Michael Jackson: A Few Words To The Contrary

Once again, I'm confronted with a dichotomy between private tragedy and public grief. As I wrote last week, I have a close friend in the hospital with a brain tumor. This is someone I've known for almost twenty years; we've been co-workers, friends, and like brothers for nearly all that time. We've all been very worried and praying hard for his recovery, and yesterday his condition was upgraded to stable; he seems to be on his way back to making a recovery.

On the flip side, we have the worldwide outpouring of grief for Michael Jackson. I don't think there's a sentient being in the inner Solar System who is unaware that the self-styled "King of Pop" died Thursday at the age of 50--and the tears, the sobbing, the rending of clothes and gnashing of teeth heard around the planet is deafening. Crowds of people massing in cities around the world moonwalking in the streets and celebrating his life, statements of condolence from notables ranging from President Obama and Nelson Mandela to Elizabeth Taylor and Donald Trump, from Diddy and Usher to Paul McCartney; anonymous people wailing, screaming, and generally losing their fucking minds on YouTube over Jackson's death, prisoners in a Filipino prison staging a mass performance of "Thriller" today in Jackson's honor, and even the internet itself slowing to a crawl as news of his passing swept the planet.

The circumstances surrounding his death are, typically for Jackson, suspicious and mysterious. Why did he have a live-in cardiologist? To what extent--because there is no doubt about it--were prescription narcotics a factor in his demise? But the real issue to me is the impact his life had on others, and the disproportionate amount of grief exhibited at his passing. You'd think that MJ was the Messiah, the Mahdi, and the Second Coming of Jesus all rolled into one, to listen to the crap on both the MSM and the internet! Somebody please tell me, what the hell did he do to really help people? Besides the usual crap of "his music made me feel good!" "His songs were my life!", and other such tripe. Did he ever go to Iraq to entertain the troops? Did he ever give a free concert for AIDS or breast cancer research? How about a donation to the United Negro College Fund, or to UNICEF? Yes, he did many acts to help children, but we know (or can guess) what that was really about. And how much more mileage can he get out of "We Are The World," anyway? That was twenty years and several noses ago! More importantly, did Jackson ever publicly admit his pedophilia and seek help?

Of course, the answer to all of these questions is a resounding "HELLL NO!" Michael Jackson was, in truth, an enormously rich, childishly irresponsible, self-indulgent, drug-addicted, self-hating, and sexually perverted individual, who pissed away literally hundreds of millions of dollars in the pursuit of self-satisfaction, and legal defense of his perversions. Could anyone else have his penis described in detail by a child, settle out of court, and not go to jail? Could your average person--hell, your average multimillionaire--have so many plastic surgeries that they no longer looked human, yet be accepted and adored by millions around the world? Could anyone else walk into a high-end jeweler or automobile dealer, and walk out with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cars or jewelry without paying for it, never pay for the goods at all, be sued for them, and then be able to repeat this performance over and over again?

Yes yes yes, I know: the privileges of fame. And Jackson was not alone in this behavior (*cough* MC Hammer), although he was one of the most celebrated examples of it. And before you call me a Jackson hater, let me say that I too grew up on his music, and enjoyed his songs and performances. But being an entertainer, in my mind, does not nearly compare to the contributions that a teacher, a doctor, a scientist, or an educator make to humanity. Michael Jackson may have spent nearly as much money on cars, clothes, real estate, jewelry, and "toys" (such as his own private amusement park, complete with elephants) as the dictator of a small banana republic, but what did he really give to the world, besides transient entertainment and lifetime employment for an army of lawyers?

The manner in which popular culture idolizes, acclaims, and obsessively tracks the lifestyles of the rich and famous is an old target, and criticizing the disproportionate attention given to media stars can make the speaker seem like a cranky, jealous curmudgeon. However, the old saw about "a coarsening of culture" has some truth to it. Celebrating and excusing the egregious, even criminal behavior of some music and movie stars, disproportionately glorifying them out of all bounds and continuing to support their behavior through the purchase of their products, their music and movies, does nothing for the common good, and makes despicable behavior seem common. People, please--he was just a singer and dancer! An enormously talented one, true, and a ground-breaking performer, but does anyone remember exactly what he did with his fame? Besides his victims?

Bill Wyman wrote yesterday in Salon:

In the obituaries, writers will savor Jackson's talents, which were unquestioned; his ambition, which was otherworldly and a thing of awe; and his heyday, which lasted really just a few years, and encompassed perhaps two and a half albums. Others will reflect on the tragedies visited upon him and those he visited on others.

I think it's fair to classify Kurt Cobain's death as one brought on by medical problems, specifically the roiling interaction of depression and addiction. Jackson's death is in this sense more purely a suicide, just as Elvis Presley's was some three decades ago. Like Presley, Jackson at some point stepped through a door, closed it, and turned the key. What went on behind the door we'll never know.

A suicide, yes, but an assisted one, I believe. When I compare the pleasure his music gave to me and others to the damage he caused in his life, I can come to no other conclusion than this: MJ was an enormous talent, and a gigantic asshole. And as for our society, which idolizes and excuses individuals like him, that makes us all assholes, too.


UPDATE:
A reader corrects my assertion that Jackson made few donations to charity; apparently, at one time he actually set a record for the most charities supported by a pop star, donating to 39 separate organizations and foundations. However, I believe in noblesse oblige, the idea that "with wealth, power and prestige come responsibilities." The fact that Michael Jackson donated some of his enormous wealth to charity is an expectation for me, not a reason for praise.

Hiking Where?

I've been preoccupied with my friend's health issues - which by the way, have taken a turn for the worse - for the last several days, so I've been away for all the recent fun. The situation in Iran, the fight for real health care, and the Obama Administration's betrayal of the LGBT community all deserve lengthier, more thoughtful pieces than I have time for right now, so it comes down to Mark Sanford - oh joy! And no one expressed it better than an anonymous poster at DailyKos:

It was a slight miscommunication between Sanford and his staff. He told them he'd be "spiking some Argentina tail," and they thought he'd said, "hiking the Appalachian trail." It was an honest mistake. I think they handled it well...family values and all.

Please keep my buddy in your prayers, folks, please.

A Health Insurance Tale

I have a close friend with some serious health problems right now. He's been healthy as a horse all his life, but now he's nearly blind from a (thankfully) benign brain tumor. He's also without health insurance; as a financial services professional, he's recently been turned out on the street with thousands of others who also were recently employed in that industry. An operation to remove the tumor and hopefully restore his sight is scheduled for later this week; we're all praying for a successful outcome.

What I want to know is, why is this man, who's been a productive citizen all his life, who has never had any serious health issues prior to this incidence, is without health insurance at the very moment that he needs it most? Why can't we get a public health insurance system like France or Canada? Why is this lie about "the government getting between you and your doctor" being spread by Republicans? And why are those self-same Republicans, who enjoy gold-plated, government-sponsored health insurance, so resistant to him and others like him getting similar coverage?


"They're not blind, they're evil. They see just fine." --A displaced New Orleans resident after Hurricane Katrina, cited in The Shock Doctrine

It Must Be Something In The Water

What an asshole:

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A state Republican activist has admitted to and apologized for calling a gorilla that escaped from the Riverbanks Zoo Friday an "ancestor" of First Lady Michelle Obama.

A screen capture of the comment, made on the Internet site Facebook, was obtained by FITSNews, the website of South Carolina politico Will Folks.

The image shows a post by an aide to state Attorney General Henry McMaster describing Friday morning's gorilla escape at Columbia's Riverbanks Zoo.

Longtime SCGOP activist and former state Senate candidate Rusty DePass responded with the comment, "I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."

DePass told WIS News 10 he was talking about First Lady Michelle Obama.

Then has this to say, by way of an "apology":

We spoke with DePass over the phone Friday night. He said, "I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone. The comment was clearly in jest."

You know, that entire state is just a refuge for the ignorant, incompetent, racist, and sexist.

Best Snark of the Week

Margaret Carlson: "Charles and Diana of the Klondike," referring to Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston at the RNC Convention last year in St. Paul.

The Insanity Is Spreading

You'll remember that Department of Homeland Security report back in April, that predicted a rise in rightwing extremism. Remember how the wingnuts went berserk, crying how the report slandered good, honest folks like themselves? They forced DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to apologize not once, but twice! Well, it looks like they were right, and damn all the wingnut howling that happened at the time.

Yesterday's shooting at the Holocaust Museum seems to be a textbook example of exactly what the report warned against. The shooter, James Von Brunn, has a well-documented affiliation with far-right groups; his own website is testament to his sick, irrational mind. Sounds just like what DHS was talking about, right? Wrong!--according to FatAss Limbaugh, Randall Terry, and similar ilk. "He's a leftist!" they're all proclaiming today.

I have to say: "what the fuck?" How in hell do they figure that a nutcase whose sig line is "Heil Hitler!" is a leftist, or influenced by liberal ideology? Easy: shame and denial. Rabblerousing assholes like Limbaugh ,O'Reilly, Hannity and Coulter have been cozying up to the American Taliban for years, and now they're ashamed of what their pandering has wrought, and earnestly want the blame to be put elsewhere. What else can they say, that they really like guys like Roeder and Von Brunn, that they themselves believe the same as the nutters believe, that Obama is a secret Muslim-Jewish conspirator/tool, that the federal government is secretly in league with the Illuminati and the Jews to control the world? Not in public--or ever!--will they say that. Not where a camera can capture their true feelings, or where they can be arrested. So they put the blame on someone else. It's easier than taking some of the responsibility for tragedies like yesterday's.

We've seen over and over again how the true feelings of racist, sexist white men are revealed under feelings of disenfranchisement and stress. From the whining and lies told about Judge Sotomayor to the insane rantings of Glen Beck, from wingnut "birthers" doubting the veracity of President Obama's birth certificate to Ann Coulter wanting to convert all Muslims to Christianity at the point of a sword, to the extreme hatred of assassins like Scott Roeder and James Von Brunn--it's everywhere lately, and it all stems from the same line of reasoning, best described as:"The coloreds and bitches are taking what's mine, and I'm keeping my sense of privilege come hell or high water!" Even if they don't have anything, if they lack material or spiritual success in the world. Especially if they don't have anything. But God forbid that anyone other than a white male should aspire to anything that doesn't involve a shovel or a cooking pot. Those positions belong to them by right of birth!

With the election of Barack Obama and the solidification of the Democratic party's hold on political power, they're feeling threatened. They see a multicultural/multigendered tide threatening to overwhelm the fantasy America they hold dear in their fevered minds. They feel that the country is "slipping away" from them, a point made several times nightly on Fox, on Limbaugh's radio show, on a whole host of far-right, christian Taliban media outlets. They blame "those others" for the disappointments in their lives, ignoring the fact that they were born white, male and Christian in America; so if anything's wrong in their lives, as my father used to say, then it's their own damn fault. Instead they blame "the others," and mourn for a country that never existed, where free white men did as they pleased and made America great (excepting, of course, all the African-American, Chinese, Native American, Irish, Italian, Latino, and Jewish men and women just standing around in the background like scenery). It's a delusion, a sickness, and they almost should be pitied--but I have none for them.

Make no mistake, the wingnut pundits and their followers with their fevered longings for a past that never was, and the crazed shooters killing innocents, are fellow travellers on the same path to hell. Stoking the sense of lost privilege, encouraging feelings of betrayal and false entitlement, the extreme-right talking heads like Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, and others daily deny objective reality and reassure and embolden the lunatic fringe in their audience. The madmen like Roeder and Von Brunn listen, and it spurs them into taking action for their lunatic "cause." Does that make these yammering wingnuts any different from the gunmen, and any less culpable for their deeds? I say no. The sentiments are the same, it's just that a lone wolf assassin like Roeder or Von Brunn is more advanced in his sickness than others like Limbaugh and O'Reilly, and has less to lose. Limbaugh has a $400 million contract, Von Brunn was reportedly having severe financial difficulties. Still, you don't shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater, and you don't encourage nuts to take a shot at someone because their lives didn't work out as they'd planned.

Spreading divisiveness and fear for the sake of ratings and financial success is contemptible. Encouraging and tacitly supporting the racism, sexism, and hatred of your most rabid followers is despicable. Doing so, and then denying that you have any responsibility for the actions of your crazed listeners is simply cowardly. And celebrating evil is just that--evil itself.

Stormfront, Operation Rescue, and other rightwing fringe organizations have been having paroxysms of joy the last week or so on their websites, after the recent events in Wichita and D.C.. The Rude Pundit is right when he says "Somewhere in southern Idaho, they're already building a statue to that motherfucker." For the rest of us, might I suggest lighting a candle, and shining some more light into the darkness.

Jon Voight's Lost His Damn Mind

"Soft-spoken Julius Caesar"? "This false prophet Obama"? What the hell? The man's lost it. Nothing but envy, hatred, and fear-mongering. Look for him as a co-host with Glen Beck in the near future.

Is it psycho talk? Damn right! Watch Ed Schultz rake Voight over the coals for his bullshit: