The Michael Jackson saga...

[Jin-Roh]

msnbc.com

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY District Attorney Tom Sneddon, a man portrayed in the press as Jackson’s longtime nemesis, said in a statement that he would not file formal charges against the moon-walking entertainer until after Thanksgiving.
Jackson — who was whisked from Las Vegas to California and back just long enough to surrender to police, hand in his passport and post $3 million bail — was due in court for an arraignment on Jan. 9.
The self-proclaimed “King of Pop” has not spoken publicly since some 60 police officers stormed his ranch on Tuesday looking for evidence to substantiate the allegations of an unidentified young boy. Jackson said in a statement the allegations were outrageous lies and predicted he would be exonerated.
“Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons,” Jackson said, according to a written statement released by his publicist. “The truth will win this marathon in court.”
Jackson, who was seen shaking hands with well-wishers as his car was driven slowly through the streets of Las Vegas on Thursday night, is believed holed up in a hotel and spa outside the resort city, where he was making a music video for his latest album.
A general manager at the hotel said he could not comment on the performer’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile high-profile Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred said she would call on the Santa Barbara Department of Social Services to take away Jackson’s three young children in light of the allegations.
A spokesman for that agency declined to say if Jackson, who lives at his Neverland Valley Ranch in the hills above Santa Barbara, was being investigated.
Jackson’s arrest has riveted much of the nation and produced stunning pictures of one of the world’s best-known pop stars in handcuffs.

FALLING RECORD SALES
The mug shot taken of Jackson, posted on the sheriff’s Web site and widely circulated on the Internet, showed the 45-year-old singer in lipstick and eyeliner, his cheeks sunken, looking tense and haggard with long hair hanging over one eye.
Sneddon has said Jackson will be charged under a California law that defines molestation as “arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions or sexual desires of” the offender or a child under age. The charge carries a penalty of three to eight years in prison.
It was the second time in 10 years that such allegations have been made against the performer, who rose to fame as the young lead singer of the Jackson 5 during the 1960s, and made one of the best-selling albums of all time, 1982’s “Thriller.”
In August 1993, police launched a criminal probe after a 13-year-old boy told his therapist Jackson sexually molested him for four months.
The incident sent Jackson to the television airwaves to proclaim his innocence. He described a police interrogation as ”the most humiliating ordeal of my life” after detectives strip searched him to look for identifying marks on his genitals.
In January 1994, Jackson settled a civil suit filed by the boy’s family, and Sneddon’s office said they would not file criminal charges because the boy refused to testify.
But Jackson’s image never fully recovered and in recent years his record sales have fallen far short of his “Thriller” heyday. He has also struggled with mounting legal and financial woes and controversy surrounding his personal life has begun to overshadow his fame as a singer.

[Jin-Roh]

History has proven that even famous people go to jail.
Michael Jackson should probably bunker himself with a really good retirement plan. Even if he doesn't go to jail, I don't think he's going to remain very popular after this.

[elysian]

I imagine he will have the money-clout-influence-high profile to "pull an OJ"- but his popularity has steadily been going south since about the mid 1980's I would assume. It's a shame because he does have a beautiful voice, and even more of a shame because his family, in their exploitation and greed, played a large part in making him what he has become. (This isn't to say that he could not have made a decision to seek help to overcome his background though!)

I guess it's proof that having money-success-fame,as well as seeking surgical intervention to attempt to look like Liz Taylor, etc. don't buy happiness. It also reminds me of what happened to Howard Hughes- he became so paranoid and so eccentric that he literally destroyed himself. Michael's life and story can be seen as another cautionary tale.

[themuzicman]

His family made him white?!!??

[Rubia Warren]

I watched Jermaine Jackson in an interview the other night and he was basically calling for black americans to be outraged as well, because they were doing this out of racism against MJ and I thought... what the heck? They should be outraged that he, as a black man, turned himself into a WHITE LADY!!!!

[elysian]

I think he's trying to look like Liz Taylor. And I don't think his family actively said: "Michael we want you to look like Liz." I do think his family denied him his childhood and that he was abused. However we all have a choice as to what we do with our pasts: do we choose to do what we need to do to overcome our pasts and become healthy or do we simply allow ourselves to become more mired in garbage? His past does NOT exonerate him but it is laughable his family - who are partially to blame for the way he is- has the audacity to say anything.

[Undomiel]

Today @ 05:17 PM post located here
elysian:

I imagine he will have the money-clout-influence-high profile to "pull an OJ"- but his popularity has steadily been going south since about the mid 1980's I would assume. It's a shame because he does have a beautiful voice, and even more of a shame because his family, in their exploitation and greed, played a large part in making him what he has become. (This isn't to say that he could not have made a decision to seek help to overcome his background though!)

I guess it's proof that having money-success-fame,as well as seeking surgical intervention to attempt to look like Liz Taylor, etc. don't buy happiness. It also reminds me of what happened to Howard Hughes- he became so paranoid and so eccentric that he literally destroyed himself. Michael's life and story can be seen as another cautionary tale.

Yes, the caution is, don't ever become famous, because once you do, you are fodder for the press. While the rest of us enjoy the benefits of something approaching a fair trial, movie/musical stars are tried on the evening news with the reporters, journalists and vacillating and fickle public, as their judge and jury.

[elysian]

Today @ 04:05 PM post located here
Undomiel:



Yes, the caution is, don't ever become famous, because once you do, you are fodder for the press. While the rest of us enjoy the benefits of something approaching a fair trial, movie stars are tried on the evening news with the reporters, journalists and vacillating and fickle public, as their judge and jury.

It is true that it is far more difficult to get a fair trial when you are in the public eye. It is nearly impossible if you are poor and cannot afford the best attorneys money can buy. It easier for those in the public eye to get good legal representation- yet how many innocent (yet poor) people are wrongly convicted and incarcerated because of inadequate counsel? How many times has society simply winked and nodded at criminal behavior of the rich and famous?

Neither scenario is fair or just.

[Undomiel]

Today @ 09:26 PM post located here
elysian:



It is true that it is far more difficult to get a fair trial when you are in the public eye. It is nearly impossible if you are poor and cannot afford the best attorneys money can buy. It easier for those in the public eye to get good legal representation- yet how many innocent (yet poor) people are wrongly convicted and incarcerated because of inadequate counsel? How many times has society simply winked and nodded at criminal behavior of the rich and famous?

Neither scenario is fair or just.

I'll agree the impoverished have a hard time of it, of that there is no doubt. I think what bothers me about this scenario with Michael Jackson is, part of the reasoning being used for why most feel he should be investigated and incarcirated is nothing more than "He's weird." Since when has being eccentric equalled jail time? Ya know? I saw several people on the news state that his exceedingly odd behavior is one reason they'd like to see him dealt with, to find out if there's any truth to it. That to me is wrong. A person shouldn't be thought of as more guilty because they are unusual.

[Jin-Roh]

Well, I think the question is whether or not MJ's Behavior is actually harmful to himself or others.

[Undomiel]

Today @ 09:40 PM post located here
Jin-Roh:

Well, I think the question is whether or not MJ's Behavior is actually harmful to himself or others.

Yes but that's not what they are talking about for the most part. Instead their bringing up stuff he's done in the past, like dangling a baby doll over a balcony railing. That didn't even look like a real baby. It even had a blanket over its head, probably to conceal the fact it wasn't a real baby. Even so, there's the issue of his skin disease, his plastic surgery, his home that some seem to think indicates he thinks he's Peter Pan. Oh, well isn't that just peachy. We are going to prosecute Peter Pan. Something is just not right about all this, and I'm not entirely convinced Michael Jackson is the problem.

[Rubia Warren]

Today @ 03:33 PM post located here
Undomiel:



I'll agree the impoverished have a hard time of it, of that there is no doubt. I think what bothers me about this scenario with Michael Jackson is, part of the reasoning being used for why most feel he should be investigated and incarcirated is nothing more than "He's weird." Since when has being eccentric equalled jail time? Ya know? I saw several people on the news state that his exceedingly odd behavior is one reason they'd like to see him dealt with, to find out if there's any truth to it. That to me is wrong. A person shouldn't be thought of as more guilty because they are unusual.

I would say he has proven himself guilty by admitting that his favorite thing to do is share his bed, tuck little children in, etc. etc. and then trying to convince the world that it is a normal thing.
Look, the guy is very weird, but THAT is just... well....... SICK.

[Undomiel]

Today @ 11:34 PM post located here
r00bz:


I would say he has proven himself guilty by admitting that his favorite thing to do is share his bed, tuck little children in, etc. etc. and then trying to convince the world that it is a normal thing.
Look, the guy is very weird, but THAT is just... well....... SICK.

Err, where'd you read this? And were those his exact words? That he likes to share his bed with little kids?

[Rubia Warren]

And to show you what I mean, I am starting a thread to see if other men do the same.

[Undomiel]

See I'm currently under the assumption that what's really happening is the world has become an increasingly evil place, so much so, we are beginning to see phantoms under every rug and in every closet. This is exaggerated by the press, who will screw anybody for a juicy bit of poopoo against a celebrity. We all like a good colleseum event. Thusly why I'm leary of saying the guy is guilty before he's even been proven to be so.