Nice Sentiment and apt tribute.
I wasn't much of a fan of his music, yet felt sadly moved by his untimely passing.

I am sorry to say, I don't feel the same sadness for the passing of M.J. as do his ardent fans. But I heard one thing since his untimely death I did whole-heartedly agree with.
Michael Jackson was "...one of a kind...."
More than that, it is clear he was a product of his own engineering.
He did for himself what Col. Tom Parker did for Elvis.
His 'mark' has been made and there will be no other quite like him.
Beyond that, it will now be up to time to say whether or not his 'legacy' will be remembered.
Thank you for your time and attention,
Woody

Sadly a pop icon has passed. I think he did have serious drug issues oxycotins being one of them. I think this drug should of been removed from the market long ago.
I wonder if Rush related to this....or will blame Obama for Jacksons death.

All this uproar over a pedophile...

He reaped what he sowed.

Personally, I will miss Farrah and blacksmith Philip Simmons of South Carolina more than this "one of a kind" personality [to borrow from Mr woody].

One thing though...as his last performance Jackson DID get Cap-'N-Trade passed. [It gave the MSM something trivial to focus on rather than real-world stuff.]

samplegirl - your last sentence may well be the dumbest statement made here it a long time - and that's saying something!

With all thats going in the world and more importantly our country why is anyone talking about Michael Jackson? Love of pop culture is the nail in our collective coffin.

samplegirl, Of course there are "those people" out there who would rather blame his passing on Bush. It seems he's responsible for so much already...the climate, the economy, gas prices, ufo's, the color of roses. Everything else is blamed on him, why not this?

So much talent in the little boy I remember, and the probably unhealthy upbringing he survived.

I'll remember the boy, thank you!

I will give neither undue respect nor disrespect to "Michael Jackson" on his passing.

The idea known as "Michael Jackson" is part of the historical record now, no more and no less; he is now something to be made up as we go along.

Watch here for postings relating 2, 3, 4 or more kinds of "Michael Jackson" if you do not believe that history is what we make it.

After all, not one of you know a darn thing about "Michael Jackson" beyond his music. You have reports gathered at second-hand and third-hand at best.

Such is the tissue-like media-based "reality" upon which we base our sound and fury.

For a brief space, "Michael Jackson" seemed to have mastery upon his developing image. Then matters spun out of his control.

Ask "Mark Sanford" how this feels when your image is no longer your own. . . .

+++++++

Of course, somewhere beyond the comforts of consumerist suburban America, real events and real hurts are impinging upon the people of Iran.

And the government there knows in a consummate sort of way that "history" and "reality" belong to those who can "edit" and "erase" the images consumed by its audience.

See the following to understand the erasures and edits:

Leading demonstrators must be executed, Ayatollah Khatami demands
The Times
June 27, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo...

Neda Soltan's family 'forced out of home' by Iranian authorities
Parents of young woman shot dead near protests are banned from mourning and funeral is cancelled, neighbours say

* A correspondent in Tehran
* guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 24 June 2009 18.00 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun...

Well Sailorman even Rushs comments are to deep for dittoheads to understand.

you're a dittohead?

First off, maybe I'm slow this morning, but I'm trying to figure out exactly what is meant by the musical note changing colors toward the top-- I have a few opinions in my head, but wondered what anyone else made of that? Representing his skin changing color, his public image shifting, etc.??

Second, Michael Jackson, in my opinion and the opinion of many others, was one of the greatest entertainers of our time. He obviously had some personal issues that detracted from his image at times. His music and dancing, though, in his prime, were phenomenal. He will be credited with ground-breaking innovations in entertainment for generations to come. Put all of that aside, though, and he was a human. Nothing more, nothing less. I grieve for a person who seemed to have lots of unhappiness in his life, mixed in with the extraordinary success. I mourn for his loved ones at their loss. But I can't mourn anymore than that... I never met him, didn't know him. I think our society places too much importance on celebrities. We obsess over people we've never met and wouldn't know us if they met us. We continue to see celebrities with self-destructive behavior, and it's just very frustrating and sad.

maj- the treble clef is changing into a memorial ribbon.

Despite maj's confusion over the image, I think it's a very nice cartoon. It's a very creative and inventive expression of the passing of a musical icon!

Nicely done.

Look, MJ lived the american dream, he was born a pood black child and grew up (sorta) to be a rich white guy.

How can anyone consider Michael Jackson a musical Icon? Icons, forget the so called music, never understood why anyone liked it, it was trash and still is, and at least in Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches, Icons are things that are revered at times of worship. Can anyone honestly show signs of reverence to a pedophile? He turned his home into an amusement park, petting zoo, and circus to attract children. I heard the man, and I use that term loosely, say on Dateline one time, that he would rather have a water balloon fight with a child , than to have sex, and then when questioned, said he didn't see anything wrong with a 12 year old boy sleeping in his bed. But he paid the child millons to keep from being prosecuted as a child molester. And now, good old Jesse Jackson has showed up to stir something else up. They want another autopsy because the corner wasn't nice to them, or mean, as one story relates it. The fool needs to be buried and if he can, rest in peace. He's just another pedophile off the street.

I'm a little too young to remember Michael Jackson in his prime (I was a wee little kid when "Bad" came out), but there's no denying the musical legacy. I don't give a rat's big booty about his personal life. A lot of entertainers have/had real iffy personal lives. Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, David Allan Coe, Syd Barrett, heroin-addicted rock stars, alcoholic country stars, wife beaters, racists, and a ton others. But the music is legendary. Every frickin' track on "Thriller" and "Bad" is a hit. He was the one r&b pop star that even old stick-in-the-mud white folks liked. What Elvis was for the 50s and the Beatles were for the 60s, MJ was for the 80s.

I guess the old adage that you can't libel the dead is alive and well on this comment board. I might remind you all that Michael Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges when he was tried in Nevada. And although he did pay of some plaintiffs in similar civil cases, that really proves nothing, except that he had the money to make the problem go away quietly.

I'm not saying that Jackson wasn't weird. He was. He lived in an amusement park, idolized Peter Pan, slept in a cryogenic chamber, and underwent more plastic surgery than everybody else in the 50210 area code combined. His fondness for kids (be it altruistic or suspicious) was well documented. But even though it may not be something that anyone of us would practice, let alone admit to, sleeping in the same bed with a twelve-year-old (who is not one of your own kids) is not molestation.

So, throw around the slur pedophile, if you like. But don't use it with the righteousness of proof. You have none.

What we can prove, however, is Michael Jackson's monumental contribution to popular music. Forget the fact that he's been a superstar since he was the 10 year old lead singer for the Jackson 5 (whose first 4 singles all rose to the number one spot on the Billboard charts). As a solo star, Michael Jackson has no peers in popular music. Of the 70 most popular albums of all time, 5 are Michael Jackson albums. His seminal album 'Thriller' is the best-selling album of all-time, having sold over 100 million copies (which is more than double the amount of the second most popular album of all time which come in at under 50 million copies sold).

His influence over other musicians, dancers, and the entertainment industry in general is more profound than anyone in a generation.

What we can prove without a shadow of a doubt, and what we can claim with the righteousness of proof, is that few have ever, or will ever impact popular music like Michael Jackson has. Don't let your own impressions of Michael Jackson's personal life cause you to question this undeniable fact.