Wednesday, November 08, 2017

O.J. Simpson -- A Great Guy and Buddy to Us All, Right?

WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS AND COARSE LANGUAGE ARE IN THIS POST
Early this week, the Twitterverse came alive as former professional football player, former actor and former murderer O.J. Simpson, recently released from a Nevada prison, has been seen in photographs making the rounds with some poker professionals and gambling aficionados. In one photo that stirred some passionate comments on Twitter, poker professional Todd Brunson, on November 5, posted a picture of himself with a smiling O.J. Simpson with the caption "What do these two guys have in common?" In some interesting Twitter stats accurate as of today at 1:00 p.m. Central Time, the post received eight retweets, 65 likes, and 96 comments.

There was certainly some outrage at the photo. Poker blogger Rob from Rob's Vegas and Poker Blog replied to Todd: "They both have horrific judgment and have committed morally reprehensible acts (you, by posing with a double murderer." This elicited the following response from Todd Brunson: "No me for letting an idiot like you follow me." Ummm ... okay. Twitter block #1.

Next Glenn Webber, who describes himself as a recreational poker player, tweeted "You both managed to lose my respect. (You know he killed two people, right?)" Todd's reply: "Then why are u still following me? Here let me help u put." Twitter block #2.

But the fun was just beginning! The Poker Barrister chipped in with "For a guy taking selfies with a murderer, @toddbrunson is a sensitive little twitter-blocking cunt. I mean, if you are going to exercise extremely poor judgment, then just own your own shit." Of course (u see) a response was to follow: "Ya I blocked you cause I wanna see u talk this way to my face. But we both know that will never happen don't we? Scared little coward bitch." Boom - block #3!

And finally (there might have been more, but I'll stop at this one), there was Luke Johnston, self-proclaimed left wing lunatic radical liberal , getting in on the conversation regarding the disposition of the O.J. criminal case: "Found innocent? For fuck's sake, you don't even have a basic understanding of the justice system, do you?" Chalk up block #4.

Even as interesting as these Twitter exchanges were, the profound absurdity of the situation helps gloss over the stark reality of what really happened: O.J. Simpson butchered two people that night. And yes, I realize that O.J. was found not guilty  (as opposed to "innocent") in the criminal trial. However, he was found responsible in the civil trial and was ordered to pay $8.5 million in compensatory damages and an additional $25 million in punitive damages. He has so far skated away with paying almost nothing. I recently read, but am not sure if this is true, that with interest, the amount is now more like $75 million.

But hey -- O.J. is The Juice, right? Football star, movie star, all-around good guy. Aside from the crimes he was convicted of (armed robbery and kidnapping) due to his little "misunderstanding" at Palace Station, this is the reality of what this monster did:
Ex-wife Nicole

Unlucky Ron Goldman

And let's not forget the permanent damage that was done to some of the family:
Ron Goldman's father, Fred, and sister, Kim

Nicole Simpson's sister, Denise

So yeah, I guess it must be okay to laugh and smile with the guy who did this. I mean, he's a celebrity, right? Shit, it was just two murders ...

Author's note: I was pretty much obsessed with the O.J. trial. In fact, my son was born the day of the Ford Bronco chase. I followed both trials every night on television, hung on the word of every guest that Geraldo Rivera had on his program, and read quite a few books on the subject.
Some of the lightning36 OJ reading material

My only hope is that someday O.J. gets his ...

Thanks for reading!
   
 

12 Comments:

Blogger Grange95 said...

A strange amorality pervades the pro poker world. Deplorable folks have always been treated as heroes. Having morals makes you a weak loser, another mark.

9:23 PM  
Blogger VegasDWP said...

Who in their right mind would want a selfie with that piece of human garbage?

9:45 PM  
Blogger thundering36 said...

Perhaps he will run for President in 2020(as a Republican, of course)? I can imagine him and President Pence in the primaries... :)

2:17 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If OJ had married/murdered Pamela Brunson, (Todd's sister), rather than Nicole, maybe Todd wouldnt be smiling so big in that pic.

6:38 AM  
Blogger Lester said...

I remember seeing Pete Rose through the window of some shop in Caesar's Palace where he was pimping his autograph on a book or baseball or whatever and the look on his face was truly painful. But... I think a Rose/Simpson combo autograph gig would be a great idea. OJ can cheer up Pete and at the end of each day's autograph shift they can grab a filet and cab at someplace nice???

10:11 AM  
Blogger Kat Martin said...

Another example that being good at poker has no correlation with being a decent human being.

12:23 PM  
Blogger Rob said...

Lightning, I had no idea you were so into the OJ trial back in the day (long before I knew you, of course). I was into it too. It was impossible not to me. The murder took place just a few miles from where I grew up, and I had childhood buddies who lived in Brentwood so I was there a lot. And Simpson was a huge celebrity in L.A., dating backs to his days at USC. He was in the news all the time before the murders.

Another book which maybe you read but didn't mention was Vincent Bugliosi's Outrage. It lays out the case against Simpson incredibly well and explains why he got away with murder, point by point highlighting the mistakes the DA, the prosecutors, the Judge and even the idiot Jurors made. A must read if you haven't already.

OF COURSE HE DID IT. No one with a brain in their head could not see that. He even wrote a book "If I did it" where he essentially confesses.

8:35 PM  
Blogger Rob said...

@Grange, well, it's not just poker players. After he was released, there were all sorts of stories about people running into Simpson at restaurants, on the golf course, etc, who shook his hand, and took a pic with him. I have always found that morally repugnant. We can't try him again but at least everyone can and should be able to totally ostracize him from decent society.

That's what set me off with Brunson's tweet. It was so tone deaf--and morally bankrupt. Just pathetic.

@Lester--Pete Rose is not exactly a role model, but to put in the same category as a double murderer is not at all reasonable.

8:40 PM  
Blogger Koala said...

I often wonder who was paid off to protect Simpson once they finally did get him into jail. There was certainly no justice for Nicole and Ron. To many stupid people associated with the trial. America you had him where he deserved to be and you let him go. Todd Brunson you do yourself no favors being photographed with O J Simpson.

4:10 AM  
Blogger The Neophyte said...

You would think a person who just spent 9 years in jail would be a little more circumspect than to get kicked out of and permanently banned from the Cosmopolitan for scuffling in the bar a few nights ago. Then again you get away with murder and get treated like a star by people like Todd Brunson and maybe you feel like you'll never face the consequences of your actions. I am not surprised by the fawning over OJ, we as a country have become totally enamored of fame for it's own sake - how else do you explain the Kardashians - but really that is just terrible judgement. Then to brag about it on twitter?? I don't know why Todd Brunson is surprised by the backlash but most normal people are pretty horrified by person who gets away with murder - famous or not. Hey Todd, I hear that Casey Anthony is available for pictures.

8:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What do Todd Brunson and OJ have in common? Silly question... Just ask Jen Harmon what those 2 brutes have in common.

12:18 AM  
Blogger The Poker Meister said...

I'm tempted to sign up for a twitter account for the sole purpose of getting blocked.

1:16 PM  

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