Michael Jackson

This the big news here and with good reason. Michael Jackson is a star and has lived his life in the public eye ever since he was 5 years old. I have greatly enjoyed his music and think that he is one of the geniuses of our age. Some of his lyrics- about healing the world, spreading the message of peace and harmony and overcoming our stereotypes to create a more wonderful world resonate with me as they do with several million people around the world.

This musical genius also has a naive, almost weird side to him. His constantly changing physical appearance, his life at Neverland, his relationships with Debbie Rowe and Lisa Marie Presle are matters that have piqued public interest in the past years beyond the music he produces. This trial has taken an emotional, physical and some say, financial toll on him and I would hate to see him fade away.

Having said this, let us put this trial in perspective. I have been personally surprised by what the jurors are saying about how they reached this verdict- they seem to have not found the mother's testimony credible and indicated that she was not in right mind to have left the alleged victim to sleep in Michael's Neverland ranch. Now- is bad parenting an excuse for allowing paedophilia to happen? Second- why should the sins of the mother be passed onto the boy? Third- does bad parenting on the part of the accuser's mother exonerate Michael from what is clearly very odd behavior for a 46 year old man? Again, I have not really followed the trial religiously and do believe that Michael is a naive man who may be committing certain acts without necessarily realizing that he may be harming someone. Honorable intentions with unintended acts could be exonerated but thats not what this jury said. In fact, one juror even pointed out that he had reason to believe that Michael slept with boys in the past, but in this particular case, the prosecution could not establish this case beyond reasonable doubt. Hence, they had to let Michael go- on all 10 counts!

Jay Leno pointed out something interesting. He said that the one person who must be really pissed with this verdict is Martha Stewart- OJ kills his wife, goes scot free; Robert Blake shoots his wife, goes scot free; Michael Jackson sleeps with kids, goes scot free, Martha makes one indiscreet phone call and guess what- she spends seven months in jail!! Such are the ways of the world!

I hope we can all put our energies to better use now and none more so than Michael. I do believe he is capable of reviving his musical career and his financial health. But I suppose his immediate concerns must be around two very basic things that he needs stability around- physical and emotional well being! I will be interested to see how his personal and professional plays out from now on.