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Posted by on Mar 5, 2019 in Blog, Essays, Politics | 2 comments

Is Michael Jackson’s Legacy Ruined Forever?

 

 

After HBO’s devastating documentary “Leaving Neverland” exposed the late Michael Jackson as a serial pedophile, what should we make of his legacy?  Might everything associated with him now become toxic?  Or, will the Jackson epochal circus roll on and continue bringing in the cash?

 

Michael Jackson was bad.

Any lingering shreds of confidence in the icon’s self-proclaimed innocence were obliterated by a devastating four-hour documentary, “Leaving Neverland,” which aired on HBO.  It was the equivalent of smashing a crystal vase with a sledgehammer.

For the first time ever, two of Michael Jackson’s child-victims were interviewed on camera.  They appeared not only to be thoroughly credible.  They also produced physical evidence of what happened to them at the ages of 10 and 7, respectively.  Their recounts of sexual abuse were corroborated by an unmistakable timeline of events.  Moreover, the repeated acts weren’t just an aberration or a drunken fling.  The abuse was ongoing.  It was deliberate.  It was planned.  It was explicit.  It was nauseating.

The two victims, now young men in their early 30’s, bravely described countless sex acts with the late entertainer in excruciatingly graphic detail.  I couldn’t help but admire them for speaking out and for their willingness to share such painful memories in front of millions of viewers certain to watch the show.  Their testimony should be a final calamitous blow to Michael Jackson and everything associated with his legacy.  Deservedly so.

Or, will it?

Michael Jackson reportedly earns more dead than alive.  The deceased entertainer’s boundless business empire remains insanely lucrative, having acquired the rights to a vast catalog of music and the beneficiary of innumerable licensing agreements worldwide which continue to rake in bundles of cash for the use of Michael Jackson’s iconic image, his songs, and his creative endowment.  Here in Las Vegas, there’s even an entire Cirque du Soleil show devoted to Michael Jackson.

There was Elvis.  Then, The Beatles.  Then, Michael Jackson.

So, what happens now?

How are we to react both individually and collectively speaking when one of Michael Jackson’s songs gets played somewhere out in public?  What’s the appropriate reaction to seeing a Michael Jackson impersonator perform onstage?  Does any major company now want to be associated with a serial pedophile who performed hundreds of sex acts with elementary school boys in the closed confines of Neverland, which now appears to have been devoted entirely to intoxicating children into a vulnerable state?  The giraffes, the merry-go-round, the chimp — they were used selfishly by Michael Jackson to lure boys into the bedroom.  Neverland is like the Playboy Mansion, only for a pedophile.

The entire place should be bulldozed.

Indeed, Michael Jackson deserves to be pegged someplace in-between Harvey Weinstein and John Wayne Gacy.  Say what you will about Weinstein’s petty perversions, who pursued his greedy fantasies with mostly younger women of adult age.  And say something else about Gacy, who was gay and murdered lots of young men, also of adult age.  Jackson not only had a sick thing for little boys, he selfishly pursued his perversions, manipulated his victims, and shamelessly used is power and privilege to bed kiddies.

Anyone with any association to Michael Jackson should be in hyper-crisis mode right now.

How the mega-MGM corporation, which owns Mandalay Bay can continue to rake in profits from a show which essentially pays homage to Michael Jackson is baffling.  It will be quite interesting to see what action, if any, the entertainment conglomerate takes after revelations have now been corroborated that the gloved weirdo with his image plastered across 30 floors of a hotel skyscraper probably deserved to be locked up behind bars for life for his crimes, if he was still alive.

I don’t want to hear any of Michael Jackson’s music, anymore.  At least not now.  I don’t want to see his face or his silhouette.  I won’t buy any products which use his music or his image.  I don’t care how fucking talented he was, or how much money he makes for unscrupulous morally-indifferent investors.  Michael Jackson and his legacy deserve to be shunned and treated as poison.

Then and now, given the gravity of his influence upon generations of adoring worshippers, it may be impossible to totally ignore Michael Jackson as a musician, performer, and monumental titan of influence.  But we must try.

We can’t put Michael Jackson on trial and lock him up for his terrible crimes against children because he’s dead.  However, one thing we can do is treat him as persona non grata.  A castaway.

Justice demands it.

__________

 

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Posted by on Feb 17, 2019 in Blog, Essays, Politics, What's Left | 0 comments

Prosecute Jussie Smollett to the Fullest Extent of the Law

 

 

Why is there any sympathy for Jussie Smollett?

The television star’s incendiary allegations that he’d been the victim of an ugly racial attack imploded yesterday.  His story fell apart.  It was apparently, all an act.

Smollett had claimed he was assaulted on a downtown Chicago street by pro-Trump racists wearing red MAGA hats while walking late at night.  His allegations sounded implausible from the start.  That’s the reason so many of us sympathetic to the victims of hate crimes took a “wait and see” approach to the alleged incident.  Not that racially-motivated and homophobic attacks like the one described by the TV actor don’t happen in America.  Yes, they do.  It’s just that so many pieces of Smollett’s case didn’t seem to add up.

Admittedly, I’d never heard of Jussie Smollett until this controversy.  He’s the co-star of a popular hit television show, Empire.  Based on a persistent and often feisty social media presence, Smollett, who is a gay Black man, has been described as an outspoken activist.

Investigators now believe the attack on Smollett was a fabrication.  It was staged.  If this proves to be true, he’s about to become the new Tawana Brawley.  Recall, she’s the despicable young girl who accused multiple police officers of a brutal gang rape thirty years ago, sparking national outrage.  Eventually, a thorough investigation found that she made the whole thing up.

Although there are clear parallels in the two cases, there are also significant differences.  Brawley was a poor Black girl with little education.  Not that she deserved any slack but let’s also remember:  Brawley was a minor, just 15 when she claimed she’d been raped by four men.  At least there were grounds for understanding what happened in the Brawley case.  The girl lived in an abusive household, feared severe punishment for staying out late one night, and made up her story as an excuse.

Smollett has no excuses for fabricating his criminal conspiracy.  He’s a relatively affluent, seemingly intelligent man, with a highly-successful career and — until this moment — a very bright future.  Inventing such a far-fetched story makes absolutely no sense, nor has any justification whatsoever.

Accordingly, Jussie Smollett should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The Chicago Police Department spent a countless number of hours on this case which began three weeks ago.  Law enforcement dedicated considerable manpower to their investigation.  Dozens of people were interviewed.  Businesses with surveillance cameras were summoned to provide any evidence of a crime.  Hence, police wasted considerable time and effort chasing an invisible rabbit down a hole.  These pointless efforts reduced the precious resources available that might otherwise have been allocated elsewhere in Chicago, which does have a serious crime problem.  If dozens of police officers were out rabbit hunting Smollett’s false claims, that’s less law enforcement on the streets, and by consequence, more incidents of unsolved crime.  Smollett has done a terrible thing, and now he should pay for it.

But the real victims of Smollett’s deception (if eventually proven), are all those people from lesser backgrounds with little money, fame, or power who must live in constant fear and have to endure pervasive racism and homophobia in their daily lives.  They don’t have Smollett’s easy access to media nor talent for playing the convincing role of a crime victim, so they won’t get on TV to tell their stories.  The casualties of this contrived canard are future victims of hate crimes.  Now, because of doubts and discord and the lingering impossible-to-ignore memories we all have, they’ll face even more doubts.  They must meet higher, perhaps impossible thresholds, to prove when racially-motivated crimes actually do happen.  The movement Smollett purportedly wants to help shall ultimately pay the highest cost for his blatant deception.

That’s the real crime.

If evidence is found to implicate Jussie Smollett in a conspiracy, then he must be prosecuted.  Then, if he’s found guilty — lock him away.  For a long time.

We must make an example in this case and send a clear message:  There’s more than enough racism and homophobia in America already, without having to make things up.

__________

 

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Posted by on Oct 25, 2018 in Blog, Essays, Politics, What's Left | 3 comments

When Lone Wolves Become a Pack: The Wacko Militants of the American Political Right

 

 

“My supporters are very passionate.”

                        — President Donald J. Trump

 

We don’t know yet who mailed several packages containing deadly bombs that were sent to Democratic leaders, liberal activists, and news organizations — all of which are outspoken critics of President Trump and his policies.

From the list of carefully selected targets — ranging from former CIA Director John Brennan to actor Robert DeNiro — a far-Right extremist does appear to be the most logical suspect.  But we don’t know anything yet for sure about a possible suspect.  Hence, unlike so many others out there fabricating their own version of the “news,” ignoring a mountain of inciteful hate speech, disregarding the long history of political violence in this country, and spreading wacko conspiracy theories with no basis in fact whatsoever, I’ll reserve my judgment about these deplorable acts and who committed them until more evidence is gathered.

What we do know for certain is the far-Right in this country has become militant and dangerous.  They’re openly marching in the streets.  They’re running for public office.  Hell, they’ve even been elected.

No doubt, the far-Right poses a deadly threat.  Sure, the extreme Right has always been around and been dangerous to the lives and freedoms of millions, certainly since the end of the Civil War.  But until Barack Obama was elected a decade ago, extremism had largely gone underground and went unnoticed.

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Posted by on Jul 16, 2018 in Blog, Essays, Personal, Rants and Raves, Travel | 0 comments

Strangers in the Night

 

 

The sexes aren’t just different biologically.  The sexes are divided by a chasm — those who live in safety versus those who do not.  Most men can walk the streets at night.  Men answer their doorbells without feeling panic.  Men step onto an elevator and don’t worry about who’s on board.  Men are free to live their lives without fear.  Women don’t have this luxury of being careless.  Women need to be on the lookout at all times.  Women must on the defensive, always, not only wherever they go, but who they talk to and what vibes they give off.  Women must be cautious, even inside their own homes.  While men are free, women are not.

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Posted by on May 14, 2018 in Blog, Essays | 4 comments

Winners and Losers in the SCOTUS Decision to Allow Legalized Sports Gambling

 

 

Today, the United States Supreme Court struck down a federal law which prohibited most states from allowing legalized gambling on sporting events.

By a 6-3 vote, the high court’s ruling overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which was a 1992 law that banned state-authorized sports gambling (aside from Nevada).

What does this ruling mean?  Well, it’s really good news for sports gamblers.  It’s even better news for many states and companies with the infrastructure to begin offering sports betting.  And, it’s fabulous news for the State of New Jersey, and especially Atlantic City, which has experienced a steady decline in popularity as a recreational gambling destination over the last 20 years.

Here’s my list of the winners and losers in today’s historic decision which is expected to drastically alter the American sports gambling landscape.

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