From: Jean
Date: 6/12/02
Time: 1:54:20 PM
Except the line about OJ being guilty. -------------------------------------------------
American Sidebar Stick a fork in him. He's Dunne. By Mac MacArthur Dominick Dunne: simpering, self-aggrandizing asshole and macabre opportunist par excellence. June 10, 2002 -- Washington (APJP) -- I'm not sure I've ever seen a more simpering, self-aggrandizing asshole -- yes, that's asshole, a word I rarely write -- than writer-cum-journalist Dominick Dunne. Dunne owes his infamy to his macabre interest in profiting from murder, most notably the Simpson murders and trials -- during which Dunne made sure to be on camera all day, every day, in order to push sales of his work later. Dunne dined like a glutton at the O.J. trough, worming and wheedling his way all the while into the families of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldberg under the pretense of being sympathetic to to the two families that cashed in -- or attempted to cash in -- on the horror of their own loved ones' deaths. I recall seeing that little weasel Dominick, a self-styled "reporter of our time", in that Los Angels courtroom , nearly in tears with the horrible, self-congratulatory sister of Nicole Brown. There he was, stricken as if it was his daughter, his sister, his right to weep at the verdict acquitting Simpson. After all is said and "Dunne," Dominick is nothing more than a pop-culture-crime opportunist -- beside himself with arrogant glee as he stalks his peers and proclaims the innocence or guilt of the accused. Dunne was a miserable failure in his crusade to "solve" the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey, and has over the past few years been on a twisted crusade to hang the Michael Skakel -- with the complicity of his pal, disgraced Los Angeles detective and arch-bigot Mark Fuhrman. Whether or not Simpson and Skakel murdered is not the theme of this rant. If they did, then they deserve whatever punishment we can dream up for them in judges' chambers in California and Connecticut. What infutriates me is the celebration of and profiteering at and on the misery of others, especially the moments of their tragic and stunningly violent deaths. Should we pay attention to those who splay the open legs of terror for our titillation only to make themselves wealthier? Or should we turn them off whenever their ubiquitous faces pop up on the idiot box, shun their books and magazines, and hope that the law -- as opposed to self-styled "journalists" -- guarantee justice in America? Whenever we rely on children turning in their parents, friends and siblings, we sink beneath the waves. This is what Dunne does: he turns in his peers for profit. Dunne didn't have a palpable clue as to who killed Martha Moxley. Sure, he has his suspicions. He used those suspicions and a plethora of hearsay to convict the admittedly arrogant 40-year-old brat for murder last week even before the final arguments were read in court. And make no mistake: he will profit from it handsomely along with racist disgrace and pariah Mark Fuhrman, a stealth Klansman caught on tape by a writer he was trying to screw calling Blacks "niggers" over and over again. Dunne fancies himself a latter-day Truman Capote, a true genius who wrote about the murders of a farm family in his book "In Cold Blood." But Dunne is no genius. His writing style is permeated by half-truth, egomaniacal hyperbole and cheap innuendo. And I must admit that it warms my heart to see Roger Ailes, grand high dragon of FOX News, rely on Dunne and Fuhrman as the underpinning of his ersatz "fair and balanced" reports of the Skakel story. These two proto-fascist operatives, Dunne and Fuhrman, are birds of a feather. Both are sad losers caught up in a world of terror, and the perfect court jesters for the fat, slovenly Ailes who runs FOX News like the propaganda wing of an ultra-right-wing political party. Ignore them all. Copyright © 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, American Politics Journal Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Read our privacy policy. Contact us. ISSN No. 1523-1690