nykola.com | bothering people since 1981

I've completely avoided the Jennifer Wilbanks bruha because dagnabit, who cares? Who cares about that dumb blanket she used to cover her head? Who cares about how many people were invited to the wedding? And who in their right mind cares that she got caught shoplifting? These days I can't figure out if I'm watching CNN or E! Entertainment News. I expect next we'll be learning about what Wilbanks will be wearing to this year's Victim Card Awards Ceremony. When we do, I still won't care.

While I concur with the many who've suggested Ms. Wilbanks should be somehow forced to pay financially for lying to police about her abduction, I also believe the media needs to get a life. Sensationalism, sensationalism, sensationalism.

The latest claim being purported by news media? Chastity made her do it. The more the press learns about John Mason, (Wilbanks' intended), the more ridiculous the stories sound. The ever-credible New York Post reports:

Bolting bride Jennifer Wilbanks was chaste away — by her fiance's insistence on abstinence, friends of the sex-deprived couple claim.

"She told people the fact that she and [husband-to-be John Mason] were not having sex was upsetting," a friend of Wilbanks' told People magazine, which hits newsstands today.

Mason was once a "wild" guy who "dated a lot," his running pal Ted King said.

But he became a born-again virgin - eschewing premarital sex - five years ago after pledging himself to his Baptist faith, friends said.

"He's been saving himself for the right woman," Mason's friend Andy Parsons told the magazine.

And friends say that likely drove the marathon enthusiast to run - from the altar.

Come again? Not being able to hold out for four days was just too hard eh? If that's not a stretch, I don't know what is. Suprisingly, I first heard this story on Fox News' "Heartland." Even they aren't exempt from wasting air time on foolish stories.

From the day Wilbanks was found alive and well, "analysts" (code for people who make stuff up and pull mysterious diseases out of their underarms) began speculating her motivation for running away. First she was distraught, then afraid, then diagnosed with a psychological disorder, and now she has abstinencephobia?

Today's Lesson on Race in America:

If you are a black woman in the South and you lie to the police, you have criminal charges.
If you are a white woman in the South and you lie to the police, first you have a pyschological disorder, then you might get charged.

Where were these pyschological analysts when I was 16-years-old and explaining to my parents why I was late for curfew? Enough trying to make excuses for this woman. Clearly she has issues to deal with (and if all goes well, a few checks to write). There will be no prize medal for figuring out why Wilbanks did what she did. My best guess? Her lies finally caught up with her. I feel sorry for her family and those she's dragged into her mess. I don't however, feel sorry for her. Not one bit.

I totally agree. I'm sick of all of the sensationalization going on with this story. Any story like this that can stir up the rumor mill will make headlines for weeks based upon the "dirt" that the media will attempt to dig up. It gets old fast.

I agree with you too on the "Today's Lesson on Race in America." She should be charged with filing a false police report (at the very least) and she should be held accountable for ALL of the money spent on the search that was made for her... and then some. No slap on the wrists... she's not an exception. She needs to be charged just as anyone else would need to be charged in that situation. They're babying her. Boo hoo... get over it and act like an adult Jennifer. You're 32... time to be responsible.

Jennifer Wilbanks is a liar (and a thief...too!)She wins the "Susan Smith Award" for lying.(Remember S.S.? She was from Union, SC. She drowned her two young boys 10 years ago and lied to police that a black man in a knit cap took her kids). It kills me that when a white woman gets in trouble with the law, they immediately blame a person of color. I have NO feeling for a 32 year old white woman who could have had anything she wanted. Let's not beat around the bush on this. The way I see it, she owes MORE than just an apology; she owes the States of Nevada, New Mexico and Georgia over $100,000, plus she needs to do JAIL TIME in ALL THREE STATES for her pathetic selfishness.

I think we need to be careful about asking for "compensatory" charges on the time wasted by law enforcement. This would open up a huge can of worms, and they would stink something awful. If you think there are too many legal suits, people suing other people, just let townships/counties/states start suing for compensation. That profit center would be put into high gear if given a chance.

It seems we are in a slow news cycle, so this type of story will be chewed on and digested by the umpteen news channels that are looking for "interesting" stories. So many news slots, so little news ...

I don't think the subject here is compensatory charges for time wasted by law enforcement. I never said I supported that.

What I do support is some sort of punishment for lying to police about a crime....dragging an unidentified "Hispanic Man" into the fray, and making her own fiance a suspect. If that goes unpunished, we're setting a very bad precedent.

Remember the University of Wisconsin student Aubrey Seiler who faked her own abduction? Yeah...that mess needs to be properly dealt with. Pyschological issues my foot...

She deserves jail for the false report. Will she get it? Doubtful.

Question: Why does the media (which is overwhelmingly liberal) not choose "people of color" (I HATE that term) for these silly ratings grabs?

Because by their standards a well-off Southern society white woman who flew the coop is far more intriguing and perplexing than one of us colorerds (as my friend Sandy calls us) losing our marbles. Especially since we do it all the time....right?

Most of the reports I read (I get my news from internet sources, no TV) mentioned they were living together. The cached Google page of their church says they were living in a "temporary arrangement" but their relationship was "platonic"--I can only assume they mean that the couple was not fornicating, though they were living in the same residence before the wedding.

I am bringing this up only because I find talk of his great commitment to purity a little baffling given these facts.

The idea that his chastity drove her to distraction is, I agree, totally absurd.

Steven wrote: " the media seems to only see three types of black women: the nut; the slut; the middle-manager."

Oh man that's funny....

Kristen: You are correct. There are many pieces to this story that just don't line up. I also read they were living together but one was "sleeping on the couch." Whatever...it's all a mess if you ask me. I'd prefer if people would just let them sort out their own nonsense minus "In Touch Magazine" style tabloid-talk.

Seems to me that selection of "newsworthy" stories is beyond liberal/conservative labels and more reflective of the issue of race and class in America. Why are the kidnapped, injured, killed, stuck in a well, children that make the news predominately white, middle-class children? Maybe it is because a liberal media exists that only cares about white children (or white brides, etc.). I doubt it. I think it is more a case of what sells newspapers and in this case, that the American public cares more when a white person is in danger.

I imagine that a black woman would not be facing the charges that Wilbanks is now facing, because the effort/money would not have been spent in the first place.

Ambra:

This is a first! I have heard of prolonged abstinence driving people to the altar - and into some foolish marriages - but never away from it. But the explanation does sound plausible to a culture that thinks with its gonads.

I agree with your comment about the difference between how a black woman would be treated if she lied to the police versus a white woman. But I also think that the fact that she is rich and well connected (as well as being white) will play a role, too.

Please forgive me about the "double post", but I have an admission to make. When the Jennifer Wilbanks story first broke, my wife said that she had run away. I thought it was kidnapping for ransom - either because of her family connections, or an ex-boyfriend. My wife had it pegged from the beginning.

Now why is it that women are smarter about these things (about most everything under the sun, actually)? I need to listen to my wife more.

Again, please forgive the "double post". I promise not to make it a habit.

It could be true that black children never get kidnapped or fall down wells and black women never disappear before their wedding, but that strikes me as unlikely. It might be that the stories exist and would sell newspapers, but that the media doesn't want to make money. Another unlikely event.

Here is a link to a story about a missing black woman that I bet few, if any, of us heard about:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucas/20050508/cm_ucas/forgetmediaattentionifyourepoorblackuglyorold/nc:1345

OK, try this: liberals BELIEVE that a story about a black child falling down a well wouldn't sell because America is horribly racist, thus they never give us this story.

How are we supposed to ignore the Edsel (just an example) if it's never issued?

Until the public gets a chance to reject stories about little black girls falling down wells, it is unfair to criticize the public. A supply-side argument?

Ambra
This story highlights another reason why you should go back to school. There's this little thing called patriarchy, perhaps you've heard of it. Well for thousands of years women have been pushed into marriages that they in fact had no interest in. Today among fundamentalist Christian societies, among others, this kind of patriarchy is alive and well. I have sympathy for her, especially after I heard her pastor and family speak about her. Her pastor referring to her as needing help, in that tone that denotes the possibility of a mental disorder. After all, only someone who's crazy would balk at the possibility of marrying a fine upstanding prosperous Christian gentleman.

I suggest you read Virginia Woolf, to get a better take on how this whole patriarchy thing works. Perhaps then you'll have a little more compassion for women in such positions... being a woman yourself.