November 22, 2006
In all of the controversy surrounding the contract with O.J. Simpson for a book and TV interview, I was especially struck by one thing. It wasn’t the deal, itself, or the canceling of the deal by news corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch. No, what got to me was the suggestion in many places that the several million dollar deal with Simpson had “crossed the line.”
Funny, I didn’t know there was a line to cross. For several decades now, when people complained about the trash on TV, they were told this was the price we paid for a healthy First Amendment and such people should not expect to impose their morality on the rest of the country. Their imposing their immorality on the rest of the country is ok, of course.
We’ve moved from the gutter to the sewer and if public pressure – including pressure from within Fox – had not been brought to bear, this interview and book deal would have gone forward.
It’s what happens, not when a line has been crossed, but when a line has been erased.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
