Thursday, July 20, 2017

SINCE O.J. SIMPSON IS ONLY IN PRISON FOR WHAT HE STOLE, LIKE IT OR NOT YOU MUST PAROLE

Today's big -- non-Trump related -- news is the parole hearing in Nevada for former football legend O.J. Simpson. And it seems that the big question being asked is: "Why is someone who murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her companion, Ron Goldman, up for parole again after only nine years in prision?"

Well, the simple answer is that he is not in prison for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. He was -- like it or not -- acquitted (found not guilty) of charges in connection with their brutal slayings.

O.J.'s parole hearing today involves his conviction on charges of armed robbery and kidnapping in connection with his criminal efforts to regain possession of sports memorabilia he sold to pay the legal fees and civil judgments against him in connection with his trial on charges of killing Nicole and Goldman.

And, frankly, it is my feeling that after nine years in prison -- with a record of good behavior -- that he probably should be paroled.

When he was sentenced, he was a first-time offender and most first-time who are convicted on similar charges and establish a good prison record are usually paroled after five years. Simpson has been denied parole in the past largely because -- despite not having been convicted of Nicole's and Goldman's murders -- most people believe that the did murder them and therefore should remain in prison.

Sorry, folks, but that isn't how the American system of justice is supposed to work.

Do I think Simpson killed Nicole and Goldman? Hell yes I think he did and I believe that had he been convicted he should be in prison for the rest of his life, without chance of parole.

But under our justice system an offender is supposed to be punished for what he/she is CONVICTED of doing, not for what we are pissed off about because we THINK he did and should have been convicted of.

O.J was acquitted of the Nicole and Goldman murders with the mantra: "If the gloves don't fit, you must acquit" ringing in out ears. Now, I think he needs to be freed on parole under the mantra; "Since O.J. is only in prison for what he stole, like it or not you must parole."

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Monday, July 3, 2017

CNN FINALLY DISPLAYS JOURNALISTIC TESTICLES

CNN took every possible opportunity to disappoint me with most of its coverage -- until close to the very end -- of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, receiving an overall D- in terms of any seriously hard hitting reportage or stand-up-on-the-hind-legs journalistic courage in its Trump coverage until the GOP convention.
Until then the CNN's coverage essentially treated Trump as little more than a loudmouth buffoon whose rantings made great video snippets, but they in almost no way took into account the idea that he might win the nomination and did very little to show that he was thoroughly unfit to be elected street sweeper, much less president of the United States. At times, they even seemed to be quite cozy with him allowing him to frequently call in to say something or respond to something in a manner not really accorded to other candidates Republican or Democrat. I don't think they allowed this in order to give him an edge over the other candidates but rather they did it because they thought it was humorous and just ASSUMED their viewers would understant Trump was just making a fool of himself. Well, you know the old saw about the word "assume," and it the end CNN did make an ass out of itself.
Now that it's too late, I think CNN is finally doing a responsible job of covering Trump's pathethic "presidency." Nothing CNN has done, however, has really wowed my in the area of journalistic courage as much as its response to the incredibly childish and frighteningly ominous tweet that Trump released over this past weekend showing him in a WWE wrestling mode, violently taking down a person whose face was replaced on the video with a CNN logo. If you've not seen or heard CNN's pull-no-punches response, here it is and it earns the network my first "BRAVO" in a very, very long time:

“It is a sad day when the president of the United States encourages violence against reporters. Clearly [deputy White House press secretary] Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied when she said the president had never done so.
Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea and working on his healthcare bill, he is instead involved in juvenile behaviour far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his.”

This is the first time, in a long time, that CNN has looked like the news network Ted Turner founded. Now, CNN, STAY STRONG!!

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