Another entry in my continuing Why Are Republicans So Mean?
The latest comes from Peter King, member of Congress, from New York. He’s denounced Michael Jackson as a “pervert," a "pedophile," and a “child molester”.
Jackson was found not guilty of child molestation charges. King is entitled to his opinion about that, and whether Jackson is a “pervert". The real question is why did Rep. King feel the necessity to speak out about this now?
The world is still mourning the death of Jackson – or, at least, that part of the world that found deep resonance with his creative work, and that seems like a large part of the world, indeed. Jackson has not yet been laid to rest, and the Staples memorial for him will take place tomorrow in Los Angeles.
Why did Rep. King feel the need to disparage Jackson publicly right now? Why not wait until this public mourning period is over? Whatever happened to the humane notion of a decent interval, after someone’s death, to withhold criticism, let alone such vehement denunciations?
The answer, I’m sorry to say, is that some – not all – Republicans seem to lack a sense of decency, and indeed humanity. At times like this, it seems you can always count on a Republican, somewhere, to go to the gutter, and say the vile thing.
7 comments:
Well said and I agree with you, Prof. Personally, the vultures circling out there regarding Michael Jackson are making me sick.
Uppermost in my mind are three innocent children who are crying for their loved one and whose lives are now in chaos. So tragic.
This probably won't help, but as someone who's not American, and therefore, I am WAY to the left of Republican, when I hear the words "Michael Jackson", my brain translates to "paedophile" and "child molester" fairly automatically. It also substitutes the words "freak", "over-hyped" and "not as good as Prince".
My brain has been making these substitutions for many years now. Unlike most of the rest of the world, his death hasn't made me forget what a screwed-up weirdo he was.
It puzzles me as to why you equate someone's politics with their opinion on Michael Jackson. Like I say, I would align myself along the liberal/socialist leaning, but I thought he was an idiot.
I enjoy the rest of your blog and I'm sad to say that all the Michael sycophancy saddens me.
It's sad that a once-talented kid managed to screw his life up so badly, but, let's face it, that happened a decade ago, so it's a it late to cry over spilt milk.
The real sadness is that his kids probably won't have any money due to his mis-management of his own affairs.
PS...
I am fairly drunk at the moment, so my previous comment is unduly rambling.
But it is honest in essence.
Drunk or not, you're responsible for what you write.
And I'd be interested to know where you find I what I say about Jackson "sycophantic" - I give rational reasons and evidence for everything I wrote.
And speaking of evidence - do you have any that Jackson was guilty of the charges of child molestation? Or do you just believe everything you hear on television?
PS to PT - As to why I connect Peter King's statements to his being Republican, see my original post Why Are Republicans So Mean? (linked in the first line of this post). King's attitude is, alas, part of a cruel, lack of compassionate, pattern.
Whether or not Michael Jackson was truly a pedophile, the sad truth is for the last 20+ years, he'd been known more for bizarro tabloid-style behavior than for his music. It's a shame, because he truly was talented, even if his music wasn't to my taste.
But really, from dangling his baby over a railing to his addiction to plastic surgery, I don't really see much to admire in Michael Jackson. And I get annoyed when the media starts to canonize dead celebrities. MJ was a deeply flawed individual who was his own worst enemy. His personal demons destroyed his musical career.
But having said that, I have to wonder why King felt the need to publicly comment on Jackson's death. My response as a non-fan has been to simply ignore the hype and let his fans mourn in their own way.
As a public figure, King looks like he's just pissing on a grave to get media attention.
Hi Paul, mmh I've always considered that those of a conservative mindset are constantly trying to figure out ways of getting attention back on them. How easy is it to do when the person you're attacking is both dead and was a little odd? Fairly unkind though, don't you think? If King was worthy of attention he would be getting it via his own creative outputs, not by having a go at someone else. Purely Australian sort of view though. I think you're right, the republican position like the Liberal position here (read conservative) is usually inherently mean-spirited and often downright spiteful.
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