The Rehabilitation of Astronaut Lisa Nowak

The Rehabilitation of Astronaut Lisa Nowak
By Carey Roberts
Feb 21, 2007

It was one of those stories that not even a Hollywood
scriptwriter could dream up: A NASA astronaut stows a steel
mallet, 4-inch knife, rubber tubing, gloves, and trash bags in
her car. She straps on an astro-diaper and drives 900 miles to
Orlando. During the wee hours of February 6, she disguises
herself with a wig, glasses, and trench coat. Confronting her
romantic rival in the airport parking lot, she douses Colleen
Shipman with pepper spray.

The Rehabilitation of Astronaut Lisa Nowak

An outrageous deed, for sure. Have you noticed that the more
bizarre the crime, the more persons lean over backwards to make
excuses for the perp?

Like school teacher Debra Lafave who raped a 14-year-old student
in Florida. Her lawyer claimed, “To place an attractive young
woman into that kind of hellhole is like putting a piece of raw
meat in with the lions.” That raw appeal to judicial chivalry
relieved Lafave from the inconvenience of a single day of jail
time.

And remember the Clara Harris case? In 2002 she repeatedly mowed
down her husband, David, with her Mercedes-Benz. Both of them
had been involved in extra-marital affairs. Now serving a
20-year sentence in a Texas prison, she was ordered last month
to pay $3.75 million in restitution to her ex-husband’s family.

But guess who the media portrayed as the “lying, cheating
scumbag” who “deserved what he got”? Hint: CBS portrayed Mrs.
Harris in a 2004 movie as the betrayed wife and pitiable victim.
[www.glennsacks.com/suppose_roles_had.htm]

So back to Orlando, Florida, where we discover that literally
within hours of the crime, the rehabilitation of Astronaut Lisa
Nowak is set to begin. Initially the prosecutor charged Nowak
only with attempted kidnapping. Excuse me, Mr. Prosecutor, but
exactly how do you kidnap a person with a steel mallet, latex
gloves, and trash bags?

Soon two fellow astronauts flew to Orlando. No, not to conduct
an inquiry or make sure the victim was recovering from the
attack. Rather, “Our primary concern is [Nowak’s] health and
well-being, and that she get through this,” according to Steve
Lindsay.

The first round of news coverage was objective, featuring photos
of Nowak being lead into the courtroom in handcuffs, her head
hanging in shame. But the very next day, the public
rehabilitation of Lisa Nowak would begin in earnest.

On Wednesday, media coverage turned jocular. Newstands were
filled with headlines about Astro-nut Nowak, Lust in Space, and
the Dark Side of the Loon. Anything to keep persons’ minds off
the sobering reality of an innocent person being bludgeoned with
a hammer.

And drooling over the high-profile story on Valentine’s Day,
newspapers speculated whether Nowak had caused the break-up of
the marriage of her love object two years before.

By Thursday, media coverage had morphed into a soap opera promo:
“The sad tale of Lisa Nowak” and “Lisa Marie Nowak’s life was
falling apart” were the leads of two articles I saw.

Even level-headed columnists went gah-gah. Myrna Blyth suggested
the attack was not as strange as some might think, claiming in
her Feb. 9 column, “There’s a crazy astronaut in all of us.” And
John Derbyshire pooh-poohed the entire episode, saying that
“women are not actually very good at this sort of thing.” I’m
sure that assurance will come as consolation to the grieving
families of the 1,200 persons who are knocked off every year by
hit-women.

Of course when People magazine did its front-page story, it was
all about Lisa, Lisa, and more Lisa: a “naturally gifted” woman
who yearned for a space career at the tender age of five,
Robo-chick astronaut, and a stressed-out but “very loving”
mother of three.

And what about Colleen Shipman, victim of the premeditated
murder attack? In the entire 6-page spread, People magazine
devoted a grand total of 5 sentences to her plight. Sorry,
Colleen, your harrowing experience just didn’t fit into the
storyline.

Mind you, the crime took place last week, and the rehabilitation
of Lisa Nowak has only just begun. We’re still awaiting a call
from Katie Couric, and of course the obligatory Oprah interview.

And soon we’ll be hearing that Nowak was the heroic survivor of
an abusive childhood, she waged a lonely campaign to break the
glass ceiling, and her ex-husband once raised his voice in stern
rebuke.

Before long we will all agree that Lisa Marie Nowak, despondent
from the recent break-up of her 19-year marriage, was
unwittingly seduced into a love triangle and attempted a
Halloween-type prank in futile revenge. Her actions were surely
more worthy of sympathy than scorn.

At that point, what need will there be for a trial?

Carey Roberts is a staff writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc.