on their site. So, how do you they do that? They write about what you are going to search, always staying a few steps ahead. Why on Earth would you search about Chris Johnson when you don't even know who he is!? Yeah, the news outlets have varying hustles -- that's why Republicans listen to FOX News and Liberals read "The Nation" -- but they all report on items you are interested in so you will click on their news story while surfing the web because print is dead and the Internet is where its at! Give me what I want to hear America!
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? If a mentally ill man is executed without being evaluated by a court and no one knows about it, does it matter?
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