Fake news media smears Dr. Ron Jackson
AS OTHERS SEE IT
Rear Admiral Dr. Ron Jackson was an outstanding nomination for Director of the Veterans Administration. Predictably, he was attacked from all directions as part of an ongoing effort to disrupt the Trump administration by any means necessary.
Without a skip, multiple news organizations were quick and unrelenting
In an era when true crime tales of serial killers are the stuff of Netflix binges, it may be difficult to appreciate the fear spread in California’s capital by the East Area Rapist in 1976.
The Golden State’s dark side was, of course, well known by then - the Zodiac Killer, Charles Manson - but in Sacramento, 1976 was a “time of innocence” when kids played outside until dark and many residents didn’t lock their doors, recalled Sacramento County District Anne Marie Schubert. Schubert was 12 that year, and living in the area. Once the assaults started, she said, “it all changed.”
Last week, thanks to an investigation that was agonizingly slow for decades and to repeat every unsubstantiated report with little regard for “who, what, why and where”. Since Dr. Jackson’s withdrawal, evidence is now emerging in support of the proposition that the doctor is another victim of fake news.
While subscribing to mythical allegations, both the press and the Democrat Party used brazen character assassination to destroy any chance that Dr. Jackson would be confirmed. then lightning fast, Schubert and a sobering array of California law enforcement officials announced an arrest in the terrifying crime spree that encompassed at least 12 slayings and 45 rapes. The case is still unfolding, but there are already important takeaways:
On the value of DNA testing and evidence: While officials were sparing with the details, they said that new technology allowed DNA samples from several old crime scenes to be used and eventually matched last week with a sample obtained by detectives from material discarded by Joseph James DeAngelo.
DeAngelo, 72, a former cop who lived for more than three decades in Citrus Heights, was arrested without incident last week. Wednesday, officials said he has been charged with murder in the February 1978 killings of Brian and Ka-
Does anyone suppose that this attack on the doctor is the type of thing that Channel 10 alluded to when they announced their policy against fake news? And did the Providence Journal and others protest too much with their attacks against the stations policy? tie Maggiore in Rancho Cordova and the March 1980 killings of Charlene and Lyman Smith in Ventura County.
“The answer has always been in Sacramento,” Schubert, who is facing a tough reelection fight, said at the press conference in front of Sacramento County’s crime lab. “The answer was always going to be in the DNA.”
And that truth should again spotlight that California could be doing more with DNA evidence - especially the thousands of rape kits sitting in evidence rooms that haven’t been tested.
For now, we can hope the arrest eases the anguish for the victims and their loved ones - hundreds now across several generations, as we were reminded by Bruce Harrington, whose brother and sister-inlaw were slain in 1980 in Dana Point. “It’s time for all victims to grieve,” he said.