Monthly Archives: December 2008

Simpson just made a speech on his own behalf that said, essentially, "I didn't think what I was doing was a crime." General rule of thumb: When you're trying to seize property and you bring guns along, it's a crime.

And just as Galanter is making the argument that the sentencing in this case should not be "payback" for the verdict in the earlier case, the courtroom cameras finally get a shot of Fred and Kim Goldman sitting there…

One of Simpson's lawyers, Mr. Grasso, just delivered a history lesson to the judge, telling a story about the mercy that John Quincy Adams once showed someone. Now, his lead attorney, Yale Galanter, is telling the judge how much he admires her and that his client's actions were "beyond stupidity." The look on Simpson's face now is one of amazment that he's paying for this.

I'm trying to "read" the expression on Simpson's face. It looks like he's pretty well resigned to the fact that his life is ruined. It's basically the same look that George W. Bush had on his face a half-hour ago when he was talking about today's new unemployment figures.

I'm watching the pre-sentencing arguments. It's starting to feel like a maximum sentence. I'm kinda hoping that if Simpson gets life, he leaps to his feet and screams in outrage, "Life? Hey, I killed two people and I didn't get life!"

From 1959 (or thereabouts), it's Smacksie the Kellogg's Sugar Smacks Seal making our breakfast a happier meal. I think that's Art Gilmore, the most prolific announcer in the history of mankind, doing the voiceover in the middle.

Some of you may remember a guy named O.J. Simpson. He was convicted of robbery, kidnapping with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, coercion and just plain being someone who seriously belonged in prison. Tomorrow, he's scheduled to be sentenced for those crimes and his attorney is pleading with the judge to make the sentence "only" six years. That's what his side is hoping for. On the other end, life imprisonment is possible, the judge is said to be a harsh one, and the most likely sentence will be somewhere between 12 and 18 years. As Karma goes, that ain't bad.

It seems like ten eons ago that Simpson was pronounced Not Guilty in a double murder that almost everyone knew he'd committed…and five eons since he was found Liable in the civil case replay. So it won't surprise me if Friday's sentencing passes with little attention. We have a messy war and a messier economy at the moment and somehow, O.J. justice doesn't seem all that important these days. The damage it all did to everyone's faith in our judicial system has been done.

And speaking of stealth murder retrials, have you heard anything about the Phil Spector case lately? No? Gee, remember what Big News it was the first time around. Now, Spector's standing trial again for the slaying of actress Lana Clarkson and it took me a long time to find anything on the Internet about it. Only the L.A. Times seems to be covering it and they only check in about once a month. The most recent story is dated 12/1/08 and the one before that is 11/4/08.

The latest is that Spector's attorney is trying to knock down the accusation that Spector had a history of pointing guns at women and saying he was going to to kill them. The lawyer's doing this — I'm not making this up — by trying to make the case that Spector has a history of threatening to shoot men, as well. That makes all the difference in the world, I guess.

Several e-mails inform me that Al Franken is now ahead in the recount of the Senatorial election in Minnesota. That may be so according to one set of numbers but every single ballot count (and recount) has been so close that the uncounted (or unrecounted) could easily invert the lead the next day. Who's ahead is just a function of which ballots have been tallied and which haven't…not an indicator of what the total will be. So it doesn't really prove anything that Franken is ahead today just as it didn't prove anything when Norm Coleman was ahead yesterday.

What it all does prove is that we're very, very sloppy about how we count ballots in this country. Almost every precinct recount in Minnesota has yielded a different total than the first time through. Sometimes, the change benefits one guy; sometimes, it benefits the other. The significant thing is that it's different each time. You wonder what would happen if they counted them a third time. Would we then have a third set of precinct totals? Wouldn't it be nice if we did this so efficiently that if you counted the ballots ten times, you'd get the same total ten times? That's how it's supposed to work in banking.

Hey, maybe we could bring in bank tellers to count the votes. It looks like a lot of them are going to be at liberty…

The 2009 Comic-Con International in San Diego will take place July 23-26. They've just announced some more Guests of Honor, one of whom is me. This will be the fortieth of these conventions in San Diego and the fortieth one I've attended.

Can't wait 'til then? The Wondercon, operated by the same folks, is in San Francisco February 27 thru March 1…and I'm a Guest of Honor at that, too. Wondercon is nowhere near as huge as Comic-Con International — which some folks take as a plus and others take as a minus. Either way, it's always a great convention.

Getting back to the Comic-Con for a moment: Some of you may have heard that Shel Dorf is ailing. Shel's the guy who basically started the annual comic convention in San Diego. It's grown and gone through several name changes to become the Comic-Con International we know today…but it started with Shel rallying local fans to organize the event. (I'm trying to pick my words carefully here. There's been a tendency to forget Shel's massive contribution and founding efforts…and when he does get mentioned, the pendulum swings too far in that direction and everyone else gets overlooked. A big history project is in the works that should nail it all down solid.)

I met Shel in 1969 when he told me and others of this annual event he wanted to launch. For many years, he was so much the front man and organizer that some people referred to the gathering as "The Dorfcon." The monster he birthed has gotten very large and very commercial but all of that commerce was founded on a basic love for the comic art form and the people who create in that form…and no one ever loved comics more than Shel Dorf.

Shel has been hospitalized for several months and I'm told he would welcome notes or cards from friends…or even from strangers who appreciate his contribution to the field. Tom Spurgeon posted the address here and if you could find the time to send something, I'm sure it would be appreciated. Thanks.

I can't help but derive a certain sense of reassurance every time another batch of Nixon tapes and documents gets released. He really was everything his detractors said he was. You'd like to think the Presidency would ennoble a man…cause him to rise above petty hatreds and prejudices and try to be the leader of all. But Richard Milhous Nixon truly embraced the mindset that his evil Jiminy Cricket, Pat Buchanan, summarized in an infamous memo; that it was fine to break the nation in two as long as "their side" got the bigger piece. An overlooked aspect of Watergate was the revelation of how much was done to use governmental power to reward Nixon's "friends" and punish his "enemies."

Right after Nixon was elected, there was a famous photo of him greeting crowds and one young lady was holding up a handmade sign that said, "Bring Us Together." That's a nice thought but the Nixon administration never had the slightest interest in bringing "us" together except by nuking the opposition into oblivion. Oddly enough, it was not the politics of the other side that he loathed — he made an awful lot of things on the Liberal Wish List happen. It was merely this deep-rooted belief that in life, if someone isn't demonstrably with you, they're against you…and if they're against you, you have to kill them before they kill you. I always thought it was poetic and appropriate that Nixon's political demise was largely because of what the people who were "with him" did to and for him.

A Los Angeles institution, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, is in financial trouble. I've been there a few times — just last year for a birthday party, in fact — and it's a charming, wonderful place. Take a look at the slide show that accompanies that article and tell me it wouldn't be a shame if this Mr. Baker's business, school and workshop went away. If you live in the area, please consider booking a party there or otherwise supporting their fine work.