Don’t faint but I’ve been carrying out a bunch of cleaning and organizing as of late. GET OFF THAT FLOOR!! Moving along, in the process of removing age-old “substances” from this or that drawer, I stumbled upon a portion of the paper from 2009 in which my column was located. It had bunch of green pen marks on it including “underlines” and comments in margins. If I’m not mistaken, I believe this was something a delightful woman named Sandra Ghost had sent to me in order to praise my efforts (with said green writing implement). After I shared it with Judith M. Villeneuve of Maine, she had a brilliant idea in terms of this column space. She thought it might be fun to plunk something in here from AGES ago, on occasion. That is what I’m doing this time. This one is from July of 2009. I shall call this segment, “Classic Rant from the Vault.” Without further bloviating, here you go.
Classic Rant from the Vault
Deal us some real news, please
NEWS FLASH: Michael Jackson is dead! Just thought I’d let you know in case you’ve been comatose or trapped on Gilligan’s Island for the past week or so and missed the news.
Now, it’s a shame that anyone dies at the age of fifty, period. He was a great entertainer and no matter how freakish he was, (and I do emphasize freakish), I acknowledge him for his groundbreaking style and fabulous moves.
With that being said, I must put my foot down and explode over my disgust concerning how his death has dominated the news 24/7.
I do not wish to take away from his accomplishments or disrespect the dead, but PLEASE, is there any other news item, as my old high school teacher used to say?
Obama could have been abducted by aliens, the world might have had a close encounter with an asteroid, or Cap and Trade (Cap and Tax) could have been casually passed in the House, all while everyone on the planet was glued to The Michael Jackson 24 Hour News Network.
In case you weren’t aware, one of those three things did indeed occur and I will give you a hint: It was not the brush with the huge space object.
I’m totally appalled, as Mother would say. What has become of the US of A as we know it? Citizens have been bombarded with every last detail about the life and the death of a celebrity for hours upon hours for almost a full week. I’m stunned that no other breaking stories took place during that whole time. Isn’t that odd?
We have now been educated on M.J’s early life, rise to fame, marriage & divorce to the Presley chick, (who would have imagined they wouldn’t make it?), his insanity when it came to naming children, his fascination with kids in general, his fade from black to white, so to speak, and every jot and tittle in between. Whew!
Star-struck citizens were entranced by the latest and greatest Jackson news of the day while life on Capital Hill, for example, pressed on in a steadfast manner.
As we speak, or as I type, it is Wednesday, July 1. This would be exactly 7 days since the death of the “Bizarro One.” Well, I finally decided to give something a shot so I clicked my telly from mute to talk. Guess what? The newscasters are currently talking about the famous glove and the will, all in one segment. Aren’t they talented? Pardon me while I hurl the remote through the front of the television....OK, I’m back.
Ladies and gents of the media and of the general public, please stop with the crazed coverage of, and interest in, this death. Good gravy. Did JFK’s murder even get this much attention?
Let’s all face reality here and allow me to be blunt at the same time—like that’s anything new. Jackson was an unbelievable performer but he was also a total anomaly in every other way. Words cannot even begin to describe this person and yet, the word of his untimely demise continues to enthrall the world.
I guess the same was true with the death of Anna Nicole Smith, now that I look back on it.
We must be so absolutely desperate for any distraction from the REAL news that we sit and gaze intently upon the talking box for hours on end. All this to take in every morsel of information about MICHAEL JACKSON, of all people.
What made him tick? Why the fascination with sleep overs? Why did he dangle his kid over a railing? Who will raise his kids? What was the real cause of his death? Did the Dr. perform CPR on a hard or soft surface? What exactly was the story with the nose?
Anyone watching with rapt attention should be able to answer those and more. Yet, sadly, those same folks could not possibly know, due to the lack of media coverage, what has been unfolding behind closed doors in the White House and on Capital Hill. Where are the priorities here?
The strangest thing just happened, other than the fact that you made it this far in the column without pitching it aside. I had the television sound turned back on and two people were discussing how much coverage Jackson got. Here are those statistics: At the time of his reported hospitalization via ambulance, Iran was the top story and received 19% of the news coverage. Jackson was in second place with18%.
After he died, Iran was wiped off the map and the Jackson-filled-news jumped to 60%, which did NOT include prime time specials that aired about his life. Those statistics were strictly for the news portion. The Governor Sanford “scandal” came in at 11% after the death.
Now, hold on to your gloves for this one: In cable news, for 2 days straight in the wake of the death of the “Unique One,” 93%, yes, you read that right, 93% of the news was all about the infamous moon walker himself.
A very savvy person once imparted the importance of keeping a close watch on what the left hand was doing while the right hand was busily feeding information, (about an allegedly “major” subject), to the public at large. This, of course, not only pertains to the media, but is also in reference to politicians as well.
In this instance, both hands have been nimbly shuffling and dealing us a full house of Michael Jackson. In honor of the “Eerie One’s” wardrobe preferences, the dealer wears but one glove as he passes along the “most” newsworthy event of a lifetime. Too bad the general public will be forced to fold due to a lack of real information concerning the state of this nation.
THE END (Interstate Crosscheck, “War is a Racket” by General Smedley Butler)