I also saw Geraldo stand up for Jackson as being a loving and caring father who was the primary care giver to his children and categorically state that the 2001 case was pure trumped up charges. This was also presented on OReilly’s show so he did present multiple facets on what must have been a troubled man.

In the end, as in any good Greek Trajedy, Michael’s skills seem to have bought more happiness and joy for others than they ever accomplished for himself. He died deeply in debt, in a rented house paid for by the tour promoter that now stands to make even more off of his death if they get the family to carry out the concerts.

Given all of the money Jackson made, why did he end up so far in dept — I have heard numbers in the $400 to $450 million dollar range? Was this a case of juvinille ecentrincies coming out, or was merely the failure of Michael to obtain appropriate financial investment advice. This is a serious issue as when you are playing with that type of money you always raise the spectre of murder. To this day, I have trouble reconciling whether it was a sophisticated hit, or merely a suicide/run down body failure.

I think that these questions will be with us until we get to the other side, and Michel fills us in.

But this popularity discussion is a sideshow to what my main point on this article was. I believe it is despicable for the likes of oreilly to question this man’s place in history and to question his black identity. Mr O misleads conspiracy as it were fact, and furthermore he is blind to the impact of Jackson’s contributions through music and popular culture.

Perhaps it may be because you were not there, but to say that a fellow like Sammy Davis Jr. was not a successful cross over is ignorant of history. Start with the environment he came up in. I can remember when Mr. Davis was allowed to perform on the strip, but then was “politely” asked to go over to the Moulin Rouge in North Las Vegas to stay and party after the show. He notes how Sinatra invited him over for some drinks, and he showed up and sat at the table, only black face in the place. Then Joey Bishop and a couple of others came to his table because Frank and them wanted to see if he had the guts to move forward. That is how he joined the Rat Pack.

Musically he was a crooner like Sinatra, but he also showed up on the Rock/Pop charts with songs like the Candy Man. He was a talented dancer who branched out into choreography, though he never did get around to the moon walk. As an actor, Sammy appeared on numerous TV shows, and several movies including both dramatic and comedy roles. While it is true that his record sales did not come close to matching Jackson’s; it is strongly arguable that his acceptance into multiple facets of society greatly exceeded Micheal’s.

I chose the Robeson example because in the 1950′s Communist’s in America were perhaps even less popular than child molesters are today. Remember that this was the age of the Red Scare and far from denying he was a Communist, Robeson was preaching it’s values. I have no desire to make a martyr of him, but the fact is this caused him a large chunk of his career. The man also had a god given talent of one of the richest bass voices we have ever had. Some folks felt that they wanted to keep buying records showcasing that talent. More folks felt that there were other talents that did not come with so much baggage and stopped purchasing his records.

Isn’t what happened with Robeson similar to what happened with Jackson? There was no Conservitive Talk Radio or TV back then, but if so, “mindless” conservitives such as myself would have probably made points about Robeson.

you must not seen many differences between sexual relations with a adult and sexual relations with childrens of youth. one was accused of things with adults the other with things with children yet you talk of them as equal.

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First, Jackson was by no means the first true cross over artist. How about Louis Armstrong whose What a Wonderful World is still getting airtime today on several different types of stations, years after his death? Black, White? Both seemed to like his music.

Then their was Paul Robeson with songs like “Old Man River”? This conservitive listens to his wonderful voice even though he was an ardent proponent of Communism whose political views were even too liberal for the NAACP. However, it is undeniable, that he was one of the agitators in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball thereby opening up a whole new vista for literaly thousands of youths. Unfortunately, this would be a false dream for all too many who put all their hopes in this basket, but that was not Robeson’s fault. Finally, Robeson, because of his International Fame, took a leading role in correctly branding lynching as Genocide, even though it cost him professionally and forced travel restrictions on him in the 50s.

Given these relative amounts of service to the Black Communities, it is a little suprising when one considers that few Black leaders risked showing up at Robeson’s funeral in 1976.

Other early cross over entertainers would need to include the likes of Sammy Davis Jr., Flip Wilson, and of course Dr. William Cosby.

The dam was permanently shattered when Barry Gord;y started Motown. There was such a large stable of stars coming out of Motown that any list will be partial — Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Matha and the Vandalas, Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Isley Brothers, Rare Earth, Tammy Terrell, Mary Wells, and some unknown group called the Jackson 5. Barry Gordy’s instincts were the sledge hammer that broke down a large part of the wall for good.

Finally, in 1993 Mr. Jackson did have a severe problem with the kid. Nobody pays $15 million unless they are forced into paying the money. As noted, Mr. Jackson did have a splotchy skin pattern, one correctly described by the boy regarding Jackson’ genitals. I do not think that the recent charge had the same credibility, but there is no mistaking the earlier one, and it put a giant crimp in Jackson’s career.