The Braindead Megaphone’s
This is a true story about what happened to the three bodies in the brown house with the white trim. The man is former World Wrestling Entertainment Heavyweight Champion, Chris Benoit. The woman is his wife Nancy, and the boy is their seven-year-old son Daniel.
The quiet outside the house at 130 Green Meadow Lane did not last long. Soon the police arrived and found the bodies, declaring the house a major crime scene.
Like Africanized bees, they came, the National news media, with their satellites and trucks and suit jackets. With their microphones and fake smiles and chemically treated hair. A media circus descended on the house, the whirlwind of worldwide noise. They were broadcasting all over the country and all over the world. The pain that gave way to two murders and a suicide was used as fodder, puffed up and propped up beside the rest of the infotainment trash, the Jon-Benet Ramsey’s and O.J. Simpsons of the world. They even gave it a name, “The Benoit Family Tragedy."
The story belonged to them now, and they had no use for truth. The media came to the gates of the house and spoke out through telelvision sets and computer screens to millions of innocent Americans. They held their microphones and looked into the camera lens and distorted and speculated and assumed and tried to pass it all off as the objective truth. They are liars. There is no truth. There is no higher meaning to be found in the Benoit house, no life lessons that we can take home. We will never understand what went on in that house, at least not until we go to meet our maker.
But our media, of course, always has the answers. They are voracious in their quest for truth-telling. That last sentence was sarcastic and an inside joke. To borrow a phrase from George Saunders, the American media is braindead and they are carrying a megaphone to a large party. They are loud and confusing and they demand our attention. It is too much. There is no subtlety, there is no tact. They drop the truth into shark infested waters and allow the pundits and talking heads to rip the truth the shreds. What follows is a sampling of the words that appeared on television and the newspaper in the days and weeks following the murders. This is the news, you may sort through it if you like, or you can skip ahead to try and find some real truth.
BREAKING NEWS!
BENOIT MAKES MARKS WITHOUT WORDSCOPS: WRESTLER KILLS WIFE, SON, THEN HANGS SELF Awaiting toxicology results: Did steroids Play a role in the Murder-suicide of Benoit’s family? Call 1-877-NANCY01 WRESTLE MANIAC'S 'ROID RAGE - INSIDE A KILLER'S DOOMED LOVE TALE Like everything in the world of professional wrestling, the ill-fated love affair between golden-boy grappler Chris Benoit and his wife, Nancy, started out as bogus hype. There has been a clear correlation between steroid use and abuse and violence, and there is a term for it road rage, and there have been studies on this.” In the wrestling world it’s not that easy for a wrestler to go with out being paid. It’s mortgage payments and bills like everybody else. Really important, just like everybody’s job to keep that steady income. I did a piece on professional wrestling, a three part story and I never got anybody to admit over the course of several days that professional wrestling is even staged. PROBE: STEROIDS FOUND IN PRO WRESTLER’S SYSTEM!Report shows steroids and other drugs in body of pro wrestler Chris Benoit. The WWE is not who we are focusing on. We believe Chris Benoit killed his wife and his child. – DA FEDS NEW WRESTLER CHRIS BENOIT WAS BUYING STEROIDS Just in: Chris Benoit’s Mother says he might still be alive if DEA agents acted sooner. Next: Mom Stabbed To Death Have you ever tried GHB? The Date Rape drug? We are getting reports that Chris Benoit tried GHB. He carried his son on a pedestal, he loved that boy. He as the politest person I’ve ever met, it was always yes m’am no man, he wasn’t rude to anybody, he was always talking about his kids DID WRESTLER KILL HIS FAMILY? Born in in Montreal in 1967 Wrestled for more than 20 years Has 2 children from previous relationship She was a professional wrestler and she went by the stage name woman. What happened in that home and what to you make of reports that he might have sent text messages to other staffers and people at the world wrestling enterprise and whether or not hat prompted calls to authorities and eventually what they found was what they believe to be a double murder crime scene. It’s all very mysterious. Also remember the You Tube cell phone guy? Posted his number said hey if you’re lonely give me a call. Thousands of people called him including one special caller. We’ll have an update on that story coming up after this. No motive 360’s Raw Data WWE’s Power 2006 Revenues: $400 MillionEst.: 20 Million Viewers/Week TNA WRESTLER KEVIN “BIG SEXY” NASH WRESTLING SHOCKER BENOIT A HERO TO FANS, COLLEGUES In professional wrestling's shadow world, where a "baby face" is a good guy, a "heel' is a villain and a "tweeter" vacillates between the two, Chris Benoit is remembered as a solid citizen who vacillated for no one. I’ve heard things on some of these newscasts that say the son had track marks in his arm and that he was injecting steroids into the son. Steroids are not taken intravenously, they are taking inter muscularly, it’s taken in the fat. There is so much misinformation in general out there. All this is speculation until Chris’ levels come back. Along with everything else, I just think it’s so sexy. It’s such a media craze, you know, steroids were involved steroids were involved. Until the toxicology reports come back and his levels are above four to one, we WWE® Shocked At Latest Developments In Benoit Tragedy, Concerned By Sensationalistic Reporting WWE is concerned with the sensationalistic reporting and speculation being undertaken by some members of the media following the press conference held by the Fayette County Sheriff's Department and the District Attorney. Do you think the wrestling pros and the association should be required to testify before congress because there is some sort of legislation that they bring up, that you’re any sort of example to these high school and college kids that are out there? Do you have any responsibility to follow the law? Or should we just let your industry off the hook because you’re merely entertainment? You’re doubting my credibility, I have taken steroids, I haven’t seen ‘roid rage. I know that’s not what you want to hear. In the days before pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and child and hanged himself, the couple argued over whether he should stay home more to take care of their mentally retarded 7-year-old son, an attorney for the wrestling league said Wednesday WWE AND USA WRESTLE WITH FALLOUT FROM CHRIS BENOIT CASE WRESTLER SNAPS OFFICIAL: CHRIS BENOIT’S SON INJECTED WITH GROWTH-HORMONE Later this Hour: Larry Birkhead Speaks Out About Raising Anna Nicole Smith’s Daughter BENOIT JUICING HIS SON WWE OUT OF CONTROL SPORTS FINAL EDITIONTINY SON GOT ILLEGAL BOOSTS?. WRESTLER WAS JUICING BOY WITH GROWTH-HORMONE DRUG – OFFICIAL THE BENOIT FAMILY TRAGEDY: Wrestling remains big draw on TV; 'Male soap opera' has faithful fans Wrestler and wife argued over care of retarded 7-year-old son in days before murder-suicide FINAL EDITIONWRESTLER'S RAMPAGE HINTS AT DEMONS IN PROFESSION DID STEROIDS PROPEL HIM TO; KILL HIS WIFE, SON, SELF? Death on Wikipedia before police knew In what was either a poorly thought through prank or an eerie forewarning, someone apparently reported the death of Chris Benoit's wife on Wikipedia - the online open source encyclopedia - more than 14 hours before police discovered her body, along with her son's and husband's, at the pro wrestler's Fayette County home Benoit's dad: Tests may help explain why wrestler killed self Pro wrestler Chris Benoit's father said Friday that he was eager to see whether chemical tests can help explain why Benoit killed his wife and son and committed suicide, acts that the wrestler's father said he had no clue were coming. Benoit Case Uncovers a Lack Of Understanding of Steroids Hardly a hero: Wrestler was a bully and a killer God bless you, Chris Benoit. You will be missed. And yet, in a grand sense, you will always being among us. You infuse the very essence of professional wrestling. Whenever children sit in front of a television to watch a fake sport, you will be there. Whenever people think it's entertaining to see one-man body slam another, or perhaps hit him over the head with a chair, you will be there. You will be there as long as people believe mindless violence and brutality are cool - and pass that faith onto their young. Maybe pro wrestling has lost control of the script Benoit's behavior may be attributed to `date-rape drug' GHB THE GRANDPARENTS of pro wrestler Chris Benoit's son said yesterday they had no idea 7-year-old Daniel had a genetic disorder similar to autism. Benoit tragedy could inspire a wrestlers' union Killer’s Brain athlete who the world respected for his incredible ability inside a wrestling ring, a beautiful woman who was a diva long before WWE came up with its assembly line of manufactured eye candy, and an innocent, special-needs child who loved his parents and was his dad's biggest fan. Somehow, now, the memories seem so distant. There's a fine line between fantasy and reality in the world of wrestling. Sometimes that line gets blurred. But ultimately the good guy always wins. In this real-life tragedy, however, the finish went totally against script, and there was no happy ending. Killing spree "There's a way in which the culture kind of excuses him - actually idolizes him - for his use of violence," Bathrick continued. "He's not been required to look at himself in the way he uses his power, particularly in terms of this relationship." However, Fayette District Attorney Scott Ballard said late Monday that family members who reviewed the child's medical records say he did not have Fragile "Reports from Daniel's educators likewise contradict? The claims that Daniel was physically undersized," Ballard said. "The educators report that Daniel graduated kindergarten and was prepared to enter the first grade on par with the other students.” A lot of people got caught up in the idea that Daniel had Fragile X syndrome," Davis said from the company's headquarters in Stamford, Conn. "We were just as caught up as everyone else. The WWE has no information to contradict Ballard's statement, Davis said. WRESTLER MA RAGES AT FEDS. SEZ STEROID BUST COULD'VE PREVENTED SLAYS Exploited pro wrestlers deserve our sympathy, too Death of WWE Star Chris Benoit Continues to Drive Record Web Search Activity; Top iPhone Searches Include iPhone Accessories & iPhone Reviews; Diets, Wimbledon and eMule, Big Search GainersRep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) said 89 wrestlers had died before the age of 50 between 1985 and 2006, and he called on Congress to investigate. REP. SOUNDS STEROID ALARM. WANTS PROBE OF WRESTLING DEATHS “This abnormally high number of deaths of young, fit athletes should raise congressional alarms," Stearns said. "Congress needs to investigate the recent events and find out how big of a problem steroid use is in professional wrestling. Steroid use is a major public health problem that deserves Congress' full attention." Wrestler's death, murders overshadow merchandise Steroids Found in Wrestlers body Pro wrestler Chris Benoit had a steroid and other drugs in his system when he killed his wife and young son last month and hanged himself in the family's home, investigators said Tuesday. Benoit's body contained 10 times the normal level of testosterone, as well as amounts of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and the painkiller hydrocodone, authorities said. The testosterone, a synthetic version of the primary male sex hormone, is considered an anabolic steroid. The state's top medical examiner said it appeared to have been injected shortly before Benoit died. Benoit had high steroid level; GBI: Analysis shows that the wrestler's 7-year-old son was heavily sedated before he died. BENOIT STRANGLED UNCONSCIOUS SON – DOC Committee asks WWE for drug policy information following wrestler's death was it the worst sports month ever? Joe Camel on steroids Slickly packaged pro wrestling provides poor role models for youth Inheritances tied to Benoit death details; Whether wife or son died first plays key role in who gets wrestler's estate, so in-laws question initial findings Deaths in professional wrestling can be traced to 'wrestling cocktail'
No one ever stopped to think about professional wrestling. Why do people do it? Why do people like it? How is being a professional wrestler any different than being an actor, or an athelete, or a shopkeep, or an accountant? The media never took the time to ask these questions, they were too busy calling the wrestlers names, dragging their livelihood through the mud. Wrestling is regularly referred to as a “noisy sideshow” “a seedy diversion”, and a “freak show;” It’s practitioner’s, “puffed-up characters out of cartoon-strips.” The media would rather relegate wrestling to the fringes of our society. That is not where it belongs. Wrestling, in some form or another has been a part of nearly every culture of people to ever walk this earth. Did Nancy Grace or Geraldo Rivera ever stop to think about that? The answer is, quite simply, no, they didn’t.