When Fact becomes worse than any imaginable Fiction

I check my email in the morning before work. Why? Because I live six hours ahead of most of my friends and family. So I figure that there's a good possibility that they might have written an email to me while I was sleeping. And because I'm not good at surprises or waiting, I check my email to see what might have arrived. (And really I'm hoping that there will be an email from my realtor telling me that there's an offer on my house....)

So, a couple of days ago, as I was checking my Yahoo mail, I noticed this headline: "O.J. Simpson: If I Did It."

I literally did a double take. And I promptly clicked on the article heading, only to read that Fox will be airing an interview with Simpson, in which "O.J. Simpson will describe in a televised interview how he would have committed the crime if he were the one responsible." The program is tentatively titled, "O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened."

Apparently, Mr. Simpson has decided that the world would like to know how he would have, hypothetically, killed his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. And so he wrote a book about it. Then there was a publisher, who apparently agreed that this was a topic the world wanted to read about and agreed to publish the book under her name, Regan Publishing. Then, there were booksellers, who decided this book should be available worldwide and are selling it. Then, there was a TV network, Fox, which decided that the US viewing public wanted to watch Mr. Simpson detail how he would have killed Mrs. Simpson and Mr. Goldman and so they decided to air it on TV.

I'm not even going to try to guess what's going through O.J. Simpson's mind. I just have one question that I would like to ask him: Haven't your children suffered enough??? It's bad enough that the kids lost their mom and to such a violent crime. Now their Dad has written a book and will appear on TV to describe how he would have done it, "if" he had done it.

Ms. Regan, the publisher, now says that she did this because she was a victim of domestic violence and she thought that the money would be going to Simpson's children. She went on to defend her decision by stating:

"To publish does not mean 'to endorse'; it means 'to make public,'" she said.

"If you doubt that, ask the mainstream publishers who keep Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' in print to this day. ... There is historical value in such work ... for anyone who wants to gain insight into the mind of a sociopath."

Well, where to begin. I'm sorry to hear that she was a victim of domestic violence. She says she thought selfishly that having Simpson confess (which he apparently did not do, always playing the hypothetical card), would help her personally. But that's an excuse, in my book, not a reason. While I fully respect her situation as a victim of abuse, I don't find her explanation anything other than ridiculous. If we follow this logic, robbing a bank would also be defensible, "because I thought it would help me personally." Who can debate that?

And while she may not be endorsing the book, she did put her name on it. I personally wouldn't put my name to something that I didn't endorse.

And to compare Simpson with Hitler? Sorry, but Hitler had a little bit more of an impact on the world. And I think to learn from history is important, crucial even. And Hitler didn't write Mein Kampf in the hypothetical. I think if Simpson had written an account of what he had done, as much as I personally would not be interested in reading it, I would feel differently about the house that chose to publish such a work. But because he did write in the hypothetical, I just find it.....disturbing. And wrong.

Booksellers......Only $24.95 on Amazon. (I can think of hundreds of ways to spend $25 better.) And the reader tags on this book on Amazon? boycott (28), disgusting (21), shameful (17), murderer (10), pathetic (10), repulsive (8), sick (8), guilty (7), evil (6), scum (6), boycott regan books (5), liar (5), blood money (4), sociopath (4), controversial (3). And the discussion boards are running like crazy. I'm not recommending that you read them, some people are pretty twisted, like the one who titled, "I'm buying this book and excited about it!" I don't know what his post said, as Amazon has removed it, but there have been 166 posts in response. Yikes. If only people were to be so passionate about other critical issues....

And Fox. What can I say? The down-the-drains nature of TV has been bemoaned for almost as long as I can remember. But I really think this is a pretty good low. I find it even lower than Jerry Springer, because it's talking about how he would have murdered (if he had, of course). Apparently, not all the Fox affiliates will be carrying the show. I read that one affiliate will be airing a domestic violence special and a St. Jude spot instead. I applaud those affiliates. Not an easy decision, I suspect.

This whole thing just makes me sad. It makes me sad that parents lost their children, that children lost their parent, that friends lost friends. It makes me sad that there is a preponderance of evidence that justice was not done. It makes me sad that people cheered the "slow" chase. It makes me sad that he wrote such a book. It makes me sad that she published such a book. It makes me sad that they're selling such a book. It makes me said that they're airing such a TV show.

It makes me sad.

I will not buy this book. If I could, I would not watch the TV special. And I will not address this again, because there are many other more critical issues in this world that are worth my time and thoughts than this.