Media Murder Mania vs. Clinton Killing Quietude

You would be forgiven for thinking the United States runs on scandals…(in fact, as mentioned in the movie Hud, it's run on disease)…

Every few years or so there is some tremendous national mania involving murder which captivates us.

One need only mention the parties involved and most will know immediately who you mean — Laci, JonBenet, O. J. — we can't get away from them and we can't get enough of them.

The only thing is it has to be organic. Whatever is in the special-sauce of made-for-media murder you can't force the public to partake.

Except, the dilemma for broadcasters is a few years is a long time to wait for another ratings bonanza.

Thus it is sometimes they try to grease the public appetite to make their latest crime fit the bill…

The Current Case — Alex Murdaugh

The Crime

There are a whole host of crimes bound up into this morass but to simplify as succinctly as possible:

• Murdaugh was a prominent lawyer in a small town. He had a serious drug addiction.
• The man practiced highly dubious ethics professionally when involved in an apparent drunk-boating crash where the vehicle was operated by his son and which killed a young girl who was a passenger.
• The man practiced unquestionably poor ethics by admittedly stealing millions of dollars from clients.
• Also is the suspicious demise of a housekeeper in his home whose insurance money it seems he stole.
• Later, aside from all the above, he was on scene when his wife and son (boat accident operator) were murdered by gunshots.
• Today he is on trial for these slayings of his own family. The accused denies them.

The Theories

I don't care.

But for that approximately one in a million person who does, here are the top three hypotheses.

One, Murdaugh owed drug dealers money and they killed his family.

Two, Murdaugh is truly innocent with some party connected to the boat accident or its victims as revenge killing his family.

Three, Murdaugh was desperate to keep his misdeeds secret and possibly to claim insurance money so decided the best way to achieve these aims was to kill his family.

All are plausible…Except again, I do not care.

The Problem

The crucial problem here? No one cares.

It's quite simply not that interesting a case but even worse — much worse, in fact — there is no "sexy” angle.

Both the alleged killer and his purported victims are homely if not ugly. There is no "child beauty pageant” prurient-possibly-pedophilic element. No potential MILF party-gone-wrong scenarios.

Just some guy who may or may not have killed some folks, none of whom are particularly appealing.

As a result, the response of the public at large has been an unmitigated "Harrumph!”

This has not deterred the Controlled Media from trying to make everyone care by running non-stop documentaries on the murders. (I've seen two and I've been scrupulously trying to avoid the nonsense!)

Fortunately this should be the final week of the trial and then news anchors coast-to-coast will have to return to regaling us with real stories from their pulpits. (Just kidding, they'll find a giraffe giving birth or some similarly essential viewing for everyone.)

Speaking of which….

The Concealed Case — Mark Middleton

The Crime

If the intrepid men and women of the industry were interested in an important story it's hard to say how this claimed suicide could be overlooked.

Here is the case made simple:

• Middleton was found hanging from a tree…which is curious since there was no table or obvious mode of elevation mentioned in the police report.
• Middleton was also shot in the chest…which is unusual for a variety of reasons not least of which was his hanging from a tree. (Fun Fact: Police originally failed to locate a gun — or any other weapons — at the scene! Fun Fact Addendum: Police filed a second report and, oopsie daisie, they only forgot to mention they found a shotgun…seriously.)
• Middleton is known to have personally signed in Jeffrey Epstein at least 7 times to the Clinton White House (of his 17 visits) and is suspected to have traveled with former President Bill Clinton at least once (of his 26 appearances on flight manifests) to the private island of Epstein on the Lolita Express, a totally-not-nefarious-related thing to call your personal airline.
• Oh, for anybody who misplaced their Clue scorecard, it is claimed Epstein also "committed suicide” in his jail cell…while on suicide watch…when two guards monitoring him both simultaneously fell asleep…and every security camera malfunctioned…for real. That's the Official Story.

The Theories

Middleton actually killed himself in the most bizarre and ridiculous way possible and local police were so inept they neglected to properly fill out a report of the incident which would explain the numerous inconsistencies pointing to a brutal murder.

Middleton was murdered. Power, human-trafficking, blackmail and other nefarious acts all came in confluence to expedite his demise.

One of these is far more likely than the other…hopefully the Junior Detectives among our readers can sleuth it out absent a spy decoder ring…

The Problem

No one knows. Not that no one knows which scenario described above is more likely, but that actually no one knows about the case.

This story has been buried as deeply as Jimmy Hoffa. Especially infuriating is the reality this is entirely the sort of story which could become a sensation.

Alleged child sex-trafficking. Alleged high official involvement. Alleged murder to silence a witness.

Our alleged reporters in America are all somehow too busy pushing the Case Of No One Is Interested to bother putting on anything about Mark Middleton and what might have (read: almost certainly did) happen to him.

For sure there will be no glossy documentaries about this assistant to Slick Willy and his Serpentine Wife.

Just another dead guy who "killed himself” in some astoundingly implausible manner which contradicts all the evidence found at the scene for no discernable reason…assuming you discount the potential bombshell details he might have provided a Grand Jury about nearly 30 trips Bill Clinton took on the Lolita Express.

The Chilling True Crime (Literally) Ripped From The Headlines

In terms of the Murdaugh Case, it is rather sad the spectacle of a drug addict embezzler — murderer or not — is considered to be of prime importance to the nation.

As to the Middleton Case, it is abundantly tragic the palpable feeling of something deeply sinister occurring is deemed forbidden to mention on the news, even by supposedly "conservative” outlets.

Yet the most pathetic thing of all is that the real reason the latter case will be ignored is largely the same reason the first case is uninteresting — the American public just doesn't care.

One half the republic will find outlandish explanations for what looks undoubtedly like cold-blooded homicide. One half the republic will find the outrageous spectacle little more than amusing.

"Oh look! That Hillary got rid of another one!”

Then the focus will change to something really important like sportsball, teens on Tiktok or a random balloon.

Constant coverage of inconsequential murders and pervasive cover-up of political killings…

And this is how a country dies.

Guy Somerset writes from somewhere in America