OJ’s latest escapade
Journalists everywhere are asking questions about OJ’s arrest. “Does OJ’s arrest in Las Vegas tell us anything about anything important?” “What is up with this guy?” “Just what drives him?”
O.J. Simpson’s long-standing alcoholism was bound to land him in hot water again. His arrest tells us what a sense of invincibility rooted in alcoholism can do to someone, and how the resulting behaviors can affect others.
Evidence for OJ’s alcoholism begins with his 1989 letter of apology to the wife he later murdered, Nicole Brown Simpson. “…I’m not going to blame being drunk [for having struck you] that’s (sic) no excuse. (But I have decided to stop drinking and will go to AA)” (parentheses in the original). Everything else that has occurred in his life since is a symptom of the disease.
Alcoholism, especially in its early stages, causes egomania, one of the manifestations of which is a God-like sense of self. This, in turn, results in a sense of invincibility. Only a person who believes he can do no wrong and won’t get into trouble for violating the law would have tried pulling off a stunt like this.