A rant about the Michael Jackson Trial

[Inte11ectual]

Recently I passed through Santa Maria, California on my way home from work. I drove by the county superior court house that I have seen many times in my life. But I saw one thing that I had never seen before. Dozens of cameras were set up. Impromptu news desks were set up all around. From across the street, spotlights shone on the court house (keep in mind that this was at 7 o'clock in the evening, long after Jackson and his entourage had left). I found myself thinking that this was one of the most ridiculous things I had ever seen. A washed-up pop singer from twenty years ago who has a strange ranch for children draws THIS much attention? It was odd seeing my home town on the CNN and NBC and all the other three-letter words that night. It was disheartening to find that more Americans were probably interested in hearing about the celebrity circus than about the more important current events of the day.

Then came the story that they don't tell you on the national news. To deal with the huge crowds drawn by Mr. Jackson, local police officers were pulled out of community anti-drug programs for the next few months. Because of one screwed up celebrity, dozens of children from three local schools will not receive any police sponsored anti-drug programs. I suppose where I'm going with this is that one celebrity should not capture the attention of everyone in the country. The obsession of this county's citizens with celebrity and the apparent apathy for politics absolutely disgusts me. Am I alone?

[KitchenWitch]

1. No you are not alone

Not to diminish the potential that Michael Jackson may indeed have molested those children (innocent until proven guilty - does that still work in this country?), but I think the larger crimes are being perpetrated on our citizens and the citizens of the world (particularly in Iraq) by the BFEE. I do not know how to do it, other than boycotting the MSM, but we NEED to reclaim the MSM and have them be accountable for reporting REAL news, not celebrity news.

[Old Mouse]

2. The problem is currently intractable

Our society has transformed into a freakish cult of celebrity worship. Celebrities and news-makers fulfill the same role here in the United States that religion and history do in a healthy society.

The top ten movie list is not a front page story, yet here it is reported more fatefully than the causality rate of our own troops. Even our politicians now promote their "product" in the same distribution channels as the entrainment industry.

The more we understand how we as a species form and maintain our complex social structure, the more we (should) realize generations of emotional bonding with fictional movie and television characters - rather than fostering real human relationships - has seriously damaged our priorities.

The story of a rich, psychologically malformed black entertainer possibly molesting one or two white boys is more important then one hundred thousand dead Iraqis, the impending environmental crisis, or the economic and democratic collapse of the nation?

It's not the molestation that keep people interested... a Police officer in San Jose arrested for molesting an 11 month old baby, and it's a side note in the back of the newspaper. It's the nose that slides off of the face.

[proudbluestater]

3. I think the corporate media is now in charge of deciding WHAT is news

and what isn't news. And they have their own agenda. It's not what the people want anymore that matters, it's what's economical to cover. How much does it cost to train a camera on an entrance door and have a media whore stand in front of the door all day, as opposed to, say send a person to Iran to report how the folks are feeling about the imminent invasion and attempt to bring LIBERTY to their country?

[Squeech]

4. Americans are passive consumers of media

We have so few ways to tell them what we want. This is probably the single most important reason to write letters to the editor: they're a way of "voting" for the stories we want to see covered.

And still there are more powerful forces acting against us, starting of course with the Chimpministration. With all the subtlety of the Wizard of Oz, and just as much smoke and mirrors, they thunder, "Trumpet the party line, lest we deny you ACCESS!" (I never did get what good it does to get more timely access to known, and thoroughly predictable, lies.)

The other point I ought to make is that Jackson himself pays large dollars to keep himself in the public eye. Back in the '90s he hired an expensive public relations firm to propagate the notion that he should be called "King of Pop," despite not having had a genuine hit in years. The thing is, he can't now shut off media attention like a spigot. "Be careful what you wish for," indeed.

[Vinca]

5. The news media should be ashamed, but they're not.

Throughout the last election cycle we were bombarded 24/7 with Scott Peterson. You never heard a peep about John Edwards, rarely about John Kerry, but always and endlessly Scott Peterson. If the trend continues, we'll probably go to war in Iran and none of us will ever hear about it because they'll be obsessed with the Jackson circus.

[ynksnewyork2]

6. There are news crews from

28 different countries!! This is a world event, not just a US trial.Of course it's a circus atmosphere, but look who's on trial!! He's brought this on himself and I'm glad that a jury will finally get to decide if he's a pedophile or just a freak.

[HamiltonHabs32]

7. this is the problem with the media today

The media will spend bundles on this story, countless resources are being used to 'report' what is going with the Jackson case, people I work with it is ALL THEY KNOW when it comes to current events.

Check out the Daily Show clip in the 2nd post on this page, Jon Stewart has a great Michael Jackson Rant.

http://metronewsnet.homelinux.com:81/boards/showthread.php?threadid=656

[Ezlivin]

8. One ray of good news, though

Because of one screwed up celebrity, dozens of children from three local schools will not receive any police sponsored anti-drug programs.

DARE programs are a colossal waste of money, while Michael Jackson is just a colossal waste of time.