The Return of the King

Sometimes I wonder where CNN went.  Remember how great CNN’s news coverage was, back in the day?  Now, in my time zone, it seems as if all you can find on CNN during prime time is celebrity chitchat and tabloid crime gossip.

But one night last weekend I stayed up late.  Ooh, what’s this?  CNN Newsroom at 10?  Oh joy, real news, like the old days!  My happiness was short-lived: leading the news – with a full 10-minute segment, no less – was O. J. Simpson.  I had to restrain myself from throwing the remote at the TV screen.  Hey, CNN?  If I want that kind of news, I can stand in any supermarket checkout line.

But over the next few days, amid continuing coverage of Mr. Simpson, I’ve had time to think about it.  Maybe I do want that kind of news, or at least some of it.  TV executives have always maintained, when accused of pandering to the lowest common denominator, that they’re only giving us what we want.  And when it comes to O. J. Simpson, we want it.  Why?  Because he’s unfinished business.

Sure, lots of people get away with murder, but only a handful are celebrities, and only O. J. cuts a such deep racial scar in our collective American consciousness.  Go to Google and run a search on “guilty people who got away with it” and here’s what you’ll find on the first page:

• The Enron executives (1 link)
• JFK’s real killers (1 link)
• People no one ever heard of (4 links)
• O. J. Simpson (4 links)

So Britney and Lindsey and Rosie?  Step aside, ladies.  The Juice is back.  Yes, we want O. J.  Yes, I want O. J.

Behind bars.