O. J. Now O. J. Then O. J. Forevermore

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O. J. Simpson has died and all the frogs in the pond are croaking. The narrative they push is, mostly, that white America saw his trial as a rich man getting away with murder and Black America seeing the trial as a racist police department framing another Black man. Which is true enough but not enlightening.

I confess that I fell into the first camp. But then Marianne and I were at a friend's party where, as it chanced, we were the only white people. The conversation, all about the trial, was nuanced and thoughtful and definitely not on the side of the LAPD. And then Stanley (our host) came up with a formula that made sense of it all.

Guilty, he said. AND framed.

Stan's insight not only explained why the famous glove didn't fit but reconciled me to the verdict. When a guilty man gets away with murder, that's injustice. When the police plant evidence to convict somebody just because they don't like him, a conviction is an assault against the very concept of justice.

Freeing O. J. was the right thing to do. 

It is entirely my own personal opinion, not backed up by any information that was not available to all the world already when I add the word "alas."

Above: Photo taken from Politico's take on O. J.'s life. You can find it here.

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