Judging Nancy: Is Someone Finally About to Bring the Gavel Down on Cable's Most Reprehensible Talking Head?

A couple of weeks ago, I did a quick interview with Radar Online magazine for a story it was putting together on the most hated pundits on cable news. At the time, I was just coming off an admittedly questionable decision I'd made to write a somewhat negative piece about Gawker and its sister site, Jezebel.com, and wasn't feeling the need to heap any more career-disadvantageous invective in a fresh direction. I think my exact words to Neel Shah -- the Radar columnist doing the interview -- were, "I've burned enough bridges for one week, thanks." In the end, he and I chatted for a while about the abstracts of the current punditry craze, but I never specifically cited anyone I thought should be held up for more scorn than the others.

In retrospect, I'm kind of sorry I held back -- at least when it comes to one person in particular.

I'm not really going out on much of a limb or breaking any new ground by saying that CNN's Nancy Grace is the most loathsome, feckless troll to currently, inexplicably, have a forum on national television. She's a vile, unscrupulous monster who peddles morbid prurience like a cheap streetwalker and whose brand of rank solipsism is matched only by her near-sociopathic disregard for the lives she's ruined and exploited and by her apparent contempt for the tenets of responsible journalism (to say nothing of basic human decency).

Her tenure at CNN Headline News has brought a heretofore unknown level of shame to the entire operation.

But now, it looks like somebody might finally be about to hold her accountable for her bullshit.

On Thursday, a federal judge in Ocala, Florida refused to heel to the arrogant condescensions of the high-priced lawyers representing Nancy Grace and CNN, ruling against their calls for the quick dismissal of a lawsuit claiming that Grace pushed the mother of a missing toddler into committing suicide two years ago. The family of Melinda Duckett charges that not only did Grace coax the troubled 21 year old mother onto her show, then badger and bully her when she couldn't or wouldn't satisfactorily answer questions about her missing son -- leading Grace to of course imply that Duckett herself was behind the disappearance -- but that Grace then added insult to injury by airing the pre-taped interview after Duckett had shot herself.

Although police do consider Duckett the only viable suspect in the case, which is still open, attorneys for the woman's family rightly point out that whatever information Melinda Duckett may have had about her missing son died with her, thanks to Nancy Grace taking upon herself the role of Grand Inquisitor. Did Duckett kill her little boy? We don't know for sure, and thanks to Grace's purely ratings-driven brand of contrived, overly-aggressive indignation, we probably never will.

In a just world, the Duckett family's lawsuit -- which a skeptic could easily argue is little more than a cynical attempt to cash in on the death of a loved one -- would only be the tip of the iceberg, and Nancy Grace might face criminal charges of obstructing justice in addition to the wrongful death civil action. For now though, the threat of hitting CNN and Grace in both their wallets and the court of public opinion will have to do -- and their argument that a successful suit by the Ducketts would "severely chill" journalists' ability to cover missing persons cases is a staggeringly laughable conceit, given that Nancy Grace is the furthest thing from a journalist.

On the contrary, what she does every night on CNN is an insult to responsible journalism, and if the network were half the unassailable bastion of credibility it purports to be, it would have fired her odious ass a long time ago.

Maybe it will take the justice system -- the one Nancy Grace so vaingloriously touts herself as the defender of -- to do what greedy network executives are unwilling to: force her off the air.

And maybe, just maybe, it will do it by making them all pay.

Comments

[Riker]

Apparently, NG lost a family member as a result of a crime; this is the worst kind of person to go after criminals because she isn't able to be detached from the issues. Everything and everyone becomes a personal vendetta. I think NG is emotionally crippled and that kind of person doesn't need to have a show to perpetuate her neuroses.

[lexnekst]

Before you start feeling too bad for her- You might wanna read about how she embellished that story.


http://www.observer.com/node/51941

[RightWingMarine]

How is someone's voluntary action the fault of anyone else? So NG was mean to her, so what? If you're caught speeding can you tell the cop your passenger was yelling at you to go faster so they should get the ticket? Why should anyone be responsible for someone else's actions?

If this goes through it will mean the end of investigative journalism. The reporters mean questions made me emotionally distressed which caused me to drink and drive and kill someone.

Was this woman physically restrained from just walking out? Had she never seen the show before and didn't know what type of person NG was?

As for airing the show after she killed herself, so what? What is wrong with doing that? If the family doesn't like it they don't have to watch. If other people don't like it they don't have to watch and don't have to support the sponsors.

[lexnekst]

Because a woman whose child is missing is in a fragile emotional state (any man would be too)

Even if the mom was guilty- that wasn't the place or forum for accusations- The courtroom.

Nancy Grace should have been off air a long time ago anyway. If you really fought for this country- then you should be ashamed of Americans like her absuing free speech.

[RightWingMarine]

Free speech means nothing unless we protect unpopular speech. If you don't like what she has to say, don't watch her.

I did fight for this country and a photo of me in Iraq can be found here:

08.the3day.org/goto/mcintosh

[fairwitness]

Damn--I thought the headline was about Nancy PELOSI (she of "impeachment is off the table" fame). SHE should be the one gaveled away and banned from appearing on cable--her betrayal and complicity are obscene.

[ignrnthllblly]

Any prosecutor worth their salt can do major-league indignation in the courtroom, as well as make occasional use of their privilege to engage in slander without penalty. Most return to a level of ascertainable humanity outside. Grace reveals that, in her case, these were not tools on her belt to be used selectively, but jagged-edge character flaws that she must continually exercise. One can only wonder if CNN has figured out yet that Grace's compulsions are going to provide for many repeats of this scenario.

Grace advocates before her viewers; presumes that they have favored her with the return of an indictment; polls the jury of herself for her unanimous verdict and then pronounces sentence--which she would gleefully carry out--though her catharsis never comes.

Prospects for rehabilitation, as Grace would tell us herself without fail, are extremely slim.

[hald]

The odd thing, for me, is that I happened to hearsee the original Micheal Savage and NG broadcasts. Both times I was traveling and there was nothing else on the radio or television worth paying attention to.
I recall with both shows literally thinking "Wow, they're going to get nailed for this."

I think NG and CNN will ultimately loose and should settle. The broadcast was punishing to watch, almost like a public execution.

I think NG would be a good character in a John Waters movie.

OTOH, Micheal Savage regularly says many offensive things that tend on the whole towards some truth. I was flabbergasted when I read cholesterol tests were being recommended for 2 year olds. So I wasn't surprised to hear him ranting about it. The greed in so many professions is out of control, and recommendations like that appear to be more about making money than anything else. Hearing Mr. Savage's rant made me feel a little vomity, but still, there is an element of truth too. A lot of people are using feigned illness, sanctioned by experts, to gain personal advantage.

[randyjet]

She got run out of the prosecutors office for her ILLEGAL actions in denying the defense documents and information it was entitled to. She got out before they could disbar her. So she now does the same thing on TV and hides behind journalist screens of freedom of the press. That is truly funny. She should still be disbarred by having some lawyers who have at least some integrity insist on it, instead of trying to sweep her misdeeds under the rug.

[FearlessFreep]

I'd say it results from America's pervasive, longstanding culture of fear.

[RogerThis]

Defense (CNN/Grace) filed a Motion to Dismiss, which is a pre-trial motion asking a judge to throw the case out before it begins, based on the contention that if the case were to go ahead, it would "severely chill" the ability of TV shows to cover missing persons cases. I know we've all become familiar with the 'straw-man argument' so I don't have to explain how Ms. Grace putting the victim's mother "on trial" on TV for the sake of her own aggrandizement, might differ slightly from the desire of reasonable news outlets to publicize, in the name of actually SOLVING the crime, the facts of said crime. It"s a blessing that the presiding judge was able to differentiate between Ms. Grace/CNN attorney"s position that publicly flogging someone associated with the case, leading them to take their own life, stands in marked opposition to responsible journalists whose goals are finding the victims, not creating more of them.

[ranchobob]

My question is whay are Americans obsessed with crime and punishment, forensics, CSI, corpses, murder - and worst of all -
incarceration porn on MSNBC
and then we have more people in prison than any other nation -
how sick is that.?

[LLT]

Hear hear!!! I could not agree with you more. If there is any REAL justice, that woman will get her a$$ handed to her in court. I do think Grace probably started out as an attorney once upon a time with her heart more or less in the right place, but then some fool decided it might be funny to put her in front of a camera and from that moment on television has been the poorer for it.

[MediaConcepts]

The best way to bring the gavel down on Nancy Grace and her sensationalization of domestic violence is for viewers simply to tune out. Only low ratings will get her off the air or stop her horrible exploitation of the lives of crime victims.

[Melissa]

She is a horror story. I don't know why the show is still on, I thought her ratings were low.

[LittleChickMotel]

I was stunned to watch Nancy Grace berate a correspondent on her show -- one of her own reporters -- simply for misunderstanding a question she'd asked of him. I didn't wait around to see how she treated her interview guests. That was the first and last time I watched her on TV.

[rcampbell]

Hopefully, we're witnessing a reawakening of America. We've been living through a 30 year nightmare of destructive conservative mind set. The decline of America began with Ronald Reagan. He represented and championed the politics of greed, the philosophy of selfishness and favoritism of the wealthy. He built-up the militaristic mindset far too many now accept as representing America rather than the ultruistic America the world once envied. He produced followers (Gingrich, Delay, Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld, GWBush) who mutated his politics into the virulent form we see today. It was Gingrich who first said there could be no compromise with Liberals. The era of mean-spiritedness began in earnest in the mid-90's and fed right into Nancy Grace's brand of whatever it is she calls it.

[fishsandwichesr2good]

Make illogical leaps much?

[DarkWitch]

Sounds about right to me.

[pfc1369]

No one, repeat, no one, is more vile and odious than Glenn Beck.

No one.

[CamJam]

I almost agree with you on this but then I learned of who Michael Savage was and what he said about children with Autism (I take his comment very personal - one of our twin boys is Autistic)
Small bit of a recent interview with Beck & Savage here:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/22/savage-defends-his-autism-comments-by-claiming-media-matters-hates-families-and-children/

Longer interview here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK2SYib5Sxg

For that bit of an interview, Beck moved below Nancy on my list.
My list of those I will not listen or watch are as follows with worst at the top:

Michael Savage
Rush Limbaugh
Nancy Grace
Glenn Beck
Sean Hannity
Lars Larson

But what a disGrace Nancy is..
I bet Court TV is glad CNN has to deal with her.

[50fromohio]

I totally agree with your list! You can add O'Reilly to it. They are arrogant, egotistical, pompous and over-bearing. They love to hear themselves talk. They could care less about if what they're saying is true or not. I stopped watching CourtTV because of Nancy Grace.

[creepers]

Grace is nothing but a litigation entertainer and over at Smashed Frog, we called her out way back and long before Melinda and Trenton Duckett.
Google Smashed Frog and heck out "The Nancy Grace Chronicles" in the sidebar.