Lives in the Balance

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If you watched last night, you saw Sarah Brady on our show. She wrote the book, "Saving Grace." It is a book about one of the worst crimes… and it happened to her. It is really hard to face some of the inhumanity in this world. Do people really do this to each other? The subtitle of her book is, "The True Story of a Mother-to-Be, a Deranged Attacker and An Unborn Child." I am telling you about the book again here in the blog since often viewers see books on our show and write me later asking me for the title… so I am beating those viewers to the punch and writing it here without being asked. You may have also seen Sarah on Oprah Winfrey's show.

To balance the inhumanity against the very good in this blog this morning — and to update those who ask — I ran into my colleague Catherine Herridge yesterday in the FOX make-up room. I asked how Peter is doing and the report is a glowing one. He is not "out of the woods," since the doctors mark it by time, but all signs are good ones. I told her to e-mail me some pictures of him so that I can post them for you. As you might know, if you watch our show often, I loved reporting on Peter, Catherine, her family and the transplant team at the University of Pittsburgh who saved his life. While some in the world may be doing the unthinkable crimes to each other, of course there are others who are doing truly amazing things to save lives and bring joy to families.

E-mailer No. 10 below raises an interesting point about the police and reporting. Last night we reported about four members of a sheriff's department in Florida who — in the dark and by hand — saved a man from an alligator trying to eat him alive. These law enforcement officers could easily have also been eaten by this 600-pound alligator... but they elected to put their lives on the line for another. The story of what these deputies did is nothing short of amazing: They saved a man's life while risking their own. It also notable that the man they saved may have been on crack so, if true, was reckless and certainly not thinking of his own good health.

Recently we have reported on other law enforcement conduct which could very well be "excessive force" and deplorable. So I am glad that we had the chance to point out that it is not all bad… some is truly heroic (and underreported!) There are many men and women in law enforcement who work so hard for us every day and don't get acknowledged for their great work... and then, of course, we report the bad. Reporting the bad is important, however, since we have to make sure to weed out the bad apples. Shining a light on bad conduct helps make sure that the bad apples are removed.

A viewer wrote me during our show last night and said that the missing Air Force Intensive Care Unit nurse has a MySpace.com page. I was provided with the address (below) and post it here just in case you might recognize her and can help in the investigation. Of course this is a "long shot" and I might also add that I don't know for sure if this is indeed her page. People create pages for others on MySpace.com (FOX's legal department has had to deal with this problem for me… more than one person has created a MySpace.com page in my name.) But, here is the link that the viewer e-mailed me last night.

Now for some e-mails:

E-mail No. 1

Hi Greta,
First of all, you have NEVER explained the Beth Twitty "Broken Leg" and what a "cop out" to say that any parent would do the same stuff she does... we all know that you and the other media people do NOT give other cases this same interest and attention and the many, many hours of boring dribble over a drunken adult who went missing on a party trip.
Why hasn't Beth ever said anything about her low level friends like Joe Mammama? She seems to encourage violence and hatred... just like the "break in" that stole things from Joran's apartment. That is illegal… remember, YOU are a lawyer... break and enter is illegal.
Beth has been scamming donations and now runs a fake and useless "charity" that pays her I am sure... what a ridiculous notion that this woman can tell people how to "travel safe"… hey here is a tip... don't act like a drunken fool, lay off the drugs, etc.
I really question your concern about Aruba when Georgia has bungled the case of Tara and Orlando has not found Jennifer Kesse... NO Marines or Jet fighters employed in those searches.
Amazing that a search for 2 small boys was called off in 4 days in Minnesota... yet people think the island of Aruba should still be out looking for an adult who acted irresponsibly and went missing? Ouch.
Please focus on other cases… or else do some investigation into all the money Beth has raised and the fact she has not searched for Natalee or started a scholarship nor helped other families.
Thanks,
Cheryl McMahon

ANSWER: I don't want to engage in an e-mail battle with you… but I am curious, why do you think I need to explain Beth's broken leg? Unless of course you think I broke it… and I assure you I did not. I just don't get why you think I should explain it.

E-mail No. 2

There is something very peculiar with how he responds to questions concerning this case. It feels and sounds so blatantly obvious that Joe has been hired to refute EVERYTHING negative spoken about Joran regardless if it might be the truth. He is very difficult to believe and I would prefer to hear from someone other than he, someone who hasn't been on Joran's payroll.
The case has been dismissed in NYC, so Joe's involvement is no longer needed. I don't think that anyone in our country wants to hear Joran's American attorney speaking to the media in his defense, he has Aruban attorneys for that task.
The collusion that is spoken of in regard to this case may be quite real... I don't believe that the journalist is "trying to cash in" as Joe puts it in regards to the latest info about Carlo speaking to Jannsen... I do believe that he may be trying to expose the truth as most if not all parties involved including Carlo and Jannsen are part of this collusion... doing only what is in the best interests of Aruba and themselves.
Thank you,
Holly
Naples, FL

E-mail No. 3

Yes, of course Beth Holloway has every right to want to find out what happened to her "child." Her 18-year-old "child" — who was legally an adult and could have been sentenced to death or LWOP had she committed a murder. But what's so annoying is that she gets all this air time. There are so many other young people missing in this country who don't get the publicity Beth Holloway does. Here in Columbus, there are 2 or 3 cases, including a guy — Craig Schafer — who are missing. And none of them put themselves in harm's way by going on and getting completely drunk and then going off with strangers and begging to be taken to a beach! Where is the sympathy for their families? There's a real lack of responsibility in this case. Beth doesn't step up and say she should never have allowed her high school daughter to go out of the country to a drunk-fest. Everyone supports Natalee's drunkenness by saying she was just doing what all kids do. No. Wrong. Not all high school seniors go to Aruba, first of all. And not all high school seniors are allowed to drink and act as irresponsibly as she was acting! Her behavior should not be condoned or justified; and at least PART of the blame for her disappearance should squarely be put on herself and on her parents. I hate that we are such a nation of victims, victims, victims.
Jacki Gansch
Columbus, OH

E-mail No. 4

Dear Greta,
As I stated the other day, I appreciate the support you have been and are giving Beth and Dave and the rest on Natalee's family. God knows we are begging Him in our daily prayers to give the family answers and some justice. Even if they could obtain a single bone identified as Natalee would be something. They have nothing of their daughter. I keep wondering where is our government. They could at least support their citizens by expressing dissatisfaction with the quality of the investigation and the obvious collusion that took place by Paulus' buddies. Every day I feel more and more that the members of our government are where they are solely for their own selfish purpose and nothing else. So much for that. Thank you again for what you have done and are doing for Natalee's family.
Mary Jane Sarkis
Rochester, NY

E-mail No. 5

I also miss Linda Vester, but I greatly admire her priorities.
Betty Moore
Birmingham, AL

ANSWER: I bet Linda will be back when her children are older… or she may do a reduced TV schedule — maybe do specials at some network? Just one or two a year? I don't know… just guessing.

E-mail No. 6

Hi Greta,
Reading your blog about eating a box of chocolate for dinner reminded me of a few weeks ago when I was in the office alone and, not wanting to go to the trouble of going down the elevator, out to the parking garage, up another elevator, and drive to a restaurant, I ate a box of croutons for lunch that were in the freezer. When I realized that I had eaten the whole box, I had a good laugh.
Cheers,
Laurel Conrad
Baytown, TX

E-mail No. 7 — The next e-mail is about Danny DeVito on "The View" yesterday:

This man is obviously a classless jerk. I don't care if he acts like an idiot, but I cringe to see the office of the president so dishonored! I would not see his movie if my life depended on it! He goes on the list with others who have made similar comments and whose movies I will not consider attending. People who think this has no impact are totally wrong!
Nan Bopp
Beaufort, SC

E-mail No. 8

Nurses of the Armed Forces of the United States are officers of our country, commissioned by Congress. This is not news to a member of the Bar like Greta. I do not want to hear again, as I heard many times last night, about a missing "Air Force Nurse." It may well be that "Lieutenant" or "Captain" X is missing, then say so! It is a gross insult to continuously refer to an officer as nothing but an "Air Force nurse." Am I listening to some MSM scum[*] operation, or the Fox Network? What the hell is going on? This is a complete insult to our Armed Forces!
Pat West, D.Sc.
Toronto

ANSWER: Pat, frankly, I am more interested in putting her pic up on the air and worrying about trying to help find her than what word we use to address her... I guess you and I have different priorities at the moment.

E-mail No. 9

I once admired Danny DeVito. I no longer do.
Paul Mosley
West Frankfort, IL

ANSWER: You might think about giving him some slack. It was really stupid what he did, but he has been a very good man and a good celebrity. He has some interesting things in his background — including a long-term marriage in Hollywood. He must be doing something right!

E-mail No. 10

Caught the re-run of your fine show, Greta. Re the alligator attack: Police officers, rightly or wrongly, have been taking a public relations beating lately, but those police officers on your show tonight are heroes.
Did you know that an alligator of that size has the same jaw-bite strength that the extinct Tyrannosaurus-Rex had!?
Have a good show tomorrow,
Frank E. Murphy, Jr
Aiken, SC

Finally, here's an article that caught my attention:

• Michael Vick fined $10,000, will donate another $10,000

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was fined ten-thousand dollars by the NFL and agreed to donate another ten-thousand to charity for an obscene hand gesture toward fans following last weekend's loss to New Orleans.

Vick said today that he broke a rule and is paying the price. He said the good part about it is that he gets to donate a portion of it to charity.

Vick rushed for 166 yards in Sunday's 31-13 loss, just seven yards short of his own NFL record for a quarterback.

But that didn't make up for a dismal performance by the Falcons, who dropped five passes and were booed loudly following their fourth straight loss. Vick showed his unhappiness by making the gesture with both hands as he walked off the field.

He has since apologized and said it will never happen again. The quarterback explained that he heard an especially disturbing insult from a male fan as he was heading for the locker room.

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