Monday, December 8, 2008

Squeezing OJ

They finally got him behind bars.  OJ Simpson is  going to a Nevada Prison and won't get out at least until he's 70.   We got the little bastard huh?   Are you happy now?   Hey let's face it the man got screwed big time.

Look, I don't know if he killed Nicole and her questionable pal Ron Goldman and neither do you. But in a court of law he was found not guilty and if you believe in the rule of law and our democracy, then you have to assume his innocence.   You have to do it in order to preserve your own rights.

For the 13  years to the day since the Brentwood Massacre, he has lived in a world where all eyes scowled at him because as some would say "We know he was guilty!"  Just how I might ask do you know?   Were you there?   Did you see him with the knife in his hand?   If you didn't then shut the fuck up.   Gut feeling has no place in a democracy.

Let's assume for moment that he did it.   He was found not guilty in a court of law by 12 of his peers.   Yes he had the money to skip the charge, but then there are those who don't and are innocent but haven't the funds to defend themselves against the unlimited financial resources of the state.    Call it "even Steven".   That's the way the system is and sure it needs to be changed but getting even with OJ isn't going to do it.   He played the game fair and square and America got pissed because this time the black guy got away.   You'll never hear a black person say that OJ got away with it, you only hear that from "whitey".

So OJ goes to Vegas for a wedding and comes out a felon.   I do believe those sports memorabilia people were dealing in stolen goods from OJ or at least Fred Goldman who owns most of OJ and his stuff. OK he went a bit overboard but I can sympathize with his reasoning. I think most of us can.   If it was anyone else, the dealers might not even have called the cops.   If it were anyone else they'd be cleaning out bedpans at an old folks home for a thousand hours. If it were anyone else, they would have been found not guilty.

Let's take a small detour.   How about that piece of shit Fred Goldman?   When is he just going to go away?   He's made a career out of OJ.   He even had a short lived TV show off the fame.    I understand someone being traumatized by the death of a son, but come on, this guy isn't doing this for his kid anymore, he's been so mesmerized by the harsh light of fame that he's addicted and probably doesn't even think about the Ron .

There were Fred and his daughter at the sentencing in the courtroom. How did he get in?  They say a lottery.  I say someone fixed the lottery.  Come on, both of them?  With that kind of luck they should hit the tables before leaving Vegas.  There was Fred gloating on the courthouse steps to any camera that would shoot him. Isn't there something wrong about all of this?  Now they are doing a victory lap, showing up this morning at the "Today" show where Meredeth Vierea threw softballs at them and assumed OJ's guilt in the deaths of Nicole and Ron.

Are you happy America?   Are you glad to be a vigilante?   I really don't give a shit about OJ but I do care about justice and how we conduct ourselves.   The outcome and the reaction, it's a sad day for America.  

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great comments with much insight regarding the legal process and how it should work the same way for all of us.

When he'd been found not guilty of the murder charges I was a union rep. who had to defend people I knew were guilty of something the company I worked for accused them of doing. However, they were entitled to due process and I did my job vigorously.

Anyway, back to the murder verdict. When I heard he was found not guilty I smiled and said to myself "that bastard Johnny Cochran - he did his job perfectly!" (I'd referred to him as a bastard in an affectionate manner).

Everyone else screamed about how slimy Cochran was but what was he supposed to do - throw the defense and lose his license?

RBV said...

Lack of accountability is O.J.'s biggest problem.

He doesn't know how to be accountable for his actions because he never had to be.

Same thing goes for Michael Vick, Plaxico Burress, and most other superstars who get their ass in a sling. They have no accountability!

They live privileged lives and always have people behind the scenes bailing them out when they get in a jam whether it's personal, professional, or criminal.

Also, it's really not fair to compare this case with the rest of the judicial system. The O.J. trial ended up being about one thing and one thing only - entertainment. It was all about the ratings, baby!

Same thing goes for other high profile trials like Charles Manson, JonBenét Ramsey, Timothy McVeigh, Rodney King, The Chicago Seven, etc.

Justice is secondary to entertainment. Unless of course, the jury gets the verdict wrong.

Lana said...

Hey, Alex. First I need to say that I disagree with you about one thing. I am right here living with a black man who says OJ got away with murder. However, the jury did its duty in finding him not guilty because there was reasonable doubt.

That being said, I didn't and don't care one way or the other about OJ Simpson. If they found him guilty, fine, and if they found hm not guilty, fine. Whatever. I could not have been on this jury because I never would have been able to separate this trial from the last. He is a non-entity as far as I'm concerned. Doesn't help me, doesn't hurt me. I hope this is the end of these OJ stories.

Leonard Smith said...

Man have said, and I agree, "Alex Bennett is an ignorant sack of shit:!!