Mr. Wow Blog
MR. WOW WONDERS–WILL BOX-OFFICE TRUMP JUSTICE?
7:39 pm | February 20, 2015

Author: Mr. Wow | Category: Point of View | Comments: 23

MR. WOW PONDERS A TEXAS TRIAL AND THE MEN WE PUT IN HARM’S WAY.

 

“TWO THINGS are infinite.  The universe and human stupidity. And I’m not sure about the universe.”  Albert Einstein.

 

*******************************************

TRIAL BY hit movie?  That’s what it’s come down to in Texas, where former Marine Eddie Ray Routh is on trial for killing the fabled sniper Chris Kyle, and another man, Chad Littlefield. (They had taken Routh—reportedly suffering from PTSD– out to a shooting range. In retrospect, maybe not the best therapy.)

     How is it playing out?  Well, everybody in Texas seems to want Routh jailed for life, at the very least.  (Lynching and torture has been mentioned.)  And why is it playing out this way?  Because of the phenomenal success of Clint Eastwood’s movie “American Sniper” based on Chris Kyle’s delightful  memoirs.

   You’d think Routh was some lowlife scum, wandering around, just out to murder soldiers. If Chris Kyle was a “hero,” well–so was Routh!  He volunteered for his country, he did his duty and apparently suffered for it. (OR—he was already fucked the hell up and that’s why he joined .Something to think about before we validate and arm soldiers and policemen. )  

    Had Kyle—who was, despite his sniper accomplishments, something of a fabricator and exaggerator—not been elevated to near-sainthood, would this trial even be happening? I say no.  Wouldn’t Routh have been institutionalized and treated?  I say yes.

    I don’t think this guy should get a free pass—two men are dead, leaving families in torment.   But so far, everything I’ve heard indicated Routh was a steaming hot mess, and not in a fun way.

    If Kyle was the man his devotees insist he was, I can’t believe he’d approve of a fellow soldier, one who apparently had plenty of demons, put on trial in this manner.   One of the last things Kyle said, was in a cell phone call:  “This guy is straight up nuts!” he remarked of Routh.

    I’d say the insanity verdict, sought by the defense, is right there, in the words of one of the victims. (Routh, in confessing to the killings, said he was upset because the other men wouldn’t speak to him. There was also stuff about pigs eating his soul.  And we’re all sane here.)

      But pigs with wings fly In the Lone Star state. I have a feeling Texas is going to do it Texas style– big and  unforgiving.

   Oh, and in case you wonder.  I appreciated “American Sniper,” the movie. Fully deserving of its Oscar nominations. Love Bradley Cooper.  Brilliant performance, though I prefer him sweaty and stupid in “The Hangover,” truth be told.

     However, take from “Sniper” what you want, it’s only a movie.  ”It  is  the semi-truth, tarted up for the hypnotized masses, increasingly hot to go to war again. Well, not go.  Just allow a lot of young men and women to do the dirty work. Other people’s children. The ones that commit suicide—or become “irrationally” violent—upon their return to civilian life.

      And you just know that the now-fabled Las Vegas “road rage mom” saw “American Sniper.”   Perhaps with her fully loaded 22-year-son.   (Can’t wait for the “Law & Order: SUV”  episode on this one—ripped from the white trash headlines.)

   I know, I know—Rudy Giuliani would say I don’t love America.  Poor Dictator Rudy. 9/11 happened only to him.  The rest of us were out of the room when those planes brought down the Twin Towers and Rudy saved New York.

Comments:
  • Deirdre Cerasa

    I have only seen the ad nauseam ads for American Sniper. Not my kind of movie; far too violent and war rah,rah.  I agree that Routh’s insanity plea should prevail but as you say it is Texas. Giuliani is pond scum. Yes, 9/11 happened only to him not to you or the people you love. Not to our friends whose children died. Children we watched grow up.  Not to the families of friends who died. He has been trying to make himself relevant ever since. Wish he would go away.All the warmongers who want to keep declaring war after war should be made to be the first to go. Great to hear from you. 

    10:47 pm | February 20, 2015
    • Mr. Wow

      Deirdre–Rudy is lower than pond scum.  Oh, I wish I could remember the line in “My Best Friends Wedding”–Dermot Mulroney says Julia Roberts is “the puss that forms the pond scum,” or something like that.   Eh, Rudy is lower, even.

      “American Sniper” is not my kind of movie, either.  But, I feel I have to see most of what’s out there.  I mean, Oscar night is tomorrow and I have know what I’m blogging about.

      Are you staying warm?



      8:48 am | February 21, 2015
      • Deirdre Cerasa

        Snug as a bug! It has been a chilly few days here in Florida but today the Sunnis shining and it is 80 degrees.

        2:26 pm | February 22, 2015
  • Daniel Sugar

    Don’t know nuthin’ ’bout Texas or Rudy but I am looking forward to
    Oscar Parties 2015: The Complete Guide

    9:52 am | February 21, 2015
  • Mr. Wow, wow.  Spot on!!  I’m in near-total agreement with you on this.  This is the most pithily written, best article I have yet seen on the Kyle/Routh/American Sniper case.
    As a vet myself, and judging by Kyle’s own words in interviews (I refuse to read the book or see the movie), I have known guys just like Kyle,  I know nothing about Routh except for the bare facts:  diagnosed with PTSD, admits to shooting the two men at the range.
    Everything aside from that day at that range is background noise.  It does not matter whether Kyle was a hero or a great guy.  It could matter if Kyle, his friend, and /or Routh were asshats, which might have set up a confrontation.  What the decision SHOULD come down to is simply whether or not there are mitigating factors.  Insanity at the time of the murders, or not?  If not outright insanity, was PTSD a mitigating factor?  What specifically happened at the range to set Routh off?
    I guess trial by movie status isn’t such a new phenomenon – fame and other factors played into cases like the OJ Simpson murders or the Lindbergh case – God, I hate human nature sometimes.

    10:08 am | February 21, 2015
    • BabySnooks

      The defense for some reason really didn’t push the matter of the PTSD with regard to the other “diagnosis” although the other diagnosis of “psychosis” should have signaled to the jury that he simply could not be held responsible. But this is Texas and as we saw with Andrea Yates it is very hard to prove “insanity” here.  The bubbas want blood.

      This certainly isn’t what we’re used to reading. This really belongs as an “op-ed” in the New York Times. 

      4:10 am | February 27, 2015
  • Rho

    I have not seen any of the movies.

    4:30 pm | February 21, 2015
  • Daniel Sugar

    Hi Rho
    I haven’t seen the movies either – still, I’m looking forward to the awards (’cause deep down, I’m very shallow).
    D.

    6:11 pm | February 21, 2015
    • Rho

      Hi, I wait until they are on HBO or TCM.

      9:39 am | February 22, 2015
  • Delusional

    Well, this is something new: a war movie directed by a conservative divides the country. Ms. Bigelow, the press announced, was a woman empowered for taking on the difficult theme of war & was awarded lavishly. It is simply his story, not policy. Name one murderer that doesn’t claim mental illness as defense.

    9:14 am | February 22, 2015
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Delusional…actually I don’t find the movie version of “American Sniper” particularly divisive.  It’s a well-made war film, short on explanation–Cooper and Sienna Miller really have to act as the screenplay is rather threadbare.  It’s not something I would sit through again, but I don’t regret seeing it.  I consider all war movies propaganda, one way or another.  Kyle’s book is something else.  Eastwood’s film has been lavishly awarded–Oscar nominations and a huge box-office.   It’s one man’s story, made more palatable for the masses.  And it’s about war–nasty, ugly, usually pointless war. 

      I believe the trial should have been delayed for a year–if they were so hot to put Routh on trial.  Lots of murderers don’t claim insanity–which is extremely difficult to prove.  Nothing I’ve read about this guy, leading up to his crime, indicates a sound mind. (This leads to how we really vet those in whose hands we put guns.)   Among his statements–he was annoyed because Kyle and the other man “wouldn’t speak to him.” 

      I assume he will be found guilty.  I also have a feeling that Hollywood, reading the tea-leaves, might give “Sniper” best picture or Cooper best actor.  The better to placate the coming Republican wave–well, the final wave, after we have a Repub in the White House.   No Democrat I know wants to accept that.

      Rudy is directing his Obama-doesn’t-love-America/Obama not a Christian remarks to millions who believe exactly as he does. Check the comments section on conservative sites–or even Yahoo!  Scary stuff.  (Even though Bush and even Cheney spoke exactly as Obama does about Islam.)   As the Chinese say, we are about to live in “interesting times.”   

      10:56 am | February 22, 2015
  • Daniel Sugar

    For tonight’s broadcast I will be wearing track pants, sneakers and a t-shirt. My jewelry is by Medic Alert.

    10:01 am | February 22, 2015
  • Daniel Sugar

    Oscars Sally Field animated GIF

    11:21 am | February 22, 2015
  • Daniel Sugar

    Never should have had that measles vaccine. (It’s obviously prevented me from winning an Oscar.)

    12:10 pm | February 22, 2015
  • lulu

    Living in LaLaLand I have seen all the movies and my favorite is Boyhood. It is a dreary day here with rain on the way to drench the red carpet walk (tented over with a few little holes for water to leak in on those wearing gowns and jewels at 2PM in the afternoon). I will be wearing Banana Republic with my plastic pop pearls for the occasion and my nails would break the nail cam.

    Can hardly wait to hear all of Mr. Wow and his Wowettes comments

    12:40 pm | February 22, 2015
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Lulu…


      I’ll do my best, although because I don’t post as often as I once did, the readers have dwindled.  I think last year at Oscar time, it was me and maybe five others! 

      1:19 pm | February 22, 2015
  • Daniel Sugar

    Hi Lulu,
    So glad we’re both going to be guests at Mr. Wow’s Oscar party.
    D.

    1:18 pm | February 22, 2015
  • Haunted Lady

    American Sniper doesn’t appeal to me so I don’t plan on seeing it. I would love to see some of the other films such as Still Alice, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, among others. In a small town such things are rare. Enter DVDs. The local discount store had DVDs for The Judge, The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything already on the shelves. I’m waiting for a sale.

    I’ll watch tonight because I like to see all these people dressed up trying to look their best. The lovely slender actresses drive me to munch on chocolate and indulge in ice cream and I’m forever grateful to them. Of course, I’ll break for Downton Abbey and then back to the Oscars. My couture will be a sweatshirt with a cat picture on it, purple and aqua plaid fleece lounge pants, thick cotton socks and worn out, permanently stained, embroidered ballerina slippers. Contain your excitement at the picture that conjures. I hope everyone has a good time and doesn’t take all this too seriously.

    2:57 pm | February 22, 2015
  • Lisa

    I am still here. I don’t post but I never miss an opportunity to read Mr Wow’s musings 🙂

    3:05 pm | February 22, 2015
  • Daniel Sugar

    Travolta’s wig should’ve won the Oscar for best special effects. (It takes a village to raise that hairpiece.)

    9:46 am | February 23, 2015
  • Daniel Sugar

    P.S. Shouldn’t Brian Williams have won for best actor?

    2:33 pm | February 23, 2015
  • Daniel Sugar

    Elizabeth TaylorFamily Jewels and Cash Held Hostage… Liz’s Trust Sues2/25/2015 1:49 PM PST BY TMZ STAFFEXCLUSIVE

    0225-liz-taylor-getty-01One of Elizabeth Taylor‘s iconic jewelry pieces fetched almost $9 million in an auction — but the buyer backed out, and now Liz’s trust is suing famed auction house Christie’s Inc. for screwing up the deal.  

    Lizzie’s Taj Mahal diamond necklace — a gift from Richard Burton — was one of the items hawked during Christie’s 2011 auction … which took in a whopping $156,756,576. Problem is … the guy who bid $8,818,500 for the necklace backed out because the massive heart-shaped diamond wasn’t up to snuff for him. 

    Meanwhile, Christie’s had already paid Taylor’s trust for the necklace … and when the guy backed out … the auction house demanded the cash back. As you can imagine, they weren’t in the giving mood. In fact, the Taylor trust is now suing Christie’s.

    0225-Necklace-liz-taylor-SUB-01

    According to the suit … Christie’s is holding hostage millions of dollars gained from the auction of other items — including a Bulgari ring and a Valentino fur evening bag. The Bulgari alone sold for $2.9 million. 

    The Taylor trust says Christie’s is strong-arming — refusing to hand over cash from all the other items … unless it gets back the Taj Mahal funds. 

    The Taylor trust wants the court to tell Christie’s to go kick rocks.

    9:38 am | February 26, 2015
    • BabySnooks

      There was a problem with the “provenance” and it appears the “historical significance” didn’t pan out upon an independent appraisal.  There was also apparently a problem with the “provenance” of one of the paintings as well.  There was no doubt a clause in the contract specifying “retention of funds” for cancelled sales and so Christie’s is probably within its rights to withhold both funding and items until the matter is cleared up. 

      One thing I caught in the various stories is this “proceeds went to the foundation.” Not according to the 990s. According to the 990s very little went to the foundation. 

      I have a feeling they are going to regret the lawsuit. 

      4:05 am | February 27, 2015
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