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It's true
A few year's ago, Amy Bishop (we just called her "Bish the Bitch"...well, not to her face obviously) kicked my dog and stole my lunch money.
She also used to honk if the car in front of her wasn't going fast enough.
I think I even saw her give an old woman the finger, too.
And she's so mean...
...she once shot a man just for snoring.
Michelle Gjika
A quick search shows that she's not a peach of a human being either.
http://salemnews.com/punews/local_story_244000814....
Michelle M. Gjika, 42, of 21 Bowen Road, Peabody, was arrested at 2:34 a.m. by Patrolman Thomas Hennessey and hit with three charges of assault and battery on a police officer, two charges of witness intimidation, destruction of property over $250, resisting arrest, negligent operation of a vehicle, and drunken driving. No further information is available.
Until she executes people
Until she executes people with shots to the head a point blank range, I won't worry about her. Bishop was charged, and Bishop was either convicted or did a plea deal.
Stalker Media
The woman is a whack job, no question. But this media frenzy to pile on is a little disconcerting - a 24/7 stalking job! Camera trucks competitively camping outside her parent's house as a backdrop for a 11 o clock report, interrogating anybody who ever stood next to her on the commuter rail, local waitron complaining of her poor tipping, etc. Just as aggressively loony, IMHO!
I'm surprised that Martha Coakley hasn't gotten involved to grandstand and turn this into yet another daycare panic/bad caregiver saga.
While this may be true, it's
While this may be true, it's a separate issue from the slaughter of 3 of her colleagues.
Is it?
If it gets down to whether or not she gets a fair trial, it won't be.
She'll be tried in Alabama, not here
so I don't think the excesses of some Boston local media will affect the jury pool there.
Your comments come off as
Your comments come off as more concerned for a woman who killed 4 innocent people than for the victims she mercilessly executed. Do you have a personal connection to Bishop? Media descends on every sensational murder case, so why choose this one to feel so protective over?
She's been convicted already?
Yeah, it looks bad for her, but innocent, etc.. Actually, it isn't her I give a shit about anyway - it is her kids, her parents, former neighbors and coworkers, et al who are being barraged by reporters and are living under virtual media house arrest. Camping out in front of her mother's home to give live reports about how the family isn't talking to reporters while shining bright TV lights into their darkened windows at 11pm and idling trucks for hours at the end of their driveway is harassment. Barraging an arriving neighbor (and coworker of mine) returning from an overseas business trip and not letting his car pass until he opened the window and submitted to questions about somebody he hadn't even heard of isn't reporting either. It is harassment.
None of this kind of "reporting" sheds light on anything but the windows of people who are trying to sleep ... it is merely a dirt-digging pile on to a BAD EVIL SMART WORKING WOMAN story. Digging up relevant past arrests is relevant news ... news that doesn't require disrupting lives while jockeying for any potential juicy tidbit from somebody who happens to live within a small radius of a relative.
There might be some of that, but ...
I don't think Mucko McDermott had a 24-year history of violence, including killing a sibling. Does all the attention the Herald and Globe still give to Whitey Bulger mean they are hating on BAD EVIL SMART IRISHMEN?
I agree white women's crimes seem to get disproportionate attention (whether by them or against them), and, yes, the media can really suck sometimes, but this particular case really is fascinating because she's allegedly managed to avoid any serious repercussions for some pretty serious stuff (and I'd include punching another woman in the head over a high chair to be pretty serious) for more than two decades. That's a story (or multiple stories, since it doesn't all come out at once).
Journalism versus Sensationalism
The brother shooting, and the arrest record are serious and relevant. So is her being questioned for the pipe bombs. These are called news and result from standard journalistic practice.
Neither of these stories came to light because Dan Hausle and friends camped outside her parents' home 24/7 with idling trucks and blaring lights and harassed their neighbors as they drove by.
Ah... there it is
Hi SwirlyGrrl,
Do you think her past violent episodes are being investigated by the media now because she's a SMART WORKING WOMAN? Do you feel like you are (or could be) similarly under attack, for being the same thing? I don't understand why you would bring that up. Of course, the BAD EVIL part makes perfect sense.
Personally, I can't get enough of this story, because it is so against the grain of the typical "he just seemed really quiet and nice, I never thought he'd do anything like this" that you hear when any other boring educated person snaps and goes berserk.
Also, I would challenge the notion that she her status as a mass-murderer is not yet definite. There were tons of eye-witnesses, including the victims who survived and a roomful who escaped injury, correct? The trial certainly will convict her of a specific crime, but I am not aware of any doubt or challenge to the fact that she shot those people, are you?
Murder is a legal term
It involves more than just killing someone, but a certain state of mind (among other things).
If this person turns out to be a psychopath totally out of touch with reality she may not be a "murderer" (i.e., one who commits the strictly-defined _crime_ of "murder") -- but she is undeniably a "killer", as there is no real doubt that she actually did kill the victims here.
Psychopaths are not "out of touch; they are remorseless
You are confusing psychopathic behavior with psychotic behavior; this dangerous freak may be psychotic (I'd bet my kid that she isn't), but she is certainly a psychopath, judging by the voluminous police, journalistic, and occupational files that I have read already (thanks to reporters doing their jobs.) Psychopaths can, and do, mimic psychotic behavior, as well as false emotional distress, to avoid punishment for their crimes. It appears to me that she has gotten away with so much violence simply because of the double standard in our justice system times two: she's a white woman. I'm pretty sure that a black woman or a black or white man would have been put in jail by now for any one of the crimes that this creep has committed.
Psychopaths do display
Psychopaths do display emotional distress to avoid punishment somewhat but I think the emotional distress is brought on by the anticipation of punishment more than to proactively avoid being punished.
I know it is splitting hairs but there is a slight difference between the two. If you will notice the fear of punishment emotion is part of the remorse complex and when you remove the complex in the case of psychopathic personalities you will notice that the fear is directly related to the punishment and such people tend to be more self centered as evidenced by their fear of punishment rather than the consequences of the suffering of the victims.
I cant tell you how many times such people will repeat how their lives are ruined while they are oblivious to the trail of dead bodies they left behind and the grieving families.
I have also seen plenty who are the opposite who welcome punishment for all the pain they have caused.
So this makes ambush reporting okay?
Notice that you ignored several points in my discussion with Adam about the line between legitimate fact finding and, you know, digging for dirt by harassing her family, neighbors, family's neighbors, former pet sitter, etc.? Explain what purpose is served by camping outside her relative's houses and blocking and interrogating their neighbors while innundating the neighborhood with TV lights and diesel exhaust?
Because you can't, that's why, and therefore must resort to playing the "oh heinous crime excuses everything that happens next" card.
People like you make me feel even more sorry for psychowoman's four kids - as if having her and her husband for parents isn't bad enough, you think anything done in the name of reporting is okay too - even if it means they can't go out in public without being ambushed.
No actually I agree with you on that
Hi SwirlyGrrl,
Yes, well Swirly I do actually agree with you on those points in general. Camping outside the house, general harassment. It's hard on the family and some of it may be going overboard to get a new twist on the story.
On the other hand, consider that without this current aggressive press attention, we would never have known about the various violent incidents in her past, none of which ever appear to have been fully investigated or resolved. As someone else commented on an earlier Amy Bishop story, based on the pattern of behavior that has been reported so far, it would be reasonable to expect that there may have been significantly more, heretofore unreported incidents of violence or threatened violence in her past. I think there is a natural, and essentially healthy curiosity to turn over the rocks and find those incidents, if they are there to be found.
It seems undeniable that something about Amy Bishop allowed her to behave violently but evade detection, punishment, or even recognition of her pattern of behavior until this last event. Because of this, I would argue that the press is "correct" in their sense that there might still be more "juicy" incidents waiting to be discovered in her past, if they just hound everyone who has ever met her.
It's not pretty, and it's not nice to her family or anyone else to be harassed by the press, but considering the circumstances I am not as offended by it as you are, but respect your opinion nonetheless.
Well SwirlyGrrl, I would think that people like HER would make you feel more sorry for her four kids -- but more importantly, to feel sorry for her victims, and their families.
I think it is worth recognizing that the people and the system that allowed her to evade punishment until now, especially including her husband and parents, are culpable in the deaths of at least three innocent people. That sense, as you know, is what is driving the media attention.
You have no reason to lash out at me over this.
Current aggressive media attention did what?
As far as I can see, it unearthed nothing other than a bunch of unfinished novels and a writer cousin. Wow.
On the other hand, standard sort of old fashioned journalism: the combing through records, calling contacts, checking data bases, etc. is what has unearthed the relevant and interesting bits about her rather disturbing past behavior.
Why do you think that questioning the behavior of one group means that I think what she is accused of is okay, or that I lack empathy for the families of her victims? If you think they are necessarily mutually exclusive, you need to do some serious thinking about your overly-limited views toward the world and "my team versus your team" attitudes. Consider this: her family members are innocent victims of her behavior, too, but I guess you can only see her kids and family as part of "her" tribe, so bullying them and wrecking their lives is okay in your book. Sheesh. One can feel bad for the people who have been victimized, yet still question disturbing media stupidity frenzies and point out that feeling bad for the victims DOES NOT justify any of it.
We largely agree I think, why SHOUT?
Hi SwirlyGrrl,
Well, in this one aspect I continue to substantively disagree with your position. One of the discovered novels described a close parallel to her experiences killing her brother and dealing with remorse, so wasn't that a valuable addition to our understanding? The writer cousin, I agree that I don't see the relevance. But don't you think it was worthwhile to track down the woman she attacked in a restaurant over a high-chair, in another police action that was never resolved? I thought that was very interesting, and wouldn't have turned up if nobody had been asking around, right?
Ok, this makes me think we are actually in agreement. ;) Perhaps you are defining all the journalistic actions that were taken that led to the above knowledge as legitimate, and all other investigations as bad? I'm not sure I understand now which journalistic investigative activities you were objecting to. If we agree that the ones which unearthed relevant and interesting bits were ok, then you and I are in total agreement, subject to definition of relevant and interesting.
I've done nothing to warrant this paragraph, neither the assertions nor the shouting. But I won't take it personally ;)
swirly would benefit from some compassionate perspective
Marc, well said!
The inconvenience the media is causing the family of the killer is NOTHING compared to the grief, trauma and inexplicable horror unjustly imposed upon the victims' families and friends by Bishop.
Agreeing with you
I feel terrible for her children, and yes, as far as fair trials are concerned, of course she won't get one. I love how people get upset over any seeming defense of the bad guy. US law states that every American is entitled to a trial and representation.
I feel very sorry for Amy Bishop. If she didn't have remorse in the moment of the shootings, she sure does now. All of that to be in prison the rest of her life, assuming she won't get the death penalty. Her children will have lives without her. Her husband will move on. It's a devastating waste with horrific consequences that so many will have to endure for the rest of their lives. And yes, I do feel compassion for Amy Bishop. She needs it- what else does she have left? I only hope the State of Alabama does not give her the death penalty- this cycle of violence can stop.
At this point with the
At this point with the mountain of evidence against her how fair of trail do you want for her? Did Scott Peterson get a fair trail? He was guilty as sin of killing his pregnant wife and the same question had been asked if he could get a fair trail. This women gunned down three human beings on of whom the chair of the department had gone out of his way to protect her from a student petition to have her removed. Bishop was incapable of making the critical analysis of who her friends were and looks very much to me like she executed one of them in cold blood. It appears that she was so self absorbed in self pity and had a self centered sense of self entitlement
Uh ... are you quoting "The
Uh ... are you quoting "The Family Dog?"
Not quite; they say "quivering, snarling, white-hot ball of canine terror," but it's close!
I have heard somewhere that
I have heard somewhere that treating assault as a minor offense, as we do in the United States, may be one of the reasons that our murder rates are so high. It's like a gateway drug. It leads to anger and revenge resulting in murder. Maybe it isn't the availability of guns, but rather a culture of lenience for physical assaults that contributes to escalations in violence. Could Ms. Bishop have been detected as a danger and a loon earlier I wonder? Would a man have gotten away with so much without seeing a little jail?
Whit
I have heard somewhere that
As opposed to?
I don't know much about what
I don't know much about what happens to someone who punches out a parton at the IHOP--but it ought to lead to a weekend in jail to think things over. I would bet that most of the time it does not.
Whit
Not so lenient as all that
At least if you get a criminal record for it. I had an assault and battery charge from something stupid I did a long time ago- it frigged up my future job prospects pretty well. Maybe for the better, as I'll definitely never do anything so stupid again...hopefully.
I think CORI records should
I think CORI records should disappear after a few years for plenty of things--certainly for something dumb you did in you 20s. It's a shame.
Whit
Globe's Amy Bishop coverage has now jumped the shark
Not because of the (legitimately newsy) story that you linked here, but because of this one:
Ala. slay defendant is related to novelist John Irving
For most everyday purposes, 'second cousin' may just as well be 'unrelated'. If you go back far enough, we're all related to Henry Louis Gates Jr. anyway.
They kind of buried the lede
You're right - I ever tell you how Nancy is related to George Bush and John Dean (no, really)? :-).
The news, if you can call it that, is that she used her alleged Irving connection to buttress her writers's-group cred back when she was writing "gritty" novels about viruses that turn women sterile.
OK, even that's kind of a weak peg on which to hang a story - at this point, who cares? It just seems so mundane compared to say, Clark Rockefeller's made-up life.
I know LOTS of second cousins
Doesn't seem like all that remote a relationship to me. I guess it depends on the (extended) family.
Second cousin is not
Second cousin is not necessarily remote. For a long time, that was the only kind of cousin I had, and I certainly considered them to be my relatives.
meet Amy Bishop's 6th cousin
Why, it must be Kevin Bacon, of course!
IHop story
Can not anyone see that maybe Amy Bishop was provoked at the IHop? The police were called after the fact and the other "mother" put on quite a show for sympathy and got it. Both are guilty. SO don't make it sound like one was the bully and one was an innocent victum . Gjika could dish it out too.
" A quick search shows that she's not a peach of a human being either."
http://salemnews.com/punews/local_story_244000814....
Michelle M. Gjika, 42, of 21 Bowen Road, Peabody, was arrested at 2:34 a.m. by Patrolman Thomas Hennessey and hit with three charges of assault and battery on a police officer, two charges of witness intimidation, destruction of property over $250, resisting arrest, negligent operation of a vehicle, and drunken driving. No further information is available.
Given the gravity of the _real_ offenses by your friend ...
... what you are bringing up is piffle.
Yeah
And I bet the faculty taunted her into shooting 6 of them too.