Monday, September 24, 2007

The Kind Of %&#@ We Must Wade Through

I'm trying to thin out my old e-mail and I noticed this one that came in at the height of OJ-mania. There were a lot like this. It's shameless -- an "expert" hoping to leap onto the publicity train while it's running at full steam. But there's a LOT wrong with this one. Here's what it said:

Subject: Law firm partner shocked by OJ Simpson arrest because the evidence is "contradictory"
Jerry Reisman, a partner in the Garden City NY law firm of Reisman, Peirez and Reisman is available to comment on the arrest of OJ Simpson.
"Based on the evidence that has been presented I am shocked that an arrest has been made. The evidence is contradictory. In the aftermath of the Duke case, we need to make sure that prosecutors and the media deal with the facts not with innuendo and speculation. I fear that Simpson is being prosecuted in this instance for his past crimes. While the public and law enforcement want to see justice served for the Nicole Smith Ron Goldman murders, we can not allow the justice system to be used to correct past failures. The media should step back, but I don't expect it to. Law enforcement it seems has been swept up by the public reaction to putting Simpson away."


Let's unpack this, shall we?

First, he's offended that the media are going nuts over this case but he wants desperately to be a part of the circus.

Second, he believes that the media are irresponsible, and yet he's capable as a responsible professional to conclude based on the evidence he's seen in the media that O.J. Simpson ought not have been arrested. The cops don't present evidence to the press, they merely present a police report and the D.A. offers an indictment. That's all.

Third, who the hell is Nicole Smith....OH! Until I just typed that, I didn't get it. He's mixing up Anna Nicole Smith and Nicole Brown Simpson! Wow.

So what journalist would fall for this? Seems the New York Daily News did. So did a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. And the interesting thing is that Reisman turns out to be a former lawyer for...O.J. Simpson. Oddly, that's not mentioned anywhere in this media-blast email.

Anything I missed here?

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