America, a country built on fundamentals such as "all men are created equal" (albeit not woman or the black man who were only given 3/5 status of an "equal man" when these words were created; nonetheless...), a country and home where one could practice their choice of faith and religion in freedom and peace (ask the Iranians how they feel about not having this policy) a place where people from all different cultures and ideals can come together and still stay apart, an example of Advanced Society for all others to follow, took a major turn for the worse yesterday.
Michael Jackson, the self proclaimed (and probably accurate claim) "King of Pop" died yesterday at the age of 51. Jackson first appeared to us as the Uber Talented 5 year old and leader of the Jackson 5, a family that produced a bevy of talented artists- albeit an extremely dysfunctional one at that. He then went on to his solo career, a career rivaled in fame and popularity only by the King himself, Elvis Presley. Jackson revolutionized the music industry with his music video- 'Thriller". Thriller was probably the single biggest reason MTV became what it did and Jackson and his super talent, from songwriting, singing and dancing (not to mention his theatrics- although that would soon be his downfall) was the man most responsible for that.
Unfortunately, like many children whose parents made the choice of sacrificing those precious early years of development for fame and fortune, Jackson was never able to become a card carrying member of society. Even worse, his fame and popularity only increased as opposed to most child stars that usually just fade into the sunset (or darkness of drug and alcohol abuse). His development curtailed to such a point that he was forever stuck in that children's mind with sexual tendencies (allegedly......) toward the same.
Jackson built his estate, Neverland, as an amusement park geared towards 10 year old boys. You don't think this is a little weird? A far cry from Graceland. There were allegations against the King of Pop of sexual misconduct and payoffs to multiple families of multi millions of dollars to quiet those rumors. Still all were put on the back burner to the mans immense talents.
So what does this all have to do with the despicable state of the current American lifestyle? Instead of being relatively relieved that a true evil doer has now left our World making it a far better and safer place (as it would be whenever any rapist, murderer or pedophile leaves this world), American media took the time and opportunity to create a celebration of Jackson's life. Check all the major media outlets today and see what it says about Jackson. Look at the majority of Facebook and Twitters status and tweets today and you'll find lines like "RIP-The King is Dead" and "I'm in tears, Michael is dead" etc, etc. The basic message being said is a man of enormous talent is dead- oh, and he had an eccentric lifestyle that might have had some allegations against him. You don't pay millions and millions of dollars to multiple familoies unless there is some serious fire behind all teh smoke. This is a man who no sane person would leave alone with their children for more than 6 seconds and the Media brushes it off because he was a Pop Culture Icon and incredible performer?
People, we need to wake up and stop idolizing shallowness and perversion and start admiring people for acts of human greatness. I was at CitiField yesterday and took my son (7 years old) to his first game. When we walked in to the Stadium we saw the huge #42 in the lobby and was proud to answer when my son asked "who was #42". When we talk about the greatness of Jackie Robinson we talk about the sacrifice he made for all mankind, someone who experienced tremendous persecution, torment and torture all because he was a Black Man playing a White Mans sport. We talk about the fact that through all this he never lost his temper, never lost his cool and never acted out because he knew if he did, his mission for all Black and White America alike would be dashed. He was a true American Hero. And ONLY THEN do we talk about the overwhelming athletic talent of Robinson, how despite all this he was a the first NL Rookie of the year, a consecutive 6 time all star, World Series and NL MVP, not to mention the first player in NCAA history to letter in 4 sports in college (Football, Basketball, Track and Baseball-his worst sport while at UCLA).
You see this difference folks. It's first about who you are, then it's about your talent and if your exceptional enough like a Jackie Robinson, your talent can make the world a better place. But when you have to brush away faults that those less rich and talented would be spending lifetimes in prison, because someone was an exceptional talent- why there America, is the problem.
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