TV Coverage (1995)

Today's Golden Oldie is a Dry Bones cartoon done back in February 1995.

Fifteen years ago, here in Israel, we were totally occupied by the daily TV coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial ...and we would live in suspense for the following nine months. The verdict would not be handed down until October!! The intensity of our involvement with the case was, in retrospect, insane ...and according to the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law, most of the rest of the world shared our compulsive fixation:

The 133 days of televised courtroom testimony turned countless viewers into Simpson trial junkies. Even foreign leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Boris Yeltsin eagerly gossiped about the trial. When Yeltsin stepped off his plane to meet President Clinton, the first question he asked was, "Do you think O. J. did it?" - more.

* * * For readers who were too young to have been O.J. junkies I can't explain the phenomenon. But for those of you who were caught up in the drama, here's a picture of one of the minor players:

Kato Kaelin

Oy Veh, it's OJ!

"Do you really think that there are people who are addicted to watching OJ Trials on TV?", I asked my daughter.

She said that I was "beginning to obsess" and that if I couldn't "just give it up" I'd have to take "the first step". I'd have to "admit" to my own dependency!

Actually, I am not interested in OJ, or interviews about OJ, or books or gossip about OJ... I'm just hooked on the OJ Trials. TV shows like CSI present a fantasy view of criminal investigation. "Reality TV" offerings like "Survivor", "American Idol", "The Apprentice", etc. are Make-Believe Reality... The OJ Trials are the real thing. And I am powerless to resist their pull.

So now that I've admitted to being an OJ Trialaholic, tell me, do you think less of me?

...And where were you during the First OJ Trial?

Hooked On OJ (1995)

Okay, I'll admit it! Back in 1995 I was an "OJ Trial" addict. When I could tear myself away from the TV coverage I'd plop myself down at Cafe Tamar (across the street from where I then lived in Tel Aviv) to argue the intricacies of the day's testimony with fellow addicts.

For the past few days I've been watching the online streaming video coverage of the OJ hearings in a Nevada courtroom. In the wee hours of this morning I staggered to my PC and Googled Google News. Yup. While I slept, OJ had been indicted on 12 counts and will stand trial on various kidnapping and armed robbery charges.

Then, instead of getting on with my life, I wolfed down breakfast while watching a streaming rerun of the prosecution's closing argument. Taped before the judge had made the ruling that I had already read on Google News!!

Yikes! ...I'm still hooked! Do I have the strength to just say no to the coming OJ Fest? Can I break my "OJ trial watching" with sheer willpower? No I don't think that I can.

My daughter says I need to find a 12-step program. Is there an OJ Anonymous group out there?

Or do I need to start one?

What do you think?

O.J. (1995)

Back in 1995, the Blind Sheik and the Jihad against America were just not as sexy a TV news item as O.J.

* * * And there's a weird connection between O.J. Simpson, the Blind Sheik, and President Bush's new choice for Attorney General, Michael Mukasey.

"Mukasey is most famous for presiding over the trial of the so-called "Blind Sheik," Omar Abdel Rahman, who after a lengthy trial in 1995 was found guilty of conspiring to blow up targets in the New York City region. He's now doing life in prison.

As it turns out, Simpson's trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman ran almost concurrently with Mukasey's signature moment in the sun -- both verdicts were rendered in October 1995 -- making the sheik's trial almost a footnote by comparison. Mary Jo White, who was the U.S. attorney who prosecuted Rahman, says that then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani remarked that the Rahman trial was the one that most of America should have been watching instead of Simpson's." -more

Uh Oh, it's O.J.!

It's like standing on a beach, looking out at the sea, and watching an approaching tsunami on the horizon.

And not having any where to run to.

Or am I wrong? Will this NOT turn into a massive media event?

Justice (1995)

1995. Ten years ago.
O.J. has pretty much disappeared, while the released Palestinian killers are still happily killing and maiming innocent people.



If you don't recognize the murderer on the right, you'll be hearing about him soon. His name is Marwan Barghouti and he's running for political office.