Excellent post, ~e.

Many here are forgetting the influence Jackson had with regard to world events. The irony is astounding. He co-wrote "We are the World", drawing attention to problems in Africa to the general public. His Earth song is heralded widely as a precursor to the current rush of interest in the environment. And on and on.... He is known as one of the most prolific givers ever.

As for the pedophile comments - the two accusations fell flat. The psych professional involved in the case stated Jackson was not a pedophile. If one really paid attention to the facts at the time, and to comments made about possible reasons for Jackson's "weirdness", one would not dismissively lob the life-ruining label "child molester". (That is Limbaugh territory).

I'm deflated. I had thought Salon readers to be more intelligent.

Twelve days of mourning. When will it end? As soon as the media finds something or someone else to occupy their time, I guess. Reminding us about our troops in Afghanistan is a good place to start. They've been all but forgotten. Who will be the first journalist to bring this world back to reality?

my grandfather, who was not a great or even much of pleasant man, died in 1972.

the whole family mourned him even though there were hundreds of thousands innocent vietnames that had died at the hands of the USA.

is that wrong? should we not have mourned our imperfect grandfather because there were many others to mourn?

do we have some sort of limitation on our mourning so we can only mourn for a death at time and are therefore obligated to pick the most worthy recepient of our emotions? and who makes that call? you?

"Why mourn a self-destructive pedophile?

What disgusts me is that Jackson's death mania glosses over his sexual improprieties (whether full-blown rape or not) with children.

I think the first poster hit the nail on the head with the label "grief porn".

Back here in reality, people killed indiscriminately by the American war machine are substantively more due pity and grief than a recklessly self-destructive entertainer.

-- Ms. Anthropia"

When the media was covering carpet to carpet the deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and Natalie Halloway in Aruba, American young men and women were dying in Iraq. I tied hard to look for your anger at media's coverage then when our young men and women were dying but could not find anything. What changed? Oh, I remember, the women who died were beautiful young white women while Michael Jackson is a "race-confused" black man who looked like a monk...

Even though none of these beautiful white women can hold a candle to Michael Jackson in terms of global adoration, charity and humanitarian work, not even the lilly white Princess Dianna and even though he was acquitted of child molestation accusations,they represent everything we admire of our race whereas Michael Jackson, well.. We did not protest the media's incessant coverage of these white women that young men and women were dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are comfortable like Republican congressman Peter King to chide the media for giving too much coverage to a black man who we know for sure (because we actually witnessed him do it or have evidence the courts don't have) that he was a child molester and that the only reason the media is doing this while young americans are dying in Afghanistan is because of political correctness (afraid of the black man)

Well, all of you are correct in one thing; your race determines your anger towards the media's coverage of the black man, Michael Jackson,while you self-righteously became silent when the media covered wall to wall the death of these white women even though there was a war going on at that time. So, shut the f.vc.k up you sanctimonous hypocrites.

"@Oedipus Schmoedipus = "Stop Calling Him a Pedophile, Dammit"

Oh, boohoo forgive us for calling a pedophile a pedophile.

"Do you people understand the concept of 'acquittal'?"

Actually the delightful irony is that you clearly do not understand it.

"Evidently not, so here's a primer: When a person is tried for a crime and found innocent, that means they were 'acquitted.'"

No you clown, in the Anglo-American legal system it does not mean they are "innocent" merely 'not guilty'.

-- Ms. Anthropia"

And isn't it true that the same "Anglo-American legal" system sent innocent people to jail who thanks to DNA were released after being convicted of a crime the DNA unambiguously said they did not? You can dwell in semantic mumbo jumbo, but when the same legal system says you are not guilty you are as free as the "casing air" or your next door neighbor, regarldess of whatever morons like you selectively call it.

does anyone have the ability to judge one life more important than another? fame does change things. death is part of life. american culture is terribly unhealthy, here's another example.

what about americans dying from lack of health care, good food, safety...yeah, focus on another country instead of making a difference in your own backyard. well done!

also amazing that so many people are positive about how MJ spent his private time, when these folks weren't actually there as firsthand witnesses. does anyone remember that the first case was actually thrown out of court for lack of evidence?

Judgement. eek. good luck with that!

how would strangers judge your life?

What happened to being innocent until proven guilty? Michael Jackson was never convicted on any of the charges they tried to pin on him, he was a victim of extersion. He was a great humanitarian with a heart bigger than most people in this world and the best entertainer this world will ever have. No one will top his accomplishments. Michael did so much to help improve this world, he taught us to look at the man/woman in the mirror and start with changing ourselves, I for one was glad the media coverage was a great as it was and I watched every minute I could and was one of the thousands to attend the magnificant memorial service.