Musings about Michael

I doesn't really float my boat if Michael Jackson was found innocent or not, but I'd have to say I am a little surprised about the verdict, to be found not guilty on all 10 counts.

A friend said yesterday "Look, we weren't at the trial and 12 people deliberated and found him not guilty". This is true, since I am never on the jury of any celebrity trial. He claims that the media does a wonderful job of making negative news out of everything.

Just before the verdict was announced, Fox News said: "This is a conservative town, with a conservative jury, 8 women with children and one a former victim of child abuse", so I was further surprised by the verdict.

Another friend said that Michael wanted to open a Disney like amusement park in Singapore or Malaysia and considering MJs relationship with children, it would have been too big of a thing and millions, if not billions of dollars would have left the US and so, Disney and others wanted to bring him down. Sounds like an X-files conspiracy, I love it. He also says, the music studios take an unknown, make a star out of him, but then they do their best to control him and Jackson was too big to handle.

But here's the thing: We live in an environment right now where child abuse is a very hot topic these days, what with the Catholic Church's scandals, a planned community in Texas which wants to ban all child molesters, passed, present and future and convicted child molesters, even when they do jail time, can't find anywhere to live.

When children are called to the stand, especially the youngest ones, they can easily be manipulated by their parents and lawyers in suits. Kids get frightened and will practically say what ever they are told to say. I don't how old the accusing kid was, but as they get older, their testimony can be put under greater scrutiny.

But times are getting pretty tense. A woman gets nailed for child abuse for spanking her kid in public, a father goes to jail for refusing to provide cancer therapy (religion vs the state and child), etc.

Here in Nevada, our summers get quite hot and there has been a number of cases of children being left in a hot car, even for a moment, while mom and dad run in the store for a pack of smokes. There is an Assembly Bill becoming law in October that will make this a misdemenor.

I was in Einsteins deli last summer getting a sandwhich and a guy was ahead of me in line. It was a hot day, and a woman came in and yelled "Who left their kid in the car". The guy said its mine and the woman was ready to call 911. Paranoia or protection?

So, someone has to tell Michael Jackson that a 47 year old man who sleep with boys is officially frowned upon. Considering he had another lawsuit in 1993. Ok, he is a celebrity and gold diggers and hangers on are part of the deal (not that I would know), but it is time for Michael to grow up and start using his head and common sense when it comes to kids.