A BEACON OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN A FORSAKEN WORLD.

Byline: Joe C. Gelman

THE O.J. Simpson case proved to be an almost biblical tale of murder, greed, lust, hate, lying, cheating, manipulation, profiteering, back-stabbing, racism, reverse racism, legal cynicism and media opportunism.

This story had virtually every element that is absolutely evil about the current human condition and American culture in particular. If Moses were to walk down from Mount Sinai tomorrow, he would point to the O.J. Simpson ordeal as an absolute abomination of virtually every commandment that mankind is expected to abide by.

Now that the bulk of the O.J. Simpson case is thankfully behind us, allow me to express the proper conclusion:

As in every great drama, there was also a lone hero. There was that single shining light that stood out in the sea of cold slimy darkness. A warm ray of hope and inspiration to good and decent people wherever they may be. A bright light, which in many people's mind, has come to be synonymous with the words character, courage, principle, integrity, honesty, strength and above all, truth.

A light that represented an unwavering force for goodness, decency and justice throughout the entire ordeal, when everyone around him was wallowing in a sewer of evil and ugliness. And that light has a name, and its name is Fred Goldman, of Oak Park.

I have never met Mr. Goldman, and probably never will. But I feel like I know him. He is the loving bereaved father of a brutally murdered son, whose tortured agony was brought into our living rooms many nights, over the past 2-1/2 years.

He is a man who simply refused to accept the possibility that justice for his brutally murdered son will never be realized. He gave voice and meaning to the outrage of cold-blooded murder, and of a father's love for his only son. In that sense, he has become America's leading father.

He simply refused to compromise or cut a deal to make the issue go away. He would not ``settle.'' He did not pimp himself, he did not sell his story to the highest bidder, he didn't peddle anything to sleazy tabloids, he did not allow himself to be manipulated by other.

He refused to be goaded into racism, even when the world around him portrayed the issue strictly in racial terms. He stayed focused on his objective of seeking justice and he never became part of the freak show that followed the case wherever it went. With honor, dignity and a strong sense of mission, Fred Goldman re-established the deeply shaken idea that justice can actually prevail in America.

A circus atomosphere

During the criminal phase of the trial, a circus atmosphere quickly developed, as Judge Lance Ito completely lost control of the courtroom to the race-baiting Johnnie Cochran Jr. Wild conspiracy theories and fancy-dancy ``dream-team'' lawyering succeeded in obscuring the obvious truth, to an all-too-receptive jury, who seemed to have made up their color-conscious mind well in advance.

Goldman spoke for most Americans who observed the trial, when he asked; ``Are we all fools? Do they take us all for morons? Ron and Nicole were butchered like animals! Do any of you believe otherwise? You have seen the evidence in this trial. It is overwhelming! It is irrefutable!''

He refrained from attacking the jury that ultimately acquitted the murderer of his son, in what many Americans believed was a racist decision by the mostly African-American jury, who returned a verdict after virtually no deliberation. ``The day of my son's slaying was the worst nightmare of my life, this is the second,'' was all he had to say.

He refrained from criticizing the LAPD for committing a number of minor human errors during the investigation, which allowed defense attorneys to cynically exploit as evidence by both police incompetence and a competently planned police conspiracy against Mr. Simpson, at the same time. Go figure.

Instead of pointing fingers at the failures of the criminal trial, he doggedly focused on justice through pending civil proceedings. He publicly refused in advance to ``settle'' his civil case against Mr. Simpson, no matter what the offer may be, and no matter how much it would cost him.

An orderly affair

The civil trial was much more of an orderly affair. The no-nonsense Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki promptly banned cameras from the courtroom and the nutty conspiracy theories were greatly restricted. Goldman's lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, pulled no punches from Day One, and with cool, mathematical precision, he laid out the devastating, irrefutable case against Mr. Simpson.

When the verdict declaring Simpson responsible for the deaths of Ron and Nicole finally came in, Mr. Goldman expressed great relief; ``Thank God for some justice for Ron and Nicole, we've waited two years, seven months and some number of days for this.''

As he marched from he courtroom to the Doubletree Hotel across the street, dramatically flanked by mounted LAPD officers and a million television cameras carrying the scene to the four corners of the globe, Mr. Goldman raised his fist defiantly and expressed, without words, what most Americans were feeling at that moment. Yes! Let the word go out that there is justice in the land of the free. You cannot brutally murder two innocent people in America, and not be held accountable, no matter how wealthy you are, no matter how much of a celebrity you are and no matter how much you might play the race card.

When the jury awarded the plaintiffs $25 million in punitive damages a few days later, Mr. Goldman refrained from celebrating. ``The important verdict, is the verdict that found Mr. Simpson responsible for the death of my son, all I ever wanted is justice. It's never been about money.''

A few days later, Mr. Goldman declared that ``if the person, whose name I don't use, that murdered my son wants to write out a complete confession and publish it in newspapers around the country, we'll be glad to ignore the judgment.'' But Goldman predicted that it would never happen because ``this person hasn't owned responsibility for any of his actions through his entire lifetime.''

The good guy

There is hardly one person involved in the O.J. Simpson case who has conducted him or herself with integrity. Virtually every personality involved in the case has tried to profit or achieve fame, by cynically riding a process that should have been about one thing, justice for two brutally murdered innocent people.

Even the Goldman family's co-plaintiffs, the Browns, are guilty of exploitation. There was no excuse for Nicole's sister to sell nude pictures of Nicole to a tabloid. There was no excuse for Mr. Brown to sell his murdered daughter's personal diaries to a tabloid.

Fred Goldman, who undoubtedly has his flaws, and puts his pants on one leg at a time, is the true exception. He is the only righteous person in Sodom. If it were not for Goldman's integrity and tenacity, Ron and Nicole would never have achieved anything even remotely resembling justice.

I always try to look on the bright side of things. There is very little that is bright about the O.J. Simpson ordeal. Our system of justice proved to be wanting and the worst in human nature was repeatedly exposed, during what turned out to be a lengthy national trauma.

So let us celebrate the little that is positive, let us celebrate Fred Goldman, the good guy. The man that represented what is right and virtuous about our society, the man that represented sanity in a world that went insane. I can't wait for the musical.

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Photo

Photo: (Color) Fred Goldman speaks after the verdict in the civil suit against O.J. Simpson, flanked by attorney Daniel Petrocelli, left, daughter Kim and wife Patti, right.

Associated Press