Quote of the 1990s? ‘If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,’ 25 years on
Twenty-five years ago today, in his closing argument at the sensational O.J. Simpson double-murder trial in Los Angeles, lead defense lawyer Johnnie L. Cochran stood before the jurors and urged … Continue reading
‘Too tight’: The botched glove demonstration at O.J. ‘Trial of the Century’ in 1995
O.J. Simpson never testified at his months-long double-murder trial in 1995. But a consistent feature of the absorbing yet often-repellent case was that Simpson was never far from center stage … Continue reading
The false equivalence of Trump and O.J. trials
Since the impeachment case against President Donald Trump sputtered to its inevitable conclusion early this month, the analogy has circulated that Trump’s acquittal should be considered akin to the popular … Continue reading
The enduring 1990s: Vivid context for contemporary life
The 25th anniversary of opening arguments in the O.J Simpson “Trial of the Century” fell last week and Court TV.com marked the occasion by launching a retrospective series about the … Continue reading
Chuck Todd’s bad impeachment analogy
The impeachment case against President Donald Trump seems ominous in its outsize claims but is still quite thin on evidence. That, of course, hasn’t prevented Trump’s foes from pronouncing him … Continue reading
On portraits of Clinton and Monica’s blue dress
Five years ago in Vanity Fair, Monica Lewinsky wrote that it was time metaphorically “to burn the beret and bury the blue dress,” those cultural reminders of her dalliance as … Continue reading
The 1995 Blog turns five: A look back at five top posts
The 1995 Blog was launched five years ago today, in the run-up to publication of my book, 1995: The Year the Future Began. The blog has served to promote the … Continue reading
O.J. Simpson, egregious again: 25 years after ex-wife’s vicious killing, he says, ‘Life is fine’
In the run-up to today’s 25th anniversary of the vicious fatal stabbing of his ex-wife, O.J. Simpson declared: “Life is fine.” It was the latest crass and gratuitous remark by … Continue reading
O.J. case ‘do over’: Why the ’95 trial is alive in popular consciousness
For Marcia Clark, the prosecutor who tried O.J. Simpson for double murder in 1995, and lost, The Fix series on ABC is something of a wishful do-over. More broadly the … Continue reading
The 1995 caricature that’s ‘become part of America’s shutdown lore’
The artist who drew the most imaginative newspaper illustration of the year 1995 — a front page caricature of “Cry Baby” Newt Gingrich as a chubby, foot-stamping toddler — recalled … Continue reading