This marks first and last time that O.J.’s trial makes my column

Don’t count me among the strange subculture of people who care about O.J. Simpson. He doesn’t impact my life. I don’t find him interesting and I don’t care a whit about his trial. While 585 people obtained media credentials, I’m not among them. Hell no, I won’t go.

Linda Deutsch of The Associated Press, who covered his murder trial, can own this story. She can compare Los Angeles Judge Lance Ito with Las Vegas Judge Jackie Glass. She can let us know which attorneys flub and which shine. She can point out inconsistencies as well as parallels with the trial in 1995, where he was acquitted of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. Deutsch was there.

But O.J. Simpson simply doesn’t matter to me.

And I’m not alone.

On Tuesday, as Simpson’s face took up valuable Page One space in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, forcing the presidential election being a dead heat into second banana status, I asked everyone I ran across: Do you care about O.J?

Faces wrinkled in revulsion at the question. Not one person said yes.

Robert Walsh, a former television reporter, now spokesman for Secretary of State Ross Miller, said, "O.J. represents a much larger problem of our national ADD (attention deficit disorder)."

Walsh is no ivory tower guy. During his seven years with KLAS-TV, Channel 8, he describes himself as "the guy who covered juggling dogs." He did light features and did them well. "I often tell people that I’m embarrassed by what I passed off as reportage, and I’m equally embarrassed for the people who accepted it as such," Walsh said.

He contends Simpson and celebrity news as a whole are merely a "cultural red herring" and he can’t believe the "furor over someone who has wracked up nothing but yardage."

Walsh now deals with significant issues like elections and securities and struggles to get that information into the public eye through newspapers and television. "I resent having to compete with titillation."

My casual question to him stirred deeper feelings than I had expected.

Amanda Penn, spokeswoman for Sierra Health Services and former spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, answered, "Oh no, I’m not interested in him. I’m not interested in crime news unless it’s in relation to a change in social issues. There was a time when O.J. was relevant to a possible racial division, but that issue is gone." During the trial, polls showed that whites believed he was guilty and blacks did not.

"I think he’s sad," Penn said, referring to Simpson’s lost potential. Penn was a big fan of his, both when he played football and acted. But now she doesn’t care. "I never read the O.J. stories, I only glance at the headlines to see if he’s juggling kittens."

Walsh, Penn and everyone else I spoke with earlier this week would rather talk about the presidential race than Simpson’s burglary, robbery and kidnapping charges involving $100,000 worth of sports memorabilia.

No doubt, it’s a story and should be covered for those who want the details. But thankfully, it won’t be covered by me.

Perhaps he got away with murder with an imperfect justice system and a jury that in 1995 bought into "if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit." But this isn’t a murder trial. It’s a trial over stolen sports memorabilia.

The Review-Journal staff will work hard to bring the story to readers, and I’ll certainly read their efforts because it’s part of my job to stay atop the news. But if the trial were held in any other city, I wouldn’t waste my time.

So this marks the first and last time that O.J. Simpson’s trial makes my column.

Walsh is absolutely right. The public consumes junk news just like they consume junk food — because it’s easy. And if your brain turns to mush and you completely lose your critical thinking skills, well, that’s your problem. It’s not the media forcing you to read and watch these stories. It’s a public that demands a daily ration of celebrity crap.

The Simpson trial is expected to last five weeks and it’s less than eight weeks before Americans choose a president. Please, please pay more attention to the elections, which actually matter, than the trial of a thug.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275.