So I don't know if anybody else heard this, but apparently Michael Jackson died! No, really!
Briefly--gifted entertainer, gifted singer who squandered his gift by destroying his nose (no, really! When I took voice lessons I learned all about how the voice resonates in the nose. That's why the silky-smooth vocals of "she's out of my life" were replaced by that growly thing he did in his late career.), wrote a handful of great songs, and I suspect that Quincy Jones was the actual musical genius involved in those records.
Many people have been glossing over the child molestation charges, stressing that he was never found guilty.
I feel he was guilty anyway, and here's why:
1.) People only continue doing things (such as sleeping in the same bed as a kid when you've already been accused of child molestation) that could destroy their lives for three reasons: money, drugs, or sex. MIchael only stood to lose money from his child-cuddling antics, so that's out; he had ready access to drugs and didn't need kids for that. That leaves sex.
2.) A year ago, I was empaneled on a Suffolk County jury in a child molestation case. I won't share all the details because it was a really depressing day, but we heard testimony from a kid, now 16, who was 13 when the alleged abuse took place. The defense attorney offered up the following defense: "Here's his work schedule; you can see that he wasn't at home 100% of the time during the month in question." I kid you not! It was basically no defense at all! But the kid didn't have his dates straight, because apparently he didn't run right home and put a dated entry in his journal about the creepy neighbor who molested him.
After hearing the testimony and the laughable defense, I was ready to go send the perv away. And then I got picked as the alternate. I had to sit alone in a room for an hour and a half while the people on the jury argued. Eventually they returned a not guilty verdict. I was stunned, and I asked one of the jurors what the hell they were thinking. "We felt she didn't really prove her case," they said, referring to the ADA. I guess they just didn't understand the rules of evidence, because the kid's testimony was evidence and therefore enough to convict. But I guess these numbskulls wanted a blue dress or some other corroborating evidence that wasn't there in this case.
My point is this: this guy was acquitted on what seemed like an open-and-shut case to me, and he didn't have a high-priced lawyer and offered almost no defense at all. How much harder must it be to convict someone with the resources of a best-selling pop star at his disposal?
There's an interesting question here about how we divorce art from the character of the artist, but I'm tired of the whole thing. So let me just say I hope the children that Michael Jackson victimized get some peace from moonwalking across his grave.
