The O. J. Simpson Verdict
Someone said (in response to my auto-response to their verdict announcement (which I didn't read) that I don't care)...|This is an auto-response to your auto-response. |You should care.I care in as much as I care about any other murder - no LESS, and no MORE.I care that this stupid media event has consumed about 38% of the Gross National Attention Span for the past - what, year and a half?
I care whether my President is merely a spineless, goof ball, wimp with lunatic notions or an actual criminal. I care about the fact that our government got completely away with murder in Waco, and pretty much so in the Weaver case. I care about the fact that the media has largely ignored these.
I care that Judge Ito didn't bother to make the media pay all trial costs for both sides in return for all the hoopla & profits they generated.
I would care if the jury had returned a verdict like "We find Judge Ito to be a publicity-seeking dweeb and sentence him to stand on a street corner with Spam [tm] on his face and bananas in his ears for the next year. Preferably in stocks." I would dance a little jig of Joy. And if they added, "and wear a Barney outfit while mud-wrestling Lassie on national TV", I would slam dance with Ecstasy.
Now, like Ted Hadley (thanks, Babs), I "dance a little jig of despair". Not for the OJ verdict, but for the implied verdict on this country, its culture, its future.
Did the OJ trial help resolve racial issues? Did it help resolve the welfare dilemma? Did it resolve the fact that the Newt appears as hypocritical and gonzo as Bill Clinton? Did it clothe & feed a family whose house burned down out towards Marble Falls last week? Did it address the fact that the USA just supported a women's rights conference in one of the countries that heavily oppresses women (along with everyone else)? Did it help restore the Austin area to its pre-Juniperial state?
No.
Did it sell some laundry detergent and laxatives?
Probably.
So I suppose in the long run it was a major boost to sectors of the national economy in danger of being cleaned out (sic) by a foreign competitor. [1] So I guess I do care. Thanks for waking me up. Or something.
Notes
1) New, Improved! Bottled Montezuma Water! Direct from open cisterns in extremely rural Mexico! No chlorine or other artificial anti-bacterials! The natural laxative!