Sam's Notes

The line

Cal Thomas weighs in on the aborted O.J. special:

"Even more bizarre than the prospect of O.J. Simpson "confessing" to the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in a book and TV show and getting a few million for it (proving crime can pay) was the cancellation of both by Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation. The most often heard indictment of this project was that the deal had 'crossed the line.'

"Ultimately, O.J. Simpson getting millions to spill his guts after being convicted in a civil case and in the public consciousness of spilling the blood of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman should not surprise anyone. It is what happens, not when a line is crossed, but when a line has been erased."

That was more or less Rush Limbaugh's take on the situation, though his viewpoint was actually a thinly-veiled defense of his former publisher Judith Regan.

But both Thomas and Limbaugh are right. Look at what people are doing on TV these days. I was just thinking about that as I looked down at the urinal at a rest stop somewhere in Virginia. I haven't seen anyone lick a toilet bowl on TV for a million dollars, but they've performed equally gross acts. And Thomas ceretainly has a point about women mentioning male body fluids on TV. I admit "Sex and the City" is one of my favorite TV shows, mostly because the acting and writing are excellent. But I'm amazed at what TBS considers to be the sanitized version of the show it airs every Tuesday night. They've cut out the "f" word and frontal nudity, but that's about it.

If you remember a couple of years back, another famous social outcast spilled his guts to the world, and the world reacted quite harshly. I personally was shocked at the indignation expressed by many to Pete Rose's admission that he bet on baseball. Fellow fans told me how sick it made them, his book was trashed by critics and there's no indication baseball will reinstate him. I found his book very entertaining and still don't understand why, with the love-your-enemy mentality in this country, baseball and society can't forgive Rose. What he did was wrong, but at least he didn't kill two people.

So while "the line" has faded, there still is a line. O.J. just can't say "if I did it." He's going to have to say "I did it." Someday he will, and I guarantee that interview won't be cancelled.

Hey Dad

Somehow, the Friday after Thanksgiving seemed like an appropriate time to visit Mount Vernon. More than a few people had the same thought. The place was packed, so I basically waited two hours for a 15-minute tour of George Washington's estate. The wait was made longer when an EMT pulled up to the front door. After 20 minutes, a geriatric in a green pant suit was escorted down the steps by a medic and loaded into the ambulance. My guess is she couldn't handle the steps leading to the second floor.

But hey, it was beautiful day, and if you've got someone to hold a place in line, you can stroll aorund the estate and look the stable, the smokehouse, the laundry, the clerk's office and "the necessary." Three holes in a bench. Washington may been a founding father, but he didn't have indoor plumbing.
But he had an awsome view of the Potomac. We also made friends with the people in line in front of us. The dad was a State Department employee who was in charge of security at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. It was his most challenging assignment, he told me. I couldn't imagine.

However brief the tour, it's worth it to walk through Washington's personal space. The best part was his study. It was a large room, but certainly not the fanciest. In fact, aside from the large bookshelf on one wall, it was rather spartan. My background in pop psychoanalysis tells me this is where Washington came to be Washington, a place where he could escape from the pressures of helping to build the country that became what it is today. One can only imagine the deep thinking that went on in that room.

That said, I definitely recommend devoting the majority of your time to the newly-opened Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, especially if it's your second tour. The museum uses incredible interactive technology and traditional exhibits to give visitors a truly three-dimensional view of the Father of Our Country. You'll never think about him the same way again.

For your consideration