Kobe Bryant case: Gruesomeness made easier. Science never wrong. Correcting Biden? Sorry!

By Gary Abernathy

Gruesomeness made easier                                                   

The hazards of our digitized world are evidenced in a current court case in which Vanessa Bryant, widow of basketball star Kobe Bryant, is suing a sheriff’s department because deputies allegedly shared photos of the grisly helicopter crash that claimed the life of her husband and several others.

USA Today reports, “In a series of posts on her Instagram account, Vanessa Bryant displayed documents from her lawsuit that outline how each of the deputies shared the photos, including at a bar in Norwalk, California, two days after nine people died in the crash, including the Los Angeles Lakers legend and his daughter. Her public airing of deputies’ identities follows a ruling by a federal judge last week that denied a request by them to keep their names and ranks under seal.”

The deputy “then showed photos of the Bryants’ remains to a fellow bar patron and the restaurant’s bartender, and he is seen on the bar’s security camera zooming in and out of the images while displaying them to the bartender,” the lawsuit states, according to the story. 

Our ability to digitize media, from documents to photos to videos, leads to such items being instantly and, too often, inappropriately shared. The Kobe Bryant example demonstrates how a morbid fascination with sharing gruesome images – especially of the famous or infamous – is made easier than ever in this day and age, to the detriment of us all.

Remember, science doesn’t make mistakes, it evolves

John Kerry, the former senator and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, is being criticized for being photographed with his mask dangling from one ear while on a recent flight.

Kerry, now serving the Biden administration as White House “climate envoy,” says that if the mask was off his face, it was only for a second.

Please file this under, “Who cares?” An official with the Centers for Disease Control said this week that, oops, a “growing body of evidence” shows that maybe three feet of social distancing is as good as six feet. How far are we from revisiting the whole guidance on masks? Not far. Because, you know, science “evolves.” It’s never wrong. It just evolves.

Media apologizes for fact-checking Biden

Even as they fact check him, it’s astounding to watch the media basically apologize for President Biden’s lies. When Trump made mistakes, he lied, lied, lied. When Biden lies, he makes understandable errors.

CNN reports that in his interview with ABC last weekend, Biden was wrong on at least three statistics he cited. But, CNN says, “The context around two of these inaccurate claims suggests they may have been slips rather than purposeful lies. And on the third claim, regarding the history of the Senate filibuster, Biden explicitly told Stephanopoulos that he didn't think the numbers he was using were right.”

CNN adds, “Still, it's our job to correct the record when the President is incorrect.” Like, “Gee, we hate to do this with Biden, but we have to, so please forgive us.” Feel free to laugh out loud.

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