Making Connections?

I tend to keep my political opinions to myself.  Well, most of the time.  It's weird how events intertwine and we see our own connections between the events.

Tomorrow night, FX will air the 4th of 11 episodes of The People vs. OJ Simpson, based on the novel by Jeffrey Toobin, The Run of His Life: The People vs. OJ Simpson.  I equate watching this to visiting the 911 Memorial in New York.  Let me explain...

I am a history major.  Find me a Civil War battlefield, take me to Washington DC - I'm in heaven.  The history I studied in college was history I did NOT live through.  The OJ Simpson "fiasco" and 911 are historical events we LIVED through.  I remember visiting Ground Zero in July of 2012.  I couldn't even speak.  Remember that day?  Who could forget.  It was my daughter's first day of preschool (she is now a Freshman at UC Santa Cruz) and I simply could not make sense of it.  America, attacked.

Then I think back to the OJ Simpson trial - events leading up to it and events since.  I wasn't particularly excited to watch this FX miniseries, but Toobin's book got a great review and he went inside each of the main characters.  In Episode 3 last week, it became apparent to Toobin, a legal journalist who covered the trial for The New Yorker, that the defense team was going to make the trial about race.  [Side note:  our country is obsessed with race - perhaps a way of trying to make sense of our past?]    I remember as this trial unfolded - it was such a circus, such a "show," yet many forgot that two people were murdered!  The defense was brilliant in the fact that they did EXACTLY what Donald Trump is currently doing as he seeks the Republican nomination for President - playing on people's emotion, not their common sense.

Common sense is something that many forget they have or never use.  Evidence does not lie, but it can be picked apart, questioned, and lead ignorant individuals to believe anything.   Did the LAPD and District Attorney's office handle the case correctly?  Probably not.  However, as "spectators" it's easy for us to criticize when we are not living the situation and handling factors that are beyond our control.  This murder was not a race issue - it was a crime.  A crime committed by one human against two others.

I think our system is out of whack.  Some people actually think OJ is innocent.  People are supporting Trump, who has never held a political office, has declared bankruptcy time and again, and wants to imitate Hitler with his "Muslim Solution."    Our country was founded on the principle that we should all be treated equally.  We are a melting pot, a tossed salad.  We cannot govern on our religious beliefs.  Being an American means we understand and tolerate.  There's a lot of our history that we are not proud of, nor should we be, but it's never too late to do the right thing.  I have many friends who are Muslim; I would hate for them to feel unwelcome in OUR country - ours and theirs.  

OK... enough.  That's my non-tech rant.  No more politics.  Go Bernie!?