The Real Little Miss Sunshine

Despite the war in Iraq, the (temporary) cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, and the (possible) attempt to blow more planes out of the sky, the American media is focused, once again, on the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. And with the arrest of John Mark Karr (as Red Fraggle pointed out, what is up with killers and three names), the case seemed to have finally been solved. I have no doubt that Karr is (1) truly disturbed and (2) a pedophile, but I strongly, strongly doubt he killed Ms. Ramsey. And I sense that by early next week, we will know this for certain. He was certainly obsessed with the case and is sick enough to confess (to something he may not have done), but he does not seem to be the monster he initially appeared. (He may still be a monster but child killers have a special circle of hell even if Dante didn't mention it.) I particularly enjoyed Karr commenting in his e-mail the understanding he felt for Michael Jackson. They do appear to have a lot in common (provided Karr didn't actually murder JonBenet--as sick as Michael Jackson is, he is not a murderer).

It is also interesting what this will do to the general view of the trustworthiness of confessions. Karr, however, appears somewhat of a special case in that it doesn't appear he was being grilled about the Ramsey murder and then confessed to it but rather wanted to confess for whatever reason. Of course, we don't know all the details. So like too much of the media, I am speculating on something I know little about, but I'm betting that Mr. Karr will be a footnote by next week. Maybe OJ can find the real killer. And for all of you interested in prepubescent beauty pageants (or just good movies), go see Little Miss Sunshine.