The Hot Seat Our Weekly Look At Who’s In Trouble

UNPUBLISHED CORRECTION: The name of Evel Knievel is spelled incorrectly in this story.

Who’s on trial here?

Let’s be clear about who belongs, and doesn’t belong, on the Hot Seat in what those panting TV commentators keep calling “The Trial of the Century.” O.J. Simpson is the defendant. Did he commit two vicious murders, or not? That’s the issue. The prosecutor’s wardrobe is not important. The detective’s hope for a quieter life in North Idaho is interesting but unimportant. The buttons he ripped from a Spokane photographer’s shirt show he lost his cool. Police shouldn’t act like thugs. Still, these minor sideshows only underscore the fact Simpson’s trial has become a circus. Many of us in the media are parties to a national loss of perspective that borders on hysteria. And that’s no joke.

Who’s he representing now?

After House Speaker Tom Foley’s defeat in the last election, we asked what he’d consider doing next. An ambassadorship? Secretary of Agriculture? The Supreme Court? Lobbying? He said he had his doubts about that last option. Now, he’s taken a spot in the famed Texas law firm of Akin, Gump. Back in D.C., Akin, Gump is a synonym for “lobbyist.” Maybe Foley has higher purposes in mind. Or maybe he decided finally to cash in on the privilege Eastern Washington’s voters gave him. His political epitaph is in his hands.

The gang of dysfunction

OK, Mr. Evel Knieval, step onto the Hot Seat. Leave some room here for your former buddy, Cip Paulsen and the mystery, bed-hopping girlfriend. Sit down before we whisk you off to the Ricky Lake show, where dysfunctional folks scream all to the world. Did you have to bring your silly fight over a woman to the courthouse? Get counseling, grow up, get out of here, all of you.

ILLUSTRATION: Three Photos

MEMO: The Hot Seat is a feature of the Sunday Opinion page.