Old Friends

I wrote it, I finished it, I don't like it so I will fix it in the AM.

Sorry folks.

...and now I have replaced it...

…No, You’re Out of Order…

They say that “you can judge a man by the company he keeps,” and again I do not know who “they” are, but “they” seem to make sense. Although in my case I think I have really lucked out, or my friends have lost their minds, or both, but outside of that fact if you take the time to look at some of the more notable people you know in your life, or in the public eye, this statement does seem to have some merit.

The tone, topic and thoughts related to this piece has changed for me dramatically since last night when I just didn’t like what I had produced, and know now that there was a reason.

I have had a typically lazy Sunday morning, not as typical as I would like, but this one was nice and mellow and slow moving. I was watching a baseball game on the internet and hanging out with Bella, decided to check the Sunday headlines on my phone, yes I am slowly giving in to all this technology, and the headline that caught my eye was that the BET Award show was to be completely overhauled to honor Michael Jackson, the “seed.”

As my day progressed I was beginning to get some things done, and for the second time in as many days I decided to listen to “Michael Jackson Radio” on Last.fm because his passing did effect me, not unlike, John Jr.’s, or Diana’s, as they are the three most notable and recognizable people that have passed in my lifetime. From the music I moved to wondering who was carrying the BET Awards tonight and would they stream them live as I do not have cable. This led me to the internet to check CBS.com, which led to clicking on a link to “Ronald Reagan and Michael Jackson Flashback” on the CBS homepage under “Memorable Moments,” or something like that, and unfortunately what I found was a portion of the clip from the White House, that did not include Michael’s words to President and Mrs. Reagan, and a CBS News anchor who not once, but twice, commented/shared, his personal thoughts on Michael Jackson the man, and his life, and how he was not a good example of “what to do with a life,” again referring back to President Reagan’s words.

Walter Cronkite may in fact have turned out to be the last absolute TV “journalist” that was an evening news anchor. With the famous sign-off of “and that’s the way it was…” Walter Cronkite did the job of informing the American people about what was going on in the world, and around the country, and it is not that he did this devoid of passion, or interest, or even opinion, but he seemed to get that his job was to get information to the people. He did not spend the majority of his time trying to “spin” the information, or shape public opinion, he dispensed information in a calm and metered way whenever possible.

The news today, and moreover the networks, seem to believe far more in controlling, shaping, spinning the information we get in whatever way they choose. I have heard a lot of people say that they believe some networks to be Republican and some Democrat, and while I am not sure whether that is entirely true or not, I do think that the news has lost its place in America regardless of political affiliation.

It is simple, newscasters, reporters, the general public should not be prosecutor, judge and jury. Do we have the right to our opinions, of course we do, this is America, land of the free, freedom of speech, freedom of expression. If I didn’t think that we had a right to our opinions then I would have no right to be publishing my views on a daily basis, but I am saying that with those thoughts, views, opinions, we have a responsibility to not speak from the hip, as it were, to not do harm in the process of forming, and much more importantly, sharing our opinions.

I don’t know, didn’t know, Michael Jackson, never spent any time with him, we were not friends. I was also never at his home, never on his property, never visited his zoo, that means that there is no way for me to know for sure what Michael Jackson did or did not do, other than create amazing music, achieve more in music and musical performing than anyone in American history ever did, or will. I know that MTV owes Michael Jackson more than could ever be repaid. I know that endless performers from the sixties, seventies, eighties, and on, owe their careers to Michael Jackson. I know that Michael Jackson, from the age of five, was forced to be the most recognizable face on the planet, not just in music, or performing, but the most recognizable face on the planet, period, why do you think that President Ronald Reagan, in an election year, had Michael at the White House, standing between him and Mrs. Reagan, because Michael was much more recognizable to the world, to the country, to the youth of America than the President was. Does anybody not believe that Michael’s appearance at the White House helped the President pick-up democratic support and votes, especially from la la land.

It is just amazing to me how so many people have just written Michael Jackson off as a despicable human being based on only what they have seen or heard about him, which in actual fact is probably only about one percent of his life. Unless you have grown up in a household with a father like he had, being forced to eat, sleep, practice, perform, think, feel, exactly when and what someone is telling you, you can’t possibly evaluate the result accurately. Unless you have ever been the most recognizable person on the planet, almost from the age of five, 1965, until, ultimately, the day you die, thus 45 years of everything you do, that is not deep inside some fortress, being watched, replayed, analyzed, you cannot possibly evaluate the result accurately. Unless you are the most recognizable, watched, followed billionaire on the planet you cannot possibly know what it is like to have everyone, absolutely everyone, wanting to get a piece of you and, much more, your money, and you cannot possibly evaluate the result accurately.

I look at the friends that Michael Jackson had. I look at the friends that stuck by Michael Jackson day in and day out, year in and year out, and I look at the lengths he had to go to try and live a life away from all the lights and the cameras, and the pressure and the judgments and I realize that all I truly know for certain is that Michael Jackson was an incredibly talented musician, singer, dancer, and performer, who had as friends a who’s who of the music industry, from then and now. If a man can truly be judged by the company he keeps, isn’t that the only true measure, the only “real” information we have about the man that is, was, Michael Jackson, and should we not therefore let the man rest in peace?

Rest in peace Michael, and thank you for leaving us with so much music in our lives.

Thank you again for getting this far with me.