Anyone else think Ed Smart (Elizabeth's Dad) is a jackass?

[phillybri]

Let me qualify this by saying I feel for the guy having to go through what his family did...

That being said, when news broke of this pregnant woman disappearing in Utah, were my wife and I the only ones saying "How long until Ed Smart is in front of a camera?"

Sure enough! There he was on "Today" this morning!!!

Movie deal, book deal, interview w/ Katie the whore, what's next?

How about working to bring your family back together???

[Literate Tar Heel]

1. he sort of reminds me of John Walsh

or maybe Fred Goldman ... but I'm an insensitive jackass for the most part

[ChocolateSaltyBalls]

22. At least Walsh used his 'celebrity' to do some good.......

in the world, as I don't expect Mr. Smart to do.

I too am an insensitive jackass.

[jean]

2. what's next? political office - just wait

[ElsewheresDaughter]

37. isn't he related to Utah politician senator or governor?

look what Ramsey's are doing ...running for congress or senator in Michigan...ya gotta love those family values rethugs :puke:

[joeybee12]

3. I look at him and think he's got a few screws loose...

...he looks like a pervert.

[TrustingDog]

4. my spidey senses tell me the same...

there's something not quite right here. but hell if I'm going to spend time on it, there's more important things to think about.

[SiouxJ]

8. I get the same feeling

it's like he's hiding something. I bet some day we find out his deep dark secret.

[Sequoia]

24. Yea, like insects, I mean incest.

and maybe Elizabeth wanted to escape.

[SiouxJ]

28. I didn't say it, you did

but uh, ............. yeah. ;-)

[Eloriel]

35. Yep, add my vote to the talley

He makes my skin crawl.

[joeybee12]

9. Like a Stepford Dad maybe........

.....I don't want to bash any religions, but I think Elizabeth stayed with her captors for so long because of the way Dad and Mom raised her--her incarceration probably seemed fairly normal to her.

[skippysmom]

5. He does seem to have never met a camera he doesn't like

But he's not as much of an ass as JonBenet's father. Who is now running for office as a repuke.

[trotsky]

6. Hey, leave him alone.

He & his wife are two of probably 12 Mormon Democrats in the world.

;-)

[liberalpragmatist]

12. He's a Democrat?

I would've thought he's a Repub. But then again, maybe I'm just stereotyping.

That's cool if true. Still, I don't think it's really relevant to his daughter's traumatic experience (I was following it intensely when they found her - I was stunned and happy for them and I felt for what they went through). Or relevant to the question of whether or not he's an ass.

And also, I'm not really sure I totally agree that he's an ass for willing to sell the movie and book rights. I mean, I might if my family were comfortable with it. We don't know that his family isn't comfortable with it. Not only do they get money, which is such little compensation for what they went through, but they can share the story with the world. Many people are interested. I dunno. I just don't think it makes him a jackass automatically. He could be, but I don't know him personally or know how his family feels about selling the rights and so I don't think I have the right to judge.

[phillybri]

13. Dem or not: He's a publicity hound...

n/t

[West Coast Democrat]

15. I think he admitted to the media that he is a Republican...

that was around the time he and his daughter were invited to the White House to sign that amber alert legislation. I'll look for a link.

[West Coast Democrat]

19. Well, I can't find a link

but I remember this specifically because my Dad told me he was upset at Ed Smart saying that he expected the Bush Administration to take special action in finding his daughter and passing the amber alert legislation because he is a Republican.

[trotsky]

21. Yeah I can't find a link either.

But I swear I read somewhere that he said he was a Democrat.

If either of us finds something, let's make sure we post it!

[Shakespeare]

23. He's a republican.

I used to work for a close friend of his (who is also a republican).

Anybody who uses a tragedy--especially one involving their own child--as a springboard for publicity is beneath contempt.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

45. kinda like the Ramsey dad using his daughter's death as "springboard"....

into politics...he's running for some political office in Michigan

[ElsewheresDaughter]

44. he is NOT a democrat...i heard it from the horses mouth " republican"

[indigobusiness]

7. That whole fam damly gives me the willies...plasticccccc

Talk about Stepford, the whole neighborhood is America run amok.

I've never had such an emotional whiplash as that case wrought.

What a bizarre, forgettable episode.

I went from deep concern to deep disgust, overnight.

[PatriotGames]

10. I agree...

I saw him on GMA this morning and thought the very same. I always wondered why the disappearence of his daughter warranted so much media coverage when there are tons of kids that go missing everyday.

[Marvelous_Smarty]

17. Because those tons of kids are not worthy of concern...

by the media since not enough people care to make a dent in the ratings. Look at the crime stories that make National News.

Laci Peterson. She was wealthy and beautiful and had for the most part a good looking husband. Hell they even had a cute dog. I'm sure if her name was Emma Lou and her husband Bub was accused of killing her in her trailer house, we would never have heard about it.

If the Smart girl's name had been Golanda and her family lived in in public housing we never would have known.

These stories would not have been sexy enough.

[AlCzervik]

11. He disgusts me period.

[Joanne98]

14. Just like Pauli Klass's father

Who got that fucking Three Strikes Law passed. People told him it would lock up petty criminals for life but the selfish bastard didn't listen. Smart helped get the Amber Alert bill passed. The problem with this bill is, today it's for missing children, tommorrow it's for everything. Totally tinfoil. I'm tired of crisis goverment. Passing laws that trample civil rights, privacy rights, create draconian sentencing or place spy equipment all over the country shouldn't be voted on in haste. Especially now since the Rethugs are installing Nazi judges. The Laci Peterson ACT was a pro-life scheme. I heard Mary Landruie slammed her office door in Laci's mom's face. I don't know if that's true but I sure hope it is. Enough is enough.

[phillybri]

16. Landrieu is a pro-lifer, isn't she?

:shrug:

[Joanne98]

18. Yeah that's why I don't know if it's true or not.

The Laci Peterson ACT could send pregnant women to use drugs to federal prison. Maybe she was mad about that.

[Bucky]

20. A pro-lifer disliking pro-life publicity hounds is like...

. . . a Christian disliking Jerry Falwell. Assholes are assholes, even when they disagree with me.

[Joanne98]

26. I know

Laci's mom is especially disgusting. I wonder how much money she's making off her daughters death. The GOP owes her big time.

[Orangepeel]

27. I don't think that Landrieu is anti abortion --

although she's not pro-choice either. She votes for bills that ban late term abortions but she also helped fillibuster anti-choice judges.

[gatlingforme]

25. I agree. Ed Smart cares so much for his daughter his 15minutes

of fame is going to last forever. Also, I wonder how Elizabeth is doing? Considering they said she is perfect about a week after she was found --- all is well on the homefront and my daughter will not be bothered by such things as what she went through when we must work on our wholesome image as a perfect family. GAG.

[BiggJawn]

32. No big deal to her that the "handyman" was schtupping her...

Daddy had been doing it for years...

My darkest, most cycnical spidey sense says Ed Smart had been boinking her for years, got nervous that she was gonna talk, paid the "handyman" to take her out in the desert and make her "disappear", only "Emmanuel" let his messiah thing get the better and figured to take hisself a young nibbly wife instead...

The whole story stinks. It stunk when it broke, it stunk every time Ed Smart was all over 24/7 "Nooze", and it stunk when they found her walking down the street with "Emmanuel" and his harem...

[medeak]

29. met Ed in scary way

he scared the crap out of me. Two days after daughter missing was walking dog and he nearly ran me over with car shoving flyer in my face "TAKE IT"..was strange...he definitely has having some sort of breakdown poor guy.

As far as publicity thing... LDS from what I've seen boys are groomed at very early age to get up in front of people to speak. It's like you can't shut them up after awhile....think it's just cultural thing.

[spooky3]

43. There's something very phony about him, and I don't want to bash either,

nor to stereotype, but I've encountered first-hand very twisted phoniness in other LDS people who superficially seem to be the most wonderful, gentle, loving people in the world. I fell for it too and paid a big price. So now I try not to prejudge, positively or negatively.

My hypothesis is that Ed Smart is gay but that it would require turning his whole world upside down to face that, so he continues his facade.

But I feel a great deal of sympathy for him, his family, and particularly for Elizabeth. She did not ask for her fate. I hope that his being involved in other cases turns out to be helpful and nothing more.

[TeeYiYi]

30. Actually, they called him! . . .

. . . they called him to come and help organize a search for the missing girl because of his experience. I don't think it's his fault this time.

TYY

[BiggJawn]

33. It's his fault. He should take Nancy Reagan's advice...

"just Say NO...."

[Jack_Dawson]

31. He needs to come out of the closet

Dude is gayer than than...I can't think of the words.

[Warren DeMontague]

34. He gives me the creeps. n/t

[Lerkfish]

36. OOPS!

sorry, got confused...thought we were talking about the one that drowned her kids in the car...what was here name?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

38. He always gave me the creeps. nt

[hang a left]

39. Man, you guys are brutal.

I never had that impression. He worked hard to get his daughter back even after the police gave up. The OTHER handyman who had a stroke in prison was the guy the cops fingered. This guy hired his own private detectives to follow a lead from one of their younger daughter's dreams, when the detectives in Utah told him to take a hike.

I don't know for sure what the REAL story actually is like some of the people here. I also was impressed with the way he shielded his daughter after she was returned.

Let's take the guy for his word for a minute. Would you possibly have altruistic reasons for writing a book after an experience like that. After all the guy was VERY well off in the real estate business. I am sure his business increased as a result of this incident. I would be willing to guess that everyone wanted to list their home or buy a home using his brokerage.

And Laci Peterson was not rich. Nor was her family. It is not her fault that the press have latched on to this case.

Geez guys.


On edit:

This kind of reminds me how local people here in San Diego vilified the swinging parents of the little girl who was abducted from her bed in the middle of the night and murdered by her scumbag neighbor. The poor parents were raked through the mud over their personal lives that had nothing to do with the fact that the bastard broke into their home in the middle of the night and stole their 6 year old.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

40. I find it hard to comment on this case

as my anti-Mormon prejudices come swimming to the surface and I really have to deal with them and put them to rest once and for all, since I don't like having prejudices......

Apologies to any LDS DUers....seriously. Had a very very bad experience as a child with LDS. Well, loads of bad experiences, really. And like I said above, I just really need to work through them. Just traveling through Utah recently was difficult. I wanted to scream a lot.

But that's enough of that.

[elehhhhna]

41. Ed Smart IS extremely effeminate--

I think he's got lots going on. And he kept at the search because he vehemently insisted he KNEW she was "out there".

I'll bet he did.

[wish_I_could_vote]

42. I thought it was just me