European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 27, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday june 27, 1994j commentary the stars and stripes Page 13reaction to . Should be based on facts William Safire the moving images in our minds of . Simpson breaking through tackle or racing through an Airport have slammed to stillness in a Mug shot issued by the los Angeles police. For the first time we Are faced with this question How do we react to the charge that someone famed for his winning ways May be a knife wielding murderer of two people first if he continues to maintain he is not guilty we extend to him the presume Ion of innocence a not just As a formality but As our assertion of the rights of every individual against the Power of the state. Next we Knock off this stuff about his being a an american hero a although he was an authentic football hero later capitalizing on his celebrity in films and television Simpson was by no Means a figure like Jackie Robinson a who through his sports example and later by extensive Community work found a Way to have a positive Impact on american life. Then we do our Best to set aside the usual racial overtone in the prosecution of a Black in the killing of Whites Simpson came under suspicion because he was the former husband of one of the victims not because of his color his jurors must not be influenced by concerns of the Impact on his fans Ana supporters of every race exemplified by those mindless motorists who lined the freeway shouting a go ,�?� As he was followed to his arrest by a procession of police cars. Finally those of us outside the judicial process should focus on what we know about this Case rather than on leaks from defense and prosecution and the most stunning piece of evidence so far made Public is his suicide note addressed a to whom it May concern a which is you and me. That the document is a suicide note or was intended by Simpson to be read As such seems beyond dispute. After reasserting he had a nothing to do with Nicole a murder Quot he bade Farewell to friends Quot As i leave you la be in my thoughts a he used the dramatic suicide cliche a i can to go  he twice put his life in the past tense a a in be had a Good life. In be had a great  impending self destruction thus declared Simpson a a this lost person a then ran away from the cops reportedly gun in hand. The obvious question if innocent Why  he a go on Why run away from life or from the police his defense May say he was gripped by mental depression and irrationally thought a fair trial was impossible. That a arguable but the suicide note strikes me As evidence of a flight from responsibility a Simpsons attempt to manipulate the emotions of friends and fans by claiming reverse victim Hood. A at times i have Felt like a battered husband or Boyfriend a he wrote. This from a Man who after eight previous complaints of wife Caf my was finally arrested five years ago and pleaded no con test to his wife s charge. An Overly lenient judge let the celebrity off with a Small Fine quickly forgotten Community service and promised phone Calls to a psychiatrist. Simpson would have us believe that the victim in 1989 was not the abused wife with the Black Eye and bruised neck but the famous football hero. The real perpetrator was not the husband who did not contest her charge but the press he claims he entered his nolo plea Only a to protect our privacy Quot and to a Send the press hype Quot he dismissed her repealed Calls to police As a fall this press talk about a Rocky  Back then in other words the Media made him do it. A legitimate Simpson defense to the current murder charges would demand the government prove its Case we can Hope he avoids the no responsibility Simpson Case prods soul you did no to have to be Here because television and radio carried the , Simpson tragedy to the world. But Here in Southern California the unravelling of a life seemed to be personal. It seemed As if it were happening to us with events unfolding just up the Road. People were tuned in literally. Divided As we May be Over politics race and religion United we were for one incredible Day june 17, As we watched like an eclipse of the Sun the eclipse of a life. It was instructive to listen to the reaction of people on television and radio and in parking lots and restaurants a How could he do something like this a seemed to be the question coming from every Mouth. People regardless of background expressed astonishment that Simpson might have murdered his sex wife and the restaurant employee who was with her. The reason for their Surprise tells us something about ourselves. A the had it All Quot said one person i talked to. Others commented in a similar vein noting the Beauty Queen looks of Nicole Brown Simpson his Rich and famous lifestyle and his two Beautiful Young children for whom fathers Day will always be a tragic memory. The expressions of Shock came because . Simpson was an icon the epitome of the Way so Many americans define Success and happiness. Surely a person who gets All the material goodies Hie affords must be Happy. Wasny this life the culmination of the american dream go to school or become famous through sport or other achievement find High paying work make oodles of Money buy things be Happy. Those who follow material gods have suffered a letdown greater than those whose Faith rested in the scandalized to evangelists of the 1980s. At least the followers of to wolves in sheep a clothing had some where else to go a the real thing where do the followers of mammon go when their deity proves to be a lie we weren to nearly As shocked when Ivan Boesky Michael Milken and Charles Keating disappointed us in the �?T80s. They were crooked High stakes gamblers and gamblers sometimes lose. But . Simpson did everything right. He played by the rules we make for such things. He came by his Fame and a wealth legitimately and few begrudge him his Success. But happiness he did t have and despite numerous opportunities to help the Man when it was Learned that he physically abused his wife the police and courts failed because they worship the same Golden deity Simpson did and were not about to bring themselves up on charges of heresy. In Prilaps . Simpson will teach us something about ourselves. As Reagan Bush speech writer and author Peggy Noonan wrote two years ago in Forbes Magazine �?o1 think we have lost the knowledge that happiness is overrated a that in a was life is overrated. We base Cal Thomas defense popularized by the Menendez and Bobbitt lawyers holding that the retd victim is not the dead or injured but the abused accused. Justice can also do without this argument a person who has Money looks and Public adulation would have to to crazy or drugged out of his mind to commit murder a and thus insane cannot be held responsible. This Case will Force Domestic violence out of the shadows which is Good Bui ail Justice is individual two human beings were stabbed to death. Responsibility rests not on cruel society Nosy reporters drug related Durange ment or maddening provocation but on the murderer whether an admired celebrity or a hated hoodlum. Cunow York Olmos a for values lost somehow a sense of mystery a about us our purpose our meaning our role. Our ancestors believed in two worlds and understood this to be the solitary poor Nasty brutish and Short one. We Are the first generations of Man that actually expected to find happiness Here on Earth and our search for it has caused such a unhappiness. The reason if you do not believe in another higher world if you believe Only in the Flat material world around you if you believe that this is your Only Chance at happiness a a if that is what you believe then you Are not disappointed when the world docs not give you a Good measure of its riches you Are  yes and even when you get More than your share of riches you can despair As must . Simpson who now sits alone in a cell at the los Angeles county jail instead of his luxury Home and is chauffeured in police vehicles instead of his Bentley. After sky High ratings for the television networks that will carry his coming trial live we will either search for new heroes learning Little from this tragic life or we will come to our senses and realize that there is no profit in the life of anyone who May gain the whole world but who loses his own soul c/1.03 aivjl�?~i.�?~3  5 the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the hews of the stars and stripes or the United Stales government