How about burn in Hell…..cause that’s exactly what he’s probably doing.

I realize the things I am about to say might upset some people. I’m fine with that. If you are offended by my remarks then you are probably just the type of intellectually vacant societal parasite that I have no interest in knowing anyway. I am at a crossroads in my life where I have finally decided to lay it all out there, consequences be damned. What others think is irrelevant. Political correctness just sucks us deeper into the abyss.

It’s been a rough week in the pop culture realm. I’ve always heard death happens in threes, and this week saw the passing of three entertainment icons…..Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. It is this last death that we will concentrate upon for the moment.

Michael Jackson was only 50 years old and he keeled over, apparently of a heart attack. We’ll get to the “apparently” part a bit later.

I was as surprised as anyone by his sudden death. It made me wistful for my childhood. As a child of the 1980’s Michael Jackson is a fixture burned indelibly into my memory. I can’t honestly say I was a huge fan, but I was somewhat of a fan. I bought Thriller. I liked Billie Jean, Beat It, Man in the Mirror, and some other tunes. I may have even owned one white sequined glove at some point. There is no disputing the fact that the man was a very talented entertainer.

But sometime during my night of slumber immediately following the news of Jackson’s demise, something began to seethe inside my soul. My reaction segued from nostalgia to irritation.

What I am really struggling with is the knee jerk reaction to his death, the one where everyone wants to put him up on some sort of pedestal. The masses are conveniently forgetting that this is the same man who underwent so much plastic surgery that he became unrecognizable in comparison to what he looked like naturally, was accused of child molestation multiple times, and engaged in other bizarre behaviors. Some stories, such as him sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber or buying the bones of The Elephant Man, were urban legends. However, they were rumors fed to the drive-by media by Jackson himself, ultimately making the truth not that much less peculiar. The pedophilia all by itself is enough for me to disregard the man. I am a believer in the old idiom “where there’s smoke there’s fire”, so while it is true that Michael Jackson was never convicted of a crime it seems more than likely that he engaged in atleast some nefarious activities. On top of all that the man was reportedly $400 million dollars in debt at the time of his death. Yes…you read that right…..$400 MILLION. That’s insane. How exactly does one dig a hole that deep?? Also, as alluded to earlier, the cause of death is “allegedly” a heart attack. I quotation-mark that because there are some rumblings that drugs may have been a factor. Michael Jackson had some history with substance abuse, so it is not an outlandish theory. Time will tell of course, after all the autopsy and toxicology reports have been completed. But for now we have a man being put up on a pedestal, being celebrated…..a man who not only likely violated children in some fashion, who apparently died not just broke but ridiculously in debt, but also a man who, despite a life of unimaginable fame and fortune, may have died just like a common ordinary junkie. I am aware of people in my own realm who desperately want to break their drug addiction but cannot afford the relatively small expenses incurred by enrolling in a Christian based treatment program with an enormously successful track record, so excuse me if I can’t seem to find much pity for The King of Pop, someone who could have gotten the best treatment available anywhere in the world but chose not to.

Back in 1997 Princess Diana and Mother Teresa died within days of one another. I don’t have exact statistics, but I clearly recall that the media coverage of Diana’s demise was overwhelming, lasting for several days. In comparison Mother Teresa was barely talked about. That was a watershed moment for the “mainstream” press, one that all involved should forever be ashamed of. Princess Diana, while certainly a charitable and kind humanitarian, was simply a pop culture icon. Mother Teresa was…..well…..Mother Teresa. She was literally a modern day saint. Yet the media and its complicit sheep spent endless hours practically deifying someone whose greatest achievement was marrying well. Something similar seems to be happening now.

As for Michael Jackson…..he’s dead, and I’m truly sorry for that…..sorry for his family, friends, and fans. His music will and should live on. But let’s not lose perspective, something we as a population do all too easily.