Judge John Roll, Hero

Who, you say? Exactly. The media has almost completely ignored the actions of Judge John Roll. Why? Sandy Rios asks that question in her most recent column. The conclusions she comes to are disturbing, mostly because she's probably right. Judge Roll doesn't fit the template the media wants to promote, so his lifesaving actions are barely mentioned. Here's what happened:

Federal Judge John Roll was killed in Tucson trying to save another man’s life. As soon as madman Jared Lee Loughner finished his attempt to murder Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, he turned his gun on the people to his left, then the people to his right. Recently released video shows his first target to the right was Ron Barber, Gifford’s district director, who was standing next to Justice John Roll.

Barber was shot in the arm. Judge Roll then pushed him down and, shielding Barber with his own body, steered him to shelter under a nearby table. While under the table, Loughner aimed for Roll’s exposed back and pulled the trigger. The video continues as Judge Roll looks up over his right shoulder, lies back down and dies at the scene.

Certainly worthy of coverage, don't you think? So why isn't it being covered? Here are some of Rios' thoughts:

Could it be the heroes of this story have been chosen and that Judge Roll doesn’t fit the template? Appointed by President George H.W. Bush, could it be that Judge Roll’s act of courage was seen to diminish or interfere with the aggrandizement of a Democratic Congresswoman from her tragic shooting? Could it be that in an attempt to trade on her tragic circumstances, the report of a heroic Republican Judge would be inconvenient?

Yeah, it sure could be.