The Holloway Case: Sad On One Score, Pathetic the Rest

Except for snarky comments, you haven't seen me mention this story because it's being so overplayed here. Holloway is the 18-year-old Alabama teen who went missing a month ago in Aruba.

But in a strange way, we're seeing the kind of excess and America's might-is-right politics playing out in this case. Everytime the woman's mother clasped her hands together in pray, some network broadcasts it. This woman gets more air time everyday than Bill Frist, George Bush, and Tom DeLay put together. Diane Sawyer prays with her. We see the woman soliciting prayers from these Aruban citizens.

This is not to say it's not an unfortunate case. It is. But we're going through this because this young woman traveled off American soil and didn't follow the rules for safety.

But stop and consider this: we have news casters announcing that the Dutch father and son involved in the case are guilty. While there's some question whether these folks - and the others - would have been arrested and held for questioning AT all - had the U.S. not bitched about it so. Now we seem just short of launching a nuclear strike on Aruba because it left the Dutch father and son go this week. Silly me, I assume the Aruban officials let them go because they had no case to keep them.

However, because this mother says God told her that the Dutch father lied - and of course, God wouldn't lie and an upset woman wouldn't dream up communication with God - Geraldo, Scarborough, Limbaugh, Nancy Grace(less) et al want the Dutch folks drawn and quartered, preferably for broadcast. So far, the entire case against these people seems to be summed up by "Natalee's mom thinks they're bad people." Doesn't matter that the Dutch father was a respected member of the community and a judge.

The news networks have profilers and law enforcement people saying - authoritatively - that the Dutch father is covering up for his son "who murdered Natalee" in cold blood. Some genius yesterday said we should cut off diplomatic relations with Aruba.

We're now demanding that Holland "do"something to the Dutch father and son. Some politician is making noises about coming up with a law that would prohibit tourism to Aruba UNLESS the Aruban officials shoot the Dutch father and son without benefit of a trial. Texas and other states are sending investigators and dive teams to "take control of the investigation" because - after all - some "brown people" might be in charge in Aruba and we can't trust brown people, right?

Everything about this case is over the top at the same time a number of studies are telling us that unless the missing person is an attractive young white woman - and preferably Christian and blonde - they won't get a blink from the media.

What bothers me most is that we have sharks and a new Chandra Levy, just as we had the summer before 9-11. That summer, the media tried and convicted Gary Condit who apparently had nothing to do with Levy's disappearance; her body was later found in a park with a manner of death that seemed consistent with a serial killer who had taken the lives of other women. But you heard little of that because once Condit- who wasn't too nice a human being, granted - was no longer the villain, no one was interested.

After 9-11, the media said they'd blown it, that they learned their lessons about covering the important stories after they wasted the summer of 2001 covering sharks and Chandra. And yet, here we are, doing it again.