97 Comments

1. Doug:

Not that we need (another) one.
But if I were health Czar, I’d outlaw frivolous cosmetic surgery.
Anytime I see anyone over 50 that has chosen not to self-mutilate,
I breath a sigh of relief and appreciation.
Anyone else tired of shiny whites (blue in Biden’s case) and over-inflated, phoney “breasts?”
…not to mention plugs, botox, and etc.
—
“For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. ”
[James 4:14]
– Whit
—

Why waste a second of our precious fleeting mortality?
I’m here to save those seconds for you:

This simple on/off button is worth far more than it’s weight (300 kb)
or it’s price (free)
Flashswitch
http://www.flashswitch.com/

Jun 25, 2009 - 3:32 pm 2. PA Cat:

No slow decay of rented cars or mocking stares.

In that sense he was luckier than Elvis.

Jun 25, 2009 - 3:33 pm 3. Ed Driscoll » TMZ: Michael Jackson Dies:

[...] More from Richard Fernandez and Gateway Pundit. Meanwhile — but of course — “Michael Jackson Dies — [...]

Jun 25, 2009 - 3:42 pm 4. Dan:

There is a disease in some people. The poor are lucky.

Jun 25, 2009 - 3:55 pm 5. Annoy Mouse:

Shocking and sad. I just told a guy I know about the news and he said “do you like Michael Jackson?” to which I replied, “yes, hell yes, before he went freaking crazy”.

I always hoped that he could redeem himself, like Frodo hoped that Smeagle could come back from the brink: “because I hope that I could too”.

For the comeback that will never be, perhaps the saddest part of a brilliant legacy sullied into ridicule I shall always wonder what if.

RIP

Jun 25, 2009 - 4:09 pm 6. Marcus Aurelius:

Frivolous cosmetic surgery is one real life demonstration that the power of unfettered markets where consumers bear the costs of their consumption works. Lasik surgery is another such situation.

Your comment “I’m sad to hear this. But there it is.” sums up my attitude on this as well. Even at the height of success (when I was coming of age) I was never a big fan of his.

In any event, it has been a long time since he was anything but a side-show freak. Where those of us living “boring” and mundane lives could stare at him and be thankful they are not like him.

Jun 25, 2009 - 4:11 pm 7. wretchard:

It’s a day for celebrity deaths. Farrah Fawcett has died at 62 from cancer. They say famous people are what strangers have in common. And the famous, in enduring common fate, can gather us together still.

They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.

Jun 25, 2009 - 4:12 pm 8. Annoy Mouse:

and Neda, blood welling up through her face slowly slips under the lapping rivulets of time, forgotten to the evil that airs coerced confessions, springs last gasp of state violence; I saw a beautiful flower and it compelled me to openly defy the order of man in the guise of a vengeful god.

Jun 25, 2009 - 4:30 pm 9. Doug:

“Frivolous cosmetic surgery is one real life demonstration that the power of unfettered markets where consumers bear the costs of their consumption works. Lasik surgery is another such situation.”
—
Agreed.
But I’d stick with Lasik as the example in that the benefits are almost unarguable.
Thousands of mutilated (and sometimes terminally disabled) freaks bear testiment to the questionable benefit of many of the most popular procedures.

Jun 25, 2009 - 4:32 pm 10. noprisoners:

It is too bad that Jackson died so young. However, I dread the wall-to-wall, 24/7, circus that the “news” networks will make this. I am already looking forward to the end of coverage.

We have the “cap and trade” vote tomorrow the outcome of which will have a huge impact on this country. Iran is still experiencing blood in the streets. This could change the course of the ME for generations; not to mention, help avoid nuclear proliferation among small nations. How can the untimely death of an entertainer supersede these stories?

Why do thousands of people gather in the hot sun to look at the side of the UCLA Medical Center? Why do the “news” networks cover these people?

Jun 25, 2009 - 4:35 pm 11. Doug:

15 Worst Celebrity Plastic Surgery Disasters

Jun 25, 2009 - 4:36 pm 12. Doug:

noprisoners,
cap and trade, healthcare, and immigration “reform”/amnesty
all are capable of bringing this country to it’s knees.
We can only pray dedicated citizens can effectively alter the outcome.

Jun 25, 2009 - 4:40 pm 13. Mad Fiddler:

I remember a quote from (I think) the cover of one of the Tabloids in the supermarket checkout from 15 years ago:

57-year-old woman to friend: “All my life I’ve wanted to look like Liz Taylor… Now, God help me, I DO!”

Doug, that website and its photos are sobering, like waking up in the middle of the night just before your sixteenth birthday in nothing but your tidy whities and a wet towel with your parents yelling in your ear because they found you drunk on the lawn.

Not that I ever did something that stupid.

*I* was in the pantry where they stashed the liquor.

Jun 25, 2009 - 4:58 pm 14. Brian:

Jun 25, 2009 - 4:59 pm 15. Limpet6:

Jackson was sort of the Howard Hughes of pop entertainment. He started out as a world-class phenomenon, but then the forces around him corrupted him in strange ways.

He was the ultimate example of an exploited child star, if the rumors about what his father did to him to keep his child-like singing voice are true. No doubt the need to keep him frozen in time warped him.

“Billy Jean” always sounds great until you undestand what it is all about.

I like his songs, but couldn’t stand to watch him.

RIP. Fourth day of summer. I doubt he knew what summer was.

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:02 pm 16. Mad Fiddler:

Anyhow, I feel a fleeting regret for a lost soul, whose life seems to have been pretty darn screwed up.

But the sufferings of celebrities don’t count much measured against the scourging of a whole country.

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:02 pm 17. Marcus Aurelius:

I generally agree with the notion that cosmetic surgery is oft times a vanity and it disgusts the person in me who likes to think the wealth can be put to better use, but then the free marketeer in me takes over. Another example of that is those stupid hubcaps that counter rotate on their own.

I agree with your later point 100% that the benefits of Lasik are real and more significant and cosmetic surgery carries real danger, still there is enough banning and outlawing going on.

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:05 pm 18. noprisoners:

Mad Fiddler @ 16:

I think that it was C.S. Lewis who said something like: “We don’t have a soul. We are a soul that has a body.”

With my apologies to C.S. Lewis…

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:06 pm 19. Doug:

“*I* was in the pantry where they stashed the liquor.”
—
I was more of a lawn type of guy, but
I’ve become less ambulatory with age.

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:07 pm 20. Doug:

Marcus,
I’ll never make Czar, so no worry about outlawing.
I’ll just continue advocating “growing old gracefully.”
…and looking for better rose colored lenses.

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:11 pm 21. Doug:

What neighborhoods feature those hubcaps?

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:13 pm 22. Langley:

Some people live past their glory.

I wonder what the legacies of Lincoln, Kennedy, and King would have been had they lived longer?

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:13 pm 23. Limpet6:

Can’t say about the others, but as for JFK just look at Teddy.

There’d be VW’s bobbing all up and down the Potomac…near anywhere there was a bridge.

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:16 pm 24. Bonzo:

The better story, of course, is Farrah.

The most important story is Obama. The Sex Pistols ‘B;ack Arab’ (typo not intended but prescient).

I hear the words and wonder.

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:17 pm 25. PA Cat:

Mark Sanford is probably grateful for no longer being Hot Topic #1. Not that he isn’t a lost soul in his own way.

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:26 pm 26. fred:

An awesomely talented entertainer whose life was, in my opinion, tragically marred by not having a childhood, abusive parents, and ultimately rejecting himself as a handsome black man to become a disfigured white woman. There were questions about him as possibly a pedophile. Given his strange family life of being on stage and living in a bubble, who knows? Prayers to his surviving siblings and to his adopted children. What is to become of those kids?

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:36 pm 27. njartist:

@ Doug: That was a trip into a Freak Show!

Jun 25, 2009 - 5:49 pm 28. ace:

That’s ashame. He had some good music. More and more people are dying young.

May Michael Jackson rest in peace despite some of the negative things said about him.

Jun 25, 2009 - 6:20 pm 29. herb:

The really important deaths of the day are those in Iran. Its a shame that this poor sap and Farah pushed them aside.

Im not sure what I think/thought of this individual. He was either a predator or just a weird sort of being. He was though a talented singer/dancer but what did that add to the civilization? As far as I can tell there were three kids that were attributed to him. They may be his or not. No way to say from here. But it seems that the press is letting them alone. Thats a good thing. But I see a long relationship with a therapist in their future.

All this gets a Shore Navy salute. ^0^

God have mercy on him and them.

Jun 25, 2009 - 6:28 pm 30. heathermc:

Michael Jackson was, back in the day, as good a dancer as Fred Astaire.

And that great talent, terribly, was washed away by his personal demons and sins.

Jun 25, 2009 - 6:40 pm 31. noprisoners:

Ace @ 28:

I take it that you missed the ’60’s. We were losing about one a week there for a while: Janis Joplin; Jim Morrison; Jimi Hendrix; Mama Cass; I can’t even remember the others. Oh well, history might repeat itself.

Jun 25, 2009 - 6:40 pm 32. no:

Why are we wasting time ruminating on the misfortune of some rich freak?

Jun 25, 2009 - 6:55 pm 33. Belmont Club » Michael Jackson dead | Michael Jackson has died:

[...] In that sense he was luckier than Elvis. Jun 25, 2009 – 3:33 pm 3. Ed Driscoll » TMZ: Michael Jackson Dies : More from Richard Fernandez and Gateway Pundit. Meanwhile — but of course — “ Michael Jackson Dies — … Continued here: Belmont Club » Michael Jackson dead [...]

Jun 25, 2009 - 7:04 pm 34. RattlerGator:

Rest in peace, Michael. You brought excitement, joy and wonder to millions and millions. May God have mercy. I recently had a “paradoxical reaction” to a clinical procedure and I suspect Michael *lived* his life as a paradoxical reaction to juvenile stardom.

I loved the guy. Always have, always will. And I deeply mourn his death.

Jun 25, 2009 - 7:15 pm 35. Doug:

herb,
Indeed, hopefully it will not distract from this:
-
Honor Their Service – Move America Forward
-
Troopathon
Live from Ronald Reagan Library.

Jun 25, 2009 - 7:23 pm 36. Dave:

RAttlerGator #34: Had one of those things myself a little over five years ago. An anti-viral/anti-inflamant that was supposed to help a pericardial effusion clear up backfired. Came a little too close for comfort.

Glad you pulled through,

And darn good analysis of MJ. Looks like he never could grow up, no matter how old he got.
RIP and all that.

Jun 25, 2009 - 7:31 pm 37. cellec:

Well, Rest in Peace, even though I lost interest in MJ somewhere back around late 1983. I still think his best album is “Off the Wall”, and I’ve got a very clear memory of listening to “Rock with You” on my way to High School.

As 80’s pseudo-icons go, I was far more bummed out when Robert Palmer died a few years ago, now that guy had a rhythm section.

Unfortunately, I felt like the 80’s died for good when Ronald Reagan passed away in ‘04. Still waiting for the 60’s to disappear….

Jun 25, 2009 - 7:36 pm 38. Ivan:

Few among us didn’t wish at one time or other that he could dance and sing like Michael Jackson. That man was a genius and a presence on the music scene from the late sixties onwards. But he seems to have been a genuine simpleton in his private life. Hanging out with Diana Ross and Liz Taylor could only have compounded his stupidity. I was unhappy when I heard of the going ons with the kids in Neverland, but it appears likely that his interest in children was of the Lewis Caroll variety.

God protects the stupid and naive, I pray that for the sake of his soul Michael remained a child all his life.

Jun 25, 2009 - 8:00 pm 39. wws:

As a child, I was deeply touched by Michael Jackson. No, really.

Jun 25, 2009 - 8:14 pm 40. gary kent:

mmmmmmmmm, far to much media time is going to be spent on this bloke, no doubt he had some talent with music, a lot of people do.but lets face it he did,nt do anything above and beyoud the call of duty…..thuoghts to his family… but media think of us, where is the real news

Jun 25, 2009 - 8:20 pm 41. Chiral:

How little is one allowed to care while at least pretending to respect human dignity before being called “liar”?

If I wrote something touching but totally irrelevant, then people might nod and feel slightly proud for caring just enough to impress their peers. I’ve already said too much and likely offended people.

Jun 25, 2009 - 8:26 pm 42. Alexis:

Protests in Iran are no longer the main story in the news.

Jun 25, 2009 - 8:29 pm 43. Lifeofthemind:

To drag this back to the relentlessly practical, how does Michael Jackson’s death affect Obama? At first blush it might seem good for the White House, distracting the public from the implosion of his Iran policy and providing cover under which they will try to sneak past the Cap & Trade bill. In my view however it will hurt Obama and the Democrats on balance. First it washes away the Governor Sanford story which was a club that otherwise would have been good for a week’s worth of Republican bashing. Second Obama suffers by comparison with Jackson. Jackson might have risen to fame as a celebrity black but he had one thing that Obama lacks, genuine talent. This will help blow the froth off of Obama’s celebrity and since he is definitively one of those second tier characters who is mostly famous for being famous people will begin to look at him and wonder what all the fuss was about. He is just another a black man the media is in love with and unlike Jackson’s corpus the works of Obama will get limited popular radio play in the future.

Besides, I thought we wanted Razuli dead.

Jun 25, 2009 - 8:32 pm 44. viktor silo:

Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,
These rebel powers that thee array;
Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend?
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,
Eat up thy charge? is this thy body’s end?
Then soul, live thou upon thy servant’s loss,
And let that pine to aggravate thy store;
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross;
Within be fed, without be rich no more:
So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
And Death once dead, there’s no more dying then.

Jun 25, 2009 - 8:36 pm 45. me:

Hmmm not tearing up over this. Now Farah, that was sad. She was a sweetheart.

Jun 25, 2009 - 8:55 pm 46. Bob Murphy:

Parents everywhere breathe a sigh of relief.

Jun 25, 2009 - 9:04 pm 47. Michael Jackson is Dead Video:

Here is the video of them caring out Michael Jackson in the Ambulance after he died http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8aDVCgnyv0

Jun 25, 2009 - 9:11 pm 48. Marcus Aurelius:

Doug,

I live out in farm country now, but when I go to the nearby town with a population of about 70,000 (the whole area entitled the Fox Valley probably is inhabited by 2.5x that amount) and so we don’t have “neighborhoods” but my guess is the people in those cars are youngish people from the south.

Y’ Know Death Don’t Have No Mercy In This Land
Death Don’t Have No Mercy In This Land, In This Land
Come To Your House, You Know He Don’t Take Long
Look In Bed This Morning, Children Find Your Mother Gone.

I Said Death Don’t Have No Mercy In This Land.
Death Will Leave You Standing And Crying In This Land,
Death Will Leave You Standing And Crying In This Land, In This Land, Yeah!

Whoa! Come To Your House, Y’ Know He Don’t Stay Long,
Y’ Look In Bed This Morning,
Children You Find That Your Brothers And Sisters Are Gone.
I Said Death Don’t Have No Mercy In This Land.

Death Will Go In Any Family In This Land.
Death Will Go In Any Family In This Land.
Come To Your House, you know he don’t take long.
Look in the bed on the morning, Children Find That Your Family’s Gone.

I Said Death Don’t Have No Mercy In This Land.
Death Will Leave You Standing And Crying In This Land,
In This Land. Whoa! Come To Your House,
Y’ Know It Don’t Stay Long, Y’ Look In Bed This Morning,
Children Find That Your Brothers And Sisters Are Gone.

I Said Death Don’t, Death Don’t Have No Mercy In This Land.

Jun 25, 2009 - 9:15 pm 49. Doug:

Marcus,
Speaking of Rural America, I just learned this amazing fact:
-
Indiana is 16th in population.
First in deployments.

Jun 25, 2009 - 9:29 pm 50. J Charles:

Marcus, thank you for the Gospel….

Jun 25, 2009 - 9:34 pm 51. peterike:

It is not for nothing that Peter Pan’s gang is called the Lost Boys. Surely, Jackson was simply the most well known of this all too prevalent character.

Jun 25, 2009 - 9:56 pm 52. no:

I like how Jermaine worked Allah into the press conference. Islam and buggery, nice of you to reinforce that image. If only Tito would’ve given the presser, then we’d have Islam, buggery and Yugoslavian partisans in our minds at the same time…oh well, there’s always next time.

Jun 25, 2009 - 10:03 pm 53. Charles:

Richard imho #7 shows a little to much polytheism. That stuff will jade you if you’re not careful.

I fear my post #28 in “You Light Up My Life” does a bit of the same thing too. For that reason, I apologize. That is, I don’t want to stear myself or anyone else wrong on that matter.

Jun 25, 2009 - 10:03 pm 54. Charles:

Richard imho #7 suggests polytheism. That stuff will jade you if you’re not careful.

I fear my post #28 in “You Light Up My Life” does a bit of the same thing too. For that reason, I apologize. That is, I don’t want to steer myself or anyone else wrong on that matter.

Jun 25, 2009 - 10:04 pm 55. Marcus Aurelius:

The only version of the song I have is Live Dead and occasionally I hear versions on XM Radio.

Jun 25, 2009 - 10:04 pm 56. Roy Schwartz:

You can read more about the condition behind Michael Jackson’s death here:
http://bit.ly/E8ie7

Jun 25, 2009 - 10:32 pm 57. theHoundDawg:

It has been disgusting to watch the hoards of brain-dead lemmings freak out over the death of their messiah. The pedophile should be seen for what he was – the worst kind of criminal there is, whose riches bought him not one, but two “Get Out of Jail” cards.

To them, direct your sorrow to the deaths of two good, decent people, Farrah and Ed.

Jun 25, 2009 - 11:21 pm 58. WillDoMathForFood:

I had no interest in Michael Jackson, but it is a bit frightening to see a mad, lonely soul whose vast wealth, fame, and talent were no proof against powerful demons. Reminds me a bit of Howard Hughes. May God grant Michael the peace in death that he never found in life.

Jun 25, 2009 - 11:44 pm 59. Derrick:

I’d get as much MJ merchandise as I could get my hands on.
Some can be found here

http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fentity%2FMichael-Jackson%2FB000APU04Q%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dep%255Fsprkl%255Fmus%255FB000APU04Q&tag=myno06-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957

Jun 25, 2009 - 11:53 pm 60. Doug:

FWIW:
Kevin James represented both Fawcett and Jackson.
Jackson at the ‘93 trial.
He is convinced Jackson was innocent.
-
Says Farah was very pleasant to work with, and a consumate pro very much aware of the business aspects of her celebrity.

Jun 25, 2009 - 11:55 pm 61. Bix:

The wall-to-wall outpouring of grief is disgusting. It’s almost a commonplace, but when someone of Jackson’s celebrity stature dies, you can count on your local TV news devoting their entire broadcasts to “reactions” from those who “care.” The rest of us can’t even get a weather forecast because of it. But I was further sickened by the fact that Fox News’ Special Report devoted its entire hour to helicopter vigils and photo/video retrospectives – and of course “reactions.” I doubt Brit Hume, were he still the adult in charge, would have permitted this. What I would have paid to hear Krauthammer’s observations on sentimentality of the spectacle.

Jun 26, 2009 - 7:58 am 62. peterike:

For those who like to say Jackson was as good a dancer as Fred Astaire, all I can say is you’ve probably never seen a Fred Astaire film. It’s not even close.

Jun 26, 2009 - 8:03 am 63. Paul A. Gaddis:

Its sad that he passed, but where else but America can a poor black boy grow up to become a rich white woman?

Jun 26, 2009 - 8:36 am 64. Dwashington2:

OK I understand some people have concerns about the whole child molesting issues but I have to say if it was one of there family members who passed away and they had some dark secret would they want everyone bashing there family name. Let’s remember what a great performer he was and remember what joy he brought to all of us in his music!!

Jun 26, 2009 - 9:36 am 65. tommylei:

He inspired us all. A legend.

Michael Jackson’s Final Madison Square Garden Shows (photos)

http://www.msg.com/photos/michael-jacksons-final-madison-square-garden-shows/slide/1/

Jun 26, 2009 - 9:58 am 66. Roderick Reilly:

Michael Jackson died at least 12 years ago. The bizzare, Dorian Gray-like decay we’ve been observing for the last dozen or more years has all been post-mortem.

Like Bill Clinton and the Lewinski sordidness (where he believed that oral sex was not sex), Jacko was likely convinced that he was not a pedophile because he probably never had outright sex (as in sodomy) with his little friends. I’m sure he felt he deserved a pass for the occasional fondling in the shower (or taking a shower with litttle boys to begin with), and the “sweet,” “innocent” sleepovers in the same bed between a grown, unrelated man and small boys. Why pretend? He was a pathetic, repugnant degenerate, and never talented enough, or truly important enough for that stain to be forgiven.

Even so — even so, I feel the tragedy of how he turned out when I listen to a little-heard a capella song of his, “She’s Out of My Life,” which belongs in the same class as McCartney’s “Yesterday.” Short, succinct and sad, and completely different from the frenetic glitz of his big hits we’re supposed to “celebrate,” and be in awe of.

Jun 26, 2009 - 10:07 am 67. Mad Fiddler:

Elvis Presley is estimated to have earned far more in the first decade after his death than he had in his entire lifetime before.

Sounds to me like a calculated career move.

Jun 26, 2009 - 10:59 am 68. buddy larsen:

doug/60; on the one point of guilt or innocence one might give him a pass on the grounds that any parents who’d let their kids sleepover there in the first place would form a pool of high liklihood to set up such.

Jun 26, 2009 - 11:28 am 69. dopey:

Jockeys at Flemington are going to wear black armbands out of respect for Michael Jackson who successfully rode more 3 year olds than anyone in living memory.

Great listof Michael Child Molester Jackson here:
http://thedopeycowboy.com/2009/06/26/off-to-never-never-land/

Jun 26, 2009 - 11:55 am 70. Agoraphobic Plumber:

I never bought the whole pedophilia thing. I saw nothing real that ever suggested Jackson was anything but a man deprived of a decent childhood. I suspect he was a fat wallet to the parents of the kids who alleged wrongdoing, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t deserve the dredging he got in the press, though for all I know it helped his bottom line in the long run financially speaking.

I’ll always try to remember him as the guy on the cover of “Thriller”. That was the Michael that stunned the world with the Moonwalk on live TV. Who here grew up in the 80s and didn’t try to figure out how he did that thing? Kids were stumbling backwards down school halls for YEARS after that. He wasn’t too bad through “Bad”, IMHO. After that it sort of went off the rails and into the buttercups.

But WHAT a talent. In his day, the guy was untouchable worldwide. Far more than most ever achieve in their chosen field.

Jun 26, 2009 - 12:16 pm 71. Heather:

Michael Jackson
At a young age he inspired so many to sing and dance,
He sang and danced his heart out,
He devoted his life to his fans and music,
He entertained for most of his life.
He may or may not have done things people say he did,
And we may have different views of his personal affairs,
But we all must admit that without him,
We would perceive the music industry differently,
No, he wasn’t just a person, who sang and danced,
He was a legend… he was the “King of Pop”,
That, he will stay forever… whether you loved him or not,
We sing/play his songs in video games, we imitate his moves,
Big TV shows use his songs/moves,
We all remember him for something.
Many artists from different genres today were encouraged by him,
Without him, some artists we love (from every genre) today,
May not have kept going without his inspiration,
So those who say, “Whatever”, “Cool”, “I’m glad”, or anything negative about his death,
I say this, we all may not agree with his ways, but at least he gave his all,
To the world, no questions asked, since he was a child…
Give him the respect every person deserves…
Rest in Peace Michael Jackson

Jun 26, 2009 - 12:43 pm 72. Annoy Mouse:

ode to Jacko

bright the flame of fame dost burn
and dark it falls as fate turns
sullied by sensational news mooted
the defamed who argues thus muted
comes the angel of morphine death
to pluck the fallen’s final breath
that still echoes up green valleys
and upon the electron wings
sing the song that silently rings
across the fleeting galaxies
through God’s final mysteries
intoning its crescendo note
music long known by simple rote
what was always plain to see
again reverberating into eternity

Jun 26, 2009 - 12:47 pm 73. Doug:

62. peterike:
For those who like to say Jackson was as good a dancer as Fred Astaire, all I can say is you’ve probably never seen a Fred Astaire film. It’s not even close.
—
Gene Kelly wasn’t too bad either, although he might have been considered bad at some other time w/more melanin.
—
Then there was Ginger, who had to do it all backwards in high heels.

Jun 26, 2009 - 2:33 pm 74. NahnCee:

I would have voted to acquit on the child molestation charges, and can’t understand the huffing and puffing of redblooded male adults who hurl around those accusations. Couldn’t see that there was a case other than a headline-seeking DA ginning up a case out of innuendo and unproven allegations and a money-seeking mommy of the boy. Too bad the Jackson family can’t sue both DA and boy’s mother for causing the stress that shortened his life — but since they’ve all (except for Janet) been mooching off him his whole life, enough for them making any more money off of MJ.

(One of the over-the-top commentators on the news last night was gushing about how appropriate it was that a man who always wanted to be Peter Pan was airlifted — flying — by helicopter from the hospital to the morgue. “Just what he would have wanted!” argh)

Jun 26, 2009 - 3:06 pm 75. Roderick Reilly:

Sorry NahnCee:

Two of the jurors in the one case that went to trial recanted (too late), and again, please note how I pointed out Michael Jackson probable rationalizing about his pedophilic behavior. Which part of an adult male — unrelated to the boys in question — showering naked with equally naked young boys — as in under the age of 13, and sleeping in the same bed with them, and, oh yes, back to the showering thing: fondling thair little willies, do you not get and don’t consider to be pedophilic, prosecutable behavior? Why would you define deviancy down like that?

Jun 26, 2009 - 3:54 pm 76. robert clark:

at least M J cannot hold any more babies over balconies or pay off families for molesting .

Jun 26, 2009 - 4:38 pm 77. NahnCee:

Roderick – how on earth could that be proven? Did the boy testify to it because his mommy told him to? Did the DA have a video camera in the shower, and how would that be different from any sports team showering together? Were there Michael Jackson finger prints lifted off his sweet little pink buttocks?

Don’t talk to me about recanting jurors in California. They’re probably related to the dimbulbs who acquitted OJ Simpson on the grounds that domestic abuse has nothing to do with murder.

I just was never convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the state had a case, and always felt like it had more to do with headlines for the District Attorney’s office than protecting cute little boys whose families were in financial distress.

And, not only that, but what’s the statute of limitations on child abuse if someone *is* convicted so that you can’t use that as a club to pummel them with for ever after? Never ever never?

Jun 26, 2009 - 4:55 pm 78. someone:

Agoraphobic Plumber, so it’s normal for a 40 year old to sleep in bed with boys < 12, not his relatives, alone in his bed? He admitted as such. Who would do that other than a pedophile? And, ya, forget the detail where he would cut off all contact with the child at puberty. If that’s not a sign of a pedophile, I don’t know what is.

Oh, ya, I forgot, O.J. was innocent too.

Jun 26, 2009 - 5:55 pm 79. someone:

NahnCee,

“but what’s the statute of limitations on child abuse if someone *is* convicted so that you can’t use that as a club to pummel them with for ever after? Never ever never?”

So far, it has been found, that a pedophile will always be a pedophile. There is no cure and the abuse will continue. There is only incarceration or death. Worse, their victims often go on to be pedophiles themselves.

Jun 26, 2009 - 5:58 pm 80. Reclass:

# 22 Langly–if you are still about, can you explain the inference behind your question? Wanna engage in a little counterfactual history debate here? Or want to dissect the failures of Reconstruction?

Jun 26, 2009 - 6:07 pm 81. Charles:

80. Reclass:

another way of saying the same thing would have been to say that if benedict arnold had died at the battle of saratoga just after his famous route of the British– he would have been remembered differently. As it is, there is a memorial marker at saratoga of a great skirmish that turned the tide of the battle–and maybe the war — but no name is mentioned. The brits had no use for arnold either.

I hated Bush for leaving the southern border open. 50 years earlier and I think the Bush would have been hanged for treason. More americans have been killed by illegals than have been killed in the middle east.

However, the liberal media hanged bush in effigy for the way the local and state democratic governments handled events around new orleans. nor did the press give the republican governors of alabama and missippi any props for their well run rebuilding efforts.

Michael Jackson didn’t die young or at the top of his game–so any analogy with lincoln kennedy or king is not quite right. Jackson is more like Elvis in that respect–than say jimmy hendriks or janis joplin.

Jun 26, 2009 - 7:05 pm 82. Charles:

If everyone can just recognize that events playing out in the USA and Iran are best seen backwards in a mirror — then things will come out looking about right.

Oh and no one will turn to stone.

Jun 26, 2009 - 7:13 pm 83. JINXY:

“Why do thousands of people gather in the hot sun to look at the side of the UCLA Medical Center? Why do the “news” networks cover these people?”

I couldn´t agree more with this statement. While any untimely death is a tragedy we all should refocus our collective attention away from this celebrity madness and onto more important world situations (for example Iran). Could it be that our culture is so “illiterate” in the larger aspects of world events that the only galvanizing events are the most superficial? We need to understand that the art of singing and dancing is just that, singing and dancing, and that some do it better than others and that our media rich culture has blown this phenomenon way out of porportion at the expense of more worthy and pressing events.

Jun 26, 2009 - 7:21 pm 84. Charles:

When I was in grade school, I heard the Kingston Trio sing The Patriot Game. I thought they were referring to the revolutionary war or maybe the civil war.

not so. Only now when I went to look up the tune do I realize I learned someone else’s history in that song.

Heck I’m not even Irish.

Jun 26, 2009 - 7:41 pm 85. Lifeofthemind:

Charles,

Small world connections. When I was an Ensign in San Diego I lived in Mission Valley and the only place I could walk to was a bar called “The Patriot Game” that had the portraits of the Easter Martyrs on the wall and hosted the bands that played in Boston, New York, Chicago and if I understood no where else before coming to this small place out West. The food was good and the Guinness was excellent and I got a bad feeling as a junior officer feeling the place was funneling money to the IRA.

During college I learned to shoot pool in a similar place in Back of the Yards. It occurred to me that if everyone whose descendants claims was in the Dublin Post Office on Easter morning was really there then the British had to call out the army. There must have been thousands of people trying to jam themselves in. Then again they might have been like the huge numbers of Frenchmen who claimed after the war to have been in the Resistance or the millions of Germans who were keeping a Jew in the basement.,

Jun 26, 2009 - 8:10 pm 86. cece:

may your soul rest in peace knowing how much you had/have a impact on the world today… you are god’s angel to music and now that you are gone you will forever live in my heart… and forever be remember as the KING OF POP… thank you for sharing your talent with the world and imspiring many to be like you… thank you and love you
may your prayers be with michael’s family and lovig fans

Jun 26, 2009 - 8:48 pm 87. Joe:

79. someone

So far, it has been found, that a pedophile will always be a pedophile. There is no cure and the abuse will continue. There is only incarceration or death. Worse, their victims often go on to be pedophiles themselves.

I suggest you acquaint yourself with some research.
http://ccoso.org/library_articles.php#Recidivism

Jun 26, 2009 - 9:06 pm 88. Reclass:

Charles @ 81. “Our deeds determine us….?” That’s all we can be judged upon? I think I would agree.

I would not agree that we should be judged on the “maybes” and “what ifs” and speculative ramblings that I thought I was reading in Langley’s post. (My apologies, if that was not Langley’s point.)

I’ve heard a lot today on the over saturated media coverage about how one should focus on Jackson’s achievements, meaning his contributions to the music world and culture. All seem quite content to ignore other “deeds” done, however.

Most ironic, from my humble point of view, were the comments that Jackson “broke the color barrier on MTV.” I cannot say anymore. He was a sad and I think broken man. Was he worthy of a moment of silence in Congress though?

Jun 26, 2009 - 9:07 pm 89. trangbang68:

He was a stone cold freak, no doubt about it. I tend to think he was more infantile and asexual than Chester the Molester.
He was very talented. His dance routines were stunning at their best. I also thought of Elvis, a huge talent who died a caricature of
his former self.Fame can be a killer.
He does deserve some respect as one who crossed the portal into Eternity. Hell, even Jimmie Carter deserves that much.

Jun 26, 2009 - 10:24 pm 90. Bob Murphy:

Jimmie ain’t left yet.

Jun 26, 2009 - 11:46 pm 91. Mad Fiddler:

When James Earl Carter’s life is done
We need not weep; another one
is here to try and trash the nation.
His name rhymes with abomination.

Jun 27, 2009 - 12:50 am 92. ExNavyDoc:

I’m still trying to dredge up a little sympathy from the bottom of Give-A-Shit Bay. Sorry, can’t do it.

Jun 27, 2009 - 9:04 am 93. Charles:

Michael Jackson Thriller

The original says “due to my strong personal convictions, this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult” Michael jackson.

And yet the high eeee in his voice is maddening when it replays in your mind afterwards.

imho the <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o”cebu prison version makes much more sense.

I like the Jackson Five early music best. Here’s I’ll be there

Here you can hear the high eeee of Jackson’s voice but its kind of sweet and even precocious because he’s not even a teenager.

Hmm according to WND someone just put up for sale Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate on ebay. According to the article The seller has sold a lot of stuff on ebay. The seller says everyone in Kenya knows obama was born in Kenya. It didn’t take too much trouble to get a copy of the birth certificate there.

Jun 27, 2009 - 9:57 am 94. Charles:

Hmm according to WND someone just put up for sale Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate on ebay. According to the article The seller has sold a lot of stuff on ebay. The seller says everyone in Kenya knows obama was born in Kenya. It didn’t take too much trouble to get a copy of the birth certificate there.

Jun 27, 2009 - 9:59 am 95. Gary Rosen:

LOTM #85:

I used to play music for a living (still playing on weekends) and one of the bars in San Francisco I played was called “Ireland’s 32″. The reference is that Ireland “proper” (southern Ireland) has 26 counties while Northern Ireland has six counties. There was a room upstairs from the bar and people said the IRA held meetings there.

Jun 27, 2009 - 2:20 pm 96. Gary Rosen:

As for the media coverage of Jackson’s death, sure it’s fluff but he was a huge pop star, matched in the last half-century only by Elvis and the Beatles. If the MSM’s worst failing were the occasional obeisance to a megacelebrity like MJ, it would be a lot more forgiveable than its cynical slanted reporting of serious issues.

Jun 27, 2009 - 2:23 pm 97. Roderick Reilly:

“”"”"”Roderick – how on earth could that be proven? Did the boy testify to it because his mommy told him to? Did the DA have a video camera in the shower, and how would that be different from any sports team showering together? Were there Michael Jackson finger prints lifted off his sweet little pink buttocks?”"”"”"

NahnCee: Michael Jackson’s track record of questionable behavior with little boys is so long it should be run by Amtrak. OK?

My beef with the Michael Jacksons of the world, which includes the Elvis Presleys, the O.J. Simpsons, the Bobby Blakes, and the Phil Spectors, is that their personal corruption matters when it hurts other people, and the amount of rationalizing people do in order to “admire” whatever it is that they do or did well is “all that matters” is something I find pathetic and repugnant, OK?

I mean, here we are watching and commenting on a society, a polity, and a political and social class in America that is becoming more corrupt and powerful by the week, and it is precisely this unwillingness to put someone’s character first before their “accomplishments” that ought to matter. Michael Jackson was a corrupt, bizzare, dsigusting freak of a “man” who may have had a huge impact on popular culture, but who, when all is said and done, was of no great importance in the grand scheme of things.

Jun 29, 2009 - 12:52 pm

Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.