Pass the Jesus Juice

Quite frankly, I'm surprised by the outpouring of emotion over the death of Michael Jackson. I just don't get it.

I completely agree that 30 or 40 years ago, Jackson was a highly talented performer. For several years in the '80s, he certainly deserved the title "The King of Pop." And if he had died in, say, 1987, then I would have agreed that the world had suffered a huge cultural loss. But that was then and this is now. He was a man who had been given huge gifts, and then squandered them.

Over the last 20 some years, Jackson had become a joke. And whatever else his accomplishments may have been, I will forever remember Michael Jackson as a punchline.

Seriously, think back to how this man once dangled his kid over a hotel balcony. One little slip, and his son would have been dead. What the hell kind of a parent does that? And where was the outrage? Instead of condemning his actions, Jackson's fans laughed it off.

Then there were the sleepovers. A grown man sleeping with 13 year old boys? Especially when the grown man isn't even a Catholic priest? Sorry, but that goes well beyond the realm of just being creepy.

And don't even get me started on the Elephant Man remains, the oxygen tent (as Danny's comment on yesterday's post put it: "Guess the oxygen tent didn't help much"), and the whole Neverland Ranch amusement park/zoo thing. Sure, it was intended to appeal to kids, but parents, you'll have to wait outside while Jacko gets your little ones drunk on Jesus Juice.

Give me a frakking break.