Day 25: Bill Clinton, JonBenet, and Tupac
There was some big news in 1996 that we have yet to cover and with only a few days left, we might as well do that here. The first big one is the re-election of President Bill Clinton. We all just survived our sixth presidential election since then. Yay? I can confidently say, regardless of rose-tinted hindsight, the presidential election of 1996 was much less stressful than perhaps any in my lifetime. Incumbent Bill Clinton, as you know, won by defeating Republican Bob Dole handily in the electoral college, 379-159. You probably don’t remember Bob Dole’s running mate, do you? Jack Kemp. I didn’t either. He’s most memorable for being a professional quarterback in the 60’s rather than a potential vice president in the 90’s.
Aside from Clinton, the most pop-culture relevant character in the 1996 election was Ross Perot. Yes, it’s because he has giant ears. There’s absolutely no denying it. You can tiptoe as much as you want but when it comes down to it, Ross Perot can hear you thinking about his giant head-mounted wind flaps and he’s apparently cool with it as those features were aped ad nauseum on SNL and he laughed. He always seemed to be laughing though. His last name was a favorite among middle schoolers who liked to phonetically go the distance by referring to him as “Pee-Rot”. Good job middle schoolers.
However, one of the most memorable political impersonations in SNL history is Phil Hartman’s Bill Clinton. Again, Hartman met his untimely end in 1998, but in the mid-90’s his comedy prowess was unmatched as an integral part of The Simpsons, News Radio, and his various voices in several animated films and programs. He left SNL in 1994, two years before Clinton’s incumbent campaign, but that didn’t stop him from reprising his Clinton-role in a few promos.
“Doing it and doing it and doing it well
Doing it and doing it and doing it well”
In worse news, as this is the 25th day of February blogging, it seems appropriate to mention the true crime story of the year from 1996 that just happened to clock in right on the 25th of December: JonBenet Ramsey. The details are not fun and it’s such a well known case there’s no point in rehashing those grim details here. In short, a six year old pageant queen and daughter of a wealthy defense contractor was reportedly abducted and a ransom note was found. But then later she was also found, hidden only a few dozen feet away from that ransom note and inside her own house. Speculations abound to this day about the parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, primarily because no other apparent suspect(s) can be named.
The story dominated the media for weeks and the Boulder City, Colorado authorities were under intense scrutiny for their seeming lack of care in handling the matter. Regardless of class or status, JonBenet’s situation is terribly sad, especially if you’re like me and consider forcing children through beauty pageants as a form of abuse in addition to how she tragically met her end. It’s a dreadful and weird mystery that doesn’t take long for anyone to start generating their own conspiracy theories over. But in 1996, especially to a relatively unaware 12 year-old-me, I thought JonBenet was the only missing-turned-dead little girl on earth. She was on the cover of every newsstand paper, every magazine at checkout, and on every channel of the television. As you’d expect, and as it turns out, hundreds of kids go missing or meet a violent end every single year from all walks of life. Each one deserves their own spotlight and attention but it’s probably that the media frenzy surrounding this case and the insatiable desire of the nation for answers did more harm to the murder investigation than good. It’s still unsolved.
In September 1996, a few weeks before the election and nearly four months prior to JonBenet’s murder, another infamous killing occurred. In Las Vegas on the night of September 7, Tupac Shakur was struck by four bullets while sitting inside a vehicle after attending a boxing match at the MGM Grand. He died six days later. There is a lot more to the story, including rap rivalries, gang affiliations, and nefarious characters who could likely be responsible but in short, this one is still unsolved. Christopher Wallace (Notorious BIG) was expected to have played a role due to the east versus west coast rap beef but he denied it and it is deemed unlikely he was involved, at least directly. Still, likely as revenge for Tupac, Biggie met his end just 6 months later in a similar fashion.
It’s quite a shame. Tupac was only 25, and both he and Biggie had just eclipsed into super stardom at the time of their deaths. All Eyez on Me released just 7 months before Tupac was murdered. It was a 2-disc album, believed to be rap’s first, and it hit the No. 1 spot on R&B/Hip-Hop albums and pop albums. How Do U Want It and California Love remain as go-to party anthems to this day, especially if you’re like me and party with 40 year-olds.
I apologize for the bummer theme here today but these stories are important to consider in the context of the time. They were massive news stories the world over were forced to be aware of thanks to the budding 24-hour news cycle at the time. Coming up, we have pro-wrestling, more movies, and more video games to talk about.
