With O.J. cancellation, Fox shows rare sanity

Sometimes it takes a while for mainstream Americans to react when injustices are taking place. Usually it’s because the average person out there works hard, takes care of family and has a limited time in which to participate in activism.

But when something is as wrong as this was, even the most apathetic couch potato is likely to rise up and cry out.

There is something about the Simpson case that hits home with most people. For one thing, lots of Americans sat through the trial and formed opinions during it. Also, they’ve observed Simpson’s behavior afterward. If he’s out there looking for the real killers, he’s taking his sweet time. If he’s grieving for Nicole and sad for Ron, he has an incredibly strange way of showing it.

Also, he’s a celebrity. Since Simpson was acquitted in 1995, the public has seen a steady stream of stars and professional athletes get preferential treatment in scrapes with the law because they can hire the best lawyers while regular folks get the shaft. The inequities in the justice system were always quietly understood, but that case hooked them up to amplifiers.

That’s why few wanted to see Simpson selling himself on TV and in book stores, and for Fox and ReganBooks to act as facilitators. It was too despicable even for them.

There is one downside to the cancellation. If Simpson did make money, there was a chance Fred Goldman could finally collect some of the $33 million he has coming to him from the civil suit. But that might have been a longshot. Simpson and his cronies have been adept at shielding his income. He’s almost as good at evading Goldman’s lawyers as he was tacklers in the NFL. Maybe even better.

But in terms of perpetuating a gross indecency, this is one time that Simpson was successfully thrown for a loss, and by the very opponents who once adored him: average Americans. There are just some people you can’t elude, no matter how shifty you might think you are.

Michael Ventre is a frequent contributor to MSNBC.com. He lives in Los Angeles

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