Just who is Aiden Garcia? And why would anyone want his head?
In a world where individuals are discounted in favour of groups, Aiden Garcia is a member of one of the most despised groups in our society. It is a group that a significant portion of the population would like to see done away with.
Aiden Garcia is a father.
It is alleged that on the evening of February 19, 2002, the 30-year old resident of Los Angeles brought his gas barbeque into his living room and turned it on while his six children slept. The next morning he and one of his children were found unconscious. His other five children were found dead in their beds and Garcia was charged with five counts of first degree murder.
Like a 10-car fender bender on the Don Valley Parkway during rush hour, Garcia's alleged crimes were big news on the day that the bodies were discovered, only to be forgotten the next day. Unlike Andrea Yates, who became a household name when she drowned her five children in June 2001, Garcia slipped into oblivion literally after his 15 minutes of fame.
In a March 2 article in the Globe and Mail, Doug Saunders attempts to explain why Garcia received so little media attention in comparison to Yates. Saunders quotes a couple of law professors and concludes that when it comes to the murder of a child, men are viewed as criminals while women are seen as mentally ill.
As noted by its cover, Time Magazine discovered a few years ago that men and women are different. To Time, a magazine that dares not stray from the politically correct view that men and women are equal and therefore the same, this was a discovery worthy of the main cover story. This difference was acknowledged by CFTO's Ken Shaw at the funeral of PC Laura Ellis, the Toronto police officer who was killed in a car accident on the way to a break and enter call, when he stated that the outpouring of grief was greater for the mother of a 13-month-old baby than it would have been for a male counterpart in the same situation. Shaw stuck to the politically correct line by prefacing his remarks, almost apologetically, by saying that men and women are equal.
Saunders' article is no doubt correct that men and women are viewed differently. But he completely neglects any role that the mainstream media (including himself) had in refusing to cover this story, which, according to his lead, 'has all the elements of a media sensation'. The views of society are used to justify an unwillingness by the media to cover a story of a man who is alleged to have murdered five of his children.
The reason is fairly simple--the media are afraid to cover it. The 'what', 'when' and 'how' of the deaths are already settled and not much more can be said. Although Garcia is presumed to be innocent, the police aren't looking for anyone else or examining other theories of death so the 'who' is not in dispute. The only remaining factor is 'why'. And that's what the media doesn't want to touch.
The media doesn't want to stray from the liberal view that men in this type of situation are simply violent. If a violent act is committed by a woman it is either because she has been abused by a man or is mentally ill. The media did not want to look into the 'why' of Aiden Garcia and find out that perhaps, just perhaps, he is suffers from depression or some mental illness. Excuses are made for women but not for me. Unlike Garcia, Yates quickly gathered supporters in the media such as the Today Show's Katie Couric who raised the defense of post partum depression long before Yates' defense team did. And although Saunders uses legal sources to conclude that men and women are viewed differently, he does not cite any sources that might have a medical opinion as to why these acts were committed. If he killed his kids, he's violent. End of story. Just bring us his head.
Just as the media loves whistleblowers, except those like Bernard Goldberg who blow the whistle on them, Saunders finds no fault with the media in its refusal to cover the story.
Sometimes it's okay to shoot the messenger.
Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Men's News Daily, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck and The Rant. Arthur can be reached at: aweinreb@interlog.com
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