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Had there not been at least 58 people killed and more than 500 injured by a 64-year-old white male gunman who, with an automatic weapon, indiscriminately sprayed Las Vegas concertgoers from his hotel window, Sin City likely would’ve still garnered mentions in national media due to it being the home, for the foreseeable future, of Mr. O.J. Simpson.
Rather than today giving birth to headline after headline pertaining to Mr. Simpson – who, now released from prison on probation, would prefer Florida’s scenery over Nevada’s but remains unwelcome in the Sunshine State by its Attorney General – the nation on Monday is saturated by mourning and outrage, the latter emotion, no doubt, directed at the shooter, Mr. Stephan Paddock, who committed suicide after his reign of terror.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman called Mr. Paddock, a retiree with no criminal record and who apparently gambled often, a “lunatic full of hate.” Seemingly shell-shocked, Mr. Eric Paddock, the killer’s brother, characterized his sibling as just a regular guy with no meaningful religious or political affiliations (their father was once a bank robber on the FBI’s Most Wanted list).
U.S. President Donald J. Trump on Monday morning offered scripted remarks on the shooting, which on Sunday night sadly took the title of the deadliest on record. Mr. Trump at the White House called the incident an “act of pure evil” and vowed to visit the city on Wednesday.
If there’s anyone who might see a silver-lining in Monday’s dreary news-cycle, I imagine it’s the recently freed Mr. Simpson, who was so uninterested in encountering the media upon his release that he had arranged a decoy van outside the prison early Sunday morning. A paparazzi, nonetheless, found Mr. Simpson hours later in the backseat of a white SUV which was parked at a gas station. Expectedly, Mr. Simpson was a bit annoyed by the cameraman whom he considered to have been stalking him.
Downplaying his newsworthiness, Mr. Simpson said nothing about his life has changed in the moments succeeding his walking out of the doors of a Nevada prison; he sort-of pleaded for his privacy.
For the time being, the former NFL star, who was accused and acquitted of killing his wife and her friend, has been replaced as the lead story position. But that’s only temporary. For if there’s one thing that has become predictable in America, it’s society’s behavior after mass shootings: they grieve; call for gun control; succumb to political inaction; and resume an unhealthy fascination with celebrity culture.
Mr. Simpson should relish in his relative obscurity, for the mentioning and memorializing of those perished in Las Vegas is temporary. The media business-as-usual will return, undoubtedly.
Thanks for reading! Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® and I’m Drumming for Justice!™
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Photo Credit: Author