Okay, for those of you who don't know, in Missouri, USA there was a kid who was recently kidnapped. His clever friend, however, took down the license plate number of the white pickup truck that sped away and the cops rescued the kid. However, the plot thickens. The cops found ANOTHER kid in the apartment, a teen, who had been taken four years earlier.

His name is Shawn Hornbeck.



Now what people, including Bill O'Reilly, don't understand is, why did the Shawn Hornbeck stay with his captor for four years when he had numerous opportunities to escape?

Let's examine the facts:

Neighbors saw Shawn riding around his neighborhood on a bike.
He had friends.
He didn't have to go to school.

Bill O'Reilly has gone on record for making comments that he thinks the kid WANTED to be there for all those years, and that he could have fought his captor/escape any time he wanted. He says he doesn't believe in the Stockholm syndrome (when abductees identify with their captors). He says he doesn't believe that the kid was brainwashed. This has been met with controversy.

Here are some links about the case:

Bill O'Reilly's controversial statements:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,244163,00.html

Reactions to Bill O'Reilly's statements:
http://www.newshounds.us/2007/01/16/...r_the_kids.php

The family to appear on Oprah:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16689051/

What do you think?

I think Bill O'Reilly would say that this kid was a friend of Hussein's if it got him viewers.

I don't know why he stayed, and no one does except for him.

He's on oprah right now and
he looks creepy

BIll O'reilly should kill himself

Creepy how?

It's just like that girl that was kidnapped in Germany?? for years. She had loads of opportunies to escape but chose not to. Porpbably because they had been there so long it felt like home?

From O'Reilly's page, bottom:

We have an offer you might not be able to refuse. At least I hope you can't!

On billoreilly.com, we have thousands of premium members who, for a small — and I mean small — fee get a bunch of special stuff. One of those perks is the weekly "back stage conversation," where they ask me questions and I answer them in my No Spin style.

No one else, besides premium members, gets to see the back stage conversation. Until now. For the next few days, everybody can see the special feature, because we want to you sign up for premium membership.

So go to billoreilly.com. Check out the "Back Stage Conversation," and let me know if it's ridiculous. This offer is just for this week.

*****
I am now going to charge 5 dollars a month per person for my witticisms and musings. Retroactive from a few years ago. Pay up, fucks.

I don't really think this is worth speculating about. I think that being taken from your home is something so extreme that people who are not in a given situation have no business speculating about what drives reactions.

And O'Reilly is a dumbshit.

These things have probably been put together in a way that makes it look like I have an opinion, which is not really fair. Keep that in mind.

that kid is fucking hot, i would have kept it in my basement too. such soft skin.

He was just a kid, and other repots have suggested that he was tortured with sleep deprivation, and sexually assaulted. This guy has no right to decide that he knows what this kid did, or why he didn't escape.

honestly...i think that there is WAY more to the story. It seems like the kid wanted to be there, maybe he befriended the guy and wanted to runaway from home and stuff like that. I think that if the kidnapper would go thru as much trouble and sleep deprevation and sexual assult, he wouldn't let the kid out of the apartment. neither of the kids seem very upset emotionally about the kidnapping, and neither of the kids seemed very responsive towards thier parents while in press conferences and the like. but...really who knows. that's just my two cents.

I would think that that would give him LESS opportunity. Not more.

And Bill O'Reilly's doing it for the money. Let's just establish that.
It's one of those things here he gets into a mindset like a hamster whel until you stop him completely and then he can finally change.
I'm with Eon on this one.

I'm for the Stockholm Syndrome.

__________________
"the height of arrogance is the height of control of those who create God in their own image"

i don't think it's stolkholm. i don't see him caring for the pig.

he was taken from his safe place at the age of 11, by some fat fuck with a gun and an agenda.

how easy would it be to go home after being an innocent boy and having some nasty dick up your ass.

besides what they let us know, it's all conjecture.

put yourself in this kids shoes/pants.

__________________
[ o ]==#

Yesterday was history
Tomorrow is a mystery
Today is a gift - that's why it's called the present
- Babatunde Olatunji (and Kung Fu Panda)

The way he looked at [eople seemed creepy to me
'tis all

this case is so weird..
i sortof follow it, but it seems as if there's really no info yet. WHY was the kid staying? and WHY was he kidnapped in the first place??

__________________

i dont know about this... i dont think he wanted to be there.

i can see, from the cold hard facts regular-people-mindset (not to mention a lets create some controversy and create argument between people and get ratings mindset), it can seem REALLY strange and unexplainable why he didnt just escape. i can totally see where people are getting this.


but..... 11 year olds, sexual abuse, torture, captivity, threats, all that stuff can add up to rework one's brain into something that is completely different. i think first of all, shame and guilt (often felt by the abused) just really would make any 12 year old reluctant to face his family. then secondly fear. someone who you have to convinced that they are a part of something so awful you are forcing them to do has such a changed psychology, they can be convinced of such irrational stuff, like they that can very possibily be hurt or killed or their family hurt or killed if they try to do ANYTHING. i think the whole thing comes down to - he wanted to leave, but was brainwashed, tortured and SCARED into a kind of complacent inactivity where he just WISHED that someone would come along and save him. like he was screaming inside but just was figuratively paralysed to do anything about it.

i dont know about his parents either...... why subjecthim to oprah after a week of being home .

something about this makes me feel so bad. im not one of those 'mom' types that has a huge save-the-babiiiezz we are the world streak or anything. but he makes me so sad. his parents are suspect with this media shit, everyone is doing the water cooler chat about him, people question his desire to get away from a CHILD MOLESTER, after this ordeal he's famous in this sick way he must have so much shame and feel such ugliness and displacement. like, who is really connected to after all these years that he ca trust. NO ONE. i mean, its hard to be a 15 yr old boy, period. but after all this. ugh. and he seems so innocent. i just want to hug him . and be his mom or something. lol. the world has been so careless with him and fucked him over so much and he did nothing to deserve it. i feel his chances of surivivng and having a good life after this are so threatened.

Shawn's only back 5 minutes and hes parents made him lose his hot hair. did anyone else notice? but Shawn's still hot!!!!!!

Can someone explain to the Bee Oh Rei what Spin actually is, and why that totally is it?

Just because he was out in public and living an apparently normal life doesn't mean everything was peachy-keen. It seems people are judging Shawn somewhat more harshly because he's older, but he was 11 years old when he was taken. Some kids are more childlike at that age while others are more teenlike. Plus, he could just have a submissive personality which unfortunately meshed with his kidnapper/captor's agenda. I do wonder about his family though... the press conference bit is de rigueur anymore, but why Oprah?

Well to be less cynical, I guess I'd answer myself to say: it's in order to let people know they should never give up hope and we should all pay attention to alerts about missing kids.

__________________
You deceive yourself. Suffering is amusing and may even do work in a situation where two people are connected with each other. Where there is no mutual connection it is undignified, grotesque and ugly. It is seen to be something totally pointless and unnecessary, like all the rest of the suffering human beings do every day. There is now no relationship between us and I find your contortions merely embarrassing.