Making the world a better place…..
I had not thought that I should write tonight, nor possibly ever again.
The bronchitis turned to pneumonia; Italian Doctors, a tent on an Italian campsite and pneumonia are not the best of companions, and I was in no mood to entertain the faceless thousands who fortunately think this blog is worth reading. Arriving home tonight after 2000 anti-biotic soaked kilometres I wanted only a decent cup of tea, my own bed, and the Channel 4 news to catch up on events in the UK whilst I had been away.
Thwarted, naturally.
Roused from my self pity by an event so obscene that I am driven to write.
I refer, of course, to the Michael Jackson spectacular/obsecquiem that replaced the 7pm news.
What kind of a world did we children of the post war baby boom create that the pre-watershed entertainment consists of the coffin of a decayed and depraved man, surrounded by flowers to mask the stench, both moral, and physical, being lauded by the great and the notably black, in an outpouring of manufactured and stage managed grief?
A United States Congresswoman, Sheila Jackson Lee, reminding us that ‘we know the law’ – innocent until proven guilty, a tacit nod to the rumours that surrounded Jackson in his later years, following two attempts to get him into court for alleged paedophile activities – whilst notably omitting to add his own admission that he had invited children to his spooky children’s utopia and repeatedly slept in the same bed with them.
How can any parent now protect a child from inappropriate invitations, when a US Congresswoman announces that the man responsible is to be put before the senate for an award for ‘Humanitarian’ activities? Is all inappropriate behaviour from the celebrated, the professional, the obscenely wealthy, now to be protected by politicians?
The McCann’s leave three young babies to their fate unattended in a strange hotel room and are rewarded with an audience with the Pope. The Prime Minister takes his leave of world affairs to ’support them’.
A 43 year old man, previously untroubled by any medical diagnosis, is suddenly diagnosed (via the television, how else?) with Asperger’s Syndrome, and the Prime Minister’s wife is sitting ‘weeping’ with his Mother (and another minor stage celebrity, naturally) at the thought of him standing trial for the crimes he has admitted committing, in a country we wholeheartedly support.
An admittedly once hugely talented young man grows into a fifty year old mentally unbalanced plastic surgeon’s training ground, and parents send him their juvenile sons to sleep in his bed. The black brothers, with their sunglasses, and obligatory white glove, line the stage to blow kisses at his coffin, the voices cracking with just the right amount of emotion, the tears flowing on cue, as the watching children of the television audience are told that this man is a ‘King’, that his ability to hit a high ‘C’, or place one foot in front of the other in time with the music, or perhaps just the effect that had on all their bank balances, transcends any moral code that ‘hero’s’ once aspired to.
As a finale, his weeping ‘daughter’ for want of a better word to describe that poor child of uncertain parentage and origin, who bears his name on her birth certificate, and which the sharp eyed will have noticed was standing forlornly alone on the stage, ignored by the mawkishly self congratulatory mass ‘weep-in’ taking place amongst the ‘Mo-town’ brothers, not even befriended by the cloyingly voiced 12 year old Welsh son of the valleys (nice product placement Simon Cowell) who had been wheeled on to squeeze a few more drops of emotion out of the cheering audience, was pushed to the front to parade her tears for the entertainment of the crowd, and a microphone placed to her lips……’speak up, speak up’ the seasoned performers exhorted her, on this her first public performance……’he was my father’, she sobbed.
And the audience cheered once more. Near sated now, lionised, celebrated, honoured by all the black icons, they rose to their feet to sing and dance along with ‘make the world a better place’ as the coffin was finally led away to well deserved obscurity.
‘Make the world a better place’ indeed.
We, the baby boomers, started with a world that was undoubtedly unfair to the poor, to the black, the mentally ‘different’, to those who for whatever reason, were unable to attain love and happiness within a traditional family unit. They didn’t deserve to be persecuted, criminalised, punished for their ‘difference’. They deserved our sympathy, our understanding, our acceptance, our charity even.
We have succeeded only in elevating them to the ranks of the untouchables. Except for the poor.
Be gay, be black, be a paedophile, pay parents to send their children to your bed, be a child neglecter, kill pedestrians on the motorway, steal thousands from the tax payer, but above all be wealthy, be a friend of the politicians, and all your sins shall be washed away in a torrent of fake emotion…….
When did we forget how to say ‘No’, ‘it’s wrong’; when did society forget where its moral backbone was?
I don’t care how many courts have cleared you of paedophile charges, Michael Jackson, it is still wrong to sleep with other people’s young children. I don’t care how many Attorney Generals have decided that they don’t have enough evidence to charge you with anything, Kate and Gerry McCann, it is still wrong to leave your children unattended while you go out for a night boozing.
And it is just as wrong to worship at the feet of those who do these things, to throw money at them, and claim that they ‘have suffered enough’.
Lionising the morally incompetent is just as evil as discrimination.
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1
July 8, 2009 at 12:16 am -
Bravo. In addition, thank you for reminding me how wonderful it is not to have a television thrusting such images into my home.
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2
July 8, 2009 at 12:35 am -
I refused to watch or to have anything to do with that depraved creature. He was an obscenity and should, if there was any justice in the world, have died in prison.
As to his ‘daughter’, if she has anything to do with him in a biological sense then my willy is black and my name’s Peter Mandelson.
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3
July 8, 2009 at 12:45 am -
Cato – ‘as to his ‘daughter’, . . .
Well she may not be his ‘biologically’ but she has lived with him all her life, (however wierd he/the thought of him bringing up kids seems to us, he may have seemed ‘normal’ to her) making her more entitled to be weeping than anyone, at what sounds like a very bizarre event. -
4
July 8, 2009 at 1:52 am -
“When did we forget how to say ‘No’, ‘it’s wrong’; when did society forget where its moral backbone was?”
I reckon it was shortly after the general election in 1997.
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5
July 8, 2009 at 3:40 am -
It’s OK, I’ve hacked into the North Korean missile launch control and their next attempt is zeroed in on Michael’s to be concrete encased resting place. The war head is a bunker buster, if this test is successful then Gordon’s hideaway is next.
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6
July 8, 2009 at 4:11 am -
Anna
Brilliant.
Nailed it in black and white.
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7
July 8, 2009 at 8:13 am -
miis mink,
please don’t misunderstand me. I’m sure she loved him, but that wasn’t what I meant. Just take a look at the photo of her and you’ll see what I mean. -
8
July 8, 2009 at 9:20 am -
Cato, i know, ‘biologically’ those kids aren’t his.
It’s rumoured he never adopted them formally either,
so who’s are they ?
It does shine a light on how moral, making childern in this way as an aid to infertility, is.
An egg from here, sperm from over there, put them in that rented womb, bob’s your uncle, a little baby . . . is this ok to do ?
I find it disturbing, it wasn’t so long a go that people running adoption agencies didn’t think adopted kids would want or need to
know who their ‘biological’ family were. It was thought they should be greatful to be adopted at all.
People do want and need to know where they came from, so where does that leave people who were ‘born’ in this fashion ?Sorry, getting rant-y . . .
I didn’t watch the memorial thing, but judging by the accounts on the radio, it all sounds grotesque. Singing on stage next to his coffin ?
Anna i appologise, last night i thought you were exaggerating the horror of it all.
‘What a bloody good plug for my next/existing record’ . . . -
9
July 8, 2009 at 10:05 am -
The Show must go on…..
The fact that the “This is it” tour will still go ahead, despite the minor irritant that the leading man is deceased, just goes to prove that a fool and his money are easily parted.
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July 8, 2009 at 10:48 am -
11
July 8, 2009 at 10:49 am -
12
July 8, 2009 at 10:50 am -
Saul, it will be no different than watching a new series of Taggart.
Expect anniversary events in 5, 10, 15….years to “celebrate” the music of Michael Jackson. For the Jackson family and other assorted hangers-on, Michael Jackson’s death has been a good career move.
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13
July 8, 2009 at 11:03 am -
Ah!! But was he really in the casket?
Reportedley it was 14 K gold. They had better keep the location of the grave a secret!
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14
July 8, 2009 at 11:05 am -
Henry….
“Expect anniversary events in 5, 10, 15….years”
Or in the case of Sky News, substitute minutes for years.
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15
July 8, 2009 at 12:29 pm -
Michael who?….
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16
July 8, 2009 at 2:09 pm -
There is no doubt that the underlying issue here is not confined to Michael Jackson.
I saw Michael ‘live’ at Wembley around 1990 – the Dangerous Tour – the show was epic, from operatic beginnings through explosive introductions to including the ‘world’ and leaving by jetpack. It was amazing. The crowd all 80,000 of ‘em cheered, cried, got manic and crazy, adults stood on children in order to get to the front, no one cared other than to see the hero. I’ve been in many crowds but nothing like this. It was a kind of eveangelical fervour write large. There’s no doubting his ‘musical’ standing. The rest is questionable but there is n0 doubt the worship will continue.
Much the same exists in relation to others, mainly of ‘celebrity status’ – whatever that is. And it seems to go beyond that and become institutionalised even in our Parliament. – the weekly contrition(sic) shown about the dead by those who sent them in the first place!! Notonly is death being demonised but how we see life is being manipulated. Bad is good and black is white. It’s hard to keep up, and demanding to be vigilant.
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July 8, 2009 at 5:33 pm -
“When did we forget how to say ‘No’, ‘it’s wrong’; when did society forget where its moral backhbone was?”
We used to have representatives who shared our morals and spoke with our voice and our authority. Either they no longer share those morals or they refrain from admitting them while trying to attract votes. It’s all arse first. Stand for nothing and promise the Earth and power is yours for the taking. Stand for something and you just give your opponents something to work against.(See: Sarah Palin.) If you appear maleable you can gather support from a wide range of interests. Look like you’ve got a clue and you will struggle.
There are also too many immature adults around. They could grow up but as yet do not have to. They see soaps on the telly as something to aim for. They see no point in trying hard because fame and fortune is but a series of Big Brother/talent show/lottery win away. They have little self-control, no patience, little confidence or initiative but plenty of aggression, plenty of my money and a lot of time on their hands.
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18
July 8, 2009 at 8:54 pm -
Doesn’t your TV have more than one channel, or, an off-button?
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19
July 8, 2009 at 9:02 pm -
Bloody Hell!
So that’s what that remote thingy is for!!
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20
July 9, 2009 at 12:21 am -
I was disappointed they didn’t do ‘Thriller’.
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21
July 9, 2009 at 2:45 am -
Alan,
Palin is a disgrace. Are you seriously suggesting folks give her a hard time (and I concur that she has a disproportionally hard time) because of her high principles? Maybe it was because she was borderline retarded and planning to be an OAP’s heartbeat from the nuclear trigger. If she could articulate and converse like Obama, her moose hunting and clothes budget would of been a much lesser issue. (I care about neither)Anna,
So when they justify this nonsense with viewing figures, be aware you are one of them. I don’t buy Heat magazine so I can research the culture I wish to disassemble. I walk straight past it. I encourage others to do the same and I refuse to join in conversations about its subject matter.If I hear one more person claim they hate Big Brother and then explain which house mates exemplify this the most I’ll scream.
This feels similar. -
22
July 9, 2009 at 8:51 am -
“LA buries world hunt the thimble champion and moves on.”
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23
July 9, 2009 at 1:34 pm -
Can you imagine what some ragged outer Mongolian tries to make of it all as he or she watch on Sky while sitting in front of their pony shit fuelled fire? I’m off to poke the barmaid again.
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24
July 9, 2009 at 1:37 pm -
Carried away and forgot the most important thing: Anna DO take more care of yourself.
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25
July 9, 2009 at 3:24 pm -
Good Afternoon Ms Raccoon,
An excellent piece of writing as usual…oh Gosh I am jealous !!!
What where you doing in a tent in Italy ? It’s been ages I haven’t gone camping…too preoccupied by my little comfort probably !!!
I wish you a full and fast complete recovery…soon it will only be bad memories…next time, trust me, book in an hotel !!!
Otherwise, I know it sounds naive but I always assumed that M.J. just wanted companionship from the little kids as he never enjoyed a proper childhood…and I thought some people who were so desperate to get their paws on his cash were ready to accuse him of anything…
I could not bear to see all of this circus despite my big kids watching this morbid show against my instructions…I am sorry not to feel concerned because I just belong to the generation who worshipped him. Being French…and I must reluctantly admit “whitish”…his world always seemed away from mine…so I remain indifferent…
Yesterday, I wanted to read “Paris-Match” (the only paper I can find here, sorry !!!) but I had to bear with most of it regarding M.J. and this new cult.
“miss mink July 8, 2009 at 9:20 am
I find it disturbing, it wasn’t so long a go that people running adoption agencies didn’t think adopted kids would want or need to
know who their ‘biological’ family were. It was thought they should be greatful to be adopted at all.
People do want and need to know where they came from, so where does that leave people who were ‘born’ in this fashion ?”Oh so very true miss mink and particularly true in France…
Also, I also just read the comments and they were excellent…to prove people are not all brainwashed and there still is hope…maybe…
Valerie
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26
July 9, 2009 at 8:37 pm -
RogerDodger said “Palin is a disgrace. Are you seriously suggesting folks give her a hard time (and I concur that she has a disproportionally hard time) because of her high principles?”
No. You’ve misunderstood what I have typed. By having principles people can give her a hard time. Without those principles her opponents and the media would have nothing to give her a hard time about.(They wouldn’t give her a hard time for standing for nothing as they stand for nothing as well)
Having a formed opinion on a variety matters Palin represents a politician that is already cast. Not neccessarily inflexible but someone evidently who is prepared to speak their mind on matters rather than bluff and bluster down some middle of the road/don’t want to lose votes path. In the arena of modern politics that seems unusual to me. One of the reasons for that has to be that it gives your opponents something solid to use against you.
” If she could articulate and converse like Obama… “ Is that with or without the help of a teleprompter? Obama talks as Blair talked (though Obama is just reading aloud) – it is mostly meaningless guff. All the right words to get good soundbites but without any heart behind them.
Palin is different. To a large extent so was Bush Junior. Not slick deliveries. A bit ‘rabbit in the headlights’ at times. The media slate them for it but I cannot think anything other than they are normal people for whom deeds matter as much as words and are prepared to call a spade a spade, unlike the slimy toads that make up the bulk of politicians. It’s obvious when they are putting emotion into their speeches whereas with Blair, Bush, Cameron, Obama, etc it is all so insincere.
Is Joe Biden any less of a threat to have his finger a lung cancer away from the nuclear trigger?
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27
July 10, 2009 at 10:34 am -
He is better at it than Blair. Much of it is guff, but his ability to handle nuance becomes clear from his speaking.
I am not an idiot, I can tell the difference between ad lib, briefed ad lib and speeches. Palin was a joke enough that many people thought their hackery was serving an obvious public interest. I don’t like that tendency.
I don’t feel able to attest to the sincerity of Bush or Palin nor their normality. Nor to I accept that the appearance of rank stupidity follows a commitment to calling a spade a spade. Your article seems to imply that to be smart is to be craven.
Yes Joe Biden is less of a threat. By some measure. I am far from a fan but nor is he as daft as a brush. -
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July 11, 2009 at 11:14 pm -
I thought Michael Jackson died in 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson_(writer)
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