English

Letters on the Michael Jackson verdict

The following is a selection of letters received by the World Socialist Web Site on “The Michael Jackson verdict”

Thank you for WSWS commentary on this terrible media spectacle of those who claim to be the “protectors of the children.” Not only were these pundits unable to ask even whether the alleged victims were harmed but appear equally incapable of recognizing the ever increasing number of US torture chambers where abuse is indisputable. While I can understand how anyone concerned with the welfare of children might become alarmed even at the rumors of abuse, I fail to comprehend why anyone would listen to commentators who are so morally impaired that they cannot distinguish between genuinely alarming real abuse and their own fantasies of what they imagine an African American pop star might be capable.

TM
16 June 2005

* * *

Excellent article on the Michael Jackson verdict. It’s great to see someone who is opposed to the American media. I have been watching Nancy Grace through this whole thing and when those not guilty verdicts came I wish I was there to tell Nancy to shut up. She is a very disturbed and unstable individual. She wants all criminals dead, all because her fiancé was murdered. She needs to get over it and move on. I really wish Court TV and CNN would fire her. Her remarks are unprofessional and uncalled for. If she was a real lawyer she would know this. I don’t know why they continue to let her circus run.

Thanks for the great article.

JM
15 June 2005

* * *

Yours was a very thoughtful review of the case. Salute the jury! There are some lessons here: 1. Subject events to a rational process of critique and the truth emerges; and 2.Ordinary people are more intelligent than the establishment and the media.

RH
Australia
15 June 2005

* * *

I am absolutely delighted to know that at least one news source, you, got this story right! I am an American living in Asia who on a daily basis sits aghast as I read the news from American news sources. Time after time, I find that the WSWS news site is the only one that I can count on for something other than the drone of the great American propaganda mills! Your article on the Michael Jackson verdict is the type of fresh and independent vision that I yearn for. It’s a given in many parts of Asia, but alas, not in my own country! My congratulations, and thanks!

AG
15 June 2005

* * *

Thank you very much for the series of articles on the trial of Michael Jackson and hopefully this last article on the not-guilty verdict. I really appreciated hearing some of the jurors comments who were able to see Michael Jackson as a human being and not a celebrity as he clearly suffered greatly during the ordeal and could not help but exhibit the incredible strain placed on him by the media frenzy and insinuations.

Jackson’s defence was simply the evidence, evidence, evidence.

This still seemed to be not quite what the doctor ordered when it came down to the media vultures who tried to save face—in particular, Nancy Grace claiming that celebrity won out but kept her mouth from stumbling over that word “evidence” which immediately disgraces and indicts her role.

In my opinion, in spite of celebrity, Michael Jackson has led a very difficult life from childhood onwards, always in the spotlight, and seeming to me to be desperately seeking genuine relations with other human beings. He is no predator. I can imagine that it has been hard for him to experience trust amongst his peers, due to the celebrity and money, and so he preferred the de facto trust he could get from little children as yet untouched and unaware of fame and money. It takes an entirely different psychological genesis to produce a pedophile, which is absent in the life of Michael Jackson.

Thank you again for your sensitive, humane and fair reporting on Michael Jackson throughout his ordeal. Any experience you gained through this reporting will come in handy for the next roman circus of spiritual cannibalism.

DH
Brisbane, Australia
15 June 2005

* * *

It was a great relief to read your interpretation of the American media—and that witch Nancy Grace in particular. Now that CNN has downgraded to fluff and dumb, Nancy Grace seems to be on 24 hours a day, either on CNN or Court TV. I think this is pay back for being one of the most vocal Clinton bashers.

GC
15 June 2005

* * *

Thank you for such brilliant views of the Jackson trial and verdict. I couldn’t agree more.

TO
15 June 2005

* * *

Excellent analysis, Mr. Walsh! One cannot but compare this with the Simpson trial where the prosecution supplied the jury with a racist cop (Furman) and mishandled evidence. I longed for a “Scots verdict” of “Not Proved” in that one. I didn’t follow the Jackson trial, but I suspect that Jackson was rather like a child with a kitten that has been hit by an auto. Given the multiplicity of the charges I think that there should be an IQ test for prosecutors. The jury was there.

BRY
Austin, Texas
16 June 2005

* * *

I never cared much for Michael Jackson’s music and my awareness of his career is formed largely from weekly magazines I see at the supermarket checkout line. I find his plastic surgery grotesque. And yet, I was greatly relieved to hear that he was acquitted on all charges of child molestation. I’m a white, middle-aged working guy who usually grosses less than $12,000 a year. But I sense that the cruel people who would crucify this strange and unhappy man are also my enemies. I’m proud of the jury that saw through the hatred. I’d be curious to know what happened in that jury room, how those people overcame what must have been a lot of pressure to convict.

During the trial, I thought of what a Vietnam veteran told me about being an interpreter during the war, and how he would select 12- or 14-year-old girls in the villages to provide sexual favors for him and his buddies. He said “they were scared of me, and they did what I told them.” An honest guy, not proud of what he did. I think “child molestation” is probably going on in Iraq, the people there are so vulnerable, both to US and Iraqi military forces. That’s where the real problem is, not in Michael Jackson’s bedroom.

RR
Medford, Oregon
16 June 2005

Loading