What Is It About OJ?
The saga of OJ Simpson continued yesterday with a bizarre arrest for armed robbery and conspiracy charges that could put the celebrity in prison for decades. Almost immediately, the moribund OJ industry snapped back to life, with people like Geraldo Rivera calling Mark Geragos back into session for the freak show that will follow the case as it wends its way through Las Vegas courts. And the nation sits in rapt attention, watching the further decline of a man who had reached the pinnacle of public adulation, only to become a by-word for narcissism and power.
First, let's look at the case, which almost seems designed by OJ to land him in prison:
Simpson, 60, was in custody at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas on Sunday night after a judge ordered that he be held without bail, pending an arraignment set for Thursday. He was booked earlier in the day on suspicion of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit burglary and burglary with a firearm.Simpson has said he and his companions went to the room at the Palace Station Hotel & Casino on Thursday night to reclaim personal photos -- some snapped by his slain ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson -- and football souvenirs that he said had been stolen by a former agent. He said that no one in his group was armed; police said Sunday that they found two guns after the incident and that members of Simpson's entourage had pointed weapons at people in the room.
Simpson claimed that a former sports agent had stolen the items from him, and that he wanted to conduct a "sting" to get the material back. He openly admitted to conspiring to steal the items at least through intimidation, since he hadn't bothered to notify the police, and he had a good reason not to do so. Simpson had moved these assets out of his possession to keep them from getting confiscated by the Goldman family to satisfy part of the $33 million judgment against him for Ron Goldman's murder. An acknowledgment to police that these assets had been dispersed to keep them from the Goldmans would have amounted to an admission of fraud.
Instead, police say that Simpson started conspiring in August to track down the memorabilia, which he needs to provide some income. His co-conspirators pointed guns at the possessors of the memorabilia, and not only took back what Simpson claimed was his but also the cellphones of the victims so they could not call for help. That's armed robbery, and the Vegas police have charged everyone involved with two separate counts of that and conspiracy. If convicted, Simpson could spend decades in prison, and legal experts figure he will get little leniency from a sentencing hearing if it comes to that.
That's the case, at least for the moment. OJ has revealed himself to be almost uniquely self-destructive once again. Shaun Mullen at TMV has some thoughts in a good post on how his celebrity couldn't cover the vulnerabilities that "bedevil us all," but in fact, they don't. Very few of us murder our wives and innocent bystanders, and far fewer of those who do get away with it. Having done that, almost none of them commit armed robbery. In fact, it's very likely that no American celebrity has managed to dissipate his life so totally and completely, legally, financially, and morally, as Simpson has done over the last thirteen years.
And maybe that's the fascination. The original trial provided Americans with an object lesson on the perils of pedestals for our celebrities, but it was more than that, too. It was a trainwreck in progress, both for OJ and our own sense of judgment about people based on superficialities. Perhaps with OJ's second tour of self-destruction, the fascination will subside. Based on the breathless reporting we saw yesterday, that sounds a little optimistic.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on September 17, 2007 7:06 AM | Comments (29) | TrackBacks (2)
Comments (29)
Posted by NoDonkey | September 17, 2007 7:47 AM
Now that Johnnie Cochran's dead and OJ doesn't have a whole lot of coin, who will represent Mr. Simpson?
This might be just what is needed to propel Attorney Edwards ahead of the corrupt, unqualified and unaccomplished Ms. Rodham.
Attorney Edwards should be able to channel OJ's inner child during the trial, ask the jury to participate in a group hug with OJ and persuade them to instead impeach President Bush during the trial.
Whereupon Attorney Edwards will ascend instantly into heaven, along with his devoted wife.
Posted by MarkD | September 17, 2007 7:48 AM
Yawn. Twenty-four hours per day of news coverage requires a lot of news. This is another dreary factoid to fill the void.
O.J. Simpson - didn't he used to be somebody?
Posted by Tom Shipley | September 17, 2007 7:48 AM
Don't fault the guy for thinking he can do whatever he wants. He did get away with murder, after all.
Posted by ahem | September 17, 2007 7:50 AM
Ed:
Please make this your last word on the subject.
Posted by Dave W | September 17, 2007 7:57 AM
I'm with 'ahem'. ANY coverage of this man is TOO MUCH...
Posted by Clyde | September 17, 2007 7:59 AM
Like most Americans, I wish that O.J. Simpson would just go away and never bother us again. Putting him in prison for a while would be almost as good, but obscurity would be better.
However, SOMETHING has to fill all of those column inches in the tabloids...
Posted by Bennett | September 17, 2007 8:09 AM
I disagree that we should all just ignore this story. Yes, I think I'm going to skip Geraldo and Greta on this (not that I watch either one anyway) but there's more here than just tabloid fascination.
This man is a sociopath so everything about him offers up a great case study in that disorder. And forces us to look at ourselves as a society, that we've enabled this somehow.
Posted by Ned | September 17, 2007 8:18 AM
Very few of us murder our wives and innocent bystanders, and far fewer of those who do get away with it.
He is back because this is what he does. He got away with crimes before with the aid of a predisposed jury. Like the Scorpion he can't help but sting. Kind of like the Clintons and scandals.
Posted by John | September 17, 2007 8:23 AM
If I had been stranded on a Pacific island for the past 12 years and just returned, I would think nothing had changed. All OJ, all the time. At least I can take a break from cable news, for the next year.
Posted by NoDonkey | September 17, 2007 8:39 AM
I'm interested in the story, only because it has so many elements of low comedy.
For instance, he recruited a bunch of guys at a wedding he attended, to be his gunmen.
How's that for a wedding memory for the happy couple?
History repeats itself, the first time as tragedy and the second time as farce.
Posted by FedUp | September 17, 2007 8:47 AM
Im going to get some popcorn and then sit on my couch and see how long it takes for someone (Al, Jesse..?) to throw in the race card. Wouldn't be any fun without those two fearless champions against E-VIL!
Posted by Lokki | September 17, 2007 9:00 AM
You know, the most interesting thing in all this is the display of EGO.
Anybody with half a brain would have just sent the thugs and stayed home himself.
That would have given enough plausible deniability to keep him out of jail.
But Nooooooo! Mr. tough guy has to handle it himself.
Posted by John | September 17, 2007 9:01 AM
Does this mean the return of Marcia Clark too? I feel like I'm caught in the time warp again!
Posted by eaglewings | September 17, 2007 9:08 AM
I think the Goldmans should be in Court this morning to put a restraining order on the alleged 'owner' of OJs memorabilia, to ascertain who actually has ownership of them, and if its shown that this was a sham transaction, then violations of California and Nevada's Debtor and Creditor laws for fraudulent conveyances seem also in order, as well as criminal and/or civil contempt citations against OJ and his 'benefactor' Russo. Hopefully the Nevada police and prosecutors will be more fit than the Cali Judge and prosecutors in the first case. Indeed, I have more hope since bail was denied. In Cali and Colorado, as in the Hsu case, it doesn't matter how dastardly your deeds may be, or how high a risk of flight you are, bail is given to you on a silver platter.
Posted by Jazz | September 17, 2007 9:28 AM
This is one topic where I'm a big fat hypocrite, and I've just learned to live with that. Generally I'm the guy who is saying to hold off and let people have their day in court and let the results speak for themselves. Innocent until proven guilty. (Example: I don't like people posting about the Paw family as having made illegal campaing contributions when they haven't even been accused of a crime, no matter how obvious it may seem.) But in the case of OJ, I just can't manage it. I've been convinced he was guilty from the day that trial ended, no matter what the jury said, and it pisses me off every time I see him showing up in public.
Even if he didn't have a gun himself, or even any knowledge of a gun in the group (which CNN Headlin News is implying this morning) I hope they send him up on a rail and give him twenty years for it. Hell... for that matter, I'd enjoy it more if they did it and he actually WAS innocent. Justice delayed is justice just the same.
Posted by LarryD | September 17, 2007 9:30 AM
In Cali and Colorado, as in the Hsu case, it doesn't matter how dastardly your deeds may be, or how high a risk of flight you are, bail is given to you on a silver platter.
Well, according to the county prosecutor, Colorado law requires bail, except for some Capital Murder cases. I think the Colorado state legislator needs to revisit that.
Posted by unclesmrgol | September 17, 2007 9:39 AM
It's delicious that OJ may go to jail for second order events arising from his attempt to stiff the Goldmans out of their judgment. May it be for a very long time.
It will be even more delicious if the Goldman family gets the stuff OJ coveted as well.
This is yet another proof of the truism: There is no honor amongst thieves.
Posted by JAT | September 17, 2007 10:23 AM
I can't bear another OJ trial - please someone stop writing about this idiot.
Posted by filistro | September 17, 2007 10:40 AM
OJ is entirely a creation of our odd cultural fascination with media exposure.
Jerry Seinfeld used to do a wonderful skit about a grapefruit. He postulated a scenario where a major television network starts showing a grapefruit onscreen between programs. Nothing else... just a grapefruit on a podium. It appears a dozen times a day, causing speculation and conversation.
After a month or so, Seinfeld suggested, the grapefruit could go on tour and make money. If it were displayed in malls and airports, people would pay to see it. "Hey, look," they'd say to ecah other. "That's the grapefruit that was on TV!"
OJ is the ultimate grapefruit.
And in related news, the bathroom stall where Larry Craig was busted has become a tourist attraction.... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297024,00.html
Marshall McLuhan was right.
Posted by Herkeng | September 17, 2007 11:15 AM
Ahem said: "Please make this your last word on the subject."
Dave W said: "I'm with 'ahem.' ANY coverage of this man is TOO MUCH..."
Capt, I am right there beside Dave and Ahem, drop this one. With the MSM hitting us with Brittany, Lindsey, Paris and all the other degenerates in Hollywood, why send the fleet into the world of dysfunctional entertainment coverage? Drop the storyline and press on full steam ahead on the Geo' political and actual news coverage.
Herkeng
Posted by jr565 | September 17, 2007 12:21 PM
if the jersey doesn't fit you must acquit.
Posted by Carol Herman | September 17, 2007 2:23 PM
Ya can learn something new everyday.
OJ pulled Riccio along with him; to intimidate Beardsley. Who "stole" memorabilia. That the Goldman family is entited to; because those revenues have arleady been awarded to the Goldman's BY THE COURTS.
Now, Riccio is an interesting character. He MAKES MONEY from selling OJ's "stuff." So, he's going along with five other guys, including OJ. And, what does he do? He realizes his Olympus cell phone can record it all. AND, THE RECORDING WOULD BE "FREE MONEY IN THE BANK."
Instead? Beardsley calls 9/11. And, yes, he's terrified. Because OJ is in his "killer mode."
Now, we've come to the Prisoner's Dilemma. Because the evidence against OJ is available on the tape. The guns used, have been found. And, OJ's voice on the tape puts him "spot on" as the ring leader.
Saga ain't over. OJ is not able to be bailed out of jail. Because he's a proven flight risk. And, he can end up jailed, finally; at least for the rest of his life.
How so? Eventually, Riccio will get his tape back. For what it's worth? It's an original. Where there seems to be some sort of "market." And, since it's his property ... and he may be singing like a bird ... Given that he handed a radio broadcaster "da evidence" ... so it's been played. And, heard ... Who knows what's ahead.
But one thing's fer shur. Vegas ain't downtown LA. And, you won't get incompetent team of prosecutors; who haven't got the foggiest idea of what to expect from black jurors.
Justice, takes a long time in coming. But OJ is pretty short on brains. And, there's a whole closet-full of collusion among his "fwends" ... to keep his treasures out of the Goldman's hands.
Ah, Johnny Cochran must be rotating in his grave.
And, this story proves again that when tragedy comes back on stage, it comes back as farce.
Posted by NahnCee | September 17, 2007 2:36 PM
Intersting that there's a certain segment here in LA who are *still* protesting OJ's complete and overall innocence about everything, both then and now. A total and abject refusal to acknowledge that black folks was wrong to acquit the SOB, and an equally total determination to stand up for his good name this time around.
For these Angeleno's, not only are we supposed to "LEAVE BRITTANY ALONE! She's a human being after all," but ditto for OJ. He's a human being, he was acquitted and he should get a free pass from here on out because of the torment that has been inflicted upon him.
God, but some people are dumb!
Posted by Jerry | September 17, 2007 3:04 PM
Original thoughts from O.J., "If I had known how much trouble it would cause, I never would have killed the B**ch and her buddy."
Posted by NahnCee | September 17, 2007 5:37 PM
I always thought Johnnie died of a brain tumor because of the all the poison his brain secreted while he was making up those horrific lies to get his client acquitted. Sometimes karma has an EXTREMELY quick turnaround.
Posted by Joshua | September 17, 2007 9:40 PM
Eugene Volokh has pointed out that if OJ is convicted of this, the judge can, constitutionally, take the 1994 killings into account when passing sentence even though he was found not guilty, because sentencing is based on the defendant's overall moral character and not subject to the same standards of proof as the verdict itself.
How's that for comeuppance?
Posted by Rose | September 18, 2007 3:20 AM
What is it about OJ??? THAT is simple - same thing as it is about Liberals!
JUSTICE!
Without JUSTICE, there is no HEALING, and with no healing, there is a ROOT OF BITTERNESS.
There will be NO PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE!
When UNRIGHTEOUSNESS prevails in the courts...
NO ONE shall sleep well or rest easy.
Posted by Rose | September 18, 2007 3:23 AM
Posted by NoDonkey | September 17, 2007 8:39 AM
ANYONE who deliberately invited OJ to their wedding RICHLY DESERVES all the horrible memories of it they can get!
Posted by cocoa | September 18, 2007 8:48 AM
I go through spiritual warfares with spirits i can not see but is sad to go through spiritual warfares with spirits you can see. I pray for O.J Simpson and those who judge non of us is all knowing and all present the only person who knows the truth about anything is God. And trust me God don't need our help in anything because He said for all have sinned and fallen short of His Glory. There's no little or big sin, sin is sin.