OJ Simpson is dead. For Americans of a certain age, that's about the only obituary needed. The rest of the OJ story was hammered into our frontal lobes nonstop for months during a double murder trial that rewrote (or maybe, removed) the rules of news coverage. The Simpson trial marked the first wholly captivating, single news topic covered 24-7 at the expense of all other news. Needless to say, that legacy lives on. I came of age during the Nightline era, when Ted Koppel remade the news landscape, covering the Iran hostage crisis for 444 days. One story. The same story. Every night. During the early days, Koppel’s show was called The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage. And we were, by a news story. That show started in 1979. The next year, CNN brought us twenty-four hour cable news. This was back before opinion panels took over, when cable news anchors spent the majority of each hour throwing it to far-flung reporters in the field, who covered a wide variety of stories. It didn’t take long for cable news execs to realize Americans liked to focus on one story at a time, and that it was often a lot cheaper to provide that kind of coverage. It started with the Gulf War, broadcast live around the clock, from the time the first bombs dropped. That war put CNN on the map, and it put single-story coverage in the money. And then, in 1995, a singular sensation drove through our living rooms in a white Ford Bronco, with OJ Simpson sitting in the passenger seat. It’s hard to describe to younger folks how fully captivated we were by that news story. Well, it was hard to describe before we were besieged by Trump news, starting with birtherism and a lie about an inauguration crowd size and ending with ... well, I'll let you know when we get there. The Donald Trump era is the equivalent of OJ’s white Ford Bronco chase lasting nine straight years, and counting. There's a certain historic symmetry in the fact that OJ died just as Trump's first criminal trial is about to start. Let's hope the the outcome of the Trump trials aren't as outrageous as the OJ verdict. But as anyone who witnessed that trial can attest, stranger things have happened. 2Law of the Land of the LostYesterday, I covered what I call The Battle of 1864; an obscure law that led to Arizona's new/old abortion ban. But it's not just the age of the law that should shock you. WaPo (Gift Article): Here are some other laws Arizona had on the books in 1864. "Consider the other prohibitions that surround the initial Howell language. A bit before that, for example, the code establishes what constitutes a murder or a manslaughter. In Section 34, it also creates the category of 'excusable homicides.' Those include situations such as when 'a man is at work with an axe, and the head flies off and kills a bystander' or 'a parent is moderately correcting his child, or a master his servant or scholar.' Only when that correction is 'moderate,' mind you. Exceed the bounds of moderation correction, and you’re subject to more severe charges." Back then, if women didn't like a law, there wasn't much they could since they didn't have the right to vote. They do now. 3Saigon Without a TraceToday, America is remembering the trial of the last century and preparing for the trials of this one. Vietnam already had theirs, and the details of the case are pretty crazy. Truong My Lan: Vietnamese billionaire sentenced to death for $44bn fraud. "Vietnamese law prohibits any individual from holding more than 5% of the shares in any bank. But prosecutors say that through hundreds of shell companies and people acting as her proxies, Truong My Lan actually owned more than 90% of Saigon Commercial. They accused her of using that power to appoint her own people as managers, and then ordering them to approve hundreds of loans to the network of shell companies she controlled. The amounts taken out are staggering. Her loans made up 93% of all the bank's lending." (Even Allen Weisselberg is shocked by that level of fraud.) 4Distant Relative"One of the first rescuers on the beach was Petty Officer 2nd Class Eugene Halishlius. The stranded men were surprised to see that Halishlius was Micronesian and spoke the local language ... When he gave his name to the first of the stranded men to reach the rescue boat, the castaway was stunned: they were related." Pacific castaways’ ‘HELP’ sign sparks US rescue mission – and an unexpected family reunion. (It's truly impossible to avoid your family.) 5Extra, ExtraLoophole Puncher: "The rule announced Thursday is intended to close the "gun show loophole" and the related 'online sale loophole' by forcing anyone who sells a firearm for profit to register with the federal government. Due to those loopholes, around 20,000 dealers currently operate without licenses and are thus not required to conduct background checks." Biden administration expands background checks for gun sales. (This will be challenged in court by the time you finish reading this sentence.) 6Bottom of the NewsCome for the golf. Stay for the reasonably priced sandwiches. No Inflation Here: Affordable Masters' Menu Still Includes $1.50 Pimento Cheese Sandwiches.
|
