Orange Juice and Suicide
I apologize in advance for the misleading title and for writing about something so trite, but I’ve got a lot on my plate, and I just wanted to post about something without too much effort. So, no, this post has nothing to do with any connection between the tasty beverage and self-destruction.
This post actually about O.J. Simpson – who a certain organization claims was unfairly charged in the recent robbery/assault cause in Las Vegas. According to the Society Against Legal Injustice (SALI):
No matter what your opinion of OJ Simpson, his case in Las Vegas is the epitome of social injustice. This case was originated by motives of greed by the instigator of the incident, Thomas Riccio. From there, political opportunity was created for the District Attorney, Judge and Jury to right what some in our society consider to be a wrong from OJ Simpson’s 1995 acquittal in Los Angeles. Everyone deserves to be treated fairly based on current circumstances, and the fact is this is far from what happened to OJ Simpson in Las Vegas.
It takes virtually nothing for me to believe that the legal system committed an injustice here, from the things I’ve witnessed, my own personal experiences, and the general consensus that lawyers are amongst the most unscrupulous members of society. However, I think that SALI is underestimating the importance of that first sentence – most people’s opinion of Mr. Simpson.
Most people in retrospect, even the legion of African-Americans who celebrated his victory as a general victory over, ironically, legal injustice, think that O.J. was guilty of killing his wife. We’ll probably never know for sure whether he did or not. But although we cannot call him a murderer with any absolute certainty, there is no doubt at all that Simpson is, on the other hand, a complete asshole.
Have you ever heard about Juiced with O.J. Simpson, the ill-fated television show where he played pranks on people? Even if the show itself had any merits whatsoever – which it did not – there’s something cavalier about a man who most people think committed a most heinous crime engaging in buffoonery. It probably would’ve been prudent for Simpson to keep a low profile – maybe for the rest of his life.
There was also his unbelievably audacious, insensitive, and downright unethical writing of “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer”, a book in which Simpson explains in detail how he would’ve committed the murders, but maintaining of course, that he didn’t. The mere premise of this book is offensive enough, but one look at the cover plumbs the depths of the asshole that is O.J. Simpson.
I know very little about the Las Vegas case, but again we have a situation where a man who, thoroughly vilified by society – deserved or not – should probably be nowhere near a hotel where he has at least some knowledge of a pending robbery. His inability to keep a low profile, and his obvious penchant for making the worst conceivable decisions, is what makes him an asshole, and what more or less ensures that he will receive no sympathy from most people. While I admire SALI’s devotion to righting injustice, they are probably alone on this one.
In other news about assholes, the rage in government over the AIG bonuses has led to one senator – Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa – suggesting that the corrupt executives end it all. He was quoted as saying:
“I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little better toward them is if they follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, ‘I am sorry,’ and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide. And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide.”
Ouch. I wonder if AIG life insurance policies cover suicide…