Michael Jackson

If you are to pick one thing that is wrong with America, I would start with the Michael Jackson story that has developed over this past week. His untimely death has certainly dominated the news cycles. While you were moon walking, American troops pulled out of Iraqi cities while sectarian violence escalated; there was a coup in Honduras that overthrew a left wing president who was acting in violation of the Honduran Supreme Court orders stating he could not run for a third term and to vacate the office; and the House of Representatives passed the Cap and Trade bill which will raise the cost of utilities in all of our houses by as much as $1800.00/year.

Michael Jackson was a great entertainer. In his earlier years, I was a fan. But over the years he came to represent all that is wrong with America. His celebrity became a tragic joke filled with unending cosmetic surgery destroying his face and body; the whitening of his skin; his obsession with toys personified at the Neverland Ranch; his alleged sexual abuse of young children; his strange marriages; his pseudo-progeny that were fathered and mothered in a Petri dish with unknown sperm and egg and donors; his excessive spending; and his abuse of drugs. To top it off, Jamie Fox went on a racist diatribe at a BET event where he made it clear that Michael Jackson belonged to the blacks. And I am tired of that.

As talented as Michael Jackson was, this was not a life to be celebrated. One can feel bad for the loss of the music and a wasted talent. One can wonder what his life could have produced had he been half way normal. But at the end of the day, he was a total whack job that was fueled by misplaced American adulation, and his life ended early at age 50.

The list of pop entertainers whose lives were cut short by abusive living is unending: Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley Judy Garland, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Jimmy Hendrix and Janice Joplin to name a few. These are all sad stories, and while their talent should be celebrated, their lives should not. We should learn from their tragedy. In each case, their celebrity outshone common sense in evaluating what kind of legacy they left to us.

I will continue to listen to Michael Jackson’s music. It was and is terrific. But I have turned off the 24/7 all Jackson all day reporting. What I hope America learns from him is how NOT to live. He is the single biggest example of what is wrong with our culture and our misplaced values. I truly hope that God takes him to a place of peace, where his music will shine on its own merit. In the meantime, I think America can do better than him as an icon.