Fox News, once again showing its tabloid tendencies by utilizing the name “Jacko” to describe Michael Jackson, has a story about some angry and hate-filled comments from angry New York Republican Rep. Peter King. Increasingly, Republicans show how out of touch they are with everyday citizens. While millions upon millions of people mourn the loss of Michael Jackson (while certainly flawed), who was one of the great entertainers this world has ever seen, haters like King are coming out in full attack mode – perpetuating the image of the Republican party that is a little too uncaring, demonizes people it does not like and coming across as far too insensitive for many people in mainstream America.
Here are parts of the Fox News story read along with some comments of mine:
A New York congressman says Michael Jackson was a “pervert” and calls on society to stop “glorifying” the late entertainer in a YouTube video.
Rep. Peter King said Jackson – whom he called a “low-life” – is being glorified in the days after his death while society ignores the efforts, of teachers, police officers, firefighters and veterans. In the two-minute video, King claims the “day in and day out” coverage of Jackson’s death is “too politically correct.”
It’s debatable whether the coverage has been “too politically correct:” as King asserts. Many news outlets have been reporting the good as well as the bad since Jackson’s death (as responsible journalists should). But, going overboard reporting on the negatives, when covering a dead person, is unseemly (particularly when the allegations are just that – allegations). King calling Jackson a “low-life” is a sad comment and makes you wonder if King was perhaps following a Michael Jackson song and talking about “The Man in the Mirror.” And, yes, we get that teachers, police officers and firefighters and veterans are under appreciated. Hopefully King remembers that the next time he is asked to go on the air to comment about something when teachers, police officers, firefighters and veterans are not given the same opportunities.
“Let’s knock out the psychobabble,” King said in the video taped outside an American Legion Hall on Long Island, New York. “He was a pervert, a child molester; he was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country? I just think we’re too politically correct.”
The allegations against Jackson are well documented (including his unhealthy desire to spend so much time around children - which doesn’t necessarily equate to child molestation as some angry anti-Jackson people would like you to believe), but not proven. You would think a Congressman would have just a little more respect for the law and the presumption of innocence. Strange behavior does not equal illegal activity. You also would think someone who is a Congressman would have more respect for someone who has died and the people who mourn him.
King, a Republican who is among the possible contenders for the seat held by Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, said Jackson “may have been a good singer” and “did some dancing” but blasted the singer as someone who could not be trusted around children.
Wow, King is reluctant even to give Michael his props as a singer and dancer. Also, King is assuming that people would trust their kids around him. That is quite an assumption on his part.
In 2005, Jackson was acquitted of molesting a boy who spent time at his Neverland ranch and appeared with him in the 2003 British documentary, “Living With Michael Jackson.”
“There’s nothing good to say about this guy,” King continued. “But the bottom line is, would you let your child or grandchild be in the same room as Michael Jackson?”
If you can look at someone like Michael Jackson and say that there is nothing good that can be said about him then it is evidence of a person who is disconnected from the public. It’s the kind of elitist attitude that shows that some conservatives simply are out of touch with the things that impact the lives of real people. It also shows an anger that boils within a number of these hardcore conservatives who use (in this case) uses Michael Jackson as a way to express some of the anger boiling within. King’s anger shows a one-dimensional tabloid view of Michael Jackson without the depth to take a deeper look beyond the tabloid headlines and the sensational stories that surrounded Jackson during his life. In fact, King’s extremist view of Jackson is reminiscent of the way some radical Muslims view the United States of America … having nothing good to say about our country.
It’s a shame Rep. Peter King lets the anger within him lead him down a path of reckless disregard for the pain of those who are mourning the death of Michael Jackson … including his kids and other members of his family.
