Maybe Michael Jackson really was bad (insert sounds of Jheri curl whipping back and forth).
The FBI apparently thought so. The federal agency recently released the fallen pop star's files following a Freedom of Information Act request from the Associated Press. Among the revelations are that authorities were afraid that Jackson's 2004 child molestation trial would be an easy target for terrorists and that there was no proof that Jackson molested children despite the fact that officials traveled to the Philippines to interview his former employees.
According to the Associated Press:
The FBI monitored Jackson for more than a decade, but the files contain no major revelations about his private life and the bureau apparently never developed any solid evidence against him. ...In March 2004, the Santa Barbara County district attorney's office reached out to the FBI, seeking help in developing a strategy to prosecute Jackson for molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor in the singer's home. Jackson was acquitted of all 14 counts against him in what was one of the most widely followed cases in history. The FBI reviewed case notes from local authorities and examined 16 computers taken from Jackson's home. Nothing notable was described as being found on the hard drives, though parts of the files are redacted.
Jackson's former lawyer said the files provide further proof that his client was not a pedophile."He was not a criminal, and he was not a pedophile," Tom Mesereau told the Associated Press. "The fact that so many agencies investigated him and couldn't find anything proves he was completely innocent."
Much of Jackson's life was a circus. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if some of those redacted pages contained a discussion on whether Jackson had hosted aliens or whether his moonwalk was a weapon of mass destruction.
But Jackson's lawyer is right: The singer had his day in court and was found not guilty of child molestation charges. In this country, you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Sympathy for Jackson and a new appreciation of his tremendous talents are running incredibly high after his death.
However, like Jackson's insistence that he only had one or two plastic surgeries, something was not right when it came to his relationship with children.
In a now infamous documentary, Jackson admitted that he thought it was okay for a 40-year-old man to sleep in a bed with kids who were not his. What was even more disconcerting was that Jackson continued to have relationships with children despite the problems he was having. I'm not sure what parent would leave their kids with a man they didn't really know, even if he was Michael Jackson.
Further proof of Jackson's poor judgment came after his death. The fact that he was taking a cocktail of drugs while resisting help from a nurse who urged him to try natural methods to help him to sleep cannot be ignored.
That said, it seems that local authorities and the FBI were a little too consumed with Jackson. I wonder whether authorities would have traveled to the other side of the planet or spent 10 years pursuing child molestation charges against someone who wasn't as famous.
Who's bad?
Comments: (18)
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By: Marlene Franklin on 12/24/2009 9:28AM
They couldn't use white women to destroy him so they used white boys. Michael Jackson made a pack with the devil. When he wanted out, and was going to name names, they killed him. Do not be surprise if the doctor administering him the drugs is not charged or found not guilty.
This should be a lesson to all black man that hellI-wood is not their friends. Because they now allow you to have their women and blood money doesn't mean they will not take from you when they deem it necessary. So many black stars wind up bankrupt, on drugs, in prison and/or dead.
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By: sharkchops on 12/24/2009 10:52AM
I'd be surprised if he were found "not guilty". This is an opportunity to throw a black MD in jail. He's the perfect scapegoat cuz he's guilty, successful AND black. It'll keep both the racists and MJ's fans happy.
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By: M. Alexander on 12/24/2009 10:20AM
Black men have the scrutiny of America since slavery ! That's nothing new ! Most African-American men have similar stories when it comes to being harassed/racially profiled and demonized by Whites in this country and sadly some people simply think they are "exempt" because they happen to be a world class athlete/entertainer etc etc etc !
The witch hunt heightened thanks to the O.J. situation and now not only are regular Black males under the gun but so are famous Black males as well !
Tank Johnson, Adam "Pac-Man" Jones, Kobe Bryant, Jayson Williams, Michael Vick, Plaxico Burress, Donte Stallworth (killed a man while driving drunk served 30 days in jail released and suspended for 1 year by the NFL) still can't fathom how Vick and Burress got jail sentences that were longer considering they didn't kill anyone !
The NBA mandated that all players wear suits to game as a way to distanced themselves from the thug perception of the hip hop culture that had blanketed the NBA in the 1990s !
Burress shot himself ! Go figure ! Makes me wonder how much time he would have gotten had he shot a stranger !
Meanwhile White athletes like Olympic swimming champ Michael Phelps, Bode Miller, Chuck Knoblauch, Atlanta Braves 3rd baseman Chipper Jones (fathered kids while married) and others hardly get a mention when they run afoul of the law !
Black athletes get scrutinized for OOW kids while their White counterparts barely register a bleep on the radar !
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By: sharkchops on 12/24/2009 11:11AM
The problem becomes that black celebs are so flamboyant with their transgressions and so many of them are doing it that it looks almost like the norm for black people to misbehave. Add to the fact that we're always being watched anyway, you'd think we could be more discreet about our activities. It's common knowledge that the white celebs and athletes will get a slap on the wrist or at least their problems will end up as a small paragraph in the back of the sports section with no photo while ours ends up on the cover with ugliest mugshots meant to demonize and frighten. Whites even know this though they won't always admit it. Why would they? It takes the focus off of them. And blacks love to bring rope to their own lynch party so all everybody else has to do is buy the popcorn and watch these brothas' careers go into meltdown mode. So why don't we just act accordingly and not commit any crimes at all? What does it take for a black millionaire celeb to be happy where he doesn't go out in public carrying deadly weapons and drugs and starting beefs?
Complaining about what white counterparts get for crimes and transgressions isnt helping blacks. Concentrate on solutions for our own problems not the disparity of punishment.
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By: Corey on 12/24/2009 2:29PM
"I'm not sure what good parent would leave their kids with a man they really didn't know. even if he was Michael Jackson".
I have been saying this since the charges were brought against him.
When I have this discussion with people, I always tell them that I would not even allow my children to spend the night at the white house, because I don't KNOW the people who live there.
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By: juney on 12/24/2009 2:21PM
Of course MJ was innocent and these revelations tell us the FBI wasn't doing its job monitoring real felons, rather than helping that miserable Cal DA in his witchhunt against Michael. Michael was enormously talented; what happened at this trial caused his later tribulations resulting in his death. Sneddon should be ashamed of himself.
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By: Ngineer1 on 12/24/2009 4:45PM
So much snooping, so little results. I would be ashamed of them either way. If he was a pedophile and they couldn't find out they suck! If he was innocent and they mentally molested him they suck. Stop wasting my tax money!!!!
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By: TOYNA on 12/24/2009 3:22PM
go to fbi.gov to read what race have a ratio of 80% males being molesters, you want the fbi to label mj a molesters? but you don't believe them when they said obama born in the usa? anything to try and make your pale fair hide look descent?
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By: carl on 12/24/2009 3:23PM
another black man? who else are you referring to?
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By: MTM on 12/24/2009 3:26PM
And why would they ever stop monitoring him? He certainly was a makings of a pediphile.
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