Jackomania: A Gift to Ahmadinejad
Once again, the mainstream press gets distracted from a truly important story at the worst possible time.
Even the BBC suspended normal broadcasting after news of Jackson’s death was released. Since then the international networks have been fixated on this story and its many sordid permutations. The Jewish Chronicle and Evening Standard have been focusing on the fact that Debbie Rowe, his ex-wife, is Jewish and therefore so are the kids. We see Ms. Rowe swearing at the media and ordering them not to touch her, telling them she will kick their butts. Am I the only citizen of the world who finds it pathetic that the media here in Great Britain and the rest of the globe are spending endless hours on the story of this psychotic, confused man who had no real identity? My colleague at the Daily Telegraph, James Delingpole, commented: “the man was a freak; his squeaky voice maddening; his lyrics lame; his music abysmal; and I’d rather be torn apart by werewolves than have to listen to Thriller or Bad.”
So, if anyone is interested in what should have been the seminal moment in Middle Eastern history, I would like to share with readers some events and people in my lifetime that have shaped my views of the world. (Michael Jackson most definitely did not.)
In 1953 the young Jordanian King Hussein, having witnessed the assassination of his grandfather for attempting peace with the Jewish state, had ascended the throne. In 1953 Yitzhak Rabin was graduating from the British army staff college; forty years later King Hussein would make peace with him on television to millions of viewers around the globe. I will never forget seeing Rabin shaking hands with Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn; nor will I forget my year making a film in tragic Israel after the Rabin assassination.
But another event occurred in 1953, the year of my birth, that makes the events of June 2009 all the more notable: on August 19, 1953, Iranian General Mohammad Zahedi was instrumental in overthrowing Prime Minister Mossadegh. Three-hundred people died in what was seen as a mission by Britain and the CIA to overthrow the government. Mossadegh had sought to nationalize the Anglo-Persian Oil Company; some feel the seeds of turmoil that culminated in the 1979 Islamic revolution and overthrow of the shah were sown in 1953. Woe betide any commentator to pontificate on the complexities of recent Persian history, but the timeline of my own life has helped me understand the passions of the exiles I meet in my section of central London.
As the monumental events unfold before our eyes in Iran, one must hope that the enlightened youth of that beleaguered nation are able to bring it into a new era and lead the world and the region to a freedom that has eluded humanity for far, far too long. If the world’s media are stuck in Neverland, so be it. But one must hope the momentum of change in the great and ancient land of Persia, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, “will not perish from the earth,” that Jackomania will soon evaporate, and that the world’s media will renew their duty to report the most important revolution of a generation.
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Carol Gould is the Philadelphia-born author of Don’t Tread on Me: Anti-Americanism Abroad, Spitfire Girls, and A Room at Camp Pickett, a play about her mother’s experiences as a WAC in World War II; she has just completed films about black GIs and GI babies. Carol has been a panelist on BBC's Any Questions?, hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby, and is a commentator on Sky News, Press TV, the BBC World Service, and Five Live.
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16 Comments
1. Michael:I understand that half the Iranian population is under 25. What’s the betting that they would just love to be part of world-wide Jackson thingy? We should beam non stop coverage into Persia of the events in California. It drive the Mullahs ape-shit!
Jul 9, 2009 - 5:12 am 2. eon:If the dictators of the world are smart, they will have their plans for whatever grandiose acts of barbarity they dream of in hand well ahead of time. And then carefully watch CNN.
As soon as a “celebrity” dies/gets married/divorced/involved in a scandal/etc. in the U.S, it will be time for them to act. The Western news media will be guaranteed to be too preoccupied to notice.
As a contingency plan, they can always buy The Self-Exalted One a new Belgian Water Dog as a buddy for Bo. That will distract not only the MSM, but Himself as well.
By the same token, I’m sure that after the first 48 hours of the Jackson mania, there were gurus in the MSM who breathed a huge sigh of relief. Since Jackson’s leaving the stage at that particular moment gave them a perfect excuse not to cover stories they’d rather not talk about on “philosophical” principles; like the Iranian crackdown and Cap N’ Tax. Better that the Great Unwashed remain ignorant of both, in their not-so-humble opinion; after all, this is The Radiant Future On The March.
No objections from the peons’ wanted, or tolerated.
clear ether
eon
Jul 9, 2009 - 5:31 am 3. Saltherring:Leave it to America’s leftist “mainstream” media to elevate worship of a deceased pedophile above that of an oppressed peoples’ quest for freedom.
Jul 9, 2009 - 7:38 am 4. william:The media is our biggest obstacle to freedom!
Jul 9, 2009 - 8:17 am 5. Delia:3. Saltherring,
Sickening isn’t it?
The MSM are “accomplices to hysteria” indeed.
Grrrrr.
Jul 9, 2009 - 9:47 am 6. Professor Guvinoff:The “King of pop” was in fact a poor fellow who had lost his bearings, or perhaps more accurately never found them. Talent cannot make up for a search for identity which did not lead anywhere. But it can turn one into a celebrity, which is damnation in disguise.
Obsessing over his unreal existence is only a desperate attempt to run away from reality.
Jul 9, 2009 - 9:55 am 7. Ms. Attitude:I always thought Michael and LaToya were the same person.
I can’t find information on what’s going on with Iran today. Does anyone have a link?
Jul 9, 2009 - 10:50 am 8. Mary Jackson:Jackomania will soon evaporate…
It will. It’s ephemeral, and as artificial as his face. Behind that face was a twisted mind, which we will never understand.
What of his conversion to Islam? Why aren’t the Ayatollahs making more of that?
Jul 9, 2009 - 5:08 pm 9. Juvenal:The last I heard of Jackson before his death, he had converted to Islam and was residing in one or another of the petro-emirates on the Arabian peninsula. I guess I haven’t been following events in his life too closely.
But that whole sordid chapter of his life is being ignored during the preposterous attempts to make him more significant than he was.
But that late chapter is possibly the most interesting, if bizarre, in the story of Jacko’s life, so it’s no wonder the mainstream media ignored it.
Jul 9, 2009 - 7:42 pm 10. Stephen:The Jackson death should be left to the mindless drivel that poors out of celebrity gossip sites, and channels like E! and MTV. Leave real news coverage to real news organizations.(Yes, CNN and Fox News. I am including you guys.)
The current sitution in Iran could be the game changer as far as what goes on in the middle east for the next generation, and it is not receiving balanced coverage because of an insane pedophile, who is now bones in a box. Get over it people, he was a talented entertainer with no creativity, hence the “king of pop” that was attached to his name.
Jul 10, 2009 - 1:08 am 11. Mary Jackson:By the way, Michael Jackson is no relation of mine.
Jul 10, 2009 - 5:52 am 12. overhere:You mean, Mary Jackson (#11) you can’t Moonwalk?
Wow…
Jul 10, 2009 - 7:51 am 13. Noga:A young blogger from Tehran:
“That the world loses interest and this new shiny strange toy loses its novelty and glamour… then… like what happened to many other struggles for freedom in other places of the world, people would no longer even bother to follow the news, let alone supporting the cause…”
http://antiutopia.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/don%E2%80%99t-let-this-fire-die-%E2%80%A6/
Jul 10, 2009 - 8:14 am 14. Banned b y Huffpo:The “Reverend” Al Sharpton, at The Thing’s memorial service:
“Michael Jackson was NOT a FREAK! He was one of US!”
Makes you think, eh? If Michael Jackson really was a freak (he was), then what does that make the “Reverend” Al Sharpton . . . and the rest of “them”?
Freaks.
QED.
Jul 10, 2009 - 6:25 pm 15. Ginnie:As angry as I was at the media, I was more angry at the tweeters who usurped the only communication the protestors and “evolutionists” had to communicate. Again it is the world populace who continue to control world events due to their selfish need for gossip. Neda’s memory put on a back burner. An historical event that we’ll not know the truth of , ever, due to MJ tweets. Unconscionable behavior. Now I suppose to the children’s future. One that they will need to watch played out publicly as well as their father’s idiosyncrasies. Meanwhile, people die, are beaten, return with incredible courage in spite of the easy sofa “we are with you” words. Until Hollywoood calls. I doubt if the MJ tweeters know anything of Cyrus, Darius, the mathematical and philosophic gifts from Persia of which we are beneficiaries. They’re too busy downloading. I’ve lived through too many potential seminal moments brushed aside for notoriety, thank you. And thank you for your editorial.
Jul 11, 2009 - 7:17 am 16. Linguist:It isn’t just the despots rejoicing in the death of Michael Jackson. Right here at home the timing pulled media attention away from the House vote on cap & tax…errr…trade. It also overshadowed Senate confirmation of transnationalist, Harold Koh, as State Department legal advisor.
http://smokebreak.blogshevik.com/2009/06/25/cap-trade-vote-or-michael-jackson/
Bread & circuses…sound familiar?
Jul 12, 2009 - 6:19 am